{"title":"A Critical Discourse Analysis of a Female Vice-Presidential Candidate’s Acceptance Speech","authors":"Ramos Asafo-Adjei, Francis Bukari, E. K. Klu","doi":"10.31849/reila.v5i1.12331","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This instrumental qualitative case study examined the acceptance speech of Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, the first female vice presidential candidate of a major political party in Ghana. The study aimed to identify the discourse elements and cohesive devices used in the speech and to evaluate how she conveyed her political ideology and gender identity. Specifically, the research question was: which discourse elements and cohesive devices were employed, and how were political ideology and gender identity manifested in the speech? The data consisted of an eight-page speech delivered on July 28, 2020, in Accra, containing 3,972 words. Fairclough's (2015) Three-Dimensional textual analysis model was used for data analysis, which includes description, presentation and interpretation, and explanation of social reasons. Results showed that Professor Opoku-Agyemang used discourse elements and cohesive devices such as 'however,' 'also,' and 'second' to highlight her academic and political expertise and present herself as a qualified vice presidential candidate. She aimed to inspire women and encourage them to aspire to any position, including becoming the president of Ghana. The study's findings contribute to existing literature and can inform future research on female political representation, exposing the approaches of a marginalized group and their use of speeches to gain recognition within Ghana’s political space and beyond.","PeriodicalId":186555,"journal":{"name":"REiLA : Journal of Research and Innovation in Language","volume":"397 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"REiLA : Journal of Research and Innovation in Language","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.31849/reila.v5i1.12331","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This instrumental qualitative case study examined the acceptance speech of Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, the first female vice presidential candidate of a major political party in Ghana. The study aimed to identify the discourse elements and cohesive devices used in the speech and to evaluate how she conveyed her political ideology and gender identity. Specifically, the research question was: which discourse elements and cohesive devices were employed, and how were political ideology and gender identity manifested in the speech? The data consisted of an eight-page speech delivered on July 28, 2020, in Accra, containing 3,972 words. Fairclough's (2015) Three-Dimensional textual analysis model was used for data analysis, which includes description, presentation and interpretation, and explanation of social reasons. Results showed that Professor Opoku-Agyemang used discourse elements and cohesive devices such as 'however,' 'also,' and 'second' to highlight her academic and political expertise and present herself as a qualified vice presidential candidate. She aimed to inspire women and encourage them to aspire to any position, including becoming the president of Ghana. The study's findings contribute to existing literature and can inform future research on female political representation, exposing the approaches of a marginalized group and their use of speeches to gain recognition within Ghana’s political space and beyond.
这个工具性质的案例研究考察了加纳一个主要政党的第一位女性副总统候选人Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang教授的获奖演讲。本研究旨在识别演讲中使用的话语元素和衔接手段,并评估她是如何传达自己的政治意识形态和性别认同的。具体来说,研究的问题是:使用了哪些话语要素和衔接手段,政治意识形态和性别认同是如何在演讲中表现出来的?这些数据包括2020年7月28日在阿克拉发表的一篇8页的演讲,其中包含3972个单词。使用Fairclough(2015)的三维文本分析模型进行数据分析,包括描述、呈现和解释以及对社会原因的解释。结果显示,奥波库-阿吉曼教授使用了“然而”、“也”、“第二”等话语要素和衔接手段,突出了自己的学术和政治专长,并将自己塑造成合格的副总统候选人。她的目标是激励女性,鼓励她们追求任何职位,包括成为加纳总统。这项研究的发现有助于现有文献,并可以为未来关于女性政治代表的研究提供信息,揭示边缘化群体的方法及其使用演讲来获得加纳政治空间内外的认可。