Discursive Strategies Utilized in King Abdullah II's Speeches during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Addressing the Nation

Abstract

While several researchers have investigated the linguistic features of Presidential and Royal speeches, there is a gap in the literature regarding discursive strategies used in the speeches of Presidents and Monarchs during crises. The study aims at identifying the main discursive strategies used by His Majesty King Abdullah II in addressing Jordanians during COVID-19. Therefore, the study adopted the Positive Discourse Analysis approach (PDA) to investigate the usage of discursive strategies in three speeches of King Abdullah II during COVID-19. The study revealed that the King used nomination, prediction, argumentation, perspectivization and intensification, and mitigation strategies in appeasing Jordanians and conveying his directives to the government regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.