Linguistic Analysis of the Speech act of persuasion in Political speech: A Study of Iraqi P.M. Mustafa Al-Kadhimi’s Speech

Abstract

Persuasion via language becomes essential in all the field of life. It is very useful to know how people use language to deal with others especially in the ways of persuasion. This study attempts to get a linguistic analysis for a press conference for the Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi held in Baghdad in 07/06/2022 two years after Al-Kadhimi took office. This linguistic analysis is conducted from the perspective of persuasion to examine speech acts as persuasive devices and how Al-Kadhimi employed them to persuade his addressees. It also investigates which type of speech acts Al-Kadhimi relied on as a central persuasive device to achieve the act of persuasion. This study adopts speech act theory in analysing speeches because the later focuses on the interpretation of acts via words and reflects the intent of the addresser in the type of the speech act selected. The importance of this research lies in how to know and use the bases of linguistics in studying the styles of persuasions in English language in general and in political discourse as a special case. This study finds that Mustafa Al-Kadhimi has focused more on commisives and expressive speech acts within the descriptions in the assertives to prepare the addressees for successful persuasion for accepting the directives which are the main goal of his speech.