Clusivity in Presidential Discourse: A Rhetorical Discourse Analysis of State-of-the-Nation Addresses in Ghana and the United States

Dadugblor, Stephen K

doi:10.37099/mtu.dc.etdr/123

Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…There were a lot of speeches published on the internet and from which the researchers selected the most persuasive ones, which have ideological implications. The researcher also selected the speeches on the basis of their being considered as the most important ones of John Dramani Mahama (Djabetey, 2013;Dadugblor, 2016). Again, the speeches were selected on the basis that they were considered by many as successful, not necessarily because of the presence of ideologies but because of the occasions during which they were made and the general effect they had on the general public (Van Dijk, 1995).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This perception has also been collaborated by his public speeches which have won him some admiration both locally and internationally. His ability to exploit layers of linguistic structures to reflect his ideologies, philosophies as well as self and others have been found to be commendable (Dadugblor 2016;Afreh, 2016;Djabetey, 2013;Ngula, 2021). Again, Mr. John Dramani Mahama remains one of the presidents in Ghana who has occupied almost all the political offices in Ghana.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ideological discursive structures in political speeches: A critical discourse analysis of selected speeches of Mr. John Dramani Mahama

Aikins Addae,

Godwin Kusi Danquah,

Alhassan Hamidu

et al. 2023

World J. Adv. Res. Rev.

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Language continues to be a very important tool in politics. This is because, in political communication, politicians usually employ linguistic structures that have ideological implications so that they will be able to win the trust, confidence and ratification of their audiences. Towards this end, this study looks at the role of language in creating ideology and ideological discursive structures in political speeches. The study specifically explores the linguistic expressions that carry the ideologies of President John Dramani Mahama. The study uses the qualitative research approach and adopts critical discourse analysis (CDA) as the design. The purposive sampling was employed and the theoretical lens of Fairclough and van Dijk’s critical discourse analysis framework was used to analyse the data. The study discovered that Mahama conceals his ideologies in his speeches and that he employs discursive structures such as evidentiality, pronouns, rhetorical questions, metaphors and modal verbs. The study further revealed that the discursive structures also produce and sustain power and unequal power relations between Mahama and his audience. The study afforded much evidence to conclude that politics is a game that can be successfully played through a skillful employment of language.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ideological discursive structures in political speeches: A critical discourse analysis of selected speeches of Mr. John Dramani Mahama

Aikins Addae,

Godwin Kusi Danquah,

Alhassan Hamidu

et al. 2023

World J. Adv. Res. Rev.

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“…Her findings indicate that the Participant of the process is the most frequent experiential element thematised, followed by circumstantial elements, and that Processes are minimally thematised in those congregational addresses. Some linguistics studies have been undertaken on SONAs include Adjei et al (2015), Dadugblor (2016), Logogye (2021), Agbesi et al (2023), andIsrael et al (2023). As mentioned in the earlier section of this paper, Adjei et al (2015) used Transitivity model of SFL to experiences communicated in President Mills' 2009 SONA.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This study belongs to the grammar, a sub-discipline of linguistics. From discourse analysis persuasion, Dadugblor (2016) did a synchronic study of the State of the Nation Addresses in Ghana and United States of America in which he, drawing on Andru's (2013) Rhetorical Discourse Analysis, investigated the expressive value of values of the inclusive and exclusive 'we' in the selected address. The finding of the study reveals that these speakers use the exclusive and inclusive 'we' contextually to associate with different audiences for purposes of political gain with both epidemic and deliberative stances.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thematic Analysis of President Akufo-Addo’s 2023 State of the Nation Address

Botchwey,

Duah,

Adade

2023

Linguistics Initiative

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This study examines the items given prominence in President Akufo-Addo’s 2023 State of the Nation Address. As a qualitative research with textual analysis design, the study adopted the Theme-Rheme model of Halliday and Matthiessen’s (2014) Systemic Functional Linguistics theory with which the clause is construed as a message. The findings of the study indicate that (1) topical, interpersonal and textual Themes have their representation and distribution in the text. The most frequent ideational/topical Theme used in English is Participant followed by Circumstance. Process is the least thematised experiential. The textual Theme include mostly conjunctions, followed by conjunctive adjuncts. Interpersonal Theme includes mostly vocatives and few modal adjuncts and very few finite verbal operators. The elements of the topical Theme which present the core content of the message include; Participant such as Actor, Scope, Senser, and Identified – realized by pronouns and nominal group; Circumstantial of Temporal Location, Duration, Manner, Cause, Accompaniment, Role, Angle of Viewpoint. The study could be a significant contribution to scholarship in functional grammar, particularly in Theme-Rheme analysis of English use in ESL context. It demonstrates how a grammatical theory highlights foregrounding of experiences in a discourse and facilitating text composition and comprehension.

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“…The theoretical framework on which this study is grounded is Critical Discourse Analysis (Schieble, 2012;Dadugblor, 2016;Mullet, 2018). According to Schieble (2012), Critical Discourse Analysis (henceforth CDA) is a qualitative analytical methodology and approach to the study of discourse where discourses are critically described, interpreted and explained in a manner that establishes how power, identity, ideology and social inequalities are constructed, maintained and legitimised in society.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ideological Underpinnings in President John Dramani Mahama’s 2013 State of the Nation Address

Fenyi

Sapaty

2021

live

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This study sets out to investigate, examine and understand the hidden ideologies and ideological structures/devices in the 2013 State of the Nation Address of President John Dramani Mahama. The study specifically aimed to (i) ascertain the ideologies embedded in the speech and (ii) investigate linguistic expressions and devices which carry these ideological colourations in the speech under review. It uses Critical Discourse Analysis as the theoretical framework to examine the role of language in creating ideology as well as the ideological structures in the speech. These hidden ideologies are created, enacted and legitimated by the application of certain linguistic devices. The researchers deem a study of this nature important as it will expose hidden motives that Ghanaian presidents cloth in language in order to manipulate their audience through their speeches in order to win and/or sustain political power. Through thematic analysis, it was revealed that Mahama projected these ideologies in his speech: ideology of positive self-representation, ideology of human value, ideology of economic difficulty, ideology of power relations and ideology of urgency. It also revealed that Mahama projects his ideologies through the following ideological discursive structures: pronouns, biblical allusion and metaphor. The study has shown that language plays a crucial role in human existence as a means of socialisation. Language has been revealed as a means of communicating ideologies and events of the world. In the tradition of CDA, this study has confirmed that text and talk have social and cultural character and that discourse functions ideologically.

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Clusivity in Presidential Discourse: A Rhetorical Discourse Analysis of State-of-the-Nation Addresses in Ghana and the United States

Cited by 3 publications

References 38 publications

Ideological discursive structures in political speeches: A critical discourse analysis of selected speeches of Mr. John Dramani Mahama

Ideological discursive structures in political speeches: A critical discourse analysis of selected speeches of Mr. John Dramani Mahama

Thematic Analysis of President Akufo-Addo’s 2023 State of the Nation Address

Ideological Underpinnings in President John Dramani Mahama’s 2013 State of the Nation Address

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