AN ANALYSIS OF ILLOCUTIONARY SPEECH ACTS IN THE MOVIE NEXT GEN (2018)

This study examines the types and intended meanings of illocutionary speech acts employed by the characters in the movie Next Gen (2018). The analysis applies Searle’s (1979) classification to identify five types of illocutionary acts: assertive, directive, commissive, expressive, and declarative. In addition, Halliday and Hasan’s (1989) Context of Situation framework, consisting of field, tenor, and mode, is used to interpret the intended meanings of the utterances. This study adopts a descriptive qualitative research design. The data are taken from dialogues produced by all characters in the movie Next Gen (2018). Data were collected by watching the movie, examining the script and subtitles, identifying utterances containing illocutionary speech acts, and categorizing them based on their types. The findings reveal that all five types of illocutionary speech acts occur in the movie, with directive acts occurs most frequently, directive acts occur 55 times (37.67%), followed by assertive acts occur 40 times (27.39%), expressive acts occur 26 times (17.80%), commissive acts occur 19 times (13.01%), and declarative acts occur 6 times(4.10%). The dominance of directive acts suggest that characters frequently use language to control, guide, and influence actions, particularly in situations involving conflict and urgency. Moreover, the analysis indicates that the intended meanings of illocutionary speech acts are closely shaped by contextual factors, including participant relationships, situational activities, and the communicative role of spoken interaction within the movie’s narrative.. In conclusion, the intended meanings of illocutionary speech acts in the movie Next Gen (2018) are strongly influenced by situational context, and illocutionary speech acts play an important role in shaping communication, character interaction, and narrative progression in animated movie dialogue.