The Relations of Dependency and Independency in the Inaugural Speeches of Three Vice Chancellors of a Ghanaian University

Abstract

This study applies Systemic Functional Grammar Theory (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004) to analyze the packing of sentence information in the inaugural speeches of selected Vice-Chancellors of the University of Ghana Legon. It explores the taxis system: parataxis and hypotaxis clauses which are dominant and how they relate in the inaugural speeches and orient in meaning in the speeches. The communicative implications of the choice of the taxis relations encoded in the inaugural speeches are also explored. With three (3) inaugural speeches from three Vice-Chancellors of the University of Ghana, Legon as the data, a qualitative and textual analysis is done on 234 clauses regarding their complexity and contribution to meaning in the speeches. Findings show that the selected Vice-Chancellors utilized paratactic structures more frequently than the hypotactic ones, which is contrary to the findings with editorial texts by Opoku and Adjei (2023). While hypotaxis recorded 74, representing 31.62%, paratactic clauses recorded 160, representing 68.38%. The predominance of parataxis than hypotaxis suggests the equality in importance and relevance of the different concerns expressed by the speakers, though the percentages of the clause complexes in each inaugural address vary. The study provides valuable insights into how language is effectively used to establish authority, persuade audience, and position self within respective academic communities. Insights into how language use reflects the socio-political contexts of academic leadership are also revealed.

Key words: Taxis, Parataxis, Paratactic, Hypotaxis, Hypotactic, Systemic,Clause Complexes

DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/103-09

Publication date: December 30th 2024