Philippine E-Journals

Speech Acts in Kris Aquino’s Tweets: A Content Analysis

Ma. Juliet G. Vasay | Dennis C. Jaum

Discipline: Philosophy

 

Abstract:

Today, communication and interaction happen in simply one mouse click away. Language and self-expression do not only develop as a recognized tool for oneself but is an avenue for others’ re-expression and identification. Through using Twitter, the elaboration of social interaction becomes easier and accessible. It becomes the primary method of doing things together and establishes a shared meaning that becomes the common ground of understanding by individuals and groups alike. The study aims to analyze the tweets of Kris Aquino, known as the Philippines’ Queen of Media using speech act categories of Searle and predict the meaning based on the speech acts committed. The study used content analysis for it represents systematic and objective means of describing and quantifying phenomena (Schreier, 2012). The results showed that most tweets contained the ‘assertive’ label which refers to ‘those kinds of speech acts that state what the speaker believes to be the case or not’. Evidently, Miss Aquino’s tweets are composed mostly of statements of fact, of belief or of expressions important to her and that have happened to her as she relates it to her readers. This in turn, is recognized and less argued by her Twitter followers. Her influence as a public figure contributed to the forceful implication of realizing the speech act reflected by her readers. Thus, misinterpretation develops due to poor judgment on the elucidation in the tweets of the posters, readers and vice-versa because people have not achieved the very intention of the speech act itself.