Asymmetry in Speech Acts: Analysing the Status of Speaker and Listener on An Ontological Perspective

Abstract

Current research on the social significance of speech acts explores two key dimensions: Speech acts' influence on the shape of collective agency or discourse analysis of constituting social reality and the impact of social roles to the effect of speech acts. The work of existing research has predominantly answer how these social phenomena are manifested through language use, rather than explain why these phenomena arise in the first place. This to some extent limits the explanatory power and applicability of speech act theory. However, if the discussion can be conducted by abstracting the two roles of speaker and listener from social institutions or specific social identities, it will enhance our understanding of: the unequal distribution of discursive power, the structural causes of inequitable conversations and the mechanisms through which language games effectively exclude specific social groups-revealing not only how exclusion operates but also what is fundamentally deprived from those expelled. Therefore, this article argues that speech acts present status asymmetry exists between the speaker and the listener, which is embodied within the role. Speakers with advantageous social identities will be further empowered, while the status gap between underrepresented speakers and their listeners caused by social standing will be compensated by their speaker's role.