言語行為理論
言語行為理論（speech act theory）是由英國哲學家約翰·奧斯丁於1962年#註1提出。這個理論認為，我們日常的對話可以分為六種話語區類型：
 命令
 要求
 祝願 / 致歉
 詢問 / 祈使
 邀請
 感歎

利用這種分類，有利於學習，而這種好處並不單單局限於第二語言的學習。

香港作家畢華流先生曾就這個理論，在他的作品《頑皮教室》裡用“下課了”這三個字來“說明”：在不同的場合下，同一句句子可以有不同的意思，並符合上述的六種話語分類。

例子 
 透过说，「小心！地滑」，-{A|zh:瑪莉;zh-hk:瑪莉;zh-cn:玛丽}-做出提醒-{A|zh:彼得;zh-hk:彼得;zh-cn:皮特}-要當心的言語行為。
 透过说，「我會盡我所能，在家裡吃晚飯。」，彼得做出承諾在家裡吃晚飯的言語行為。
 透过说，「各位先生女士，請您們留心喔！」，瑪莉請求聽眾安靜。
 透过说，「和我比一下！目的地是那座建築物。」，彼得向瑪莉下戰書。

参考资料 

 約翰·奧斯丁: How to Do Things With Words. Cambridge (Mass.) 1962 - Paperback: Harvard University Press, 2nd edition, 2005, ISBN 0-674-41152-8.
 William P. Alston: 'Illocutionary Acts and Sentence Meaning'. Ithaca: Cornell University Press 2000, ISBN 0-8014-3669-9.
 Doerge, Friedrich Christoph. Illocutionary Acts - Austin's Account and What Searle Made Out of It. . Tuebingen 2006.
 Dorschel, Andreas, 'What is it to understand a directive speech act?', in: Australasian Journal of Philosophy LXVII (1989), nr. 3, pp. 319-340.
 约翰·罗杰斯·希尔勒, Speech Acts, Cambridge University Press 1969, ISBN 0-521-09626-X..
 约翰·罗杰斯·希尔勒, "Indirect speech acts." In Syntax and Semantics, 3: Speech Acts, ed. P. Cole & J. L. Morgan, pp. 59–82. New York: Academic Press. (1975). Reprinted in Pragmatics: A Reader, ed. S. Davis, pp. 265–277. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (1991)
 Geo Siegwart, "Alethic Acts and Alethiological Reflection. An Outline of Constructive Philosophy of Truth." In Truth and Speech Acts: Studies in the philosophy of language, ed. D. Greimann & G. Siegwart, pp. 41–58. New York: Routledge. (2007)
 Winograd, T. & Flores, F., Understanding Computers and Cognition: A New Foundation for Design, Ablex Publishing Corp, (Norwood), 1986. ISBN 0-89391-050-3.
 Birgit Erler: The speech act of forbidding and its realizations: A linguistic analysis. Saarbrücken: VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, 2010, ISBN 978-3-639-23275-2.
 Robert Maximilian de Gaynesford: Illocutionary acts, Subordination, and Silencing  in Analysis, July 2009.
 Outi, Malmivuori; Zu Stand und Entwicklung der Sprechakttheorie. Zu Grundsätzen der Theorie des spachlichen Handelns. AkademikerVerlag. 2012. ISBN 978-3-639-44043-0

外部連結
 Speech Acts entry from Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, by Kent Bach 
 Barry Smith, Towards a History of Speech Act Theory 
 Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents 
 Speech Acts . Mitchell Green, in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
 Strategies for Learning Speech Acts in Japanese by Noriko Ishihara
 Moumni, Hassan (2005). Politeness in Parliamentary Discourse : A Comparative Pragmatic Study of British and Moroccan MPs’ Speech Acts at Question Time.  Unpub. Ph.D. Thesis.  Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco.

语言学