Self-Identity Construction: The Pragmatics Of Jane Naana’s Inaugural Speech

Abstract

The paper examines the pragmatic usage of the first and second person pronouns in the outdooring speech of Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman delivered in the University of Professional Studies’ auditorium. The study employs the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) theory. The study draws on the qualitative descriptive analytical approach to flesh out the discursive interpretations of the pronouns in the speech. The study seeks to identify the first and second-person pronominal choices and their different realizations utilized in the text. It also aims at finding out how the speaker used these pronouns to construct different identities of “self.” The paper observes that the pronoun we, and its variants have greater difference score in the text followed by I and its related forms. The less visible pronoun is you and its related forms. The paper reveals that the pronoun I is used to construct the speaker’s “self” as a vice- residential candidate, less privilege girl and a parent. The pronoun, you is employed to make generic and specific reference to the audience while we was used to show both political and national inclusion.