Osei Yaw Akoto
Biographic Data
| ID | 6013601 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Osei Yaw Akoto |
| GIVEN NAMES | Osei Yaw |
| FAMILY NAME | Akoto |
| SIGNATURE | AKOTO O Y |
| AFFILIATIONS | Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6014-7600 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 19 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Political Discourse During Crisis
This study investigates the discursive strategies employed by Ghana’s President, Nana Akufo-Addo, in his public addresses on the COVID-19 pandemic. The corpus consists of twenty-nine televised national update speeches delivered between March 2020 and May 2023. Socio-cognitive model of critical discourse analysis, the study examines how discursive strategies are used to construct ideological representations, shape public consciousness, and sustain…
“Pleasing the deceased”
Although homely discourses, particularly funeral discourse, have attracted increasing scholarly attention, expressive speech acts (ESAs) in funeral tributes remain underexplored, especially in African sociocultural contexts. This study thus examines how bereaved spouses and children in Ghana employ ESAs in funeral tributes to express grief and construct relational identities. Specifically, it examines the types of ESAs used and the similarities a…
Leveraging Political Messaging with Religious Resonance
Religion and politics are inextricably connected through shared values, institutional influence, and historical relationships, culminating in what can be described as politics in religion and religion in politics. During key religious festivities, political actors deliver messages to the members of the religious community. Thus, the present study employed a Systemic Functional Linguistic (SFL) approach to examine the transitivity choices in the 2…
The Dagomba Praise (Singers, Singing And Naming)
This study examined the roles and cultural significance of Dagomba praise singers, praise singing, and praise naming in Northern Ghana. Central to the socio-cultural fabric of Dagomba society, these oral traditions preserve cultural identity, perpetuate historical narratives, and promote communal values. Guided by performance theory, the research investigated the nature of praise singing among the Dagomba people and the role of the praise singer …
Connecting past, present, and future
Cohesion in politico-financial registers, such as budget statements, remains terra incognita, although it is crucial in shaping the rhetorical structure of these documents. Cohesive devices are key indicators in strengthening financial arguments and shaping people’s understanding of fiscal policies. Despite their significance, studies on cohesion in budget statements remain limited. This corpus-assisted study thus examines the discourse functions…
Deontic Obligations in Anti-Sexual Harassment Policies in Tertiary Institutions
Sexual harassment in higher education is a pervasive issue that carries serious implications for both institutional reputation and the well-being of victims. To address this, universities have developed anti-sexual harassment policies to guide in managing such incidents. However, the language of these documents can sometimes hinder victims’ willingness to report perpetrators. This study examined the use of deontic modalities in the anti-sexual ha…
On Critical Linguistic Landscape in Motion
Linguistic landscape (LL) studies rely on approaches and theories from diverse disciplines. However, LL studies, especially those that adopt classificatory approaches, have favoured languages that have colonised other languages in geopolitical contexts. Arguably, these studies have been less critical in their approaches. This study, therefore, adopts a more critical approach to classify the languages employed in automobile graffiti, or automobile…
Ghanaian language as a national language
This article was propelled by some calls for the enactment of a language policy on an indigenous national language for Ghana. It explores the perspectives of Ghanaian university students on the choice of a Ghanaian language as a national one, using descriptive statistics from a questionnaire survey conducted at the Faculty of Social Sciences, KNUST. The analysis of the survey results on key questions on the subject revealed that there is a place …
Grammatical Cohesion in Online Minute-By-Minute Football Commentary
Linguistic inquiry into football commentary has become prevalent in recent times. Despite the plethora of studies on football commentary, the cohesive elements within it remain unexplored. The present study, therefore, investigated the grammatical cohesive devices in Online Minute-By-Minute Football Commentary (OMBMFC). Three OMBMFCs from The Guardian news were collected, processed, and analysed. Drawing on Halliday and Hasan’s Cohesion Theory, t…
“I have known….” A Corpus-driven Study of Personal Pronouns in Letters of Recommendation in an L2 Context
In recent times, there has been an upsurge of scholarly attention on hitherto occluded genres such as the Letter of Recommendation (LoR). Although several studies have been conducted on the LoR, studies on lexico-grammatical features are rare. This study, therefore, adopts a corpus-driven approach to examine the use of personal pronouns (PPs) in LoRs written by Ghanaian academics. A specialized corpus of LoR, totalling approximately twenty thousa…
Exploring incongruity and humour in Linguistic Landscapes in Ghana
In recent times, Linguistic Landscape (LL) research has been extended to cover several variables, domains, modes, and geo-political contexts. Arguably, humour remains understudied in LL research. This article, therefore, examines incongruities in LLs using a corpus of digital signs and incongruous inscriptions gathered across several mediums in urban Ghana. Drawing on the incongruity theory, we examined the levels of incongruities in the corpus. …
Towards a ‘grounding model’ of linguistic landscape through church names
This study proposes grounding as a theoretical approach to studying linguistic landscape (LL). Grounding is the positioning or sequencing of languages in a multilingual ‘text’ to reveal the languages’ relevance or a community’s association with the languages. The study explores language grounding in church names which constitute part of the Ghanaian LL, in general, and namescape in particular. The multilingual church names in a self-compiled Chur…
Different pronouns, same referents
In recent times, studies on I, we and you (tri-PP) in academic lectures havefocused on the L1 context. This paper, however, investigates thecommonalities in the discourse reference of I, we, and you across threedisciplinary supercommunities (DSs): Humanities (HS), Social Sciences(HS), and Natural Sciences (NS), using a corpus from an L2 context. Theconcordance tool in AntConc was used to search for all instances of the tri-PP. The referents of th…
Examining graphemic and lexical anglicisms in Twi for academic purposes in textbooks written in Twi
This paper examines graphemic and lexical borrowings in Twi for Academic Purposes (TAP). Textbooks written in Asante Twi by some renowned scholars in the language constituted the dataset for this study. The textbooks were read and all instances of anglicisms or English features borrowed into Twi were collected. The borrowed-features were identified by drawing on our native speaker and scholarly competencies. The dataset was analyzed by drawing on…
Examining Inter-disciplinary Commonalities in the Referents of I, We and You in Classroom Lecturer Talk
Studies have sought to establish the ‘territory of reference’ or ‘patterns of referentialities’ of I, we and you (tri-PP) in academic lectures across disciplinary supercommunities (DSs): Humanities, Social Sciences and Natural Sciences. These studies are largely from L1 context, and also report on only referents common to the three DSs, without giving attention to those at the interface of two DSs. This study, therefore, is the first attempt to e…
The Use of Persuasive Language in Christian Fundraising
This paper is an expose on how fundraisers in some churches in Ghana use persuasive language, also referred to as ‘loaded words’ on their congregation to stir up their emotions to adhere to their demands and succumb to their instructions and directions. It specifically recounts persuasive expressions or utterances used by personalities who solicit funds from the congregation during fundraising ceremonies and discusses the effectiveness of these e…
Variations in Metadiscourse Use in English Language Introduction and Literature Review Thesis Chapters
Studies have established that thesis chapters are both similar and dissimilar with respect to their rhetorical choices. This paper examined metadiscourse use in the Introduction and Literature Review (LR) chapters of English Language theses from a nonnative context. The Introduction and LR chapters of ten theses, resulting in 50, 000 and 100, 500 words respectively, constituted the data sets for this study. Drawing on Hyland’s metadiscourse model…
Metadiscourse within a discipline
It has been established that there are inter-chapter variations regarding metadiscourse use in masters’ thesis. This paper, therefore, investigates the differences and similarities in metadiscourse use between the Introduction and Literature Review (LR) chapters in Sociology masters’ thesis from an English-medium university. The Introduction and LR Chapters of ten theses constituted the corpus for this study. The metadiscursive devices were manua…
Language choice and institutional identity
A growing body of research has sought to explore the language-identity interrelationship. The present study explored a key identity index – motto– of educational institutions in Ghana. Two hundred and forty-five mottos collected from multiple sources such as newspapers, billboards, and institutional souvenirs from institutions ranging from senior high schools to universities constituted the data for the study. It emerged from the analysis that Gh…
Towards a ‘grounding model’ of linguistic landscape through church names
This study proposes grounding as a theoretical approach to studying linguistic landscape (LL). Grounding is the positioning or sequencing of languages in a multilingual ‘text’ to reveal the languages’ relevance or a community’s association with the languages. The study explores language grounding in church names which constitute part of the Ghanaian LL, in general, and namescape in particular. The multilingual church names in a self-compiled Chur…
Language choice and institutional identity
A growing body of research has sought to explore the language-identity interrelationship. The present study explored a key identity index – motto– of educational institutions in Ghana. Two hundred and forty-five mottos collected from multiple sources such as newspapers, billboards, and institutional souvenirs from institutions ranging from senior high schools to universities constituted the data for the study. It emerged from the analysis that Gh…
The Use of Persuasive Language in Christian Fundraising
This paper is an expose on how fundraisers in some churches in Ghana use persuasive language, also referred to as ‘loaded words’ on their congregation to stir up their emotions to adhere to their demands and succumb to their instructions and directions. It specifically recounts persuasive expressions or utterances used by personalities who solicit funds from the congregation during fundraising ceremonies and discusses the effectiveness of these e…
Variations in Metadiscourse Use in English Language Introduction and Literature Review Thesis Chapters
Studies have established that thesis chapters are both similar and dissimilar with respect to their rhetorical choices. This paper examined metadiscourse use in the Introduction and Literature Review (LR) chapters of English Language theses from a nonnative context. The Introduction and LR chapters of ten theses, resulting in 50, 000 and 100, 500 words respectively, constituted the data sets for this study. Drawing on Hyland’s metadiscourse model…
Metadiscourse within a discipline
It has been established that there are inter-chapter variations regarding metadiscourse use in masters’ thesis. This paper, therefore, investigates the differences and similarities in metadiscourse use between the Introduction and Literature Review (LR) chapters in Sociology masters’ thesis from an English-medium university. The Introduction and LR Chapters of ten theses constituted the corpus for this study. The metadiscursive devices were manua…
Examining Inter-disciplinary Commonalities in the Referents of I, We and You in Classroom Lecturer Talk
Studies have sought to establish the ‘territory of reference’ or ‘patterns of referentialities’ of I, we and you (tri-PP) in academic lectures across disciplinary supercommunities (DSs): Humanities, Social Sciences and Natural Sciences. These studies are largely from L1 context, and also report on only referents common to the three DSs, without giving attention to those at the interface of two DSs. This study, therefore, is the first attempt to e…
Different pronouns, same referents
In recent times, studies on I, we and you (tri-PP) in academic lectures havefocused on the L1 context. This paper, however, investigates thecommonalities in the discourse reference of I, we, and you across threedisciplinary supercommunities (DSs): Humanities (HS), Social Sciences(HS), and Natural Sciences (NS), using a corpus from an L2 context. Theconcordance tool in AntConc was used to search for all instances of the tri-PP. The referents of th…
Examining graphemic and lexical anglicisms in Twi for academic purposes in textbooks written in Twi
This paper examines graphemic and lexical borrowings in Twi for Academic Purposes (TAP). Textbooks written in Asante Twi by some renowned scholars in the language constituted the dataset for this study. The textbooks were read and all instances of anglicisms or English features borrowed into Twi were collected. The borrowed-features were identified by drawing on our native speaker and scholarly competencies. The dataset was analyzed by drawing on…
Towards a ‘grounding model’ of linguistic landscape through church names
This study proposes grounding as a theoretical approach to studying linguistic landscape (LL). Grounding is the positioning or sequencing of languages in a multilingual ‘text’ to reveal the languages’ relevance or a community’s association with the languages. The study explores language grounding in church names which constitute part of the Ghanaian LL, in general, and namescape in particular. The multilingual church names in a self-compiled Chur…
Ghanaian language as a national language
This article was propelled by some calls for the enactment of a language policy on an indigenous national language for Ghana. It explores the perspectives of Ghanaian university students on the choice of a Ghanaian language as a national one, using descriptive statistics from a questionnaire survey conducted at the Faculty of Social Sciences, KNUST. The analysis of the survey results on key questions on the subject revealed that there is a place …
Grammatical Cohesion in Online Minute-By-Minute Football Commentary
Linguistic inquiry into football commentary has become prevalent in recent times. Despite the plethora of studies on football commentary, the cohesive elements within it remain unexplored. The present study, therefore, investigated the grammatical cohesive devices in Online Minute-By-Minute Football Commentary (OMBMFC). Three OMBMFCs from The Guardian news were collected, processed, and analysed. Drawing on Halliday and Hasan’s Cohesion Theory, t…
“I have known….” A Corpus-driven Study of Personal Pronouns in Letters of Recommendation in an L2 Context
In recent times, there has been an upsurge of scholarly attention on hitherto occluded genres such as the Letter of Recommendation (LoR). Although several studies have been conducted on the LoR, studies on lexico-grammatical features are rare. This study, therefore, adopts a corpus-driven approach to examine the use of personal pronouns (PPs) in LoRs written by Ghanaian academics. A specialized corpus of LoR, totalling approximately twenty thousa…
Exploring incongruity and humour in Linguistic Landscapes in Ghana
In recent times, Linguistic Landscape (LL) research has been extended to cover several variables, domains, modes, and geo-political contexts. Arguably, humour remains understudied in LL research. This article, therefore, examines incongruities in LLs using a corpus of digital signs and incongruous inscriptions gathered across several mediums in urban Ghana. Drawing on the incongruity theory, we examined the levels of incongruities in the corpus. …
Leveraging Political Messaging with Religious Resonance
Religion and politics are inextricably connected through shared values, institutional influence, and historical relationships, culminating in what can be described as politics in religion and religion in politics. During key religious festivities, political actors deliver messages to the members of the religious community. Thus, the present study employed a Systemic Functional Linguistic (SFL) approach to examine the transitivity choices in the 2…
The Dagomba Praise (Singers, Singing And Naming)
This study examined the roles and cultural significance of Dagomba praise singers, praise singing, and praise naming in Northern Ghana. Central to the socio-cultural fabric of Dagomba society, these oral traditions preserve cultural identity, perpetuate historical narratives, and promote communal values. Guided by performance theory, the research investigated the nature of praise singing among the Dagomba people and the role of the praise singer …
Connecting past, present, and future
Cohesion in politico-financial registers, such as budget statements, remains terra incognita, although it is crucial in shaping the rhetorical structure of these documents. Cohesive devices are key indicators in strengthening financial arguments and shaping people’s understanding of fiscal policies. Despite their significance, studies on cohesion in budget statements remain limited. This corpus-assisted study thus examines the discourse functions…
Deontic Obligations in Anti-Sexual Harassment Policies in Tertiary Institutions
Sexual harassment in higher education is a pervasive issue that carries serious implications for both institutional reputation and the well-being of victims. To address this, universities have developed anti-sexual harassment policies to guide in managing such incidents. However, the language of these documents can sometimes hinder victims’ willingness to report perpetrators. This study examined the use of deontic modalities in the anti-sexual ha…
On Critical Linguistic Landscape in Motion
Linguistic landscape (LL) studies rely on approaches and theories from diverse disciplines. However, LL studies, especially those that adopt classificatory approaches, have favoured languages that have colonised other languages in geopolitical contexts. Arguably, these studies have been less critical in their approaches. This study, therefore, adopts a more critical approach to classify the languages employed in automobile graffiti, or automobile…
Political Discourse During Crisis
This study investigates the discursive strategies employed by Ghana’s President, Nana Akufo-Addo, in his public addresses on the COVID-19 pandemic. The corpus consists of twenty-nine televised national update speeches delivered between March 2020 and May 2023. Socio-cognitive model of critical discourse analysis, the study examines how discursive strategies are used to construct ideological representations, shape public consciousness, and sustain…
“Pleasing the deceased”
Although homely discourses, particularly funeral discourse, have attracted increasing scholarly attention, expressive speech acts (ESAs) in funeral tributes remain underexplored, especially in African sociocultural contexts. This study thus examines how bereaved spouses and children in Ghana employ ESAs in funeral tributes to express grief and construct relational identities. Specifically, it examines the types of ESAs used and the similarities a…
Linguistics (14 works) · Psychology (11 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Philosophy (10 works) · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies (8 works) · Computer Science (7 works) · History (6 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (6 works) · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies (5 works) · Second Language Learning and Teaching (5 works)