INVESTIGATING THE USE OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS IN POLITICAL SPEECHES: DONALD TRUMP AND IMRAN KHAN

Abstract

Personal pronouns are not used to convey meaning unlike other content words but they help to portray or convey the perceptions and thoughts of the speakers (Nakkaggwe,2012). The research has been documented to investigate the function of personal pronouns in the political speeches of Donald Trump and Imran khan. The aim of this study is to analyze and compare the function of personal pronouns in political speeches held by former prime ministers: Imran Khan (Pakistan) and Mr. Donald Trump (America).The methodology of the study has been selected on the paradigm of qualitative research. The metadiscourse theory has been formulated in this study and the content analysis framework has been used to analyze the speech and personal pronouns. The maximum variation sampling method has been applied in the study. This sampling approach is better for this study because the speeches are from two distinct cultures by the earlier prime minister of Pakistan, Imran khan and former president of America, Mr. Donald Trump. The Antconc software has been used to identify personal pronouns in speeches. It was discovered that the most populated personal pronoun used in their speeches is we . The least used pronoun by Donald Trump is us and by Imran Khan is the subject singular you . Imran khan most often used singular first person pronoun I usually to show his responsiblity, a sense of personal inclusion, directing the nation's promblems, and connection with their own people. On the other hand, Donald Trump most often used plural first person pronoun our to show a sense of unity, shared responsiblity and collective thinking with the government.