Philippine E-Journals

An Exploration of the Illocutionary Acts in Barangay Mediation and Conciliation

Amseva Mangonga Bentayao | Adriano Q. Teresita

 

Abstract:

This study aimed to explore the speech acts, particularly the illocutionary acts used by the parties and the conciliators in barangay mediation and conciliation proceedings. This endeavour particularly used the qualitative research design and textual analysis in analyzing the data. Moreover, it used Austin’s (1962) and Searle’s (1969) Speech Acts Theory focusing on illocutionary acts to describe the emerging illocutionary acts found in the minutes of the proceedings and how these illocutionary acts reveal the intentions of parties in barangay mediation and conciliation. The results showed that the uttered illocutionary acts in the minutes were most dominant of assertives which commit the speaker to the truth of the expressed proposition, declaratives which change the reality in accord with the proposition of the declaration, directives that cause the hearer to take a particular action, commissives which commit a speaker to some future action and the least dominant of expressives which express on the speaker’s attitudes and emotions towards the proposition. The intentions of the parties were revealed through assertives like stating, affirming, informing, suggesting, concluding, reporting, agreeing and complaining; directives like advising, inquiring, commanding, ordering and requesting; declaratives like declaring and naming; commissives like promising, offering and threatening. The least used was expressives like hoping, disappointing and blaming.