A Semantic Analysis of Discourse Representations of ASUU-FGN Impasse in Nigerian Newspapers

Abstract

This study provided a semantic analysis of discourse representations of the ASUU-FGN impasse in Nigerian newspapers. It indicated the semantic tools that the Nigerian newspapers explored to confer discourse representations on ASUU and FGN in Nigeria. The data for the study were collected from five Nigerian Newspapers: Leadership, Punch, The Guardian, The Nation and Vanguard. The researcher selected one hundred published articles about the ASUU-FGN impasse. The researcher purposively sampled one hundred and fifty data from the one hundred published articles for the analysis, using Halliday and Hasan's (1976) Cohesion, an Aspect of Systemic Functional Linguistic Theory. The study revealed that ASUU and FGN were represented with semantic tools such as reference, substitution, conjunction, reiteration, and collocation. ASUU was represented as pedophile (Leadership), dissident (Vanguard), opposer (Punch), advocate (Punch), warner (The Guardian), overworker (Punch), sensitiser (Punch), mobiliser (Punch), threatener (Leadership), and protesters (Punch) while FGN was represented as dictator (Vanguard), nonentity (The Guardian), abandoner, (The Guardian), deceiver (Vanguard), imposer (Punch), oppressor (Vanguard), renegade (Punch), punisher (Vanguard), ensurer (The Guardian), failure (The Nation), destroyer (The Guardian), and persuader (The Guardian). The study concluded that should the parties do the needful within their power, the negative representations of their images will be averted. The study, therefore, recommended that much language research exploring linguistic theories be conducted on the ASUU-FGN impasse in order to find lasting solutions to the acrimony.