SPEECH ACTS ANALYSIS OF SEX-FOR-GRADES AS HEADLINES OF NIGERIAN DAILIES

Abstract

This paper examines the language of headlines report of the BBC African Eye investigation of two West African universities from a pragmatic viewpoint. Forty-seven (47) headlines were purposively selected from the websites of the Vanguard, The Guardian, The Herald, Nigerian Tribune, PUNCH, Premium Times, and The Nation serving as our sample population. Furthermore, this study adopted a qualitative and quantitative approach in the analysis of data using Searle's (1979) theory of speech acts as analytical framework. The overall relative frequency percentages (ORFPs) of headlines revealed that the representative act had the highest preponderance of 48.9%. Other ORFPs are directives 23.4%, declarative 14.9%, and the commissive act 12.8% respectively while the expressive speech act type was not evident in any of the newspaper headlines under review. Findings revealed that journalists and media houses tend to rely heavily on representatives in news reporting for objectivity's sake so as not to deviate from their primary onus which is giving information to the public.