Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine how various speech act strategies were used in email communication. The data were collected from engineering students enrolled in an English language proficiency class. A qualitative methodology was utilized with the analysis based on Searle (1969) five illocutionary speech act types: assertive, directive, commissive, expressive, and declarations. The results showed that expressive utterances were predominately used (n = 22; 33.8%) by the students compared with directive utterances (n = 16; 24.6%), assertive utterances (n = 12; 18.4%), commissive utterances (n = 8; 12.3%) and declarations (n = 7; 10.8%). These expressive utterances were found to be convincing in persuasive contexts where they were integrated with attitudes or social behaviors. The study suggests that students should be exposed to the appropriate use of speech acts in their writing tasks to make their writing more convincing and interesting. Finally, the study finds that integration of speech act theory into writing classes can benefit students in their persuasive writing skills.