Experiential Meaning Construction in Political Discourse: A Transitivity Analysis of the Inaugural Address of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the President of the Republic of Ghana

Abstract

The exploration of the interface between language and politics is taking a heightened dimension across disciplines. The study examined how language has been used by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in his inaugural address to the people of Ghana from a functional perspective. The study is premised on Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar and employs the qualitative research design in the analysis of the text. The main focus of the study was the analysis of transitivity in the address and the functions it plays in political discourse. The study applied the interpretative content analysis to investigate the communicative functions of the linguistic choices made in the address. The study used 284 clauses in the inaugural address for the analysis. It was discovered that material processes dominate the speech whereas the existential process types are used minimally. The dominant use of material processes implies that president Nana Addo and his government are going to be the main actors working on several concrete projects to create a sense of continuity in development and policy direction in a challenging administration he has inherited. The use of the material clauses, therefore, shows the enthusiasm with which the president intends to work in order to reform the challenging economy. The minimal use of the existential processes also implies that though there have been some attempts to solve Ghana’s socio-economic challenges, some problems persist in the country. The speech recorded no behavioural process type because the study did not analyse the paralinguistic elements of the text. The study concludes that the president made use of more primary process types in his inaugural address than the secondary process types. Citation: Cynthia Logogye and  Lawrence Ewusi-Mensah (2021)  Experiential Meaning Construction in Political Discourse: A Transitivity Analysis of the Inaugural Address of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the President Of The Republic Of Ghana, European Journal of English Language and Literature Studies, Vol.9, No.7, pp.24-33