Pragmatic persuasion in English and Uzbek ads: Speech acts, implicature, cultural adaptation

https://doi.org/10.35912/utlj.v1i2.3506
Published: Nov 6, 2025

Abstract:

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze pragmatic persuasive strategies in English and Uzbek advertisements, with a focus on how speech acts, conversational implicature, and cultural adaptation function in shaping promotional discourse.

Research Methodology: The study employed a qualitative comparative analysis of 200 advertisements (100 English, 100 Uzbek). Data were categorized according to Searle’s speech act taxonomy and Grice’s implicature framework, complemented with an examination of cultural adaptation strategies.

Results: Findings indicate that English advertisements favor direct speech acts and universal implicature, emphasizing clarity and individual empowerment. By contrast, Uzbek advertisements rely more on indirect speech acts, culturally embedded implicature, and adaptation mechanisms aligned with collective values and respect for hierarchy.

Conclusions: Successful cross-cultural advertising requires sensitivity to pragmatic norms and cultural expectations, as literal translation alone does not achieve persuasive effectiveness.

Limitations: The research is limited to selected English and Uzbek advertisements and may not generalize to all advertising contexts.

Contribution: This study contributes to pragmatics, translation studies, and advertising discourse analysis by offering theoretical insights and practical recommendations for cross-cultural adaptation in global communication.

Keywords:
1. Cultural Adaptation
2. English Advertising
3. Implicature
4. Persuasion
5. Pragmatic Strategies
6. Speech Acts
7. Translation
8. Uzbek Advertising
Authors:
Sherkulova Makhliyo Khasan Kizi
Uzbekistan State World Languages University, Uzbekistan
View PDF
How to Cite
Kizi, S. M. K. . (2025). Pragmatic persuasion in English and Uzbek ads: Speech acts, implicature, cultural adaptation. Universal Teaching and Learning Journal, 1(2), 161–174. https://doi.org/10.35912/utlj.v1i2.3506
Download Citation
  1. Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)
  2. BibTeX

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
Issue & Section
Vol. 1 No. 2 (2025): September
Articles
Creative Commons License

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

References

    Aksoy, R. (2024). Transcreation of Advertisements as Narratives. Journal of Narrative and Language Studies, 12(26), 415-425. doi:https://doi.org/10.59045/nalans.2024.67

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

    Chen, G., Li, Y., & Sun, Y. (2023). How YouTubers make popular marketing videos? Speech acts, move structure, and audience response in YouTube influencer marketing videos. Sage Open, 13(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231152227

    Corrius, M., & Espasa, E. (2023). Is transcreation another way of translating? Subtitling Estrella Damm’s advertising campaigns into English. Íkala, Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura, 28(2). doi:https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.ikala.v28n2a09

    De Mooij, M. (2019). Consumer behavior and culture: Consequences for global marketing and advertising

    Díaz-Millón, M., & Olvera-Lobo, M. D. (2023). Towards a definition of transcreation: a systematic literature review. Perspectives, 31(2), 347-364. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2021.2004177

    Grice, H. P. (1975). Logic and Conversation. In P. a. M. Cole, J. L. (Ed.), Syntax and Semantics, Vol. 3: Speech Acts (pp. 41–58). New York: Academic Press.

    Hall, E. T. (1976). Beyond Culture. New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday.

    Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Kassawat, M. (2020). Decoding transcreation in corporate website localization into Arabic. The Journal of Internationalization and Localization, 7(1-2), 69-94. doi:https://doi.org/10.1075/jial.20010.kas

    Ma, X., Ren, J., Lang, X., Yang, Z., & Li, T. (2024). The influence of live video hosts' speech act on purchase behaviour. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 81. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2024.103984

    Mahkamova, S. A. (2022). The Importance of Pragmatics in Translating Advertising Slogans. Eurasian Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 9(65-67).

    Mamedov, A. (2015). Speech Act Classification of German Advertising Texts. Russian Journal of Linguistics(2), 90-103.

    Mavis Ho, N.-K. (2021). Transcreation in marketing: A corpus-based study of persuasion in optional shifts from English to Chinese. Perspectives, 29(3), 426-438. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2020.1778046

    Meade, C. D., Stanley, N. B., Arevalo, M., Tyson, D. M., Chavarria, E. A., Loi, C. X. A., . . . Christy, S. M. (2023). Transcreation matters: A learner centric participatory approach for adapting cancer prevention messages for Latinos. Patient Education and Counseling, 115. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2023.107888

    Novik, K. (2024). Communicative and Pragmatic Features of Advertising Text In English And Russian (Based On Social Discourse) International Journal of Artificial Intelligence, 4(4), 266-268.

    Retnowati, Y. (2015). Challenges in cross cultural advertising. Humaniora, 27(3), 340-349.

    Searle, J. R. (1975). A taxonomy of illocutionary acts. In K. Gunderson (Ed.), Language, mind, and knowledge (pp. 344–369). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

    Sherqulova, M., & Abduvahobova, M. (2022). Violation of conversation maxims by grice and implicature in advertasing. Chet tillarni o‘qitishda dolzarb muammolar, innovatsiyalar, an’analar, yechimlar va badiiy adabiyotlar tahlili, 1(1), 126-128.

    Surayyo, I. Pragmalinguistic Features of Text and Language Advertising. World Bulletin of Social Sciences, 15, 75-77.

    Suyarova, K. (2023). Exploring The Language Of Advertising: Pragmatic Features Of Ad Texts. Educational Research in Universal Sciences, 2(Special Issue 5), 575-577.

    Tanaka, K. (1994). Advertising language: A pragmatic approach to advertisements in Britain and Japan. London & New York: Routledge.

    Usmani, S., & Almashham, A. (2024). Cross-cultural pragmatics: Analysing speech acts in different cultures. International Journal of Language and Literary Studies, 6(1), 186-198. doi:https://doi.org/10.36892/ijlls.v6i1.1586

    Valdés, C. (2019). Advertising translation and pragmatics The Routledge handbook of translation and pragmatics (1st ed., pp. 171-190): Routledge.

    Zhang, J. (2024). Pragmatic Analysis of Advertising Slogans from the Perspective of Politeness Principle. Journal of Theory and Practice in Linguistics, 1(1), 15-20.

  1. Aksoy, R. (2024). Transcreation of Advertisements as Narratives. Journal of Narrative and Language Studies, 12(26), 415-425. doi:https://doi.org/10.59045/nalans.2024.67
  2. Austin, J. L. (1962). How to do things with words. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  3. Chen, G., Li, Y., & Sun, Y. (2023). How YouTubers make popular marketing videos? Speech acts, move structure, and audience response in YouTube influencer marketing videos. Sage Open, 13(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231152227
  4. Corrius, M., & Espasa, E. (2023). Is transcreation another way of translating? Subtitling Estrella Damm’s advertising campaigns into English. Íkala, Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura, 28(2). doi:https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.ikala.v28n2a09
  5. De Mooij, M. (2019). Consumer behavior and culture: Consequences for global marketing and advertising
  6. Díaz-Millón, M., & Olvera-Lobo, M. D. (2023). Towards a definition of transcreation: a systematic literature review. Perspectives, 31(2), 347-364. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2021.2004177
  7. Grice, H. P. (1975). Logic and Conversation. In P. a. M. Cole, J. L. (Ed.), Syntax and Semantics, Vol. 3: Speech Acts (pp. 41–58). New York: Academic Press.
  8. Hall, E. T. (1976). Beyond Culture. New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday.
  9. Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
  10. Kassawat, M. (2020). Decoding transcreation in corporate website localization into Arabic. The Journal of Internationalization and Localization, 7(1-2), 69-94. doi:https://doi.org/10.1075/jial.20010.kas
  11. Ma, X., Ren, J., Lang, X., Yang, Z., & Li, T. (2024). The influence of live video hosts' speech act on purchase behaviour. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 81. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2024.103984
  12. Mahkamova, S. A. (2022). The Importance of Pragmatics in Translating Advertising Slogans. Eurasian Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 9(65-67).
  13. Mamedov, A. (2015). Speech Act Classification of German Advertising Texts. Russian Journal of Linguistics(2), 90-103.
  14. Mavis Ho, N.-K. (2021). Transcreation in marketing: A corpus-based study of persuasion in optional shifts from English to Chinese. Perspectives, 29(3), 426-438. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2020.1778046
  15. Meade, C. D., Stanley, N. B., Arevalo, M., Tyson, D. M., Chavarria, E. A., Loi, C. X. A., . . . Christy, S. M. (2023). Transcreation matters: A learner centric participatory approach for adapting cancer prevention messages for Latinos. Patient Education and Counseling, 115. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2023.107888
  16. Novik, K. (2024). Communicative and Pragmatic Features of Advertising Text In English And Russian (Based On Social Discourse) International Journal of Artificial Intelligence, 4(4), 266-268.
  17. Retnowati, Y. (2015). Challenges in cross cultural advertising. Humaniora, 27(3), 340-349.
  18. Searle, J. R. (1975). A taxonomy of illocutionary acts. In K. Gunderson (Ed.), Language, mind, and knowledge (pp. 344–369). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
  19. Sherqulova, M., & Abduvahobova, M. (2022). Violation of conversation maxims by grice and implicature in advertasing. Chet tillarni o‘qitishda dolzarb muammolar, innovatsiyalar, an’analar, yechimlar va badiiy adabiyotlar tahlili, 1(1), 126-128.
  20. Surayyo, I. Pragmalinguistic Features of Text and Language Advertising. World Bulletin of Social Sciences, 15, 75-77.
  21. Suyarova, K. (2023). Exploring The Language Of Advertising: Pragmatic Features Of Ad Texts. Educational Research in Universal Sciences, 2(Special Issue 5), 575-577.
  22. Tanaka, K. (1994). Advertising language: A pragmatic approach to advertisements in Britain and Japan. London & New York: Routledge.
  23. Usmani, S., & Almashham, A. (2024). Cross-cultural pragmatics: Analysing speech acts in different cultures. International Journal of Language and Literary Studies, 6(1), 186-198. doi:https://doi.org/10.36892/ijlls.v6i1.1586
  24. Valdés, C. (2019). Advertising translation and pragmatics The Routledge handbook of translation and pragmatics (1st ed., pp. 171-190): Routledge.
  25. Zhang, J. (2024). Pragmatic Analysis of Advertising Slogans from the Perspective of Politeness Principle. Journal of Theory and Practice in Linguistics, 1(1), 15-20.