Speech Act Analysis: Pakistani Private Universities as a Case in Point

Abstract

The marketisation of higher education has received mushrooming growth in not only Pakistan but all around the globe for the last few years. Most of Pakistani universities are modifying prospectuses’ discourse to market their image and establish credibility in the competitive academic environment under the influence of marketization. The present study aimed to analyse speech acts in the educational discourse which were manifested in the recognition and reputation of universities. In the current study, the researcher has used prospectus discourse as the prime source of data to evaluate its significance in an educational environment. This study has employed a qualitative exploratory paradigm to analyze the data collected from prospectuses of Pakistani private universities. In this context, the present study has explored variations of linguistic characteristics i.e. speech acts which have been embedded in the administrative discourse to represent universities in the Pakistani academic market. The current study has attempted to employ speech acts as interpretive tools to investigate how persuasive language is used in the academic discourse of Pakistani private universities. The findings have revealed that the text of academic discourse is aligned with the commoditized practices of marketisation in the current scenario prevailing in Pakistan. The present study has also highlighted the hidden ideological perspective incorporated and displayed through speech acts in the educational discourse of Pakistani private universities.