Speech Acts of Hope in the Film Moonlight Shadow 2021: A Pragmatic Study

Abstract

This study aims to describe the forms, functions, and meanings of hope speech acts found in the film Moonlight Shadow. The research problem concerns how hope speech acts are used in film dialogue and how pragmatic contexts influence their meanings, using the pragmatic theories of J. L. Austin, John Searle, and Geoffrey Leech. This study employs a qualitative descriptive method with observation and dialogue note-taking techniques. The data source consists of character dialogues from the film Moonlight Shadow 2021, directed by Edmund Yeo. The results show that hope speech acts appear in both direct and indirect forms, with the main function of expressing hopes for happiness, emotional recovery, and future change. Contextual factors such as situation, interpersonal relationships, and the psychological condition of the speaker greatly influence the interpretation of illocutionary meaning. This study concludes that hope speech acts play an important role in conveying emotional messages and narrative meaning in the film.