AN ANALYSIS OF DOMINANT SPEECH ACTS PERFORMED BY ARTHUR CURRY IN AQUAMAN MOVIE: ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR ELT

Abstract

This study examines the speech acts performed by Arthur Curry in the Aquaman 2018 movie through a pragmatic analysis framework. Grounded in George Yule's (1996) speech act theory, this research aims to: (1) reveal the speech acts performed by Arthur Curry from Yule's theoretical perspective, (2) identify the dominant speech acts among the five categories representatives, directives, commissives, expressives, and declarations, and (3) describe the pedagogical implications of these findings for enhancing pragmatic competence in English Language Teaching (ELT) contexts. The study employs qualitative descriptive methods based on Yule George (1996) speech act theory, which categorizes speech acts into five types: representatives, directives, commissives, expressives, and declarations. Data were collected through observation and note-taking techniques by watching the movie, identifying Arthur Curry's utterances, transcribing relevant dialogues, and classifying them according to speech act categories. The analysis focuses on the frequency distribution and contextual application of each speech act type. The findings reveal that representative speech acts are the most dominant type performed by Arthur Curry, accounting for 34,2% of his total utterances, followed by directives (28,5%), commissives (17,1%), expressives (14,2%), and declarations (5,7%). The prevalence of representatives reflects his character arc as someone who communicates through confident, truth-based statements as he transitions from a reluctant hero to the King of Atlantis. Furthermore, Arthur Curry's diverse speech act patterns offer authentic and engaging materials for EFL/ESL classrooms, helping learners understand the relationship between language form, function, and social context. This study concludes that cinematic discourse serves as a valuable resource for developing learners' pragmatic competence in real-world communication.