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A DISCOURSE STUDY ON WOMEN-FOCUSED FACEBOOK COMMUNITIES IN NIGERIA

ANAKE, SCHOLASTICA ANDOKIE and Covenant University, Theses (2020) A DISCOURSE STUDY ON WOMEN-FOCUSED FACEBOOK COMMUNITIES IN NIGERIA. Masters thesis, COVENANT UNIVERSITY.

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Abstract

The development in information computer technology (ICT) and computer-mediated communication (CMC) has led to a myriad of activities on the Internet. These activities, whether negative or positive, are largely mediated by the use of language, also known as discourse. There are not many Nigerian studies that examine women’s discourse online. Therefore, this study analyses discourse in two women-only and women-focused Facebook communities — AsktheGynaecologist and Womanhood with Olori Ajayi. This study purposed to highlight the positive engagements that exist in such groups. Consequently, the objectives of this study are to identify the discursive contents of the interactions in AsktheGynaecologist and Womanhood with Olori Ajayi Facebook communities; to describe the discourse patterns and strategies of the interactions in the selected communities, and to highlight socio-cultural intertextual relations in the discourses that take place within the selected communities. The objectives are examined methodically by a qualitative-descriptive method of analysis and a hundred (100) posts were purposively selected in these groups as data for analysis. The data are analysed through the appraisal framework of attitude, engagement and graduation which complement the Positive Discourse Analysis (PDA) approach. Subsequently, the findings from the analysis and discussion of data highlight the discursive contents of the group, comprising themes such as infertility/fertility, women health issues/prenatal care, and financial/business empowerment, all of which are intertextually connected to the Nigerian woman’s socio-cultural experiences. These themes are negotiated using appraisal resources (attitude, engagement, and gradation appraisal resources), evidentiality, capitalisation and use of exclamation marks, religious allusions, metaphor, code-mixing, and direct questions. This study concludes that all of these resources and strategies reinforce positivity, solidarity, satisfaction, security, valuation, social esteem, tenacity,motivation/inclination for goodwill, and social co-existence within the groups.

Item Type: Thesis (Masters)
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
P Language and Literature > PR English literature
Divisions: Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences
Depositing User: Mrs Hannah Akinwumi
Date Deposited: 09 Jun 2021 12:38
Last Modified: 09 Jun 2021 12:38
URI: http://eprints.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/id/eprint/14433

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