Abstract:
With the establishment of democratic cultures in Africa, the need for a deeper
appreciation and application of the communicative functions (as the fundamental
principles of rhetoric) which the linguistic choices of a political speaker are able to
generate within a particular social context is not only essential but also critical. This
study explores the illocutionary acts performed in Presidential Inaugural Addresses
(PIAs) by some Ghanaian presidents of the 4th republic and their intended communicative
effects on the audience. It also investigates the indicators that give rise to these acts. This
is a qualitative study which adopts an exploratory design. The sample speeches used are
President J. E. A. Mills’ 2009 inaugural speech and President Mahama’s 2013 inaugural
speech. Rooted in Austin’s (1962) and Searle’s (1969) Speech Act Theory, four out of the
five classes of illocutionary speech acts delineated by Searle are significant in the
speeches. They include assertives (60.89%), commissives (20.51%), expressives
(11.54%) and directives (7.05%) of the total data. The study concludes that Presidential
Inaugural Speeches (PIAs) are characterized by dominant performing of assertives and no
declaratives. These illocutionary acts are used to depict past, present and future situations
in the country and to inspire public confidence in the governments. The acts are indicated
by the interplay of the time, the mood and the subject of the verb phrase of the
proposition and the use of performative verbs. The study has implications for literature on
African political speeches in general and particularly, presidential speeches. It also has
implications for the Speech Act Theory.
Description:
A THESIS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION, FACULTY OF
FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND COMMUNICATION, SUBMITTED TO THE
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION,
WINNEBA, IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
AWARD OF MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY OF ENGLISH DEGREE
OCTOBER, 2015