Analyzing the Application of Speech Act Theory in Editorial Emails of Rejected Manuscripts

Authors

  • Sohaib Alam Department of English Language and Literature, College of Sciences and Humanities, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Abdullah Bin Amer Street, 16278, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
  • Muhammad Ajmal Department of English Language and Literature, Shaikh Ayaz University Shikarpur, 78100, Shikarpur, Pakistan
  • Shaista Zeb Department of English, College of Arts and Humanities, Al Iskan, Qassim University, Buraydah, 52571, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
  • Bahia Khalifa Ibrahim Mohammed Department of English Language and Literature, College of Sciences and Humanities, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Abdullah Bin Amer Street, 16278, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
  • Anam Shams Department of English, College of Arts, University of Hafar Al-Batin, 39524, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
  • Tariq Rasheed Department of English Language and Literature, College of Sciences and Humanities, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Abdullah Bin Amer Street, 16278, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15503/jecs2025.3.727.739

Keywords:

Application of Speech Act Theory, Editorial Emails, Rejected Manuscripts, self-efficacy, inclusive education, sustainable development goals

Abstract

Aim. This paper discusses the use of Speech Act Theory to analyze editorial emails that reject an academic manuscript. The study investigates how the editorial decisions are communicated with different levels of polite, impolite, polite direct and polite assertive language in the analyzed emails' linguistic structure and pragmatic aspects.

Methods. Building on the taxonomy of speech acts proposed by John Searle, the study establishes the most common types of speech acts and their roles in rejection communication. The study will establish how editors conduct themselves as they display professionalism while giving negative feedback that could be emotionally uncomfortable to the individuals involved in the work.

Results. This research work contributes to the knowledge of pragmatic features in professional discourse to suggest improvements in academic publishing communication practice, and to improve the editor-author relationships.

Conclusion. Potential implications of this work include developing better fitting templates for the editorial correspondence that accommodate the communicative purpose and interpersonal relations.

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Author Biographies

  • Sohaib Alam, Department of English Language and Literature, College of Sciences and Humanities, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Abdullah Bin Amer Street, 16278, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    Accomplished scholar in English Language Teaching, hailing from the Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. Presently, he holds the esteemed position of Assistant Professor, specialising in Linguistics and Language, at Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University. Dr. Sohaib Alam is currently working as an Assistant Professor of English at the Department of English, College of Science and Humanities, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He holds a Ph.D. in English Language Teaching (ELT) from Aligarh Muslim University, India. He has been teaching English for over six years. Dr. Alam's intellectual footprint extends to the publication of approximately 55 research articles in Scopus and WoS. His research landscape encompasses a wide array of interests, including but not limited to Applied Linguistics, Pragmatics, Teaching Methods, Blended Learning, Pedagogic Theory, English Language Teaching (ELT), and Classroom praxis. His devotion to advancing knowledge in these domains underscores his commitment to the world of academia.

  • Muhammad Ajmal, Department of English Language and Literature, Shaikh Ayaz University Shikarpur, 78100, Shikarpur, Pakistan

    Accomplished scholar in English Language and Literature, hailing from the International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan. He embarked on a scholarly sojourn as a visiting scholar at Universitat Heidelberg in Germany. His passion for scholarly exchange led him to present his research paper at the distinguished James Joyce Conference hosted by Universitat Roma Tre in Italy. A dedicated member of the Poetics and Linguistic Association (PALA) in the UK, Dr. Ajmal's intellectual footprint extends to the publication of approximately 50 research articles. These articles are featured in esteemed local and international journals, notably indexed in Scopus and Web of Science. Dr. Ajmal's research landscape encompasses a wide array of interests, including but not limited to Corpus Stylistics, Literary Stylistics, Text Linguistics, English Language Teaching (ELT), and Narratology. He is editor in chief of Panacea Journal of Linguistics and Literature. His devotion to advancing knowledge in these domains underscores his commitment to the world of academia.

  • Shaista Zeb , Department of English, College of Arts and Humanities, Al Iskan, Qassim University, Buraydah, 52571, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    Serving as an Assistant Professor at Qassim University, Saudi Arabia. Her areas of specialization include English linguistics, discourse analysis and feminist literary criticism. She is also engaged in interdisciplinary research exploring cultural representation and identity in South Asian and Arab literary traditions. Her teaching and research reflect a global perspective on literary and cultural discourse. 

  • Bahia Khalifa Ibrahim Mohammed, Department of English Language and Literature, College of Sciences and Humanities, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Abdullah Bin Amer Street, 16278, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    Currently working as a lecturer in the College of Science and Humanities, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, KSA. She has been teaching the English language to undergraduate students for the last 10 years. Her main area of interest is English language and literature.

  • Anam Shams, Department of English, College of Arts, University of Hafar Al-Batin, 39524, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    Assistant professor of English at the University of Hafar Al Batin, Hafar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Department of English, College of Arts. She graduated from Aligarh Muslim University in India with a doctorate in English language teaching (ELT). Applied linguistics, phonetics, teaching methodologies, ESL/EFL classrooms, and language acquisition theories are among her areas of interest. She has published research articles, papers in peer-reviewed and indexed publications, and presented presentations at national and international conferences. She has been an English teacher for more than five years. 

  • Tariq Rasheed, Department of English Language and Literature, College of Sciences and Humanities, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Abdullah Bin Amer Street, 16278, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    Has been working as a Lecturer in English at Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, since 2009. Specialising in English Language and has more than 20 years of experience in teaching English at the university level.

References

Austin, J. L. (1962). How to do things with words. Oxford University Press.

Brown, P., & Levinson, S. C. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge University Press.

Jordan, R. R. (1997). English for academic purposes: A guide and resource book for teachers. Cambridge University Press.

Hyland, K. (2004). Disciplinary discourses: Social interactions in academic writing. University of Michigan Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/mpub.6719

Kourilová, M. (1998). Communicative characteristics of reviews of scientific papers written by non‑native users of English. Endocrine Regulations, 32, 107–114.

Murphy, J. (2015). Revisiting the apology as a speech act: The case of parliamentary apologies. Journal of Language and Politics, 14(2), 175–204. https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.14.2.01mur

Searle, J. R. (1969). Speech acts: An essay in the philosophy of language. Cambridge University Press.

Searle, J. R. (1979). Expression and meaning: Studies in the theory of speech acts. Cambridge University Press.

Zeb, S., Ajmal, M., Pavlikova, M., Alam, S., Ahmad, F., & Banu, S. (2024). One word and multiple senses: John Locke’s philosophy of abuse of language. World Journal of English Language, 14(6), 417. https://doi.org/10.5430/wjel.v14n6p417

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Published

2025-09-23

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 2 (2025): Journal of Education Culture and Society

Section

EXPRESSION

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Sohaib Alam, Muhammad Ajmal, Shaista Zeb , Bahia Khalifa Ibrahim Mohammed, Anam Shams, Tariq Rasheed

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. All authors agree for publishing their email adresses, affiliations and short bio statements with their articles during the submission process.

How to Cite

Alam, S. ., Ajmal, M. ., Zeb , S. ., Mohammed, B. K. I. ., Shams, A., & Rasheed, T. (2025). Analyzing the Application of Speech Act Theory in Editorial Emails of Rejected Manuscripts. Journal of Education Culture and Society, 16(2), 727-739. https://doi.org/10.15503/jecs2025.3.727.739