The contents of this article are a pragmatic, simplified, and adapted version of John Austin’s (1962) work on speech act theory (SAT), first presented at Oxford University between 1951 and 1954 and at Harvard University in 1955, and later developed by John Searle (1979). SAT treats speaking as a set of rules that govern social behaviour, in which people make claims, issue orders, ask questions, make promises, and so on, through utterances.

As humans, we are essentially linguistic beings. Yet the distinctions between speech acts and their deliberate and effective use remain elusive to many.

Pragmatics linguistics is the study of the use of language in everyday interactions with others, and is closely linked to social psychology. Linguistics helps us understand not only the words someone uses, but also what they mean in a specific context. When people communicate, meaning is constantly shaped and negotiated between the speaker and the listener, and pragmatics explain how this process works.

Simply put, there are three types of language or speech acts, each designed to achieve different outcomes: (1) descriptive; (2) action; and (3) possibility.

1. Descriptive Language

As the term indicates, this kind of language "describes" something that already exists—it is either happening right now (immediate present), or it has happened before (past). Stories and reports fall into this category because they describe or report events that have already occurred.

This type of language can be either objective or subjective. Objective language includes making verifiable statements. Some examples........

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