The Problem of Speech Genres Essay

The excerpt “the problem of speech genres” explores the infinite diversity of speech. The manner in which a speech is delivered is said to be unique in every sense or piece of literary work. Speech is said to only have relevance in its immediate context. Once the style and words used in the delivery of a certain speech are moved to another domain, they become irrelevant.

This inconsistency makes the classification of the types of speech into definite levels difficult. Styles that are common to certain professions or disciplines may give insight into the general orientation of the orator. The genres and styles have a relationship that cannot be changed or modified. In addition, the excerpt argues that style is complex and that it determines the nature of the grammar used in a specific speech.

The author stipulates that communication is the ultimate goal of an utterance and the entire speech. The listener should construct a response according to his or her understanding of the utterances in the speech. The author articulates that an utterance must have a comprehensive meaning and should not be confused for sentences.

The excerpt argues that styles used by a speaker are likely to be related to one unique genre. However, the entire speech is related to a standard language common to many people. The author emphasizes that the orator has to have a certain degree of familiarity with the discipline in question to be able to formulate the most apt composition of the speech.

Furthermore, words in a speech are given their appropriate meaning by the utterance in which they are contained. In this regard, their primary meaning in the language is discarded. In addition, each utterance must be able to provide a link between preceding and the succeeding ideas in a speech.

The orator continuously evaluates previous utterances in order to construct a meaningful speech. Once the orator understands the current situation, he or she can create a succeeding utterance.

The author succeeds in expressing the diversity of styles of speech in relaying verbal information. The details of a speech are explained and their unique nature extracted. In addition, the author explains the most effective way of creating a communication link using speech.

Although the author breaks down speech communication into its details, the relationship between various styles is not explored. Consequently, this seems to depict genres and different styles as independent languages.