Open AccessPragmatic Study of Photo Captions on the Amotekun Security outfit of South West Nigeria
Author(s) -
Cynthia Odogwu
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of english literature and language
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2767-2964
DOI - 10.31829/2767-2964/jell2021-2(1)-108
Subject(s) - directive , interpretation (philosophy) , sociology , gratification , psychology , media studies , political science , social psychology , linguistics , computer science , philosophy , programming language
Communication is central to human existence and this is made possible by employing not only verbal language but also visual images as both are mediums of information dissemination. This study investigates the pragmatic elements in photo captions on the Amotekun security outfit of Southwest, Nigeria in tandem with the pragmatic act theory of Mey (2001) and complemented with Hoye’s and Kaiser’s visual act theory (2007). Data for the study were judgementally selected from the social media platform, Twitter, in January 2020. Fifteen photos were originally sampled but only eight met the objective of this study. Data was subjected to a qualitative interpretation and the result of findings revealed that five (05) of the sampled data were assertive allopracts, two (02) expressive allopracts and one (01) a directive allopract. The paper concluded on the note that the Amotekun is a welcome development in the region as the result of findings revealed but cautioned that the major objective for the creation of the outfit should not be for personal gratification or to achieve political goals by Governors of the region rather it should be for the protection of lives and properties of people in the six states that make up the region.