IDEOLOGY AND POLITICAL DISCOURSE: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF PRESIDENT NANA AKUFFO ADDO’S 2018 STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS

Abstract

This paper is a critical discourse analysis of the 2018 (SONA)- State of the Nation Address delivered by Ghana’s president, Nana Akuffo-Addo. Using van Dijk’s (2004) ideological strategies, the study investigates how the president tries to justify his government’s ideas and persuades his audience by utilizing subtle ideological discourse structures in his speech. The text used in the study is the whole of the 2018 state of the nation address obtained from www.my joy online.org. The study employs content analysis for analysing the data. The major ideological strategies employed have been positive self-representation and in-group favouritism supported by minor ideological strategies while projecting past opponent governments negatively. Article visualizations: