A Textual Analysis of Modality in the 2015 Matriculation Speech of Prof. W. O. Ellis

Abstract

Speech presentation varies from political, religious, economic, and academic to social issues. Over the years, in academia, some research works have been carried out in various fields of speech presentation. However, studies on the modality in the speeches of educational leaders in Ghana are not pronounced. Consequently, this paper is a textual analysis of the mood choices deployed in the 2015 matriculation ceremony speech of Prof W. O. Ellis, who is one of the past vice-chancellors of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana. The matriculation ceremony was for the 2015/2016 graduate students in the Institute of Distance Learning (IDL), KNUST. With prior permission, the data (Vice Chancellor’s speech) was purposively selected from the University’s portal. The research design used for this study was qualitative. Accordingly, the speech (data) was analysed using the content analysis method. With this method, we identified the various mood structures, the conditions that necessitate a particular mood, and how the mood choices were interpreted manually. The findings showed that the mood choices used in the selected speech were declarative and imperative. Of these two mood choices, declarative was predominant (86%). However, the study revealed that interrogative mood was absent from the speech. The study recommends that, in the future, such speeches should include interrogative moods. The basis is that the interrogative moods (especially rhetorical questions) have the propensity of maintaining the interpersonal relationship between the speaker and the listener.