THE STRATEGIC USE OF LANGUAGE IN IMRAN KHAN'S POLITICAL SPEECHES: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Abstract

The paper aimed at analysing the political discourse of Chairman Tehreek-i-Insaaf, Imran Khan from a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) perspective. The purpose of the study was to analyse how Imran Khan manipulates language to trigger his audience, especially youth. The study used qualitative analysis technique. The data were collected from the internet. Speeches of Imran khan delivered by him from 2010 to 2017 were downloaded from the internet. One speech per year was selected for analysis using random sampling technique. Fairclough’s (1989) 3-Dimensional model was used as a theoretical framework. The paper revealed how the leader addresses the youth to raise political awareness and motivate them to work for change in the country. The study found that Imran Khan strategically uses language to appeal to the minds of the young audience for his political purposes. The study concluded that Imran Khan used multiple strategies to persuade the general public. The study recommends conducting a comparative study of the strategies used by different politicians in persuading the public.