ERICAH M.

VILLACARLOS, AB POLSCI 3A |SHORT PAPER

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I. What are objectives of the study? Are they met?

The objectives of the study “President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s Political Speeches: A Critical
Discourse Analysis” by Dr. Rubic-Remorosa includes the objectives of 1)Identifying the
linguistic features present in the political speeches delivered by President Rodrigo Roa
Duterte, including but not limited to rhetorical devices, speech patterns, and lexical
choices, in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the language employed in his
discourse ; and 2) Examining the underlying social issues and ideologies embedded in
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte's political speeches, with a focus on the themes, values, and
perspectives that inform and shape the content of his discourse. Yes, these objectives were
met and in fact, the Critical Discourse Analysis. it revealed that President Duterte employed
simplified language, emphasized government actions and future plans through transitivity,
utilized modality to enhance audience acceptance, and employed pronouns to establish
intimacy and shared responsibility. All of these were the results of Critical Discourse
Analysis.

II. What information are included in the background of the study?

The background of the study includes citing Ellis (1998), the extensive range of speeches
given by the presidents to audiences that are diverse in nature by challenging to identify
whether a particular "modern" or "traditional". As such, this poses dilemma to researchers
that aims to distinctly categorize various forms of presidential rhetoric add nuanced
insights to our understanding, they may also yield distorted conclusions due to the tailored
nature of these speeches to specific audiences or policies. In 1996, Hacker noted that
assertion of power in the hands of political leaders whether they be pharaohs, kings, or
presidents, fundamentally relies on persuasive arguments embedded in language.
Therefore, political leaders put significant importance to language, as language and
rhetoric unquestionably serve as the primary means through which they execute their
responsibilities and conduct the affairs of their office. Brno in 2011, stated that although
political speeches possess distinct characteristics they have undergone a transformation
away from traditional norms due to media pressures and the need to engage their audience
tending to resemble everyday informal speech, emphasizing not just informativeness but
also entertainment, catering to media gatekeepers who influence content presentation. This
is why Critical Discourse Analysis is essential to these kind of studies due to its flexibility
whether it may be linguistics, language studies, and other social science disciplines,
according to Chouliaraki and Fairclough in 1999. Through this study, it demonstrated the
close linkages between language, power, and ideology, dispelling the notion of language
neutrality. Most studies generated by this analysis are centrally focused in oral texts,
notably political speeches. With this, the researcher is motivated in pursuing this study to
conduct an investigation by seeking a deeper understanding on the discourse of politics as
well as power and dominance and understanding the plans and visions of President Duterte
for the country as a whole.
ERICAH M. VILLACARLOS, AB POLSCI 3A |SHORT PAPER

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III. What is the thesis statement/overall argument of the study?

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte's political speeches embodies linguistic features that
uncovers underlying social issues and ideologies.

IV. What data was used? How was/were it/they gathered and analyzed?

Using Critical Dscourse Analysis, thirty speeches of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte
delivered during his first six months in office, from June 30, 2016, to December 31, 2026
were retrieved in an online archive and the furnished hard copies from the Office of the
President but were focused mainly on the linguistic features, rhetorical strategies and
content of the corpora. These include state of the nation address, inaugural speeches,
ASEAN chairmanship acceptance speech, manifestoes, international conferences, state
visits, among others, all of which were included in this study. The analysis followed
Fairclough's and van Dijk's frameworks, examining both macro and micro levels, while also
identifying prevalent ideologies in the speeches. This study's method is a descriptive
qualitative method.

V. What concepts/ideas specific theories in language studies and politics are dis
cussed and mentioned?

There's a lot of theories or concepts stated from the paper that took m y interest. First, by
Van Dijk (1998), is the critical discourse analytical theory, that examines how text and
speech in the social and political context can both perpetuate and resist social power abuse,
dominance, and inequality. Second is Fairclough's detailed analysis. This posit a macro -
level analysis that encompasses power, dominance, inequality, ideology, and more, and
micro-level analysis, which focuses on language use, discourse, verbal interaction, and
communication. This is the systemic functional linguistics theory as cited by Eggins in
1994, as it addresses social issues, viewing power relations as discursive, discourse as
shaping society and culture, and language as a form of social action that carries historical,
cultural, and ideological dimension which can be represented diagrammatically to illustrate
that relate to linguistics. Lastly, the Cognitive Metaphor Theory, which is a traditional
perspective viewing metaphor as a not a mere linguistic ornament but rather a cognitive
phenomenon.

VI. How were these concepts/ideas used for the study?

This was used as a theoretical framework aligning with the study's objectives of examining
President Duterte's usage of linguistics in his political speeches conveying power, ideology,
context control, and mind control. The researcher also cited Woods (2006), as Woods
supported this study emphasizing political discourse's employment of linguistic
techniques. There is also an aspect of the framework considers the way in which pronouns
may be used in the text, whether they are inclusive (our, us, we, etc.) or exclusive (they,
their, them, he,she, it, you, your etc.).
ERICAH M. VILLACARLOS, AB POLSCI 3A |SHORT PAPER

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VII. Are there mention of the elements of political discourse (form and function, l
anguage use, relevant socio-political context)? What are they?

Yes, there are. These include usage of deixis and pronouns, the researcher specifically
highlighted personal pronouns, possessives, and reflexives. The primary emphasis was on
the first-person plural pronoun "we" to closely examine its relationship with performance
of identity. Another is the transitivity and passivity. Metaphor was included, although it is
literary device, it plays a crucial role to present people in social reality. The researcher also
mentioned Hoey (2000), with the usage of factive verbs exploring the form of embedded
evaluation. Also, the change of state verbs, rhetoric strategies was mentioned in the study
along with the two levels of utterance.

VIII. Are there limitations mentioned in the study? What are they?

Yes, the researcher acknowledged that the speeches were delivered in an oral form, so
variations of pitches could enhance audience engagement. However, her data only includes
transcripts of the speeches, without considering the vocal delivery. Furthermore, the
researcher also noted there are gaps in the study of rhetorical strategies specifically Gutter
language of the President, intertextual representations, and other stylistic devices used by
the president in a larger scale of corpora. It is also worth noting that the data for this study
was limited only to thirty speeches delivered during the first six months of Duterte's
presidency, which may not necessarily reflect his consistent communication strategies over
his entire term. The researcher also pointed the absence of analysis on evasion and
euphemism suggesting that these areas could be explored by future researchers.

IX. What approach of PDA was used? How is this approach suitable for the study
?

The approach was anchored on the critical discourse analytical theory in the context of
Critical Discourse Analysis. This is becuase CDA is both interpretative and explanatory
whilst viewing discourse as a means of social action. Furthermore, CDA identifies a range
of significant factors at the macro level of analysis, such as power, dominance, inequality,
hegemony, ideology, class, gender, race, and discrimination. However, the micro -level of
social order is characterized by elements like language use, discourse, verbal interaction,
and communication. In its essence, CDA strives to bridge the divide between these two
micro and macro analytical approaches.

X. Are the results and discussions clearly presented helpful for the understandi
ng of the topic? How?

Yes, in fact it has answered the objectives. Using the Critical Discourse Analysis, the
researcher arrived into conclusion that President Duterte's speeches employed simple
language that is accessible and relatable to the audience. It revolved in the process of
showcasing government achievements under his tenure, initiatives, and places. The modal
of verbs, tenses and pronounces ensured that the audience understood his policies and built
ERICAH M. VILLACARLOS, AB POLSCI 3A |SHORT PAPER

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trust in the government's capabilities. By using CDA, it shed light on the intricate
relationships among language, ideology, and power and how the impact of language shaped
the power dynamics within hierarchical social structures.

XI. How is a study a sample of political discourse analysis?

This study is a sample of political discourse analysis because it focused on President

Duterte's speeches and identified the rhetorical strategies. The researcher also gathered the
data that is limited to political speeches of Present Duterte in a certain period of time. After
the data collection, the researcher used discourse analysis techniques to examine the
language, rhetoric, and communicative strategies used in political discourse conveying
political ideologies and power play dynamics. Lastly, the researchers used CDA as their
theoretical framework to interpret findings.

XII. What relevant information or insights will you use for your on final paper?

Upon reading the study, it dawned to me that the Critical Discourse analysis is a substansive
theoretical framework that provides flexibility to uncover power structures, ideologies, and
social meanings within political communication. I was also amazed by how a simple data
analysis can generate findings that can be deemed crucial on how political actors convey
their beliefs, values, and worldviews. I am also keen to apply the theories I discovered as
mentioned from above, and utilize the different forms of political discourse to help me
analyze my final paper. Additionally, the recommendations set by the author has enabled
me to identify which possible research papers I can delve in the future.