Pragmatic Analysis of Selected Speeches of Some Governors on Workers’ Day Celebration in Nigeria

Isaiah I. Agbo, Rejoice C. Nwachukwu and Walter O. Ugwuagbo

English Language Teaching, 2023, vol. 16, issue 5, 77

Abstract: This study focuses on the pragmatic analysis of selected speeches made by some governors on Workers’ Day Celebration in Nigeria. The study aimed to identify and analyze the pragmatic features of the speeches and to establish how these features reveal the governors’ intentions. Purposive sampling method was used to select and transcribe two recorded speeches of Governor Emmanuel Udom (2019) of Akwa Ibom State and Governor Seyi Makinde (2020) of Oyo State. Qualitative research design was used to analyze the transcribed texts. The theoretical models of Speech Acts by Austin (1962) and Searle (1969) were deployed in the analysis. The findings revealed that the pragmatic features in the speeches were conveyed through the following illocutionary acts- assertive (33%), commissive (20%), declaratives (15%), executives (13.75%), expressive (10%), and directives (7.5%). The study also establishes that the governors’ intentions were to prioritize workers’ welfare, encourage and assure them of their interest and sustain the post-COVID 19 economy. The study concluded that the pragmatic features of the speeches effectively conveyed the governors’ intentions and motives, thus highlighting the importance of language and ideology in political communication.

Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/elt/article/download/0/0/48684/52440 (application/pdf)
https://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/elt/article/view/0/48684 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ibn:eltjnl:v:16:y:2023:i:5:p:77

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in English Language Teaching from Canadian Center of Science and Education Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Canadian Center of Science and Education ().