TITLE:
Epistemic Modality in Selected Presidential Inaugurals in Ghana
AUTHORS:
Cletus Komudayiri Kantorgorje, Peace Chinwendu Israel, Peter Mwinwelle
KEYWORDS:
Political Discourse, Epistemic Modality, SFL, Interpersonal Metafunction
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.9 No.6,
June
22,
2021
ABSTRACT: This paper employed the qualitative research approach to investigate the
use of epistemic modality (EM) in four
selected inaugural speeches of ex-presidents in the fourth republic of
Ghana. It was underpinned by the interpersonal metafunction in Hallidayan’s (1994)
Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) theory which dovetails into the concept
of EM. The analysis was done with the aid of corpus-based computer software—AntConc.
The findings revealed a preponderant use of modal verbs with a frequency of 165 representing 84.2% while lexical
verbs occur 13 times representing 6.6%. Adjectives and adverbs are
minimally used with a frequency of 11 and 7 representing 5.6% and 3.6%
respectively. The findings also revealed that Ghanaian presidents in the fourth
republic dominantly use high values of EM to present themselves as bold,
confident, committed and forthright in their utterances. Additionally, they
were also communicatively sensitive as they use tentative markers when
addressing sensitive issues. The study
bears implications for pedagogy, theory and practice as it boosts the concept
of EM and its appropriate use in political discourse.