GREEN DISCOURSE OF PHILIPPINE PUBLIC OFFICIALS

An Undergraduate Thesis
Presented to the
Faculty of the Department of Languages and Literature
University of San Carlos
Cebu City, Philippines

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Degree
BACHELOR OF ARTS IN LIGUISTICS AND LITERATURE

by
EZRA HILARY D. CENIZA
DANE VALERIE B. MAGAWAY
MARCH 2015

APPROVAL SHEET
This undergraduate thesis entitled GREEN DISCOURSE OF
PHILIPPINE PUBLIC OFFICIALS prepared and submitted by Ezra Hilary
D. Ceniza and Dane Valerie B. Magaway in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of BACHELOR OF ARTS IN LINGUISTICS
AND LITERATURE, has been examined and is recommended for
acceptance and approval for ORAL DEFENSE.
COMMITTEE
Kenneth G. Opina, M.A.
Adviser
Sweet Kristel N. Cacha, M.A.
Member

Joseleanor M. Magno, M.A.

Member

___________________________________________________
PANEL OF EXAMINER(S)
Approved by the Committee of Proposal Hearing with a grade of
_________.
Joseleanor M. Magno, M.A.
Instructor
Kenneth G. Opina, M.A.
Member

Sweet Kristel N. Cacha, M.A.

Member

Accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of BACHELOR OF ARTS IN LINGUISTICS AND
LITERATURE.
Sunleigh C. Gador, M.A.
Chair, Department of Languages
and Literature
February 9, 2015

Date of Oral Examination

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This study was done in one whole academic year. The difficulties
that the researchers dealt with, paired with cups of coffee to keep the
researchers eyes open as well as some food to keep the researchers
energized and nourished, did not only require perseverance, but also
influenced the researchers capacity to prioritize and manage their
timetables in order to meet deadlines.
In all of these undertakings, the researchers were not alone. Hence,
the researchers would like to express their gratitude to the following
people:
To Mr. and Mrs. Elizalde Magaway and Mr. and Mrs. Harry Ceniza for
their constant support, both moral and particularly financial. The
researchers could not have afforded to do their revisions together in
coffee shops and be more productive if it werent for the fiscal support of
their parents. Nevertheless, their words of wisdom and encouragement
also kept the researchers moving forward.
To Keeshia Joy S. San Juan, Ceska Marie R. Apalla, Cynthia
Moonmae Dela Pea, and Mary Joy B. Molina- for numerous sleepless
nights, together we have searched for 24/7 coffee shops, tasted every
coffee from the menu, and had little intermission numbers in between
revisions. Kidding aside, thank you for the company, encouragement and
laughter.

To Ms. Catherine Ariosa, for having inspired the researchers to do

an environmental study and for initially accepting us as her thesis
advisers.
To Mr. Francis Abangan for allowing the researchers to use his
unpublished masters thesis as resource.
To Ms. Julie Anne Villarama for helping the researchers obtain the
State of the City Address speeches of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama.
To Ms. Fatima Imam for verifying the glossed Cebuano speeches as
well as Mr. Adonis Enricuso for verifying the results of the study. The
researchers

consider

your

help

as

great

contribution

for

the

accomplishment of the research endeavor.

To Ms. Sweet Cacha, the researchers panelist, for her guidance and
helpful suggestions.
To Ms. Joseleanor Magno for her colorful corrections and most
importantly, her words of encouragement and great trust for the
researchers.
To Mr. Kenneth Opina for your excellent guidance, long patience,
careful scrutiny, encouraging words and precious time. The researchers
gratitude

cannot

be

fully

expressed

in

words.

Without

you,

the

researchers would never have been able to finish their study.

Finally, to God for making the researchers believe that all things are
possible.

ABSTRACT
Using qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis, this study
examined and analyzed the linguistic components, particularly the
collocational nodes (Crystal, 1996, in Ariosa, 2011), rhetorical
strategies (Alo, 2012), and lexical structures (Guerra, 2013) present in
the environmental speeches of Philippine government officials. Twelve
(12) environmental speeches were obtained, examined, and analyzed.
The results showed that the climate change node was the most evident
node, modals were the most extensively used rhetorical strategy, and
expressive values were the most frequently used lexical structure in
the corpus. Based on the results, the researchers concluded that
speech context influences politicians lexical choices, rhetorical
strategies reinforce politicians message, and lexical structures enrich
politicians language use and presentation of ideas.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Title Page

Approval Sheet

ii

Acknowledgement

iii

Abstract

Table of Contents

vi

List of Figures

viii

List of Tables

viii

Chapter
1

INTRODUCTION
Rationale of the Study
Theoretical Background
THE PROBLEM
Statement of the Problem
Significance of the Study
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Data
Research Instrument
Research Procedures
Gathering of Data
Treatment of Data
DEFINITION OF TERMS
PRESENTATION,
INTERPRETATION, AND

1
1
7
29
29
30
33
33
34

ANALYSIS OF DATA
35
3

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS,
35
CONCLUSIONS, AND
36
RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary of findings
Conclusions
Recommendations

39

7
REFERENCES

41

APPENDICES
Transmittal Letter A
Transmittal Letter B
Coding Sheet
Glossed Modals
Time Table of Activities

67

Budget Table
RESEARCHERS CURRICULUM VITAE
68
70
73

76

84
84
85
86
90
92
93
94

LIST OF FIGURES

Table/Figure
Figure 1 Modals according to their
Uses and Meanings (Rosal, 2008)

Page
20

LIST OF TABLES
Table/Figure
Table 1 Types of Nodes

Page
42

Table 2 Rhetorical Strategies in

the Environmental Speeches

47

Table 3 Lexical Features in the

Environmental Speeches

59