Question 2: Most Valuable Communication Theory Everyone has experienced that moment when you are talking to someone and you think “what does this mean?” Sometimes the message the sender is trying to convey is interpreted differently by the recipient. Perceptions are what guide a person's interpretation of the meaning behind the message. That said, there is a theory of communication that explains the function of language and how it was used to send a message. In short, this valuable theory links words to actions and can serve as a tool that can be used in everyday communication. Within the philosophy of language there is a theory that attempts to explain how speakers use language to send a message and how recipients interpret what they intend to say. message from what is said. This theory, commonly called Speech Act Theory, was developed by Oxford philosopher JL Austin. When Austin surpassed one of his former students, John R. Searle continued to develop this theory by further elaborating and refining it. Speech act theory can be divided into several categories, but first, what is a speech act? A speech act is an expression that serves as a functional unit in human communication. The linguistic acts that a person can perform are infinite. Speech acts are not uniform, but rather open to interpretation and negotiation. They can be defined by a culture, community, religion, etc. However, Austin originally established that what we say has three types of meaning: locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary. Locutionary meaning concerns the literal meaning of what is said. For example, the meaning of someone saying "it's hot in here" literally means that the temperature in the room is hot. Illocutionary meaning......center of card......nt culture. Speech act theory is closely coined with intercultural pragmatics. By using both constitutive and regulative rules I can better address someone from a different culture. In conclusion, speech act theory was the most valuable theory I learned this semester because it breaks down language and addresses how to realize the intended meaning while creating at the same time I realize how the meaning I intended to intend could be misunderstood. By exercising the elements presented in this theory I can approach a given situation and systematically assign unit acts to specific types of speech acts. This in turn will help me frame the intended message in a way that can successfully reach the audience by following the rules of speech acts, as well as accurately interpret the intended message to the best of my ability by identifying the function of the speech act.