Evaluating Illocutionary Forces in Tweets by DG ISPR: A Speech Act Analysis

Abstract

This study delves into the illocutionary acts used in tweets from the Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR), revealing a nuanced communication strategy. It aims to analyze which types and subtypes of speech acts are used predominantly to engage with the audience. Two hundred tweets were collected from a TwExportly extension and consolidated into 100 entries. These were then coded manually using MAXQDA. The findings revealed a balanced approach of emotional engagement and factual reporting, with the most commonly used acts being expressive speech acts (55.91%), followed by assertives (32.28%), commissives (7.09%), and directives (4.72%), with no identification of declarations. Subtype analysis of these acts revealed a significant focus on tributing (24.68%) and condoling (23.38%) among expressives and reporting (41.46%) among assertives. This study underscores the complexity and depth of the DG ISPR's communication strategy, which leverages both emotional engagement and factual reporting to engage and communicate with the public. The absence of declarations suggests that these acts might be reserved for more formal and official platforms.