The Best drink in town : an analysis of representative in selected business advertisements of milk tea in social media / by Louise Nicole W. Bargo, Mariell S. Baylon, Erica Jean I. Dorias, Shieka Espineli and Darlene Malimban.

Thesis (Bachelor of Arts in English Language Studies) Cavite State University.

Includes bibliographical references.

College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). Department of Humanities.

BARGO, LOUISE NICOLE W., BAYLON, MARIELL S., DORIAS, ERICA JEAN I., ESPINELI, SHIEKA, and MALIMBAN, DARLENE. The Best Drink In Town: An Analysis of Representatives in Selected Business Advertisements of Milk Tea in Social Media. Undergraduate Thesis. Bachelor of Arts in English Language Studies. Cavite State University, Indang Cavite. June 2022. Adviser: Ms. Catherine R. Mojica

The study focused on the analysis of the types of representative speech act in selected business advertisements of milk tea in social media. The classifications of the representative type of speech act (Searle, 1969) were explored in this study. Specifically, the study aimed to: 1. gather samples of business advertisements of milk tea in social media; 2. determine the specific representative speech act types present in the language used by the advertisers of different milk tea brands; 3. identify the most commonly occurring type of representative speech act on the business advertisements of the product under study, and 4. explain how the representative speech acts serve the purpose of Milk Tea advertisers in communicating with consumers. The advertisements that were used were obtained from social media posts from June - December 2021. The study employed a descriptive design. A total of 120 infographics of the business advertisements were purposively obtained from the official Facebook page of each Milk Tea Shop after the approval of the milk tea shop owners. Only those ads reflecting the representative speech act were selected. Frequency counting, percentage, and ranking were used in the analysis of data. The study revealed that among the five representative types of speech act, the descriptive type was the most commonly occurring in milk tea advertisements with a total of 52 (43.11%) samples. The claim type was found second in rank (19.17%). Ads using statements were found third in rank (16.67%), while the assertion type was noted on the fourth rank (11.67%). Lastly, the hypothesis type was found to be fifth in rank (9.17%.) As implied, the descriptive type gives the most specific description about the product being advertised; hence, advertisers commonly use this type. In conclusion, the representative speech act helps the advertisers to promote their business products. The classifications of the representative types of speech acts used in the advertisements of milk tea brands in social media are descriptive, claims, statements, assertions, and hypothesis. Moreover, the descriptive type of the representative speech act is commonly used in business ads of milk tea brands. Lastly, advertisers use facts and descriptive words more often which can possibly help consumers set expectations about the product. The study recommends that the use of the descriptive type of the representative speech act be considered by food advertisers in the preparation of promotional materials. With its potential to be published in journals, language teachers may use this as reference material in the teaching of speech acts. The study could also be recommended to future researchers if they would like to work on similar studies utilizing other speech acts in other types of texts.

Submitted to the University Library 07/18/2022 T-9262