Studies in Pragmatics and Discourse Analysis

Face Negotiation Strategies in Selected Nyesom Wike's Media Interviews: A Pragmatic Analysis

2026-05-10T20:24:50+00:00

This study focuses on the strategic use of face acts by Nyesom Wike in media interactions within the time frame of his governorship of Rivers State (2015–2023) and ministerial position in Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory (2023 to present). Although studies on politeness breaches and the face work among journalists have been conducted in the context of Nigerian political discourse, there is still much to be explored on the strategic use of face acts by politicians for political branding and identity construction. In particular, not much attention has been paid to the systematic use of face acts by Nigerian politicians in navigating governance problems, evading accountability, and exhibiting power in impromptu media interactions. Using qualitative thematic analysis, this study examined ten purposively sampled media chats of Wike, a prominent Nigerian political figure, with journalists on Channels Television and TVC News (2022–2025). The data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using the framework of Politeness Theory by Brown and Levinson (1987). Findings reveal that the political figure, Nyesom Wike, applies several forms of face strategies, including bald on-record face threats, positive and negative politeness, off-record avoidance, and ironic reversal, contextually to negotiate power, construct identity, and brand his political style. The study adds to face management literature by providing an example of how facework is an integral part of power struggle and political branding in African political communication.

Ableism Rapport Management: A Pragmatic Analysis of Ola Rotimi’s Hopes of the Living Dead

2026-05-05T22:28:24+00:00

This study aims to investigate the discourse of the leaders of persons with(out) disability as evidenced in the dramatic piece of Ola Rotimi to uncover the existing mechanism of their rapport management in their dialogic discourses. We argue that “disabled” leaders have a high rapport management tendency with their fellow individuals with physical impediments, while “able” leaders do not consider creating and managing rapport with “disabled” persons. Eight (8) dialogic interactions were purposively sampled from the literary piece for analysis. The study employed a qualitative method of data analysis. Adopting the rapport management model of Spencer-Oatey as the theoretical framework, the study revealed that the dialogic discourses of both leaders with (out) disability are laced with different rapport management strategies that either impede or strengthen their interpersonal relationships, and that rapport is either managed or mismanaged.

Unveiling Meanings: A Pragmatic Study of Non-Standard Yemeni Arabic in Hajjah City

2026-05-07T08:37:02+00:00

This study investigates the Gricean theory of Conversational Implicature of the Yemeni Arabic variety. It is also an attempt to clarify the sorts and functions of these implicatures. The study followed the descriptive qualitative approach and the semi-structured interview was employed as an instrument of the study. With 16 respondents, the interviews were recorded, translated and analyzed. The data of study was interpreted both qualitatively and quantitatively. The results of this study show the conversational implicatures relating to the Quality and Quantity maxims applied the Yemeni variety (a dialect of Standard Arabic). In addition, the analysis reveals that the particularized conversational implicatures were prevalent in the Yemeni dialect than the generalized ones. The implicatures further function in different ways as irony, overstatement, surprise, appreciation, admiration, and criticism. The study presents a significant contribution to the field of pragmatics and develops teachers' and students' pragmatic and communicative competence at the university level.

Discursive Strategies in Digital Arenas: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Contemporary Gender Activism

2026-04-03T15:19:25+00:00

This study examines the linguistic construction of digital activism within three transnational gender-oriented movements: #MeToo, the World March of Women, and the LGBTQI+ rights movement. While prior research has largely focused on the sociological impacts and mobilization strategies of digital activism, the present study addresses a distinct gap by providing a systematic analysis of the discursive constructions through which movements synergistically construct resistance. Grounded in the Discourse-Historical Approach, the research analyzed 24 text-based documents from official movement websites from 2023 to 2025. By means of qualitative critical discourse analysis, 885 instances of discursive strategies were identified, revealing a balanced and integrative matrix wherein strategies of nomination, predication, argumentation, perspectivization, and intensification function as a unified counter-hegemonic tool. Movements combine nomination and predication to revalorize marginalized actors while delegitimizing patriarchal and capitalist structures. Argumentation and perspectivization shift accountability onto systemic actors, thus fostering transnational solidarity. Notably, the analysis found a complete absence of linguistic mitigation; instead, movements rely on intensification to amplify moral urgency. The study concludes that these movements utilize discourse as a deliberate tool for counter-hegemonic resistance and systemic transformation. It recommends that advocates maintain structurally critical language to resist algorithmic dilution and encourages future research into multimodal and counter-movement strategies.

Unpacking discursive strategies of humour and social commentary in selected skits of Adigun Alawada

2026-05-15T13:49:26+00:00

Social commentary, the act of using rhetorical means to provide commentary on social, cultural, political, or economic issues in a society conducted through the lens of humour, has received extensive attention from Nigerian academics. Nonetheless, there is a paucity of studies on social commentary and humour capturing multimodal features. The study fills this gap by undertaking a multimodal analysis that explores humour and social commentary in selected skits by Adigun Alawada on Instagram. Henri Bergson’s (1900) Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic, Norris' (2004) multimodal interaction analysis, and multimodal discourse analysis by Kress & van Leeuwen (2001) served as the study’s theoretical guide. Data were collected through the purposive sampling method and subjected to discursive analysis. Using the approaches, the study deconstructs how Alawada re-signifies mundane objects and practices into potent signs of economic precarity, gendered norms, and public health concerns. The findings demonstrate five principal thematic classifications in Adigun Alawada’s skits, including Nigerians performing religion for survival, marrying right, maternal credit in success narratives, laziness and work ethics, and advocating for healthy living. This study showcases the contemporary relevance of Henri Bergson’s theory while expanding the scope of Norris’s multimodal interaction theory applicability. The study recommends that further studies on other humourists using multimodal methods to deepen understanding of social commentary and humour in the digital space should be conducted.