A PRAGMATIC STUDY OF SPEECH ACT OF ADVICE IN SELECTED ENGLISH AND ARABIC CHILDREN’S STORIES

Abstract

This research paper examines the forms and contents of three types of advice speech acts in some selected children’s bedtime stories. Directives are functions to direct the behavior of people. Advice is regarded as a directive speech act. It is used to influence people to do something. The hearer is directed by the speaker and he has the decision either to take this opinion or not. According to many writers, there are three types of advice direct, indirect and conventionally indirect. However, the aim of this study is to survey and compare the strategies of advice in English and Arabic bedtime stories. The problem is which devices are frequently used by parents that influence the children’s thinking. There are three types of advice: direct, indirect and conventionally indirect. The traditionally use of these types of advice in random Arabic and English bedtime stories. It is hypothesized that the types of advice can be existed in different texts even in the children’s bedtime stories. Advice is a directive speech act which is applicable as a linguistic phenomenon in children’s English and Arabic short stories. Discussing the selected data would be done to demonstrate how advice is delivered and to what degree its intended meaning was effectively communicated to demonstrate the realistic value; and with respect to the syntactic devices of any selected form. The analysis is hoped to be abstract in nature. Theoretically, it would lead to theoretical pragmatism, as it will shed light on the basic rules regulating the development of speech acts. This thesis is also hoped to lead to studies in different aspects of language. 1.