Pragmatic Functions in 2010 World Cup Football Matches in Selected Print Media in Nigeria

Abstract

Existing studies on media reports have largely focused on the study of speech acts, ideological constructions, critical discourse analysis and pragmatics. The present study looks into the pragmatic functions of language use in 2010 world cup football reporting in selected Nigerian newspapers. This area has experiences a dearth of scholarly attention in linguistic literature most especially within the Nigerian environment. This study therefore fills this vacuum by using two selected sport-based Nigerian newspaper.  These newspapers are Complete Sports and Soccer Star. The choice of the selected sport-based newspapers is informed by its orientation for sports news reporting while the selection of world cup reports is motivated by the popularity that soccer has gained all over the world in recent years as a useful tool in aiding economic development, bilateral relation among the nations of the world and basically a process of globalisation. This study hopes to contribute to the understanding of players’ performances and professional behaviours as well as the kinds of supports nations usually provide to the national teams in assisting the growth of the football as a sport.