JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literatur.
Vol.
9 No.
August 2024 ISSN .
: 2502-7816.
ISSN .
: 2503-524X Available online at https://ejournal.
id/index.
php/joall/article/view/34348 https://doi.
org/10.
33369/joall.
Investigating the rhetoric of a president: A rhetorical discourse analysis 1*Sharifa Sittie Zehanie Jali Kabirun 1English Department.
Mindanao State University Main Campus.
Marawi City.
Philippines jali@msumain.
ARTICLE INFO
ABSTRACT
Article history:
Received: May 19, 2024 Revised : July 5, 2024 Accepted: August 2, 2024 Keywords:
Rhetorical Discourse Analysis Politics Rhetoric Philippines Duterte People engage in various types of discourse every single day.
With everyoneAos differences in attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours, persuasion is a skill that comes into play.
Therefore, it is essential to develop an ability to analyze persuasive messages encountered critically (Borchers, 2.
and, hence, master the art of persuasion.
This study, which delves into the rhetoric of former Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (PRRD), has yielded significant Several speeches of PRRD have been scrutinized numerous times through Discourse Analysis (DA).
Many researchers have employed Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), while only a few have attempted to employ Rhetorical Discourse Analysis (RDA).
Hence, the researcher conducted this study to enrich the literature on RDA further in PRRDAos In this study, the researcher conducted an RDA on the speech of PRRD entitled AuNation Address of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID.
PandemicAy to identify and investigate the rhetorical devices and rhetorical elements found in the text which significantly played in generalizing the type of rhetoric the former President Duterte is.
As revealed.
PRRD used rhetorical devices such as description, personal pronouns, modals, cause-effect relationships, repetition, and evidence and authorities.
Moreover, he also employed the three rhetorical elements such as logos through a cause-effect relationship, ethos through his Filipino citizenship, local or ethnic origin, and experiences being the president, and pathos through the display of varied emotions such as fear, sympathy and empathy, love and affection, respect, trust and assurance, and pity.
In conclusion.
PRRD is presented as a rhetor who utilizes the appeal of fear to exemplify his arguments, which are evident in the rhetorical devices and rhetorical elements in his speech.
Conflict of interest:
None Funding information:
None Correspondence:
Sharifa Sittie Zehanie Jali Kabirun jali@msumain.
A Sharifa Sittie Zehanie Jali Kabirun This is an open access article under the CC-BY-SA international license.
JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literatur.
, 9.
, 2024 Investigating the rhetoric of a president: A rhetorical discourse analysis How to cite (APA Styl.
Kabirun.
Investigating the rhetoric of a president: A rhetorical discourse analysis.
JOALL
(Journal Applied Linguistics Literatur.
, 9.
, 456Ae474.
https://doi.
org/10.
33369/joall.
INTRODUCTION
Rhetoric is a powerful tool that an individual must possess and use properly.
According to Covino and Jolliffe .
Aurhetoric is an A art that brings about potentially active texts,Ay also referred to as the art of knowledge-making and has been widely used in many forms and discourses.
This suggests that discourses hold power and must be used and analyzed effectively and In 2019, the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-.
pandemic drastically changed the world.
One of the countries that was severely affected was the Philippines, as evidenced by research wherein the Philippines is one of the countries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that has struggled to contain the spread of the virus despite its strictest and longest lockdowns (Teehankee, 2.
During this time, the Philippines was governed by former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (PRRD), who bore the burden of doing the necessary and immediate actions.
In many instances, he has fearlessly shown and proven himself in wars fought against drugs, corruption, and terrorism.
however, the war against Covid19 was different.
was unprecedented and was never anticipated.
It was no longer the same as the previous and typical battles fought by authorities.
The fight against the pandemic was a fight wherein the enemy was unknown, unseen, and unheard, and worst.
no cure had been made yet.
For this reason.
PRRD begged every Filipino to participate and cooperate fully to win the battle.
successfully do this, an effective and efficient rhetor in him needed to live and strengthen to gain the support of his people by following his commands.
Presidential rhetoric deals with Authe use of A public speeches, performances, and articulations in persuading public opinion on the president, the presidency, and its policiesAy (Ladia, 2.
Thus understanding presidential rhetoric contributes to understanding not only the status quo of a country but also the president himself as the leader of that country.
Several studies were done to investigate the discourse of PRRD.
However, most of these used the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) such as the studies of Dacanay .
that analyzed President DuterteAos rhetoric using MillAos Harm Principle.
Tamano et al.
that dissected the Covid19 speeches of PRRD.
Dulay et al.
that studied the persistence of Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature.
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Sharifa Sittie Zehanie Jali Kabirun Ethnopopulist support of PRRD.
Ladia .
that contextualized DuterteAos rhetoric in his public addresses on the PhilippinesAo federal shift.
and Duran .
that analyzed of linguistic features in the speeches of President Duterte on controversial issues.
All these are relevant to understanding the figure and language of PRRD however.
Rhetorical Discourse Analysis (RDA) would have also been a great method to profoundly investigate the rhetoric of PRRD, especially during the pandemic.
As Hanim and Sari Dewi .
stated, political figures successfully persuade their audiences using strategic political language that could change the behaviors of the public.
It is worth noting that rhetorical strategy is necessary to communicate with an audience to communicate with audience effectively.
It refers to anything a writer or speaker does that can change the views or emotional state of his audience.
As this study attempted to do an RDA, it is appropriate to define discourse analysis first.
According to Stubbs .
, discourse analysis can be viewed from different angles based on various academics' points of however, in sociolinguistics, it is concerned with natural language or language use in context (Carter & Simpson, 2.
Through analyzing the natural language of PRRD in one of his speeches, his language was subjected to an in-depth analysis to reveal certain truths about the power of language in specific contexts.
With that, this study aimed to dig deeper into the language of the former PRRD in order to understand better and describe his characteristics as a rhetor.
Like BeardAos idea, he stated that studying the language of politics holds significance as it allows individuals to understand that language is a tool to gain, exercise, and keep power (Alico & Rivera, 2.
Thus, this paper aims to show the strategies, techniques, and unique ways of PRRD as a rhetor during the upsurge of the death-dealing pandemic.
To answer the queries in this study, the following questions were What rhetorical devices are found in President Duterte's speech?.
What are the particular rhetorical elements present in his speech in terms of the three rhetorical appeals (Logos.
Ethos, and Patho.
What is President Duterte as a rhetor? METHOD Research Design This paper utilized a qualitative approach to investigate the language of former President Duterte in his speech entitled AuNation Address of President JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literatur.
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, 2024 Investigating the rhetoric of a president: A rhetorical discourse analysis Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-.
Pandemic,Ay which was delivered during the early months of the pandemic.
It also aimed to discover functional units that indicate relevant and related data that link the relationship between existing studies (Warsidi & Adnan, 2.
and this present study.
The results were then presented and discussed.
Corpus of the Study This paper critiqued the AuNation Address of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-.
Pandemic,Ay which was delivered by PRRD on March 30, 2020, at the Malago Clubhouse in Malacayang Palace and broadcast on national television and other media It was not just any other presidential speeches delivered by the president himself, but a pandemic national address that addressed the status quo of the Philippines and the severity of the pandemic, which contained discourses that attempted to persuade the Filipino people.
Data Analysis Procedure This paper employed rhetorical discourse analysis (RDA) to investigate the power of language and grasp the meaning of PRRD's speech.
RDA scrutinizes and critiques a text's elements that could impact an argument's success or failure.
Further, it also offers a great perspective on AristotleAos Theory of Persuasion.
Initially, the researcher identified the rhetorical devices employed by PRRD in the select speech.
After identifying the rhetorical devices, an investigation of the rhetorical elements .
employed by PRRD Based on Aristotle's theory of persuasion, rhetorical elements or appeals are Logos.
Ethos, and Pathos.
Logos, the appeal to reason, relies on reason (Borchers, 2.
Pathos, emotional appeal, calls to an audience's needs, values, and emotional sensibilities (Weida & Stolley, 2.
and Ethos, ethical appeal, demonstrates persuaderAos credibility, or the degree of the rhetorAos character, competence, and trustworthiness (Borchers, 2.
which ensures effective communication both within the field of rhetoric and writing (Roskelly, n.
After identifying and investigating the rhetorical devices and rhetorical appeals employed by PRRD in the select speech, revealing his character as a rhetor followed.
The results of this study were then validated through other relevant and related research about PRRD and other political figures and their language or rhetoric.
FINDINGS
This section provides the focus points in the investigation to discuss the study's findings.
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Sharifa Sittie Zehanie Jali Kabirun Rhetorical Devices in the Speech of President Duterte According to Aristotle, rhetoric is the study of persuasive communication, which also refers to discovering all the available means of persuasion in any given case (Charteris-Black, 2.
In this regard, a communicator may employ various rhetorical devices to successfully transmit his message to his intended audience, which may change his audience's thoughts or feelings.
This study mainly dealt with political rhetoric.
defined, it is a form of persuasion that uses language, signs, and symbols contextualized in political, social, cultural, and economic situations (Turnbull, 2016, as cited in Ladia, 2.
Speeches delivered by political rhetors like presidents are evidence of consciously aiming for the publicAos acceptance (Ladia, 2.
To communicate successfully with the audience, using proper and effective rhetorical devices is a strategy that can help politicians concretize abstract concepts that will be easily comprehended by the audience (Gelilang et al.
, 2.
This study revealed that rhetorical devices such as description, personal pronouns, modalities, cause and effect relationship, rhetorical devices such as description, personal pronouns, modalities, cause-and-effect relationships, repetition, and use of evidence or authorities were used by the One rhetorical device PRRD used in the select speech was the He described the powers super countries such as China.
Russia, and America held.
By acknowledging the powers of these countries.
PRRD also described the Philippines as an inferior country.
His statement AuWe are awaiting for GodAos blessing na magkaroon tayo ng vaccine either from sino diyan na bright boy: China.
Russia.
America.
(We are awaiting GodAos blessing to have the vaccine from either of the bright boys:
China.
Russia, and America.
)Ay describes these countries as superior countries capable of producing vaccines against the virus.
It suggests his belief and trust in the power that these countries possess.
In another statement.
PRRD also described the traits of a Filipino.
AuHuwag ninyoA Huwag ninyong subukan ang Pilipino.
(DonAot youA DonAot you dare a Filipin.
Ay Despite his belief in other countries, he also believed in the capabilities and positive attributes of the Filipinos.
He described them as brave and courageous.
Yet, despite his claim that Filipinos hold great values, he also mentioned that there were some, especially the non-health workers, who showed undesirable conduct towards health workers.
He emphasized that doctors, nurses, health workers, and attendants could not go home JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literatur.
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, 2024 Investigating the rhetoric of a president: A rhetorical discourse analysis because they were being thrown with hazardous chemicals and might probably die first than those infected with the virus.
This statement described the tricky situation of the health workers in the Philippines Ae they were treated as outcasts from society because of the misconception that they spread the Pronouns and modalities.
Personal pronouns and modalities were also used in the select speech.
The use of the personal pronouns AoI,Ao Aomy,Ao Aowe,Ao and AooursAo among others, and the use of models AowillAo and AomustAo were used.
PRRD has used the personal pronoun AoI,Ao Aowe,AoAo Aowe,Ao and Aoours,Ao among others, and the modal AowillAo and AomustAo to show his rhetoric.
In one of his statements, he said.
AuSo once again IAom telling you A you must listen.
Ay Using the modal AumustAy required or obliged all Filipinos to pay attention to the seriousness of the problem.
implied the magnitude of the health problem at hand and served as a warning to the Filipinos.
Yet, it also to encourage the people to help win the battle against the pandemic.
Aside from AomustAo, the modal AuwillAy was also employed, such as in the following statements:
I will order you detained.
I will not hesitate my soldiers to shoot you.
I will support and defend you.
I will not tolerate.
The modal AowillAo indicates a truth with certainty (Alico & River, 2.
Furthermore.
DuterteAos politics and rhetoric of AoI willAo (Curato, as cited in Ladia 2.
suggested that it came with a touch of penal populism, which is Aua political style that builds on collective sentiments of fear and demands for punitive politicsAy.
Cause and Effect, another rhetorical device, was also apparent.
stated that the government supply only reached a particular period because no one anticipated the fast spread of the virus.
In two-days-time, an infected person dies.
Therefore, he wanted to ask the Filipino people for their understanding and support during difficult times.
In addition, he emphasized this warning the Filipinos not to cause troubles such as riots and the like because if they did so, they would be subjected to imprisonment, or worse.
PRRD wanted to tell the people that instead of being a problem, they might as well be part of the solution.
AuA huwag kayong A mag-riot-riot diyan because I will order you detainedA pagkatapos na wala na itong COVID A Eh kaysa mag-gulo kayo diyan, eh Aodi ilibing ko na kayo.
(Do not create a scene such as a riot because I will order you to be detainedA after this pandemic, instead of creating trouble.
I just bury you.
) .
ttps://tinyurl.
com/bd9r88k.
Ay Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature.
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Sharifa Sittie Zehanie Jali Kabirun Moreover, he has also emphasized reciprocity in his speech.
He said that those people who do ill actions toward health workers would face severe consequences since he had already ordered the military to take necessary actions if they witnessed the act of throwing dangerous stuff at a health worker, they were ordered to throw the same at the perpetrator.
This emphasized his concern, sympathy, and empathy towards health workers.
Another rhetorical device found in the speech is repetition.
In his rhetoric, repetition of words, phrases, or sentences played a crucial role in emphasizing actions and consequences.
His statement Autinanggal ko sa politikoAy has been repeated thrice in his speech.
This implied that some Filipino politicians were untrustworthy.
He wanted to show the Filipino people that he did not tolerate corruption in his governance, whatever that person's position is.
By taking away the power of a particular politician, it implied responsible use of power.
The last rhetorical device used by PRRD in his speech was the use of evidence and authorities.
The rhetor used evidence and names of authorities to persuade his audience such as building trust through Secretary Bautista.
Secretary Galvez, the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Developmen.
and the ABS-CBN.
The use of evidence or authorities strengthens the claim of PRRD to designate crucial tasks to the trusted In his claim, it implied that ex-military individuals, certain government agencies, and reputable television stations were some of the Aotrusted onesAo.
Stating their names showed his confidence in them, and he knew that their established good reputation would not cause any malicious activities in handling financial aspects during the pandemic and would be a legitimate source of information.
Using the aforementioned rhetorical devices reinforced the rhetorAos aims to persuade the audience and to gain power, which were illustrated As mentioned by Alico and Rivera .
Ezejideaku and Ugwu .
, and De Wet .
, being able to persuade voters successfully, politicians will then be in power.
Rhetorical Elements (Logos.
Ethos, and Patho.
present in the Speech An investigation of the rhetorical elements was done to answer the second question posed in this paper.
JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literatur.
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, 2024 Investigating the rhetoric of a president: A rhetorical discourse analysis Regarding logos or appeal to logic, it revealed that PRRD used the CauseEffect Relationship to exemplify his arguments.
The rhetor began his speech with a focus on the seriousness of the COVID pandemic by saying:
AuMga kababayan kong Pilipino (My Filipino countryme.
I am addressing you once again about the problem of COVID pandemic.
It is getting worseAy .
ttps://tinyurl.
com/bd9r88k.
He added that the Philippines relied on superpower countries such as China.
Russia, and America to produce the Covid19 vaccine, which implied dependence on these countries.
This likewise suggested how disadvantaged the Philippines was in terms of emergency situations.
He also reiterated that the supply of goods during the pandemic must be equally distributed equally because of the insufficient supply.
In addition, he also warned those troublemakers during the pandemic would be imprisoned, and that they could only go out of prison once the pandemic was over, or worse, they would be killed for their wrongdoings.
These statements strengthened the idea that if one commits a mistake, it is a personal choice, and one would suffer the severity of the consequences.
Through his statements, the appeal to fear was indeed evident.
PRRD wanted the Filipino people to abide by his rules if they still valued their lives.
Regarding the Ethos or ethical appeal.
PRRD strengthened his Credibility through Citizenship.
Origin, and Experiences.
Ethos, or the ethical appeal, demonstrates the persuaderAos credibility, or the degree of character, competence, and trustworthiness audience members perceive a persuader to have (Borchers, 2.
In one of his statements, he said.
AuMga kababayan kong PilipinoAy (My he wanted to emphasize his being a Filipino, so with his oneness with the struggles of all Filipinos.
By this, he asked all Filipinos to cooperate with his administration in the trying times.
Aside from building his ethos through his citizenship, he has also used his local origin to hopefully get the sympathy and empathy of the Filipino people, especially the Visayan people and those who understand the Bisaya language.
Since the Philippines of three significant islands.
Luzon.
Visayas, and Mindanao, geographically speaking.
Visayan people occupy Visayas and some parts of Mindanao, hence the rhetorAos strategy to use the Bisaya language.
This also showed his oneness with his home people, the Visayan people.
His statement AuAsa Bisaya pa.
Ayaw og hadloka ang gobyerno (A in Bisaya, organized.
DonAot scare the governmen.
Ay was clear evidence that the rhetor wanted to build an impression that many of his supporters were Bisaya and since he was one Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature.
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Sharifa Sittie Zehanie Jali Kabirun with them, they could trust him.
Lastly, the rhetor has built his ethos through his experiences.
He demonstrated it through his position as the president of the Philippines.
In one of his statements, when he said.
Aumy soldiersAy referring to the Philippine soldiers, he wanted to show his power and experience as the country's leader.
Using the word AomyAo shows authority, ownership, and power over the soldiers of the country, and that being the President, if he commands something, everyone must listen, participate, cooperate, and Aside from the use of AumyAy, the pronoun AuIAy was also used by the rhetor numerous times, such as AuI amA I willAAy among others.
This implied his authority and power in the country, so he had to obey them.
Finally, in terms of Pathos or Emotional Appeal, the rhetor built it by demonstrating and exhibiting several emotions.
According to Covino and Jolliffe .
, pathos is a form of proof that appeals to an audienceAos emotions.
In this paper, the rhetor appeals to the audienceAos emotions through fear, sympathy and empathy, love and affection, respect, trust and assurance, and One of the emotions that the rhetor wanted to exhibit or express was He wanted the people to of him and the consequences of their ill actions.
When he mentioned that he would not spare anyone and that he would not hesitate to order the police to arrest and detain or yet kill an offender.
he also added that if these offenders got detained, they must provide for themselves because the food supply of the government would be prioritized for those peace lovers and needy, his warning meant starvation which could be a significant threat to life.
This created an impression that the audience must fear him and follow his orders because if they did not cooperate,did not cooperate, then they would face death, which was the end of everything.
Aside from his appeal to fear, an appeal to sympathy or empathy was also evident in his speech.
By saying.
AuMga kababayan kong Pilipino (My Filipino countryme.
Ay and AuAang bayan natinA.
ur countr.
Ay, the rhetor ignited the audienceAos emotions feeling sympathetic or empathy toward the rhetor by also showing the audience that he is sympathetic or empathetic towards their feelings, too.
He also showed sympathy and empathy by emphasizing his being a Filipino who does everything for his countrymen and the Philippines, their home.
Using the word AuourAy in the statement Auour countryAy showed the intent of the rhetor to make the audience feel the need to help him because everyone is in the same boat.
He also emphasized his sympathy and love for health workers by condemning their harsh acts.
He even stated that he would, in all his capacity.
JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literatur.
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, 2024 Investigating the rhetoric of a president: A rhetorical discourse analysis support and defend the frontlines.
Any harm done to health workers was considered a severe crime.
This described his compassion and utmost respect for them.
On top of the rhetorAos appeal to sympathy and empathy, he also showed respect towards his audience by using the words Auho and po,Ay which are Filipino words to address politeness.
AuA marami hong problema na pumuputok naA.
Ay AuMaraming salamat po.
Ay The quotation above showed the sincere appeal of PRRD to get the sympathy and cooperation of the Filipino people.
This also emphasized that the Philippines was already facing many problems on top of the pandemic.
Despite this, the Filipinos are resilient and respectful towards one another.
the statements of the rhetoric, the words AuhoAy and AupoAy were evident, which meant that the rhetoric showed respect to the audience.
By respecting the audience, he also wanted to be respected in return.
Like ConfuciusAo Golden rule.
AuDo unto others what you want others to do unto you.
Ay Lastly, the rhetor appealed to pity to get the sympathy of his people.
He pointed out that Filipinos were already facing difficulties, with no jobs and no businesses, yet there were people who still tried.
Some people still tried to mess up with the little that was left.
The rhetor wanted the audience to pity him and the government because some still showed disobedience to the orders of the government despite the difficult situation the Philippines was Even though the government tried to provide the opportunities they could give to people did not suffice.
Therefore, the government was also suffering, knowing the situation of its people.
In this study, through the rhetorAos use of logos, ethos, and pathos, he created an image of an authority who must be believed in and obeyed.
Former President Duterte as a Rhetor According to Kordowe, political speeches or discourses are both information-building and ideology-conveying (Salayo, 2.
They may also simply appear as a strategy for information and ideology dissemination.
Fairclough .
views the tendencies of this type of discourse as complex distribution (Tamano et al.
, 2.
After a thorough rhetorical discourse analysis of PRRD's speech, specifically focusing on identifying and investigating the rhetorical devices Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature.
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Sharifa Sittie Zehanie Jali Kabirun employed by PRRD and the rhetorical elements present in his speech, the characteristics of PRRD as a rhetor were unveiled.
Based on the discussions provided in the earlier sections of this paper, it agreed with Fukuyama .
0 as cited in Teehankee, 2.
, who highlighted that the factors responsible for successful pandemic responses were state capacity, social trust, and leadership.
PRRD in his speech, in his speech described the capacity of the country to face and address the challenges during the pandemic.
By emphasizing country, he also tried to show trust and leadership by communicating with his people, making them understand the severity of the situation.
This was evident in the statement released by PRRD, which identified and categorized rhetorical devices and rhetorical elements.
It was apparent that he could use these devices well to present the reality of the situation.
Moreover, he could also use the three rhetorical elements or appeals to exemplify his betterto exemplify his arguments better.
Just like in the study of Alico and Rivera in 2017, they also concluded that Senator Grace PoeAos speech was modeled on the Greek classic structure of persuasive speech that uses the three types of appeal to create an image of a looked-for and credible personality that would convince the audience.
In the case of PRRD, he employed the three types of appeal to convince the audience that they must cooperate with the administration so as not to add more problems to the country on top of the problem of Covid19 pandemic.
This may mean that political speeches must follow the rhetorical triangle in order to gain power over the people Ae through the politiciansAo logical reasoning, credibility, and emotional appeal.
Similar to the study of Fuerzas .
, political speeches A are means to express ideologies and thoughts that could influence the listeners' minds.
Based on the analysis of this study, the rhetoric of Duterte plays a vital role in shaping not only public opinion but the entire response of the Philippine community (Escobar, 2.
With that being said.
PRRD, as a rhetor, used an appeal to fear to communicate with the audience.
The appeal to fear was also evident and justified in his ethos, logos, and rhetorical With that, it can be said that President Duterte, as a rhetor, uses fear to put order in his country, the Republic of the Philippines.
In simpler terms.
PRRD was a rhetor who used language and gained power by demonstrating an appeal to fear to the audience.
DISCUSSION
During the pandemic, the political speeches of a president served as both a warning and a consoling tool to the citizens of a country.
During that time, it JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literatur.
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, 2024 Investigating the rhetoric of a president: A rhetorical discourse analysis was necessary to advise the citizens about the country's status quo.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed the state of any country, in the case of the Philippines.
PRRD had been delivering a series of communications to all constituents to ensure his people that he was aware of the whatAos and howAos of the country.
However, despite efforts to address the matter, words expressed by the president were not spared, as revealed in the study of Tamano.
Guimba, and Disangcopan .
where they emphasized that his speeches have been a subject of debate because of his rhetorical styles and speeches that often include swearwords.
Being the leader of a country, the president is the most influential and responsible person in the nation who should be easily understood by the citizens when laying the policies he has for the whole country (Gelilang et al.
, 2.
, hence the investigation of Rhetorical Devices in the Speech of President Duterte In this study, it was found out that in the speech of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (PRRD), he established his rhetoric through his Specifically, he used rhetorical devices such as providing detailed descriptions of a person, place, or thing, utilizing modals to indicate attitudes of the speaker towards the state or event expressed by another verb, relationship or analysis of why something happens, and describing the consequences of a string of events, repetition or the constant use of certain words, phrases or sentences, and evidence and authorities or exemplification through the use of names of authorities or factual events.
PRRD used description to show the status quo of the country and the reality that everyone must face.
Aside from the use of description, personal pronouns and modals was also evident.
As revealed in the study of Alico and Rivera .
, using personal pronouns was one of the strategies used by Senator Grace Poe (Alico & Rivera, 2.
in her campaign speech.
This was also true in the findings of the study of Alo .
, wherein he stated that AuA .
he use o.
uch a.
AuweAy.
AuusAy and AuourAy A is a strategy of Ay Therefore, these implied that the use of the word AuIAy and other personal pronouns is relevant in a political speech.
Similar to the findings of Tamano.
Guimba, and Disangcopan .
, they also highlighted that PRRDAos repeated use of AuwillAy is shaped by two levels of meanings.
At the surface level.
AuwillAy was used to inform the public of his future actions or plans as the president, yet at the deep level, it is a prediction of the possible future happenings, hence his discern warning towards corrupt people and the rest of the Filipino people who take advantage of the situation to amass the huge budget laid by the government Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature.
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Sharifa Sittie Zehanie Jali Kabirun in responding to the pandemic and who create more problems in the country.
The use of modal was also presented and discussed in the findings of Alico and Rivera .
, where they also found out that AuwillAy was also used by Senator Grace Poe in strengthening her arguments to persuade the people to vote for her during the election period.
Aside from the use of description and modals.
Alico and Rivera .
also found that a cause-effect relationship was evident to show the rhetoric of Senator Grace Poe.
This was also the case with this study, wherein PRRD used the cause-effect relationship to strengthen his claims and persuade the people to believe him and follow his pleas and orders.
These findings suggested that political speeches employ rhetorical devices to strengthen their claims and persuade the audience to believe that the speaker is an authority who must win their trust.
Rhetorical Elements (Logos.
Ethos, and Patho.
present in the Speech To understand the study's findings.
the following were discussed to better understand and justify the claims presented in this study.
would hopefully enlighten the points stated here through direct comparisons with the findings of other relevant and related studies.
Aside from the rhetorical devices a, cause-effect relationship, ethos through his citizenship, local origin, and experiences identified in the text, rhetorical elements present or employed in the text were also analyzed.
light of the study's findings, the rhetoric used logos through cause-effect relationships, ethos through his citizenship, local origin, and experiences ruling the country as a president, and pathos through his appeal to fear, sympathy or empathy, love, respect, and pity.
In this study, the logos or logical appeal employed by the rhetor was a cause-effect relationship.
It was evident in the speech that PRRD emphasized that the Covid-19 pandemic was a serious situation wherein everyone must be responsible enough.
He stated that since the situation was getting more serious, he warned the Filipino people to act well and follow the rules being implemented during that time.
He further emphasized that if people were not to obey orders and would add more problems to the problems at hand, they would face great and severe consequences, with death as the worst He stated this with full confidence because he knew that the Filipino people knew it was true based on his past records, such as his war on drugs, where many drug users and the like were arrested, while those who JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literatur.
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, 2024 Investigating the rhetoric of a president: A rhetorical discourse analysis fought against the military personnel were shot to death.
With this, the audience knew that he was speaking with serious remarks.
This warning was also made because of prior incidents concerning the health workers wherein some people were harassing the health workers thinking that they were the ones spreading the virus in their own places.
fact, some of them could not go home as they were not welcomed in their places, worst, they were being thrown at with dangerous stuff because of this Because of this.
PRRD consoled the health workers, publicly declared his respect towards them and assured them of their safety.
mentioned that he respected the health workers and emphasized that whoever would endanger the lives of the health workers would be penalized and, worse, would be imprisoned and shot to death.
These findings were also highlighted in the study of Gelilang.
Tenito, and Varona .
, wherein they stated that PRRDAos remarks were filled with gratitude and praise for frontline soldiers, soldiers on the battlefield, and civilians.
He also demonstrated that President Duterte spoke out about what he wanted for the country and what he hoped for in the administration's future.
His high hopes for the country would only be realized if all Filipino citizens cooperated.
In understanding and building the rhetorAos ethos, it is important to present his character, comprised of practical wisdom, goodwill, and virtue (Charteris-Black, 2.
Both AogoodwillAo and AotrustAo are based on a belief that the person in power is interested in the common good rather than his interests, hence a belief that the person in power is interested in the common good rather than his interests.
Hence, any rhetor must be able to establish this In this study, particularly the ethos of the rhetor.
PRRD used his language to present his credibility to the Filipino people by showing his oneness with them.
He highlighted his citizenship, local origin, and experiences as a Philippine president.
To highlight his citizenship as a Filipino, he used personal pronouns to exemplify this.
As pointed out in the study of Takal .
Flowerdew.
Li, and Tran, using personal pronouns in political discourse is important as it provides interpersonal relations between the speaker and the audience.
Aside from his use of personal pronouns.
PRRD also used his local origin to strengthen his ethos.
As mentioned by Cook and Salazar 2016.
Maboloc 2019.
Escalona 2018.
PRRDAos ethnic appeal has not gone unacknowledged by scholars and commentators (Dulay.
Hicken, & Holmes, 2.
For instance, during the election period.
Duterte appealed to voters using his native tongue because he already anticipated that the Philippines is vastly populated by Visayan Filipinos.
This could be one of the main reasons why many Filipinos Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature.
Vol.
, 2024
Sharifa Sittie Zehanie Jali Kabirun who spoke Cebuano and other Bisaya languages in the Visayas and Mindanao regions supported him.
It showed his oneness with the Visayan people and his ethnopopulist appeal (Dulay et al.
, 2.
Furthermore, he used his experiences as the president to strengthen his As mentioned by Tamano.
Guimba, and Disangcopan .
, his language exhibited his weakness yet, and Disangcopan .
, his language exhibited his weakness, and Disangcopan .
, his language exhibited his weakness, yet he still demonstrated his power as president.
Finally, pathos was revealed to complete the rhetorical appeals.
Aristotle emphasized the importance of emotional appeal.
In his definition, emotion is characterized by pleasure and pain (Charteris-Black, 2.
terms of the rhetorAos pathos in this study.
PRRD tried to appeal to the audiences' emotions by making them feel emotions such as fear, sympathy/ empathy, love/ affection, respect, trust/ assurance, and pity.
Not only did the rhetor want them to feel those, but he himself also manifested those emotions through his statements.
Being open about his emotions to the audience, he implied that he was revealing his inner state to the audience.
The appeal to fear was most evident among the emotions identified in the select speech.
This was also like the findings of the study of Pusparini.
Suastini, and Jayantini .
, wherein they also pointed out that his appeal to fear was most evident in Barack Obama's speech.
This may suggest that presidents use to appeal to fear more than the other emotions to appeal to fear more than the other emotions to appeal to fear more than the other emotions, considering their power in the said country.
Employing the three rhetorical appeals such as logos, ethos, and pathos in the speech suggested that the main purpose of a rhetor was to create a more convincing and strong argument to influence the audience and further make them act accordingly.
Like the study of Fuerzas .
, she emphasized and concluded that political speeches are means to express ideologies and thoughts that could influence listeners' minds.
Thus, it implies that it is important to raise awareness and develop insights into these speeches' discursive structures and socio-political effects.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, this study found through RDA that PRRD used rhetorical devices such as description, personal pronouns, modalities, cause-and-effect relationships, repetition, and use of evidence or authorities.
Moreover, he made use of rhetorical elements or appeals such as ethos, logos, and pathos.
Lastly, as a rhetor, his appeal to fear was most prevalent in his rhetoric.
JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literatur.
, 9.
, 2024 Investigating the rhetoric of a president: A rhetorical discourse analysis sum.
President Duterte is a rhetor who uses logic, credibility, and emotions to express himself and his arguments to persuade the audience.
As this study was only limited to the rhetorical devices and rhetorical elements employed by PRRD in his Nation Address, the researcher further suggests doing a comparative study on the rhetoric of former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte and the current president Ferdinand Marcos.
Jr.
through RDA.
This will offer rich insights on the rhetoric of Philippine presidents, which can also be a basis for generating and exploring new rhetorical strategies in the field of political Furthermore, based on the findings of this study, some implications and benefits to language teaching, particularly English language teaching are English language teaching addresses the need to abreast language teachers and learners the skills necessary to develop their competence in the use of the English language.
This competence is not only limited to grammatical, linguistic, sociolinguistic, but also discourse competence in speaking, writing, reading, listening, and viewing.
In the case of this study, it emphasizes on discourse competence in reading, speaking, and writing.
The implications and benefits of this study to English language teaching include .
the need to introduce teaching discourse analysis in the English language teaching curriculum.
As this study highlights the importance of Rhetorical Discourse Analysis (RDA) in English language teaching and learning, by introducing, teaching, and strengthening discourse analysis, both English teachers and learners will be provided with sufficient knowledge and skills to carefully and critically analyze a text or a speech and give sound understanding, judgment, and response to a particular discourse which will produce discourse competent individuals.
The very fact that every word in a discourse is interconnected to one another and has a special function to transmit a message therefore must be used and understood properly, discourse analysis is a fundamental skill to be developed.
In addition, as this study dealt with political and rhetorical language, it revealed interesting truths about a social reality that needs to be addressed.
Through identifying and examining the rhetorical devices and rhetorical elements used in the political speech of PRRD, it revealed that the English language is complex yet a very powerful tool to transmit messages and transform beliefs and values.
It is therefore crucial that in English language teaching, literal and figurative meanings must be emphasized, and well-comprehended, and that careful construction of sentences must be done.
the significance of including RDA in the syllabus as a major requirement in research, writing, reading and public speaking classes.
It is worth noting that in the findings of this study, the logic of the argument, the credibility of a speaker, and the emotions demonstrated Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature.
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, 2024
Sharifa Sittie Zehanie Jali Kabirun in the statements of the speaker, all have significant contributions to the totality of the message therefore should all be taken into great consideration.
In this regard, it implies that RDA is a significant aspect in English language teaching as it paves way to unveiling underlying meanings of a language and the identity of a speaker, as well.
By including RDA as a major requirement in class, it will help improve the critical, reading, writing, and speaking skills of English learners.
Therefore, this study is a significant reference in teaching RDA as it provides a sample analysis using the said framework.
Through RDA.
English language teachers and learners will be reminded of the whatAos and howAos of becoming effective and efficient teachers, learners and users of the English language.
the relevance of teaching an Effective Writing course, specifically focused on persuasive writing.
In performing an RDA, it will serve as a guide in teaching composition writing, specifically persuasive writing, that emphasizes the importance of coherence.
As a matter of fact, it was also implied in this study that in persuasive writing, all the other types of discourse such as narration, description, and exposition have significant contributions to its impact.
By writing persuasive speeches, inevitably, all the other types of discourse will come into play.
Therefore, teaching RDA in Effective Writing classes will equip English teachers and learners with the knowledge and skills to properly and effectively communicate with the ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The researcher would like to acknowledge her professor.
Dr.
Godiva Rivera, for the guidance in writing this paper.
The same depth of gratitude is also expressed to the editorial team and reviewers of JOALL for the insightful comments and suggestions to better this research.
REFERENCES