Abstract:The pragmatics mainly discuss about how to understand the utterance of the speaker or the writer, or how speakers or writers could express their real meaning correctly. Speech act theory is important in the study of language and pragmatic research. It was first brought up by John Austin, an English philosopher in the 1950s’. Searle elaborated the principles and standard of classification of speech act in the basis of the research of Austin and brought up the indirect speech act theory, which has enriched the content of pragmatics. 

　　　The ultimate aim of foreign language education is to enable students to communicate in a foreign language effectively. There are general problems existing in the English teaching activities in education at all levels in China, that too much attention has been paid on the grasp of knowledge while the application has been ignored. Thus many students have high scores but low qualities and could not meet the requirement of age. So this theory is significant in improving students’ English skills, knowledge level, communicative competence and students’ level of the combination of theory and practice. 

　　　So this essay will point out the disadvantages in middle school English teaching activities which are caused by the absence of the application of pragmatic knowledge, according to the current English teaching situation in China. Also, this essay will propose how to improve students’ English ability through the utilization of pragmatic knowledge and deeply analyze how to apply pragmatics in every part of English teaching activities.

Keywords: speech act theory; high school teaching activity; English ability

摘 要:语用学探讨的是如何正确理解说话人或作者的真实意思、说话人或作者如何恰当地表达真实意思。言语行为理论是语言语用研究中的一个重要理论。它最初是由英国哲学家约翰·奥斯汀在20世纪50年代提出的。塞尔在奥斯丁研究的基础上阐述了言语行为的原则和分类标准，提出了间接言语行为理论，丰富了语用学的研究内涵。

　　　外语教育的最终目的是使学生能用外语进行有效的交际。我国各级学校的英语教学目前普遍存在重知识轻应用的弊病，培养的学生大多高分低能，无法适应时代的要求。因此这一理论对提高学生的外语技能、知识水平、外语交际能力、提高学生的理论和实际结合的水平具有重大的意义。

　　　本文将针对我国目前的英语教学现状，提出中学英语教学中因未能合理运用语言学知识而造成的不足，提出在教学活动中如何通过运用语用学知识，提高学生的英语能力，并深入分析如何将语用学运用于英语教学的各个环节。

关键词：言语行为理论；高中教学；外语能力