OBAMA’S POLITICAL SPEECHES ON EDUCATION AND POLITICAL REFORM IN AMERICA: A CONVERSATIONAL IMPLICATURE ANALYSIS

Abstract

Interaction can take many dimensions such as face to face conversation, body language, written speeches, and so on. In almost every speech (spoken or written), the speaker or writer, in most cases, is the manager of his words. He controls and manipulates his words as he likes. In doing so, the speaker or writer puts information across to the listener or reader. The use of language in speech making is very important. The way language is used makes the speech meaningful to the listener. It is, therefore, necessary to look into the use of language in speech making. As far as this research is aware, not much has really been done in this area. Scholars and researchers focus their attention more on literary works than speech making. Political speeches have been severally made in various dimensions, and most of them have been analyzed in one way or another. However, such speeches as Obama’s political speeches on “Education and Political Reform in America†have been, in most cases, analyzed in terms of theory and practice. Speeches are supposed to be studied and interpreted using suitable apparatuses. Obama’s speeches on “Education and Political Reform in America†definitely have pragmatic implications, but unfortunately have not been exhaustively discussed. This paper, therefore, attempts to analyze Obama’s political speeches on “Education and Political Reform in America†within the frame work of pragmatics theory of Conversational Implicature.