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UNIVERSITY OF GHANA
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
THE GRAMMAR OF ADVERTISEMENT: A MULTIMODAL
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF CHARISMATIC CHURCH
PROGRAMME POSTERS
BY
LOUISA OSAFO-ADJEI
(10599614)
THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA,
LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR
THE AWARD OF MPHIL ENGLISH DEGREE
OCTOBER, 2020
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DECLARATION
With the exception of the references used in this work which have been
acknowledged, I hereby declare that the views that have been expressed here
are the product of my own research and no part or the whole of this work has
been submitted to any other institution for the award of any degree.
……………………………… Date: 25th September, 2020
OSAFO-ADJEI LOUISA
(STUDENT)
……………………………………… Date: …September 25, 2020
JOHN FRANKLIN WIREDU (PROF.)
(PRINCIPAL SUPERVISOR)
……………………………… Date: 30th September, 2020
ELIZABETH ORFSON-OFFEI (DR.)
(CO-SUPERVISOR)
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ABSTRACT
The study sought to examine how messages are organised in Charismatic church
programme posters in Ghana. Thus, it identifies and describes the number of
semiotic modes present on the posters used by charismatic churches in Ghana
and how these modes combine to create a grammar. The study examined twenty
charismatic church programme posters in Ghana using the visual grammar
approach to multimodality, which was developed by Gunther Kress and Van
Leeuwen (2006) and Generic structure potential of print advertisement by Yuen
(2004). Both qualitative and quantitative analysis were applied to the study.
The study revealed that there are two modes used in the construction of these
church posters; they were identified as the visual and the verbal modes. Verbal
resources used in the design of charismatic church programme posters (CCP)
are words, groups, and clauses. Words such as “Venue”, “Date”, “Time”, and
“Contact” were sometimes used on charismatic church programme posters
(CCPs) to draw the attention of audience to specific details. The nominal group
of words were used to name churches, events and theme of the events. In naming
churches, “Chapel” served as head of the nominal group of charismatic church
programme posters in most cases. “Ministries” was used 4 times and “Church”
2 instances. In labelling events and themes, the ‘head’ for labels of events
usually denoted convergence of huge number of individuals for religious events
(Convention, Crusade, and Summit). Visual modes realized interaction and
modality functions. The represented participants kept eye contact with the
viewers and smiled to demand social interaction with the viewers. Four patterns
were established as the grammar of Charismatic church programme posters.
Lead + Emblem + Announcement + Call- visit-information (LEAC), Lead +
Emblem + Announcement + Call- visit-information+ Tag (LEACT), Lead +
Emblem + Enhancer + Announcement + Call- visit-information (LEAEC), Lead
+ Emblem + Enhancer + Announcement + Call- visit-information + Lead
(LEAECL). The study concluded that there are two modes present on these
posters and there is indeed a grammar for advertisement. It is recommended by
the study that a similar study should be conducted on the orthodox churches to
confirm if they (orthodox churches) follow a grammar in creating their
advertisements.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
There have been numerous times in the period I enrolled for this programme
that I felt I could not move further, in most of those moments, it appears a
strength and understanding which does not come from man urges me on and
opens my eyes to deeper insights. This might have been the spiritual; it should
be God. I am forever grateful to this supernatural.
In the position as supervisors, Prof. J. F. Wiredu and Dr. Elizabeth Orfson-
Offei have immensely contributed to the success of this work, and their
directions and scholarly submissions have immensely contributed to the success
of this work.
I say thank you.
My appreciation will never be complete if I do not recognize the contributions
of my parents and the entire family. You have really supported me both
financially and spiritually and I say today that as far as I continue to have live,
I will forever be grateful to you.
And to my special course mates who helped me in one way or the other all that
I can say is God richly bless you all.
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DEDICATION
To my parents—
I won’t say that I couldn’t have done this without you;
I will say that I am glad I didn’t have to.
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TABLE OF CONTENT
Contents Page
DECLARATION ii
ABSTRACT iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv
DEDICATION v
TABLE OF CONTENT vi
LIST OF TABLES x
LIST OF FIGURES xi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xii
CHAPTER ONE 1
INTRODUCTION 1
1.0 Background to the Study 1
1.1 Religions in Ghana 2
1.2 Statement of the Problem 4
1.3 Aims of the Study 5
1.4 Research Questions 6
1.5 Delimitation 6
1.6 Significance of the Study 8
1.7 Organization of the Study 9
CHAPTER TWO 10
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 10
2.0 Introduction 10
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2.1 Language and Religion 10
2.2 Empirical Review 11
2.3 Theoretical Framework 15
2. 3.1 Approaches to text analysis 15
2.4 Multimodal Discourse Analysis (MDA) 17
2.4.1 Visual Grammar 18
2.6 Generic Structure of Print Advertisements 25
2.7 Situating the Study 28
CHAPTER THREE 29
METHODOLOGY 29
3.0 Introduction 29
3.1 Research Design 29
3.2 Population, Sample, and Sampling Technique 30
3.3 Data Analysis Procedure 31
3.5 Conclusion 32
CHAPTER FOUR 33
ANALYSIS AND DISSCUSSION 33
4.0 Introduction 33
4.1.1 The Semiotic Modes Used in Charismatic Church Posters 33
4.3 Conclusion 66
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CHAPTER FIVE 67
A GENERIC STRUCTURE ANAYSIS OF CHURCH POSTERS 67
5.0 Introduction 67
5.1 The Generic Structure Potential (GSP) of Charismatic Church
Programme Posters 67
5.2 Patterned Arrangements 71
5.3 Conclusion 74
CHAPTER SIX 75
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATION 75
6.0 Introduction 75
6.1 Summary of the Study 75
6.2 Findings of the Study 76
6.3 Conclusion 79
6.4 Recommendations for Further Study 80
APPENDICES 81
APPENDIX 1 81
APPENDIX 2 81
APPENDIX 3 82
APPENDIX 4 82
APPENDIX 5 83
APPENDIX 6 84
APPENDIX 7 85
APPENDIX 8 85
APPENDIX 9 86
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APPENDIX 10 86
APPENDIX 11 87
APPENDIX 12 87
APPENDIX 13 88
APPENDIX 14 88
APPENDIX 15 89
APPENDIX 16 90
APPENDIX 17 91
APPENDIX 18 91
APPENDIX 19 92
APPENDIX 20 92
REFERENCES 93
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LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1 Distribution of Titles 39
2 Noun groups used to name the g theme of the event 44
3 Frequency of occurrences of generic moves 68
4 Percentage of occurrences of generic moves 71
5 Frequency of occurrences of patterns 72
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
1 Structure of Religious Posters 12
2 Prominence of Noun Groups that Frame Events 43
3 Merging Theme and Name of Event 43
4 Themes and Names of Events 45
5 Modality 63
6 Low Modality 64
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
Ads Advertisement
CCP Charismatic Church Programme Posters
GSP Generic Structure Potential
MDA Multimodal Discourse Analysis
MD-SFG Multimodal Discourse Systemic Functional Grammar
VG Visual Grammar
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Religious posters are communicative artefacts which seek to inform people
about events. The current chapter introduces the study. The following sections
will review studies on religious discourse and multimodality to create a
background for the study, state the problem the study hopes to solve, and outline
the study’s focus by stating objectives, research questions, and aims of the
study. Additionally, the significance of the study is stated, and the chapter ends
with an organization of the study.
1.0 Background to the Study
Language in religion has been studied from different perspectives. Since the
1980s, studies and debates on religious language have centred on the form and
function of religious discourse (Crystal, 2016). In pursuing functional analysis
of religious discourse, interesting paths such as the link between religion and
language contact (Spolsky, 2003), critical discourse analysis of religious
discourse (Ajibade, 2012; Ayodji, 2013; Chibueze, Ordu, & Omoghie, 2017;
Dada, 2018; Hardin, 2019; Haynes, 2016), and analysis of the role of religious
language in other domains of language use have been prattled. If the assumption
that religion is the most unifying social construct globally and that religious
discourses are effective in wining audience were true, then, findings of studies
like Hughes (2019) that political discourses are increasingly utilizing religious
registers to attract votes is not farfetched. The assumption, nonetheless, points
to the need to carefully study the form of promotional discourses in religious
domains to provide a description of the linguistic resources used in the religious
domain.
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Posters are among the leading mechanisms used to draw audience in religious
domains, and their use keep increasing (Ajibade, 2012). Generally, religious
posters have been studied from the functional perspective. For instance, critical
discourse analyses of religious posters and handbills respectively have shown
how male dominance is perpetrated (Ajibade, 2012) and how the texts are free
from ambiguities because a “narrow interpretative space and semantic
effervescence” (Dada, 2018, p.14) is created for interpretation of the text. To
the best of my knowledge, little is known about the ways in which resources are
combined in constructing religious posters, especially by churches in Africa,
though their use for ideological purposes is known (Dada, 2018).
The religious poster is a multimodal text, and as Mooney (2016) has noted, it is
crucial for studies on multimodal analysis of religious discourse to be conducted
because “Multimodality … draws researchers’ attention to a full repertoire of
communication or expression methods such as verbal, visual, kinetic, spatial
and aural” (Piejia, 2017, p. 11).
1.1 Religions in Ghana
Three main religions exist in Ghana. According to the Ghana Statistical Services
(2012), 71 percent of the population of Ghana are Christians, with about 29
percent being Moslems, African Traditionalists, or votaries of other religions.
Christianity dominates the religious sphere of Ghana, and posters of Christians
abound in Ghana. Thus, the present study focuses exclusively on Christian
posters. In selecting Christian posters, I acknowledge that other religious
institutions provide rich data sources for the study yet it is possible that the
rhetorical uses of posters contribute to the dominance of Christianity in Ghana.
Thus, the dominance in itself points to the need to study strategies employed in
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the construct of such multimodal texts to attract audience. In Ghana, like in most
parts of the world, Christianity is not a homogenous religious group.
Two main categories of religious groups are identified in Ghana: (a) the
orthodox and (b) the Pentecostal/charismatic, or perhaps (a) Catholicism and
(b) Protestantism. Christianity in Ghana is said to have accompanied Christian
missionaries who arrived in Ghana in the 15th century (Amanor, 2004). This
contact created churches like the Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church,
and the Anglican Church, which were mostly associated with European
countries that funded expeditions to Ghana, and Africa at large. Part of the result
is the birthing of the Pentecostal churches which believed in the manifestations
of the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues.
Pentecostalism reached Ghana around 1917, and churches such as the Church
of Pentecost and Faith Tebernacle Church are noted to have represented the
move (Sallah, 2015). Charismatic churches emerged from Pentecostals, and
they were known for expressing the manifestations of the gifts of God and
emphasising faith. Sallah (2015) finds “Pentecostalism” and “Charismatism”
ares just terminological differences but refer to churches whose practices are
similar. “It must be pointed out that Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches are
churches characterized by the ‘spectacular’ such as casting out demons, ‘loud’
prayers, and clapping” (Afful & Tekpetey, 2011, pg. 10) but they differ in few
ways. Some differences between them are stated by Afful and Tekpetey (2011):
1. Pentecostal churches tend to have their preaching in local Ghanaian
languages while the Charismatic churches carry out their activities
mainly in English.
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2. Pentecostal churches operate through a form of hierarchy, with the
highest position occupied by the chairman, who is an Apostle,
together with others such as pastors and evangelists, overseers, and
presiding elders. In contrast, Charismatic churches operate in the
form of individual ownership and, thus, have founders.
Charismatic churches in Ghana include International Central Gospel Church,
Action Chapel International, Royal House Chapel, and Action Faith Ministry
whereas Pentecostal churches include Church of Pentecost and Assemblies of
God. Since the charismatic churches are known for using English in interacting
with their audience, and posters are typically designed in English, it is logical
to see that they dominate in the use of poster advertisement
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The rise of multimodality in the construction of texts has been occasioned
mainly by the rise of communication technologies (Kress & van Leeuwen,
1996). These technologies have made it possible for different semiotic resources
to be used in the construction of texts for various purposes. In advertising, the
use of multimodal semiotic resources has been observed (Saichaie, 2011; Thuy,
2017) as integral to the construction of discourses and genres of advertising.
The need to combine different semiotic resources in advertising genres has
arisen from the recognition that texts are able to appeal to the different senses
of audiences and this constitutes an important way of appealing to and
persuading such audiences. This functional dimension of the multimodal text
has been argued as an effect of the peculiar grammar that arises from the nature
in which the different modes within a multimodal text are combined (Kress &
van Leeuwen, 1996). The view of visual grammar as an important phenomenon
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in multimodal texts has been a leading motivation of research into multimodal
texts. This has been the case, especially because of the fact that different texts
that have used a variety of semiotic resources are bound to give rise to different
visual grammars. It has, therefore, been the interest of researchers within
multimodality to examine the types of semiotic resources that are used in the
construction of multimodal texts as well as examine how the different modes
are combined to create functional texts that communicate to audience. This is
the broader research agenda that gives need to this study. The more specific
research interest is the description of the visual grammar of charismatic church
posters in Ghana. The massive growth of Christianity in Africa after contact
with European, the very frequent use of posters to draw audience, and the
combination of linguistic (English) and non-linguistic resources to me is an
interesting evidence of how the domain is worthy of study. Research that shares
in this interest have investigated hidden ideologies (Dada, 2018; Ajibade, 2012),
interpretation of lexico-semantic resources on the posters (Odoemenam, Ordu,
& Omoghie, 2017), names of the churches (Awukuvi & Isreal, 2018) but have
not examined how semiotic resources are combined in the construct of religious
posters and meanings accompanying the combination. The present study goes
beyond existing studies which devoted attention to aspects of the religious
poster in Ghana by examining the grammar of the charismatic church poster.
1.3 Aims of the Study
The overall goal of this study is to examine how charismatic churches in Ghana
use verbal, visual, kinetic, spatial, and aural resources in constructing posters.
To arrive at this goal, the study aims to provide answers to the following
research questions.
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1.4 Research Questions
1. What are the semiotic modes used in charismatic church posters and the
meanings the modes communicate?
2. What is the generic structure potential of the charismatic church posters?
1.5 Delimitation
In order to achieve the aim of this study, it became prudent to draw boundaries
for the study, for as Johnstone (2012), puts it, “Every choice about what to count
as a text for analysis is a choice not only about what to include but also about
what to exclude” (p.12).
Considering the global influence of religion, a study of this nature could focus
on religious bodies globally. However, this study is limited to Ghana because
of the time allotted and the detailed analysis required and also, the researcher is
in Ghana thereby Ghana was selected for proximity sake. There are many
religions in Ghana today that use posters. This study is, however, limited to the
posters of Christian bodies because they abound in the use of religious posters
in Ghana. Omenyo (2006) has noted that the increase in patronage of
Christianity and its associated divisions is as a result of effective use of
advertising strategies. This suggests that the Christian posters serve as rich data
source for this study.
For measurable research outcome, the time frame for the selection of data is
limited to religious posters produced from 2016 to 2017 with a data size of 20
posters. The selected charismatic churches are Royalhouse Chapel
International, Explosive Faith Chapel International, Action Chapel, Living
Wave Chapel-worldwide, Perez Chapel, Lovegate Chapel Worldwide, El-Kana
Ministries International, The Love Family Incorporated, Grace Citadel Church,
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Spiritual Revival Ministries, Fresh Fire Ministries, Lighthouse Chapel
International, Glory Embassy Ministries International, International Central
Gospel Church, Blazing Fire, Calvary Charismatic Centre, Fountain Gate
Chapel, and Living Waters Chapel.
Lastly, the term Grammar as used in this study deviates from the traditional
definition of the word as “the rules that govern the composition of structures in
a language.” In this study, Grammar is looked at from point of view of the
Generic Structure Potential of Print Advertisement (GSP) (cf. O’Toole, 1994;
Cheong, 2004; Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004. In this study, then, it is defined
as the arrangement of obligatory and optional elements within the text and the
order in which these elements are organized as a meaning-making process in
textual creation.
Finally, it is acknowledged that, in many cases, colours can aid in information-
giving, especially in poster advertisements (Malamed, 2015). However, we are
not discussing the use of colours because not everybody will react the same way
to the same colour. We react differently to colour. (Chapman, 2010). As she
explains it:
a colour that can evoke one reaction in one person may
evoke the opposite reaction in another, due to culture, prior
association, or even just personal preference.
Accordingly, it is not clear to us that the interpretation we attempt to give the
use of colours in the study will be wholly acceptable.
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1.6 Significance of the Study
The findings of this study will make very significant inputs to existing
knowledge on religious discourse. For designers, especially those considered
novices in the design of the religious poster, the results will be an essential
guiding literature. For consumers, the literature will help their understanding of
how choices are made and how resources are combined to communicate to them
through the posters. In short, this study then will provide a more refined
understanding of religious interactions through posters and religious discourse,
in general (Dada, 2018).
Multimodality is a field that is yet to be fully theorized (Piejia, 2017). By
combining two of the existing approaches to the study of religious texts
constructed in Ghana, this study will make a theoretical contribution by adding
to the field of multimodality the perspective of how Ghanaians construct
religious posters.
One crucial criticism against multimodality has been the subjective nature of
the analysis conducted. Using the corpus approach to the analysis of multimodal
texts will add to the efforts to make analysis in the field more objective. This
will contribute to the methodology for conducting multimodal analysis as the
method is still less utilized. More so, it will be a useful guide to individuals who
hope to conduct a corpus multimodal analysis.
The field of advertising and persuasive language use will also benefit
immensely from the findings of this study. In the religious domain, it has been
established that advertising has really been an effective tool for drawing
individuals to the church. For this reason, other discourses such as the political
discourse have made efforts to employ similar strategies used in religious
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advertisements to enhance theirs. Since the findings of this study will clearly
map out the grammar of the religious poster in Ghana, it will provide enough
resources for the benefit of advertisers.
1.7 Organization of the Study
There are six main divisions of this thesis. The first is Chapter One and it
provides an introduction to the study. In the Introduction, background of the
study is given, the problem this study hopes to solve is stated, and the aims and
the research questions that guide the conduct of the study are also stated. The
chapter ends by stating the research value and how the study is organized.
Chapter Two reviews related literature. The type of literature reviewed in the
chapter defines the subsections of the chapter: theoretical review, conceptual
review, and empirical review will respectively review literature on theories that
guide the analysis and discussion, key concepts of the study, and empirical
studies related to the current study. Chapter Three will outline the methods and
procedures used in conducting the study. In Chapter Four, the penultimate
chapter, religious posters sampled are analysed using multimodal discourse
analysis and the results are discussed in line with the objectives of the study.
The five chapter is a continuation of the analysis but this section will establish
the generic moves present in these posters using Generic structure potential.
The last chapter, Chapter six, presents a conclusion to the entire study and gives
some recommendations for further research.
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CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.0 Introduction
This chapter gives a review of related literature that will contribute to the
conceptualization of the major issues or phenomena underling this study. This
section of the study is divided into two. The first section looks at how language
is used in religion and the theoretical framework the study uses. The final part
of the review examines empirical studies conducted on religious discourse,
mostly on the religious poster.
2.1 Language and Religion
Language is the tool used to communicate in any form of trade. The success of
any form of trade is dependent on the extent to which one could tell what they
want to trade, who they wanted to trade with, and how much they would want
to trade that for. The religious bodies, for example, heavily rely on language for
‘trade’ purposes i.e. communicating the word of God to people. Linguists have
provided evidence that every discourse community has its unique way of using
language and, as Casan-Pitarch (2016) points out, religious bodies rely on
formal language usage.
According to Harrison (2007), religious language is any form of language used
by the religious bodies to communicate their religious beliefs and experiences.
Religious language covers sermons, prayers, religious songs, and sacred texts.
Such language is usually filled with figurative images and metaphors which aim
at persuading their audience (Roberts, 2014). In this regard, speakers in the
religious domain use language to persuade their audience to perform an action.
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Etim (2006) also asserts that religious language is ambiguous and must,
therefore, be used in context to break its ambiguity. This means that language
used to talk about things in the religious domain is expected to work in its own
way to achieve an intended objective.
Donovan (1976) gives two definitions of religious language. He first explains
religious language as a prominent language which is used separately in some
special situations, such as Hebrew for Jews and Arabic for Muslims. Second, it
is the usage of special words like "Apocalypse, Incarnation, alms-giving, and
belief." Correspondingly, Elewa (2014) reiterates that religious language is
categorised by its dominant use of certain words such as “paradise, sacrifice,
end times, revelation” (p. 2). This means that religious language is the language
used to talk about or have anything done using language in the religious domain.
Religious language is, therefore, expected to work in its own way to achieve an
intended objective.
2.2 Empirical Review
Ajibade (2012) has investigated the representation of women on contemporary
church posters in Nigeria. By observing the use of graphic principles of layout
and visual placement, Ajibade (2012) that female pastors are differentiated from
males as being subordinates. The results show that the religious poster is a
communicative artefact that can be systematically studied. Even so, he
demonstrates that the West African sub-region puts religious posters to
meaningful use, justifying further the need for this study. The present study
builds on his understanding that layout and visual placement of represented
participants communicates vital information.
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Aside from the principal objective of his study, Ajibade’s (2012) attempted a
description of the visual grammar of church posters (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Structure of Religious Posters
In describing the posters by structure, he has highlighted that the choice and use
of resources form a frozen pattern that defines the text even though he did not
analyze text to show this. The present study builds on his attempt by
systematically analyzing texts to define the generic structure potential and
grammar of the charismatic church posters.
Dada (2018) conducted a multimodal study of religious posters in Nigeria. He
explored hidden ideologies in the verbal and visual elements of religious posters
(what he calls handbills). He combined Kress and Leeuwen’s (1996) visual
grammar approach and Cheong’s (2004) analytical tools for multisemiotic print
advertisement and situated the study in the systemic functional framework to
discourse analysis. From the internet, Dada (2018) selected twelve posters of
programmes held from 2015 – 2017 of four Nigerian churches whose
headquarters were in Nigeria: Christ Embassy, the Redeemed Christian Church
of God, the Mountain of Fire and Miracle Church, and the Living Faith Church.
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Also, posters he selected were those that advertised annual conferences of the
church: Higher Life Conference (HLC), Holy Ghost Congress (HGC), the
Annual Anointing Service (AAS), and the Shiloh Conference. The multimodal
corpus tool kit was used to analyze the data.
The result of Dada’s (2018) study is useful for this study, as it shows that colours
and images have functional roles in the visual design of posters in Nigeria and
West Africa. With this evidence that the charismatic church poster is a resource
for meaning-making, the present study goes beyond Dada (2008) by describing
the grammar of charismatic church posters in Ghana. The current study is also
situated in the functional linguistic framework as Dada’s.
Odoemenam, Ordu, and Omoghie’s (2017) study on lexico-semantic
interpretation of Pentecostal church posters is quite informing. Their aim was
to approach the interpretation of Christian advertisement from the stylistics
point of view. Halliday’s systemic functional grammar (SFG) was used as the
analytical framework. They found metaphor, imagery, and alliteration as the
figurative uses of linguistic resources on the posters. Odoemenam, Ordu, and
Omoghie noted further that simple noun phrases and simple sentences were
used on the posters. Due to the simplicity of the expressions, the majority of the
audience are able to interpret the themes.
Tamumobelema and Aikoriogie (2018) looked at the roles that referential
elements play in the titles of church print posters in Nigeria. Their study was
motivated by the idea that church posters are meant to persuade audience to fall
in tune with the ideology that these posters represent. Their aim for the study
stemmed from the fact that linguistic items, especially referentials, play a
pivotal role in the persuasiveness found on church posters. They found that
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referentials facilitate accessibility of mental concepts which means they lesson
processing effort, making them instruments for persuasion. The results show
that linguistic resources used on the religious posters are for rhetorical purposes.
Moreover, their study highlights essence in the analysis of referentials.
Okyireh, Kankam, and Opoku (2020) examined how church marketing affects
church participation in the Efutu Municipality in Ghana. Their aim was to check
whether church marketing such as the ambience, signage, and buildings of
churches determines are persuasive devices to pull people to church. A cross-
sectional survey was used for the study with a sample size of 292, selected using
convenience sampling technique. They arrived at a conclusion that preaching
style and branding are significant in increasing church participation. However,
physical evidence such as church building, signage, and ambience does not
influence church participation. The finding that branding is a significant
indicator of church participation but signages are not is contradictory. Okyireh,
Kankam, and Opoku (2020) defined branding as part of the efforts to create an
image for the church. More so, signages are meant to guide individuals to a
place or an event, a role performed by religious posters. From this premise, an
observation that branding persuades target audience to attend churches implies
that posters do so to some extent. It will be useful, perhaps, for another study to
examine just the effects of posters on target audience.
An onomastic study of selected charismatic churches in Ghana has been
conducted by Awukuvi and Israel (2018). Motivated by the need to examine
how these names are formed and to identify naming patterns, Awukuvi and
Israel carefully observed and studied the text (names) from sign post and the
buildings of these charismatic churches. Thirty charismatic church names were
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collected from churches in the Bosomtwe District in the Ashanti Region, using
purposive sampling. Charismatic churches were seen to use naming patterns
which have similarities with how people are named in Ghana. For their second
objective, they found four classes of names of charismatic churches: descriptive
(e.g. Caravan in Caravan of Grace Ministries), coinages (e.g. Love in
Lovehouse Chapel), commendatory (e.g. Christ is Lord in Christ is Lord
Evangelic Ministry), and possessives (e.g. Gods in Gods Wonderful Church).
The studies that have examined church posters in Ghana signal that the religious
posters are imported communicative constructs, but they have not focused on
extensively studying the poster as a communicative artefact. Okyireh, Kankam,
and Opoku’s (2020) survey examined the poster as part of the resources that
attract viewers to churches and Awukuvi and Israel (2018) studied church
names as used on posters. Since both studies suggest that posters have
communicative functions, the present study proceeds to show how various
resources on posters are used to realise the communicative goal of the poster.
2.3 Theoretical Framework
2. 3.1 Approaches to text analysis
According to Hockett (1958), communication has undergone a couple of
changes as the years pass by and attention has been given to the particular
conversations, the discourse in question, the discourse community, and even the
participants involved in the conversation. Due to the rapid development of areas
of interest in language, several approaches to text analysis have emerged. Some
of these theories include systemic functional grammar (SFL), and critical
discourse analysis.
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Systemic functional grammar (henceforth SFG) is a theory of linguistics that
claims language can be seen as a system of choices (Butt, 2000). Language users
choose from a network of options in order to create a text, whether that text is
written or spoken. What is then conveyed, the meaning of the text, is dependent
upon the choices made by the speaker from the options within the language
system (Halliday & Matthiessen, 1996; Teo, 2000).
In SFG, every act of language is an act of meaning. This emphasis on meaning
has been the most attractive feature of SFG. As Butler (2009, p. 69) points out,
SFG is a theory of language that strives “to account for how language enables
human beings to communicate with one another in the ways they do”. The
theory this study adopts (Multimodal) can be said to be a subset of SFG since
the analysis of textual components found on a multimodal text is usually done
along the line of SFG. This way, the underlying conception of SFG shapes the
study but SFG is not necessarily the framework used. SFG was not selected
because it does not give room for the analysis of visual images which is a part
of the objectives of this study. The text for the current study has no
conversational paradigm, neither is it solely a written text; rather, it is a
combination of verbal text and visual.
Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is a theory which studies discourse to
unearth hidden ideologies and uneven display of power. According to Huckin,
Andrus, and Clary-Lemon (2012) “Critical discourse analysis is an
interdisciplinary approach to textual study that aims to explicate abuse of
power” (p. 107). Van Dijk (2001) posits that the way social power, abuse,
dominance, and inequality are ratified and resisted by texts and talk in social
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and political context is what CDA is interested in. Power and ideologies are the
key concepts found in the theory.
CDA was not used for this study, because its interest lies in power and
ideologies, which is not the objective for this study. That is, power dynamics
are present in the use of posters, but the aim of the study is not basically to
outline such power play in religious posters.
2.4 Multimodal Discourse Analysis (MDA)
The study of multimodal discourse analysis (henceforth, MDA) came to the
limelight through the efforts of Barthes (1977) but several attempts have been
made to theorize the field. Kress and van Leeuwen (1996 p. 96) defined MDA
as “any text whose meaning is realized through more than one semiotic
resource.” This definition easily lends itself to an approach of multimodal
discourse analysis that finds out how the text and image interplay to mean. The
semiotic resources do not just interact to bring meaning, but they come together
to form layers. This means that one can analyse a multimodal artefact for its
layers of meanings and how they are broadly structured to realize the generic
communicative goal of the text in view. MDA can be used to analyse any
document one can think of; and when it does, it does not recognise just verbal
communicative means such as written texts, but rather all means of
communication, be it vocal, aural, and/or visuospatial.
Due to the flexible nature of the theory, scholars are able to theorize it to
different areas from the original theory which looked at the interactions of
language and image. Forceville in 1996 studied conceptualized multimodal
metaphor, situating it in cognitive linguistics. Martinec (2000) and O’Halloran
(2004) also added the multimodal discourse analysis from a systemic functional
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grammar perspective. A number of scholars have applied this theory in different
areas of study. Prominent among them are Stanton (2011) and Ventola (2011)
(three-dimensional space), Hood (2011) and Knight (2011) (paralinguistic
features), Feng and O’Halloran (2012) (picture and comic books), Gu (2006;
2009), Painter, Martin, and Unsworth (2013) (situated discourse), Kress and van
Leeuwen (1996) (visual grammar). Visual grammar by Kress and Van
Leeuwen, which is part of multimodal discourse analysis, was selected as the
framework of the current study because it situates discourse as the centre of
attention and theorizes how verbal and visual symbols are used in discourse.
The present study focuses on the poster as a piece of language in use and
examines how the verbal and visual resources are used on the posters. Kress and
van Leeuwen’s theory appears to be suitable for such end.
2.4.1 Visual Grammar
Semiotic resources are different and hierarchically arranged elements which
combine into meaningful wholes for communicative purposes identified in the
functional grammars as ideational, interpersonal, and textual. Just as syntax
describes how morphemes, words, and phrases combine into clauses, sentences
and texts, images, and position of texts, combine to form visual ‘statements’
(Kress & Leeuwen, 2006). Creators of visual designs choose colours, images,
shapes, icons, etc. and through the logic of spatiality, organize arrangement and
simultaneously create higher visual elements for communicative purposes
(Kress & Leeuwen, 2003). Visual grammar is Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2003,
p. 119) attempt to account for the explicit and implicit knowledge and practices
around a resource, [a visual design] consisting of elements and rules underlying
a culture-specific form of visual communication.
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In their account, Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) underscored the crucial role of
culture, the social group under study, as their shared knowledge of meanings to
which they put the various resources to underline their grammar. As a result, all
attempts at describing visual grammar and the grammar of any kind require
identification of the social group, the way and manner in which they construe
meaning, and how they have emerged to accept certain resources to entail
certain communicative functions. Thus, the visual grammar framework affords
one the opportunity to describe visual designs from a socio-semiotic perspective
so that the social group under study and the way it makes meaning of visual
resources will be explored and determined as their grammar.
By following Halliday’s ideational, interpersonal, and textual metafunctions,
Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) have identified three metafunctions of visual
design, classifying the visual grammar (VG) into representational, interaction-
modality, and compositional metafunctions. The application of the theory to the
description of any visual text will thus require a succinct definition of the social
group first and proceed from these classifications. In doing this, the study starts
“With the question what is the group? What are its practices?” and from there
attempting to describe the grammar at issue, rather than adopting an approach
which says ‘Here is our grammar; do the practices and knowledge of this group
conform to it or not?” (Kress & Leeuwen, 2006)
Another key tenet of visual grammar is the declaration of the autonomy of
visuals from verbal texts (Kress & Leeuwen, 2006). The common-sense
explanation that visual communication preceded verbal communication in the
development of communication system for humans is proof of its autonomy.
That is, visuals were used alone for communicative purpose even before the
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development of verbal mode of communication. Therefore, “the visual
component of a text is an independently organized and structured message,
connected with the verbal text, but in no way dependent on it – and similarly
the other way round” (Kress & Leeuwen, 2006, p. 18).
1. Representational Function
The Representational function is one of the three functions of visuals and it
maps into the ideational metafunction. Halliday describes the ideational
function to be the use of semiotic resources to construe human experience
(Halliday & Matthiessen, 1996). Although Halliday’s conception appears to
favour verbal resources, his theory accommodates other semiotic resources
since resources such as visuals are like verbal resources, as they are meaning
potentials. Like the ideational function, Kress and Leeuwen’s (2006)
representational function explains interactions and conceptual relations between
participants. Representational function may either be narrative or conceptual. In
conceptual presentations, participant representations are captured in terms of
their class, structure or meaning.
Analytical Processes: This is a conceptual representation that considers
participants as forming a part-whole association. When what is represented is
part of a bigger representation, the parts are taken as attributes and the whole
becomes the carrier. A typical example will be a poster (see appendices)
showing the direction to a church. In this case, the poster is the whole, the carrier
whose parts are the individual suburbs or towns.
Classificational Process: The conceptual representations may be a process of
grouping represented participants. Through the positions on both horizontal and
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vertical axis, the participants are seen to be forming different classes. From this,
when certain pastors or singers are place higher on the vertical axis, a
superordinate class is construed in comparison to those who are lower on the
same axis. It is from such an analytical framework that Ajibade (2012)
unearthed the hidden ideology of male dominance in the posters of some
Churches in Nigeria.
Symbolic Process: Represented participants may be on the posters to mean
something or someone else. That is, their meaning is beyond what they actually
are. In such cases, we identify a symbolic process where the participants signify
concepts, issues, and phenomenon other than themselves. Symbolic processes
will guide analysis of represented participants that seem out of place on the
posters. For example, interpreting the cargo ship full of cargo (see CCP 12 in
appendix) as a symbol of ‘divine supply’ which endorses the theme of “All
Sufficiency” will be an analysis of the entity as a symbol.
So far, I have discussed the conceptual representation of the representational
metafunction, I turn to discuss the narrative. The narrative representations
encode enwrapping of actions and events, processes of change, transitory
arrangements (Kress & Leeuwen, 2006). Narratives assumes that represented
participants make certain utterances, construe their experience and these acts
are extrapolated from vectors formed in body contacts, colour coding, lines,
gestures together with accompanying words. For example, a thought bubble that
emerges as a line from the head of a participant shows that the participant is
undergoing a thought process, he is construing his experience through a mental
process. Similarly, verbal processes are seen in speech bubbles that follow lines
emerging from the mouth of the speaker. In the present study, such vectors will
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be examined. For instance, microphones raised to the mouth will be vectors that
signal a verbal process.
2. Interactional and Modality
Visuals show the interaction between represented participants and consumers.
The two main participants in all visuals, represented participants and interactive
participants, could be engaged in three basic relations: (1) the relations among
represented participants, (2) the relationship between represented and
interactive participants, and (3) the relationship between the interactive
participants. The analysis of the data will examine these relations through
contact, distance, and attitude. Based on the eye contact the participants
maintain with viewers, an interactional relation between the represented
participants and interactive participants. As it were, the represented participants
engage the viewers when they gaze at them. The meaning of the relation is
heightened when the participants maintain a smiling face. When the participants
gaze away from the viewers, they could be interacting, directing the viewers to
something in their (represented participants’) view.
The size of the frame of the image also construes social distance which is
expressed on a relative scale of intimacy (Kress & Leeuwen, 2006). This will
provide a frame for interpreting the varius sizes of images of represented
participants. Why do some posters prefer to represent only the head of the
participants while others prefer to represent all the body? The understanding
that ones closeness to an individual determines the part of the individual that
lies in reach in crucial to Kress and Leeuwen’s scale of intimacy. Therefore, a
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long shot is interpreted as construal of distal relation since it is from a relatively
far perspective that the full body parts of individuals lay in view.
Modality refers to the conceptualizations of the degree of reliability of
messages, whether they are credible, real, authentic, factual, and true. It shows
whether a given proposition is true or not (Halliday & Matthiessen, 1996). By
observing colour saturation, colour differentiation, colour modulation,
contextualization, representation, depth, illumination, and brightness, one can
tell the degree of realness of the posters under study.
3. Compositional Metafunction
The Compositional metafunction concerns the arrangement of elements found
within the visual space as well as the emphasis given to the representational and
interactive elements that compose the meanings of an image or verbal text. This
metafunction comprises three elements namely information value, salience, and
framing (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006). Information value deals with the
placement of elements and their values attached accordingly. The left and right
arrangement represents given and new information, top and bottom arrangement
resembles ideal and real information, and centre and margin arrangement is also
discussed in respect of culture context (Hu & Luo, 2016; Kress & Leeuwen,
2006; Peijia, 2018). Salience, on the other hand, shows that a hierarchy of
importance exists among the elements which are created through a variety of
sizes, the sharpness of focus, tonal contrast, etc. Framing discusses the
relationship between the degree of connectedness and the significance of
individuality or differentiation (Hu & Luo, 2016).
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Point of Departure
These functions afore-mentioned will serve as a framework for the analysis of
the visual designs. In the analysis, I first explore the data to identify
representational metafunctions, then interaction and modality. I do not pursue
compositional function of the posters. This is because the systems of
information framing, salience, and value are not clear enough a conception of
the composition of texts. Peijia (2018) has observed that very informative items
may be placed on the top left part of a visual design and argues that this does
not aptly determine the value of information. Also, the charismatic church
posters are mostly relatively small texts in terms of textual space. Though it is
likely for names of churches which are known to be placed at the top of the
posters, their value to the audience is not defined by that. In the first place, it is
sometimes hard to tell whether the expected audience know the church or not.
Thus, due to the issues with the compositional function, this study will not
attempt analysis via such understanding.
The present study will examine the posters to identify conceptual
representations. The represented participants will be observed to see whether
they are symbols, they represented classes, or are analytical processes. For
analytical processes, the study will look for constructs like maps that carry
attributes of parts. For symbolic representation, the study will investigate the
data to see whether the participants represent other things, ideas, concepts, or
phenomena. Since churches do not only use represented participants to denote
symbols, but signs, colours, artefacts, and animals such as the dove, cross and
blood may be used on posters for various religious symbolizations. The analysis
will examine how participants are placed on the poster to identify
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classifications. How the participants are categorized will in itself communicate
to viewers. The analysis will not just identify the classes but will proceed to
give plausible explanations for why it is so. This is important in determining a
frame of reference for representing individuals on religious posters.
The study shall proceed to analyze the interaction and modality. The analysis
will consider contextualization as a very important marker of modality. If a
background context shows a church gathering, it adds to the degree of realness
of the poster because it shows what is very likely to occur.
2.6 Generic Structure of Print Advertisements
Generic structure potential was proposed by Halliday and Hasan (Halliday &
Hasan, 1985; Hasan, 1996). Yuen (2004) upgraded this theory which has been
embraced immensely for the analyses of print advertisement. It seems that, over
the years, Halliday and Hassan’s GSP has been used to describe only verbal
communication and does not take account of visual and non-verbal
communications. Scholars such as Ventola (1979), Slate (1994), Halliday and
Hasan (1985), and Ventola (1987) used this theory to analyze casual
conversation, gossip, and service encounter respectively.
In 2004, Cheong Yin Yuen’s generic structure of print advertisements
(henceforth, GSP) was used to determine the major elements and also identify
the constructed ideational meaning in advertisements (Yuen, 2004). This has
been embraced over that of Halliday and Hasan since Yuen’s theory broadens
the horizon by adding visual and non-verbal communication. Though this
theory entails a lot, the arrangements of elements in terms of obligatory and
optional elements are the only sections that are of interest to this study. The
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tenets that will help in establishing a grammar for print advertisement as
proposed by Yuen are explained below:
(1) Lead
The Lead is an obligatory visual element which is “interpersonally most salient
through choices in size, position and/or colour” (Yuen, 2004, p. 165).
Display
The display, on the other hand, refers to the visual display of the product or
service in the poster which may be overt or covert (Oyebode & Unuabonah,
2013) or either “explicit where a concrete, tangible product is shown or implicit
where it is not or where there is no tangible product to display, e.g. many
services” (Yuen, 2002, p.171 as cited by Eskens, 2014).
(2) The Emblem
The emblem is another obligatory element which must be present in all ads, and
it is realized visually by the logo of the product/service and linguistically by the
brand name of the product/service (Yuen, as cited by Eskens, 2014).
(3) Announcement
The Announcement is a non-obligatory element. The name of the event is
usually the announcement. This is captured as the title which informs the
audience that the event is either an outreach, a conference, a crusade, or a
summit.
(4) The Enhancer
The enhancer in the data usually gives further information or clarifies the
message in the Announcement in general.
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(5) Tag
Pieces of information about a product or service that the Enhancer fails to
capture are found in the Tag. In this study, Tag is an additional information that
is said to be the last thing the audience reads (Yuen, 2004) and it carries a
persuasive element which dawns on the emotions of audience as to what they
will gain when they partake in the event. The Tag is realized in written text in
the form of imperative and declarative sentences.
(6) Call-and-Visit information
The Call-and-Visit information is a non-obligatory move. It usually contains
additional information about a product or service. It is basically contact
information, such as an address, telephone number, and venue, which serves as
additional information to viewers (Yuen, 2004).
Yuen (2004) states that quite a number of the elements are non-obligatory,
because advertisement as a genre usually changes, adapts to new trends in the
environment, and has dynamic adaptability. GSP may be captured as Lead^
(Display) ^Emblem^
(Announcement) ^ (Enhancer) ^ (Tag) ^ (Call-and-visit-information). The
elements that are found within the brackets are optional elements while those
outside the brackets are said to be obligatory elements. The elements mentioned
herein will be of immense importance to the current study, as they will serve as
a guide in establishing a grammar for charismatic church programme posters.
The features of each of the GSP discussed in this chapter will be re-examined,
as they will be applied to the charismatic church programme posters analysis in
Chapter Four.
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2.7 Situating the Study
The choice of multimodal discourse analysis as the theoretical framework for
this study is because of its ability to analyze a number of elements that come
together to create meaning within a particular text. Language is seen not as the
only medium of communication but one of the lot. Other mediums such as
images, pictures, colours, positions of elements etc. are also accounted for as
meaning-making avenues (Kress & van Leeuwen, 1996). This makes it possible
for various elements employed in the composition of posters to be analyzed.
Therefore, it is found as the best alternative for studying posters. However, this
study does not adopt this theory in its entirety because the focus of this study
does not cover all the elements that make the theory but selected elements. The
elements that will be the focus of the research are images, textual presentations,
and the meanings they contribute. Again, the analysis of this study emphasises
on the grammar that these posters create and no theory could better help than
Yuen’s generic structure of print advertisement (GSP) therefore this study
adopted it.
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CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction
Chapter Three is a discussion of methodological approaches used for the study.
The chapter discusses how the study was conducted, and how the data were
obtained and analysed. Specifically, the research design, population, sample
size and sampling technique, coding of the data, as well as data analysis
procedure are discussed.
3.1 Research Design
The mixed methods design was used for this study. There are three main
approaches of conducting a research. These are the qualitative approach, the
quantitative approach, and the mixed methods approach (Tashakkori & Teddlie,
2003). The qualitative approach observes phenomenon naturally and aims at
providing explications from the observations. Typically, the qualitative design
involves careful and long duration observation of a phenomenon. It has been
argued that this approach is best suited for the social sciences because it allows
researchers to carry out observation of human behaviour. The advantages of
using this method include the chances for the observer to provide a detailed
explanation of a phenomenon, but this approach is not selected for the study.
Whereas the interpretation of the posters, the meanings of the semiotic resources
draws on the qualitative methods, the study also requires highly objective
quantitative methods such as frequency distributions of choices to determine the
generic structure potential of the posters. therefore, the mixed method is most
suited for this study.
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For the current study, a mixed approach is crucial because it will help me to
answer the research questions of the study. The mixed methods approach is used
to describe the blend between qualitative and quantitative methodologies in a
single study (Bamfo & Atara, 2013; Bryman, 2006).
The study focuses on describing in detail the semiotic modes present in the
charismatic church advertisement posters. Thus, the qualitative approach was
used in carefully investigating the modes that are present on the artefacts. Using
only numerical values could not help in providing an explanation for the modes
present on the posters.
In order to establish the pattern typical of posters, it appeared necessary that
quantitative approaches be used, so that the generic moves identified could be
established either as optional or obligatory. These obligatory moves could only
be objectively established through numerical measurements. Further, the
grammatical patterning of the generic moves could not be well established
unless there was objective measurement of the patterns on the various posters
studied. Thus, the quantitative approach calls for a representational sample of
the posters whose generic move patterns could be measured with the aim to
generalize the grammar of charismatic church posters. In brief, there could have
been much difficulty in establishing the grammar of the posters, should the
qualitative methods have been used.
3.2 Population, Sample, and Sampling Technique
The population comprised the posters of all charismatic churches in Ghana.
Accra was taken as the research site because of the common knowledge that
majority of the headquarters of all charismatic churches are situated in Accra.
That is, the most prestigious branches of charismatic churches arguably are their
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headquarters, and since such branches are found in Accra, it appeared
appropriate to study posters from such branchesAlso, among public bill boards
on major streets, charismatic church programme posters seem to dominate
religious advertisements.
The purposive sampling technique was used to select twenty churches out of an
uncountable number of charismatic churches in Accra. For the purposes of
currency, the posters studied were those publicised from 2016 to 2017. The
purposive sampling method was used in sampling posters for the analysis. It has
been noted that, in establishing standards for a language, the prestigious variety
is selected and studied (Ferguson, 1997). In establishing the grammar of the
charismatic church programme posters, I purposively selected ten churches that
are considered popular or well-known and ten other churches that are considered
as somewhat popular.
These well-known churches are headed by famous pastors like Mensah Otabil,
Dag Haward Mills, Kakra Baiden, Sam Korankye Ankrah, Bernard Elbernard,
Eastwood Anaba, R. Obeng and Charles Agyinasare. Ten posters, one for each,
were therefore selected from advertisements carried out by the branches these
founders attend. The other ten posters were also selected from the somewhat
popular churches, and this was done in order to have a fair representation of the
findings.
3.3 Data Analysis Procedure
For easy identification, the data was coded. The code for each data was
Charismatic Church Programme (CCP, for short) and this code was followed by
a number tag (for example, CCP I, CCP 2…CCP 20).
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At the first section of the analysis, the data was analysed using qualitative
approach to identify and describe the modes that are present on the posters.
Visual grammar was the analytical tool used. Again, this section looked at the
components of each semiotic mode identified
The second section further analysed the data using the Generic Structure of Print
Advertisement (GSP). The creation of a grammar/ pattern for the posters was
established based on the frequency of occurrence of each of the generic moves.
3.5 Conclusion
This chapter has looked at procedures used in conducting this study. The
chapter has highlighted the research design, population, sample and sampling
techniques, and data analysis procedure of the study. Chapter Four would
analyse the data and discuss the results.
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CHAPTER FOUR
ANALYSIS AND DISSCUSSION
4.0 Introduction
This chapter is the analysis and discussion of data collected. The chapter
describes the grammar of charismatic church programme posters. The modes
used on the posters are first analyzed. This is followed by the manner in which
the modes combine to communicate. The analysis is followed by discussions
intended to relate the findings of the current study to existing studies.
4.1.1 The Semiotic Modes Used in Charismatic Church Posters
Information was presented in the posters through verbal and visual modes. The
verbal mode is represented by written texts comprising the name of the church,
programme, invitation, date, venue, and the theme while the visual mode
comprises images, colours, and elevated texts. This section analyzes and
discusses the results, starting with the verbal mode.
A. Verbal Mode
The objective of the analysis here is to describe the nature and function of
linguistic resources in the grammar of charismatic church programme posters.
Linguistic resources are ranked hierarchically from the morpheme, word, group,
to the clause. According to Halliday and Matthiessen (1996), the clause is the
basic unit of exchange; however, words and groups do have communicative
potentials. The analysis in this sub-section keeps in view this hierarchy and
communicative potentials. I observed that the posters used words, groups, and
clauses at various levels for different communicative purposes. In terms of
organization, words (which are used to communicate essential information such
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as details of the event, names churches, represented participants) are first
analyzed as word-level representation of verbal texts.
a. Word
Words signal essential information relating to the venue, time, contact, and the
theme events. These words which are mostly nouns (Date, Time, Venue,
Contact and Theme) are followed by the specific date(s), time, and contact of
key persons, venue, and theme of the event (e.g. 1). Since the words are
followed by colons, it is possible to analyze these as reduced clauses. The date
for this event is …; the time for this event is …; the venue for this event is … are
good paraphrases for such. This analysis would follow Dada’s (2018) argument
that charismatic church programme posters reduce clauses perhaps to provide
textual space for other information. However, instead of words, most of the
posters (see CCP 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 18, 19) use either icons representing
time, venue, date, contact (e.g. 2, snapshot of CCP 5) or write the detail of the
event without any signals (as seen in e.g. 3, snapshot from CCP 16).
1.
2.
3.
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There is a diversity in how details are signaled. The posters may use words as
signals (example 1), prefer icons (example 2) or may not signal the details at all
(example 3). This also highlights the presence of choices in signal of detail and
shows that over time, what signals a detail can be eliminated and meaning of
the text will not be severely impacted. When they are present, the resources used
to signal details usually precede the specific detail (e.g., Venue: SDA
Conference Hall) and hardly succeed the detail. The signal and detail cannot be
interchanged (as in SDA Conference Hall: Venue). The observation that words
are restricted to certain positions to realise specific functions on the posters
contributes to the response for the first research question which aims at
identifying the meaning making resources used on the posters and how they are
used to mean.
In addition to the use of words to signal details of events, charismatic church
programme posters use words to specify the profiles of represented participants.
The place the participants hail from (e.g., Ghana, U.S.A., UK, South Africa –
e.g. 6), their role in the event (Speaker – e.g. 4), relationship with the event
(Host, Guest – e.g. 5), and relationship to the church (General Overseer – e.g.
5) are profile details encoded through words.
4.
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5.
6.
7.
‘Speaker’ (a role-denoting term) and ‘Host’ (a relationship-to-event denoting
term) are used to profile the represented participants in example 4. ‘General
Overseer’, a compound noun that shows the participant’s relation to the church
is used together with ‘Host’ and ‘Speaker’ to profile participants in example 5.
Names of countries the participants are based, UK, U.S.A., South Africa, and
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Ghana also describe the participants in example 6. In example 7, ‘Host’ and
the place the guest is based (U.S.A.) describe the participants.
Words relate somewhat with visuals to profile participants. From the examples
(4 -7), the designers of the posters use colours, font types, and styles to designate
similarities in the category of words. In example 6, the position, and bold fonts
of the words that denote place of origin show that these words are offering the
same kind of profile description information in the text. Since visuals are used
to signal similarities in the kind of details presented, it is possible to determine
agreement relations in the choice of descriptive terms. That is, the choice of a
relationship to event term (e.g. 7 Host) for one participant appears to require a
word in the same category (i.e. Guest) to describe other participants. In example
6, at the same position (i.e., beneath the names of the participants), with the
same fonts (upper case, bold), the descriptive words U.S.A., UK, GHANA, and
SOUTH AFRICA agree as place-denoting category of words.
There seems to be a mismatch between the semantic class of words some posters
used to profile participants. For examples 4 and 5, the pairing of role-related
description (Speaker) with a relation-to-event term (Host) at the same places,
with same font styles creates a disagreement in the descriptive terms used. That
is, since the participant profile term, Speaker, encodes the activity the individual
will perform in the event, the grammar of most posters suggests a requirement
of related descriptive terms like ‘listener’ and ‘Music by’ to ensure agreement.
Example 7 also shows a mismatch: Guest would have been preferred as a
classification pair for Host but not U.S.A., a description of the place as a match
for Host, which is a description of the individual’s relation to the event. Aside
from adding that words are semiotic resources are used to profile participants,
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the observation here also highlights the tendencies of deviation from the use of
words that might distort the meaning the designers intend to communicate.
From the results, one participant may be profiled with a word and others will
not be profiled by similar descriptive words. For instance, the General Overseer
profile describes one participant but there is no counterpart of such term to
describe the other participant. Awukuvi and Israel’s (2018) observation that
charismatic churches thrive on the charisma of the originating leader could be
the reason for the tendency for a descriptive word to be given solely to the
founder and not the other represented participants (see CCP 12, Bishop and Rev
Mrs. Agyin-Asare [FOUNDERS]). Also, considering that mostly all
represented participants speak at the events, the descriptive term, Speakers, may
be used as a general description to avoid mismatches in the choice of terms to
profile participants (see CCP 16). Therefore, in answering the first research
question, the finding here highlights underlying meaning potential of
descriptive words and shows tendencies of potential barriers in using such
potentials to communicate certain meanings.
In terms of the arrangement of these lexical items in relation to other lexico-
grammatical resources, words that signal detailed information, unlike those that
profile participants, have a fixed position. The descriptive words profiling the
participants may either precede (Host: Rev Clement Anchebe) or proceed the
name of the participant (Archbishop Nicholas Duncan William [Host] – e.g. 7).
The availability of choice is seen in the use of words to profile participants
which is contrary to the use of words to signal details. This shows how the
resources are differently combined to make meaning on the posters.
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Lastly, words are used as titles of participants. The titles used include Apostle,
Archbishop, Bishop, Dr, Minister, Pastor, Prophet, Rev, and Rev Dr. From the
20 posters studied, Rev emerged as the most frequently used title (see Table 1
below).
Table 1: Distribution of Titles
Title Poster Number
Apostle CCP 10, CPP 11 2
Archbishop CCP 4, CCP 12 2
Bishop CCP 4, CCP 12, CCP 16, CCP 20 4
Dr. CCP 10, CCP 12 2
Minister CCP 2, CCP 3 2
Pastor CCP 3, CCP 5, CCP 14, CCP 15, CCP 20 5
Prophet CCP 10, CCP 11 2
Rev CCP 2, CCP 7, CCP 12, CCP 13, CCP 15, CCP
16, CCP 17, CCP 18 , CCP 19
9
Rev Dr CCP 3, CCP 12 2
I take interest in the use of Dr as a title on some posters (see Rev Dr Peter
William Nyamekye in example 5 above). It is used on four posters, which is
relatively higher compared to the frequency of use of purely religious
designations like Apostle and Archbishop, which are used only twice. I think
this use of Dr highlights the recent interest of charismatic church leaders in
academic titles, or perhaps their interest in pursuing further education to enrich
their knowledge. In any case, a pastor who has obtained a doctorate could be
associated with depth in knowledge. Archbishop and Bishop are also less often
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used because they reference highest ranked individuals in the discourse
community. Their use, therefore, could promote the event, since individuals will
be happy to see the highest ranked individual at the event. The observation of
rhetorical uses of titles leads to the two discourse functions of words I deduced
from the analysis of words so far.
From the results, the classification function emerges as one discourse function
of words on the posters. Words classify participants. Descriptive words may
categorize local from non-local participants (example 6). I observed that when
all represented participants are based in Ghana, place is not a preferred
description (example 4 and 5), even if they are from different regions of Ghana.
However, when some of the participants are not locally based, place becomes
an important descriptive term. Also, titles classify represented participants.
Since titles denote ranks, their use distinguishes the participants. Embedded in
the classification role of words is the promotional discourse function.
Representing non-local participants could promote the program as being of
international repute, which could attract Ghanaians who have been reported as
having special taste for foreign goods such as foreign clothes (Amankwah,
Howard, & Sarpong, 2012), imported products (Opoku & Akorli, 2009), and
accent (Meyer, 1998; Shoba, Dakom & Orfson-Offei, 2002).
b. Group
The noun group is the most typical group of words used on the posters of the
charismatic churches. The noun group is used to offer information relating to
the name of the church, the theme of the event, and the name of the event.
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Naming Churches
For names of the churches, the noun group is a proper noun. The head nouns of
the noun groups that name churches are Chapel (9 of them), Ministries (4),
Church (2), Centre (1), Altar (1) and Family (1). The frequent uses of ‘chapel’
to label charismatic churches differentiates the second wave of charismatic
movement from the first wave. The first wave includes denominations which
prefer ‘Church’ as a label, e.g. Baptist Church, Apostolic Church, Church of
Pentecost (see Afful & Tekpetey, 2017 for list) but from the data, the second
wave charismatic churches prefer ‘Chapel’ to distinguish themselves from the
‘pentecostal’ churches.
Nouns which designate the distinctive names of the churches were used as
premodifiers of the head nouns. These nouns include Royalhouse, Perez,
Lovegate, El-kana, and Lighthouse. They attribute special qualities to the
church.
Postmodifiers of the head nouns are space-denoting nouns. From the data,
International and Worldwide are often used as postmodifiers in the noun group.
Since International and Worldwide symbolize the span of spread of the church,
it appears that these churches locate their sphere of influence as global, even
when they have only one branch.
Framing Events
The name of the events is realized by the noun group. These noun groups
include All Sufficiency Conference, Dying to Self-Conference, Easter
Convention, and Marriage Summit. The head noun is usually an abstract
conception of gathering, such as convention, summit, and retreat. Using these
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nouns suggests that the target audience is expected to understand that the poster
invites them to a social gathering. The kind of social gathering involved is,
however, specified by the pre-modifiers, which are represented by examples
like
Marriage in Marriage Summit
Easter in Easter Convention
Holy Ghost in Holy Ghost Convention
Eagles in Eagles Conference
Divine in Divine Encounter
All Sufficiency in All Sufficiency Conference
Dying to self in Dying-to-Self Conference
It is noted from these examples that pre-modifiers may reference a specific
religious event such as Easter or describe the specific area of need the program
hopes to offer solution such as Marriage.
The names of the events are presented as very crucial information on the posters.
The nominal groups realizing names of events usually take bigger fonts, brighter
colours either as the theme or the name of the event highlighted more than the
themes. “Font or typography exists to honor content” (Bringhurst, 2004, p. 19),
as it indicates seriousness attached to a specific meaning-making potential
(Samara, 2007). From the collage in Figure 2, event names like Convention of
Saints, Financial Empowerment Summit, Eagles Conference, Miracle
Marriage Retreat, the Light 2017 Pastors and Leaders Conference, All
Sufficiency Conference, Youth Week are variously highlighted through
relatively bigger fonts and brighter colours.
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Figure 2: Prominence of Noun Groups that Frame Events
This makes the names of events an important part of the grammar of the
charismatic church programme posters. Since they are often one of the most
salient verbal texts, they can be analyzed as the topic or subject of the
multimodal artefact. From such analysis, the themes can be seen to be about
these named events. That is, though the noun groups that name events are
meaningful wholes, they relate with other verbal resources.
Themes of Events
Themes were often signaled by words and realized by the noun group. For a few
posters, the names of the events were thematic enough to prevent a use of
themes. That is, the theme and name of the event merge (CCP 10, 13 and 18).
The collage in Figure 3 exemplifies this
Figure 3: Merging Theme and Name of Event
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These posters use the nouns that typically denote gathering (Crusade, Retreat),
which suggest name of the event but add premodifiers that suggest the subject
the event will address. From the poster on the right, there is a plausible
interpretation that the subject of the crusade will be a call to Abura-Konkonuru
to live for Christ.
For most of the posters, the themes were separately conceptualized from the
names of the events. Table 2 gives examples of noun groups used to give the
theme of the event.
Table 2: Noun groups used to name the g theme of the event
No. Poster Premodifier Head Postmodifier
A. Liberty in the spirit to impact our world
B. Next Move
C. Battle of the Gods
D. Yonder Heights
E. Power Of the Alter
F. Ministry Of the Holy Spirit
G. Keys to unlocking your financial wells,
wealth and wisdom
H. Double Portion
As Table 2 shows, the heads of the noun group that states the theme are mostly
nouns denoting properties that individuals can attain such as ‘liberty’, ‘power’,
and ‘keys’. These properties are, however, general and necessitate the frequent
use of modifiers for specifications. The premodifiers which were adjectives
quantify the expected property the audience will acquire. For example, Double
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Portion and Yonder Heights (e.g. D and H) quantify ‘portion’ and ‘heights’
respectively. Post-modifiers which were prepositional phrases often indicate the
source of the property denoted by the head of the noun group. For example, Of
the Altar (e.g. E) shows the source of Power, In the Spirit shows the source of
Liberation (e.g. A). The post-modifier may also show the kind of property. In
the noun group Keys to Unlocking your Financial wells, Wealth and Wisdom,
the underlined post-modifier indicates the type of Keys by designating its
function.
The collage in example 11 is an example of noun groups used to realise the
theme of the event.
Figure 4: Themes and Names of Events
From the data, noun groups used as the theme are often placed closer to the
theme (see Figure 4). In some cases, the name of the church, title of the event,
theme of the event, date, time, and venue form one single clause. This is
exemplified in CCP 2 (see Appendix A) as follows:
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8. EXPLOSIVE CHAPEL INTERNATIONAL Presents A 7 DAY
EASTER CONVENTION on the theme “COME NOW AND LET
US REASON TOGETHER, SAITH THE LORD” (Isaiah 1:18).
It can be seen from the discussion so far that the groups used as meaning-making
resource on charismatic church posters are noun groups. They are used to name
the charismatic churches, frame the events, and state the theme of the event. The
analysis has shown that the heads of the noun groups that reference the title of
the event denote gathering (convention, summit, crusade), while those that
reference the theme denote resources (keys) that the clients may need.
SENTENCE
The only sentence type found in the posters was the imperative. However, it
must be mentioned that sentences are not commonly used in the posters we
examined. Indeed, among the twenty posters studied, only two such occurrences
are noted. The sentences we observed are presented below:
9. Come and experience the power of the Alter (CCP 8)
10. To support, please call or WhatsApp +23305*** (CPP 10)
In both cases, the independent clauses are imperative. The use of the imperative
signals that the viewers are directly being spoken to by the posters. Whereas
example 12 invites viewers to the event, example 13 directs viewers to a contact
detail.
We will end this section by noting that, in answer to the first research question:
“What are the semiotic modes used in charismatic church posters and the
meanings the modes communicate?” the following findings were made:
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a) The word, the group, and the sentence are the three verbal resources used
on the posters. In terms of frequency, the group which usually designates
name of the church, title of event, and theme of the event is the most
frequently used verbal resource.
b) The group is also used quite often on the posters to signal details and
profile participants. Clauses are rarely used on the posters.
c) The only sentence type used is the imperative. The first sentence
contained two independent clauses which are directives. The second
sentence contained one independent and one dependent clause. As
noted, the independent clause is also a directive. In other words, both
sentences contain clauses whose primary communicative function is to
give directives to the viewers.
Discussion: Verbal Resources Used on Charismatic Church Posters (CCPs)
Verbal resources used in the design of charismatic church programme posters
(CCPs) are words, groups, and clauses. In terms of frequency, the results of the
study show that words and groups are more frequently used than clauses. These
words and phrases are used for referential purposes and they combine to
exchange information about the name of the church, the name of the event, and
invitation details. Since the unit of exchange in grammar is mostly the clause
(Halliday & Matthiessen, 1996), this is a special use of words and groups.
Tamumobelema and Aikoriogie’s (2018) observation that the use of referential
elements to exchange information aids persuasion by reducing the time needed
to process a clause is confirmed by the results of this study. That is, instead of
using a clause such as that in example 12 (repeated as 15) to communicate the
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central message of the events, the designers use referential elements, words, and
groups which are relatively easy to process.
11. EXPLOSIVE CHAPLE INTERNATIONAL Presents A 7 DAY
EASTER CONVENTION on the theme “COME NOW AND LET
US REASON TOGETHER, SAITH THE LORD” (Isaiah 1:18).
Also, it shows that CPPs primarily seek to give information since the words and
groups are used to offer vital information about the programme to viewers.
Since sharing information is central to its needs, words such as date, theme, and
contact are used as signals to direct the target audience to the information they
intend to share.
CCPs use words to signal detailed information, to profile participants, and as
names of represented participants. The words “Venue”, “Date”, “Time”, and
“Contact” are sometimes used on charismatic church programme posters
(CCPs) to draw the attention of audience to specific details. When these words
are used, they have modestly elevated style and fonts to draw viewers’ attention.
In their place, icons signifying these details are sometimes used. From the
analysis, the frequent use of words to profile participants appears as an essential
part of CCPs. There are traces of evidence from the analysis to support the
understanding that verbal texts do highly combine with visual acts in meaning-
making (Bateman, 2008, 2014; Bateman & Schmidt, 2012; Jewitt, 2014d; Kress
& Leeuwen, 2003, 2006; Norris, 2013; O‘Halloran, 2011) because the words
denoting profiles of participants are distinguished through visual resources.
The profile of the participants is defined by their role in the event (speaker,
singer), their relationship to the church that is organizing the events (hosts,
guests), and their place of origin (Ghana, U.S.A.). For the last category, the
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results show that only countries were used to profile participants so that posters
whose participants were all Ghanaians do not use such profiling. This confirms
the observation that charismatic churches are overly concerned with being
recognized as ‘international’ (Awukuvi & Israel, 2018). The results further
show that the profiles, ‘General Overseer’ and ‘Founder’, are used to exorcise
leaders of charismatic churches (which confirms a similar finding of Dada,
2018), display power dynamics among represented participants (as Ajibade,
2012 found in studying posters of Nigerian churches), and attract the attention
of viewers through the charisma of the founding leaders (as Tamumobelema &
Aikoriogie, 2018 have observed). The results reflect the choice and arrangement
of names in Ghana. Specifically, Christian names come first, followed by an
indigenous family name. The observation that ‘Rev’ is the most frequently used
title (used 11 times out of 29 titles) and the less frequent use of others, especially
‘prophet’ (2 times), which is used in the charismatic space in Ghana, is
surprising.
From the analysis, the noun groups are used basically to name churches and
events, and state the theme of the events. In naming churches, “Chapel” serves
as the head of the noun group of charismatic church programme posters in most
cases. “Ministries” (4 instances) and “Church” (2 instances) followed. The
observation that charismatic churches in Ghana deviate from the use of ‘church’
as the headword of the noun group is noted by Tamumobelema and Aikoriogie
(2018), who mentioned that such is done to “match and identify their
(charismatic churches) motive and identity” and to ‘catch’ attention. But
juxtaposing them by churches like the Roman Catholic Church, Methodist
Church, Anglican Communion, and Presbyterian Church, I suggest the naming
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is strategic. As I have argued, these churches in their rhetoric constantly show
their deviation from the churches they ‘broke away’ from. Therefore, labelling
themselves as ‘chapel’ which is a synonym of ‘church’ connotes the same space
of worship and denotes their difference from the traditional. The observation of
the emergence of terms such as ‘Altar’ and ‘Family’ (as seen in the results)
indicates another face of spread of churches. New churches emanating from
second wave charismatic churches will obviously not prefer the term ‘chapel’.
The use of nouns which are names of the churches as modifiers of the
headwords is worthy of consideration. Since the headwords (e.g. Chapel,
Church, Ministries) are generic, premodifiers distinguish them into the kind of
ministries or chapels they are. Also, some churches coin new words as the
premodifiers. Lovegate and Royalhouse are coinages which give specific names
to the churches, designating the place as a place of entry for love and a home
for royals respectively. This could attract viewers who are in need of the ‘love’
or ‘royalty’. Perez and El-Kana as premodifying nouns are metaphorical, as
they relate to settings in the bible. Some churches used adjectives (Charismatic,
Fresh, Explosive) as premodifiers. Charismatic obviously defines their origin,
belief, and practices. Postmodifiers are space-denoting expressions that show
the span of the spread of the church’s influence. Tamumobelema and Aikoriogie
(2018) have noted that though some of these churches have just one branch in
Ghana, their choice of international space-denoting qualifiers, betrays their
aspiration for global worshiping spaces. In addition to that, I think this is a
rhetorical process the churches use to attain members from Ghanaians who are
noted for their taste for foreign resources.
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The results reveal that there is much investment in terms of linguistic resources
in naming of churches. Okyireh, Kankam, and Opoku’s (2020) finding that
church branding influences audience decision to be members of the church is
not farfetched. However, when they clearly state that “signages … do not
influence church participation,” they ignore their definition of branding: the use
of logo, signs, symbols and names of churches to differentiate churches. Noun
group is used in labelling events and themes. The heads of the noun groups for
names of events usually refer to convergence of people. These are often
premodified by nouns and/or adjectives that show the kind of convergence (e.g.
Holy Ghost in Holy Ghost Convention).
The final use of a noun group is to refer to the theme of the event. From the
results, the headwords of noun groups realizing themes can be grouped into
three, following Dada (2018): those depicting spiritual warfare (Battle, Liberty,
Power), higher life in Christ (Keys, Heights, Portion), and supernatural
transformation (Ministry, Move). Unlike the nominal groups used for the
various communicative functions, those used to state the theme of the events
often use postmodifiers to assure victories in the spiritual warfare (Battle of the
Gods, Liberty in the spirit to impact our world), to define highlife as a total
package of prosperity and general wellbeing (Keys to unlocking your financial
wells, wealth and wisdom). The results of this study corroborate the findings of
Dada that charismatic churches employ warfare-related concepts to construct
themes of events. Moreover, the results show that the themes of the events (and
sometimes names of events) usually have the biggest font sizes and are centered
and emboldened – taking prominent visual features. Giving themes prominence
is essential, as it underscores why the advertisement is placed. That is, it
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highlights the event which the viewers are called to. Giving prominence to
themes and sometimes names of events affirms Brighurst (2004) assertion that
variations in font are useful resources for ‘honouring’ content. It is possible for
a poster to combine both the theme and the name of the event but this was found
only in few cases.
B. Visual Mode
This section analyses the form, meaning, and function of visual resources used
in the grammar of charismatic church posters. Kress and Van Leeuwen’s (2006)
visual grammar guides this analysis. Their model identifies three metafunctions
of the visual act: representational, interactional-modality, and compositional. I
first analyze the representational metafunction and proceed to the interactional-
modality. The compositional metafunction will not be considered in this study.
As I have argued in line with Peijia (2018), the framework that defines a
function of a semiotic resource based on its information value, salience and how
it is framed needs to be reviewed. I do not intend to show that placing a pastor
on the right or left side of the poster communicates certain information. Again,
colours will not be considered as there are differences in the interpretations of
colours from society to society.
1. Representation: Narrative and Conceptual
Visual acts represent interactions and conceptual relations between the entities
on the posters who are generally referred to as represented participants. Visual
acts use vectors which are equivalents of ‘action verbs’ to designate interactions
and relations (Kress & Leeuwen, 2006). The presence or absence of vectors
defines two types of representations: narrative and conceptual, respectively.
Narratives represent “unfolding actions and events, processes of change,
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transitory spatial arrangements” whereas conceptual representations construe
“participants in terms of their class, structure or meaning in terms of their
generalized are more or less stable and timeless essence” (Kress & Leeuwen,
2006, p. 59). A vector is a shape formed from gestures, body contacts, lines that
define unfolding actions, events and processes. Among the six narrative
processes—action (actor, goal, phenomenon), reactional (reactor,
Phenomenon), speech (Sayer, Utterance), Mental (Senser), Conversion (Relay),
and Geometrical Symbolism (absence of participants, only a vector).
In the posters we studied, only the Action and Verbal processes are used by the
CCPs under study.
Action Process
Action process is the dominant narrative process of the posters and it was used
by 13 posters (CCPs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, and 19). For action
processes, the leaders are presented as actors who perform actions represented
by a vector. That is, participants are seen as doing something and vectors such
as participant’s clothes, body contacts, and horizontal/diagonal lines show the
action they perform. In example 12 the shoulders of the participants create
vectors that connect to the participants to suggest that they are interactants in
the process. Because there are no participants aside from those who are linked
together by the vectors, the image shows that there are actors but the goal of
their action is not known. In such a case, the action is considered a non-
transactional action. The process involved is seen in the use of line vectors. The
theme, double portion, forms a vector as it connects to Jamie Ngwale (e.g. 12).
The process of presenting is, therefore, at play.
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12.
13.
For example, 13, the hand of the participant creates a vector by connecting the
name of the event with the participant to show the process of presentation. Here
also, the goal is not known.
Vectors such as participant’s clothes, and body contacts link the represented
participants as interactors. The hand which joins the name of the event in 13,
for instance, creates a vector. Usually, the vectors originate from the host who
serves as the principal actor who connects the remaining participants as
interactors (see examples 12. The activity the actor engages in is generalized as
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the presentation on the theme of the event and the other participants join the
host to that same end. Themes are positioned strategically in relation to actor
and interactors to imply the activity they will be engaged in. Like speech
bubbles and mental bubbles in dialogue boxes which signal mental and verbal
processes (Kress & Leeuwen, 2006), names/themes of events are placed in line
with the mouths of the hosts to provide clues to the implication that they will
engage in some kind of presentation.
Verbal Process
Verbal processes were also used on the posters. The hand of the participants,
when raised in the direction of their mouth with a microphone, creates the vector
that represents verbal process. I exemplify this with example 14, the
microphone in the hands of Pastor Dag Heward-Mills is a vector that construes
a speech process but the object of the speech is not overtly defined. His
description as a pastor suggests that he will make an oral presentation or
teaching/preaching. The last participant, Alicia, is also engaged in a speech
process but the object of speech is a song which is indicated by the profile
description “Music by”.
14.
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Action and Verbal Processes
The action and verbal processes may form a complex process. In example 14,
Pastor Dag Heward-Mill’s right hand forms a vector through its connection with
the right hand of Pastor Frank Barey. Pastor Frank Barey’s stretched left hand
forms a vector with “Cathedral of Praise” which links with Pastor David
Sumrall’s right hand. The clothes, shoulder, and hands of Sumrall also form a
vector that links Alicia Williamson Garcia. The point is that, the participants are
connected through vectors and become interactants. But the goal of the
interaction is not known; it is perceived to be the audience who will receive the
presentation. The verbal process of Alicia, which is to sing at the event, and the
implied verbal process of Dag, as a speaker, reveal that the participants are
interconnected as actors to engage in verbal processes.
a) Conceptual Representation
The conceptual representation, which is the second type of representation, has
three processes: classificational, analytical, symbolic (see Chapter Two for
discussion). When the participants on the poster are categorized, they form a
conceptual representation. From the data, the classificational and symbolic
conceptual representations are employed in the design of charismatic church
posters (CCPs). I will first analyze the classificational process.
I. Classificational Process
The classificational process refers to the overt or covert grouping of participants
and issues on the poster. When other participants accompany hosts, the
represented participants on all the posters were overtly classed. Hosts of events
are usually conceptualized as the highest rank (superordinate) on the posters.
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Hosts are placed (1) at the centre of the text, with other participants, usually
invited guests, surrounding the hosts (see CCP1, 2, 12, 16); (2) elevated on the
same horizontal plane as the other participants (see CCP 10 & CCP 15); or (3)
at the top position in a diagonal arrangement of the participants (see CCP7 &
CCP19). There are few instances of multilevel classifications (Kress &
Leeuwen, 2006) on the posters (CCPs). In such classification, the host is
superordinate, guest pastors who are also ranked higher are taken as
interordinates, and other represented participants (from the church or from the
same locality where the event is organized) serve as subordinates. An example
of this is in 21.
15.
In example 15, Bishop and Rev Mrs. Agyinasare, who are centered, presented
in a bigger size than the remaining participants, and positioned higher than all
represented participants, occupy the highest level of the class of represented
participants1 (superordinate). Archbishop Duncan Williams and Dr. Mensah
Otabil, who are also placed on top of the two diagonal arrangements
respectively on the left and right, are classified differently, closer in terms of
1 The wife is also lower in rank than to the Bishop Agyinasare
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height to the host forming the interodinate class. Rev Steve Mensah, Rev. Dr.
Ampiah Kwofi, Bishop Tackie Yarboi, and Bishop Addae Mensah respectively
form lower to low class participants.
II. Symbolic process
The symbolic sub-type of conceptual function involves instances where certain
participants who ‘seem out of place’ represent a concept or an idea. What they
represent may be directly seen as an attribute of participant through some
qualities she or he carries. Some attributes may be suggested. That is, the carrier
of the attribute will imply a certain symbol.
Suggestive symbols are used on CCPs. Certain entities are put on the posters as
representation of the central message of the event. An example of such symbols
is the image of Jesus on the cross (CCP2) which represents the pain as well as
hope for the Christian, representing the “Easter Convention” message which
concerns the doctrine of man’s reconciliation with God through the death and
resurrection of Jesus. The army with spears and shield (CCP8) suggests the
release of reinforcement for a ‘supernatural engagement’, war on behalf of
individuals who will attend the event. For CCP 1, the theme of the event, “All
Sufficiency Conference,” is represented by the cargo ship in the background
that contains cargo which will provide sufficient resources.
In addition to images serving as symbols, the costume of the participants gives
the represented participants and the events a ‘businessman’ attribute. Most of
the participants are in shirts and tie, sometimes in suits, depicting business-like
qualities. For ten of the posters (CCP 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 11,13, 15, 19, 20), an official
dress comprising a tacked in shirt, which may be accompanied by a jacket,
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and/or a tie are the costume choice of all the participants. In the case of six of
the posters (CCP 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18), a few participants wore traditional
clothes and others wore ‘official’ dresses. It was only in three instances (CCP
4, 9 and 17) that participants wore traditional dresses. The dominance of the
formal dress presents the participants as functioning in a business-like position.
It also shows that charismatic churches have emulated the western way of life.
Since a fairly high number of posters had participants who wore both foreign
and local clothing, we can conclude that there is a blend of culture. It is
commonly known that the priesthood apparel is attributive of the office of the
wearer. This is, however, hardly worn by the participants. Only three
participants on three different posters (CCP 4, 12, 16) used the cassock. Two
possible reasons may explain this practice. These charismatic churches are
usually break-away churches. That is, the leaders usually depart from orthodox
and pentecostal churches to found their own churches. Some of these leaders
were not ordained priests before they founded their ministries and, as such, do
not identify the cassock as a marker of priesthood. Also, there is a thought that
charismatic churches are nothing but business institutions and the leaders’
dresses could be evidence in support.
As regards the representation function of the image act, two types of
representations have been found on charismatic church posters (CCPs). The first
is narrative representation and the second is conceptual representation. Out of
six narrative processes that Kress and Leeuwen, 2006 identified, only two
(action and speech) were found on the posters under study. The next section
analyzes the interaction-modality function.
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2. Interaction and Modality in Images
Represented participants – entities on the visual design – interact with the
viewers, interactive participants. Contact, social distance, and attitude are the
three systems that combine to create and maintain interaction. Contact is
expressed by gaze. The size of the frame (close shot, medium shot, and long
shot) expresses social distance (intimate, social, and impersonal). Attitude may
either be subjective or objective. When the images on the poster are presented
in a way that allows the viewer to perceive it from a defined perspective, the
attitude is subjective. The images are objective when everything about the
participants is shown so that the viewer has the liberty to view the participant
from the perspective, he (viewer) prefers. In addition to interaction, modality
which shows the degree of realness of the text through context and background
is also central in the creation and maintenance of interactions.
a) Contact
In all the posters, the represented participants gaze directly at the viewers, which
creates a connection between the represented participant and the viewers. The
participants in the collage (e.g. 16) look directly in the direction of the viewers.
That is, there is eye contact with the viewers.
16.
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By maintaining eye contact this way, a vector is created that refers to the
imaginary viewer as ‘you’. Their facial expression of “smile” suggests that “the
viewer is asked to enter into a relation of social affinity with them” (Kress &
Leeuwen, 2006). The gaze at the viewers further shows that the represented
requires the participants to relate with them to reach the objective set as a theme.
For a few posters, the participants’ gaze is indirect (e.g. 16 – CCP 13 & 14).
17.
They look away from the viewers which could me that they are offering the
interactive participants a chance to look at what they (the represented
participants) see or have experienced. That is, it serves as an offer to the viewers
though the content of the offer is unknown.
b) Social distance
The angle from which the shots are taken also shows the level of closeness
construed between the viewers and the participants. Physical distance which is
construed in terms of degree of proximity to an individual determines the part
of the individual that typically falls in his view and inputs the construal of social
distance. This defines the three main shots: (1) long shots where the greater part
of the body of the participant, from the head to the legs, shows; (2) short shots
where only the head of the participant shows and the (3) medium shots where
the chest and the head show. For the majority of the posters, the medium shot is
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used to represent participants (CCP 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18,
19, and 20).
For three of the posters (CCP 17, 14 & 8), the participants are presented in the
long shot to designate impersonal social relation (see example 18). Because one
has to be spatially distal to perceive the full body of an individual and since such
distance means the person viewed cannot be touched by the viewers, a distal
relation is construed in the use of long shots. For one poster (example 19), only
the head of the represented participant is presented, creating an intimate relation
with the interactive participants.
18.
19.
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Modality: Contextual
Contextualization concerns the presence or absence of setting and its
contribution to the realness of the text. It shows modality by scalar
representation of detailed background (Kress & Leeuwen, 2006). The first
poster in Figure 5) uses the church gathering and a participant engaged in a
verbal process as the background. This naturally gives a sense of realness, as it
creates very well the background setting of the advertised event, a typical
religious gathering.
Figure 5: Modality
The second poster, the one on the left (CCP19), also has a high level of
modality, as it situates the event in a background of a huge gathering.
The background images of some posters create a metaphor of the theme.
Background images of the posters in Figure 5 are cases in point. These
background images are settings that reflect the themes: “all sufficiency
conference” has a cargo ship supplying what will make attendees ‘all sufficient’
(first figure on top left corner, Figure 5), the bright light in the background that
moves from the center creates a metaphorical context for the theme “The Light
2017” (second figure on top right corner), the palace-like structure creates a
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metaphorical context for “His Excellency” since individuals addressed as such
dwell in palaces (first picture on the second role), and unless marriages are
miracles, it will be difficult for it to be evergreen, as the background of the last
poster in the collage shows.
Figure 6: Low Modality
These contexts, unlike those that are representations of actual Christian events,
are too real. In other words, though there might be the provision of themes, it is
never possible for all the needs of people to be sufficiently supplied by a cargo
ship.
Discussion of Visual Modes
Visual modes are used to enact two narrative processes of the representational
function: action and verbal processes. The verbal processes designate the
primary role of the represented participant: speaking and singing. This matched
the descriptive terms such as speaker and music by that was used to profile the
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participants. The action process does not have an object but combines with the
verbal process and the presence and placement of the theme to suggest
presentation as the action process. This is the first study, to the best of my
knowledge, to have reported narrative processes used on charismatic posters.
There are conceptual representations on the CCPs. Represented participants are
classified. Hosts are usually the highest in rank among the participants. This
finding confirms Ajibade’s (2018) finding that participants are usually
distinguished by classes. The finding, however, contradicts that of Ajibade’s
since all the females represented on the posters are ranked higher than most of
the participants.
There are both attributive and suggestive symbols on charismatic church
posters. From the results, the represented participants’ business-like dress
makes them appear “more like a religious entrepreneur than a pastor” (Hackett,
1998). The background images conveyed symbols that reflected the themes of
the events. Images of religious gatherings were used as attributive symbols.
They symbolize massive religious gatherings. For some posters, the background
texts suggested the provision of the resources stated in the theme. These were
suggestive symbols.
Aside from the representational function of visual mode, visual modes realize
interaction and modality functions. The represented participants keep eye
contact with the viewers and smile to demand social interaction from the
viewers. Added to the fact that a social type of distance is created in the choice
of medium shot, CCPs employ visual resources to invite audiences to socialize
with the leaders. This observation relates to the absence of clauses that invite
participants in most of the posters; the visual grammar of the represented
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participants uses interactive means to invite viewers. The results of the study
confirm Hou and Lou’s (2016) observation that facial expressions in visuals
lead the viewers to see what the represented participants see and feel the way
they also feel if they attend the advertised program; hence, viewers see the
possibility to relate with them.
Context also shows high modality for only two posters but mid modality for
most of the posters, and some have low modality. For the two, the church setting
with audience present is used as a background. This is realistic, as it defines
typical religious events. Most posters use metaphorical backgrounds that relate
to the theme of the event, showing some kind of possibility meaning. This
observation is important, and since those with high level modality brand their
churches in the background, the finding supports that of Okyireh, Kankam, and
Opoku (2020) that branding the church influences viewers interest to join the
church. Those in high level modality use context to differentiate themselves
from others.
4.3 Conclusion
We will end this discussion here by noting that this section sought to answer
research question one. This chapter analyzed and discussed the results of the
first research question which is to describe the grammar of charismatic church
posters. Words, groups, and clauses are verbal texts used on CCPs. Considering
the metafunctions representational and interactive-modality, the visual modes
have also been analyzed and discussed. It is clear from the analysis and
discussion that mostly, the visual modes support the key communicative load
of the verbal but in some cases, the reverse is also true.
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CHAPTER FIVE
A GENERIC STRUCTURE ANAYSIS OF CHURCH POSTERS
5.0 Introduction
The final part of the analysis which answers the second research question uses
generic structure potential to describe the rhetoric of charismatic programme
posters.
5.1 The Generic Structure Potential (GSP) of Charismatic Church
Programme Posters
This chapter of the analysis is based on Yuen’s (2004) Generic Structure
Potential (GSP), which is devoted to stating clearly the pattern of arrangements
of each of the variables of GSP as found in the posters. The GSP for print
advertisement are Lead, Emblem, Announcement, Enhancer, Call-visit-
information and Tag.
The Lead is an obligatory visual element which is most salient through choices
in size, position, and/or colour. From our analysis, images (pictures of host
pastors) serve as the lead for the posters. The Emblem is another obligatory
element which must be present in all advertisements and it is realized visually
by the logo of the product/service and linguistically by the brand name of the
product/service. The name of the event is normally the Announcement. This is
captured as the title which informs the audience that the event is either an
outreach, a conference, a crusade, or a summit. The Enhancer usually gives
further information or clarifies the message in the Announcement in general.
The enhancer is represented in the posters as additional information that gives
more information about the announcement. The Tag is invariably presented as
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one-liners in small print and is usually non-salient (Yuen, 2004). Tag provides
additional information purported to be the last thing the audience reads (Yuen,
2004). Last but not least, Call-and-visit information is basically contact
information, such as an address, telephone number, and venue which serves as
additional information to viewers (Yuen, 2004)
In order to establish a pattern, the frequency of occurrence of each generic
structure needs to be tabulated and represented on a graph. The componential
features (+) and (-) are used to indicate the absence or presence of the variables
on the poster.
Table 3: Frequency of occurrences of generic moves
Poster Generic Potential Structure
Lead Emblem Announcement Call-visit-
Information
Enhancer Tag
CCP 1 + + + + ₋ ₋
CCP 2 + + + + ₋ ₋
CCP 3 + + + + ₋ ₋
CCP 4 + ₋ + + ₋ ₋
CCP 5 + + + + ₋ ₋
CCP 6 + + + + + ₋
CCP 7 + + + + + ₋
CCP 8 + + + + ₋ +
CCP 9 + + + + ₋ ₋
CCP 10 + + ₋ + ₋ ₋
CCP 11 + + + + + ₋
CCP 12 + + ₋ + ₋ ₋
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CCP 13 + + ₋ + ₋ ₋
CCP 14 + ₋ + + ₋ ₋
CCP 15 + + + + + ₋
CCP 16 + + + + ₋ ₋
CCP 17 + + + + ₋ ₋
CCP 18 + + + + ₋ ₋
CCP 19 + + ₋ + ₋ ₋
CCP 20 + + + + ₋ ₋
Total 20 18 16 20 4 1
Graph 1: Frequency of occurrences of generic moves
From Table 3, the Lead is the first variable and it is present in all the posters.
GSP has argued that the Lead typically captures the interest of the target
audience. It could be projected that the pictures of men of God are used as the
first item in the patterning of the posters to capture the interest of the target
audience.
Lead EmblemAnnouncem
entEnhancer Tag
Call-visit-information
Series 1 20 18 16 4 1 19 0
Column1
Column2
0
5
10
15
20
25
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Call-visit-information is a generic move that is also present in all the posters
as represented in Table 4 (above). This provides information on the venue, dates
etc.to viewers to enable them to patronize what is being advertised.
The next generic move in the pattern arrangement is the Emblem. The emblem
is represented on the posters by the church logo. The logos usually authenticate
the other information that the designers hope to put across. According to our
analysis, two of the posters did not have emblems on them. It must be mentioned
that, without the logo, there is a higher possibility that the audience will consider
the advertisement as one which is not put up by an authentic body. This is a
situation which may affect the credibility of the posters.
After the poster has been authenticated by the presence of the emblem (logo),
the next information invariably is the Announcement. The main aim of the
poster is to carry information to their audience, and this is done through the
Announcement. It is, therefore, not surprising that this move is found in all the
posters.
Lastly, Tag and Enhancer are generic moves that were sparingly present in the
posters. These variables have font sizes that are relatively smaller compared to
that of the other modes. These variables give further information to the
Announcement by making the information more explicit. However, whatever
information intended for these variables to communicate is embedded in the
announcement, this explains why these moves are rarely used. For further
clarification of the generic moves, percentages of the generic moves are shown
in table 4.
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Table 4: Percentage of occurrences of generic moves
Generic Move Percentage
Lead 100
Emblem 90
Announcement 80
Call-visit-information 100
Enhancer 20
Tag 5
5.2 Patterned Arrangements
After identifying the presence and absence of each generic move, the following
were the patterned arrangements found on the posters.
• Lead+ Emblem +Announcement+ Call-Visit-information + Tag →
LEACT
• Lead +Emblem +Announcement +Enhancer +Call-visit-information →
LEAEC
• Lead +Emblem +Announcement +Call-Visit-information → LEAC
• Lead+ Emblem+ Announcement +Enhancer+ Call-visit-information+
Lead → LEAECL
In Pattern One, the Lead comes first, followed by the Emblem,
Announcement, Call-visit-information, and Tag. This shows that the
arrangement follows the order of prominence: the more prominent move occurs
first.
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For the second structure, there is an introduction of a variable that was not
present in the first pattern i.e. Enhancer. The enhancer clarifies the message in
the announcement by making the message more specific.
The third pattern has just four variables i.e. Lead, Emblem, Announcement and
Call-visit-information. This pattern goes straight forward to give the audience
the direct message without restating or enhancing it. It shows the lead which
raps the audience’s attention and goes straight ahead to bestow identity of the
advertisement (logo). It also gives the name(s) of the event (announcement),
and finally, it gives the audience the opportunity to call in or visit their website
or venue(s) during the said time of the programme.
Unlike the first three patterns, Pattern Four is quite unique because it has a
double Lead. This means that the posters which have this pattern are highly
persuasive because of the most important and persuasive variable, the Lead. The
Lead is the variable that draws the attention of the audience the most. Again,
the Lead is said to be the variable that carries a level of credibility and expertise
on the topic being advertised. Thereby, having a double credibility is enough to
sell the product.
Table 5: Frequency of occurrences of patterns
Pattern Frequency Poster Number
LEACT 1 CCP 15
LEAEC 1 CCP 4
LEAC 11 CCP 1,2,3,5,6,7,8,10,11,17,20
LEAECL 7 CCP 9,12,13,14,16,18,19
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The frequency of occurrence of each of the patterns is seen in Table 5. It can be
established that the pattern Lead+ Emblem + Announcement + Call-visit-
information (LEAC) occurred eleven (11) times, Lead + Emblem +
Announcement + Call-Visit-information + Tag (LEACT) and Lead +Emblem
+Announcement +Enhancer +Call-visit-information (LEAEC) are patterns for
two posters i.e.: one for each, and Lead + Emblem + Announcement + Enhancer
+ Call-visit-information + Lead (LEAECL) is a patterns for seven posters.
However, looking at all the patterns, they were all built on LEAC (Lead
+Emblem +Announcement +Call-Visit-information), which makes LEAC the
root pattern that all posters must have before any other variable can be added to
the poster. Thereby, the grammar of charismatic church programme posters can
be said to be
• Lead + Emblem + Announcement + Call – Visit – information + Tag →
LEACT
• Lead + Emblem + Announcement + Enhancer +Call – visit –
information → LEAEC
• Lead +Emblem +Announcement + Call – Visit – information → LEAC
• Lead+ Emblem+ Announcement +Enhancer+ Call-visit-information+
Lead → LEAECL
However, Lead + Emblem + Announcement + Call-Visit-information (LEAC)
is the obligatory structure, which disputes with that of the proponent of GSP
who posited that the Lead is the only obligatory variable in a poster.
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5.3 Conclusion
We will end this discussion here by noting that this section sought to answer
research question two. This research question looked at the order of the generic
moves present on the posters and I found that four patterns were present:
• Lead+ Emblem + Announcement + Call-Visit-information + Tag →
LEACT
• Lead +Emblem +Announcement + Enhancer + Call – visit – information
→ LEAEC
• Lead + Emblem + Announcement + Call -Visit-information → LEAC
• Lead + Emblem + Announcement + Enhancer + Call – visit –
information + Lead → LEAECL
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CHAPTER SIX
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATION
6.0 Introduction
This chapter is the final chapter of the current study, and it summarizes the study
by highlighting the objectives of the study, theoretical framework used, and the
methodology. Key findings of the study and conclusions drawn in view of the
findings are also discussed in the present chapter. Further, recommendations for
further studies are provided.
6.1 Summary of the Study
This study has been conducted as a result of the need to provide the grammar of
charismatic church programme posters. The first chapter looked at the problem
statement, which highlighted the dominant use of multimodal artefacts by the
ever-increasing number of charismatic churches to communicate and invite the
public to events. It was necessary to study how multimodal forms combine to
serve the persuasive needs and to determine the entrenched features these
posters have evolved with. The aim of the study was to investigate how
messages are organised in charismatic church programme posters in Ghana. In
addition to the statement of the problem, the background to the study, the
research questions, significance of the study, and delimitation of the study were
discussed.
In order to situate the study in the multimodal discourse, literature was
reviewed. The literature first provided a discussion of the key concepts such as
language and religion, multimodal, visual grammar, and Generic Structure of
Advertisement (GSP). Empirical studies were also reviewed.
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The third chapter of the study presented the methodology for the study.
Specifically, the chapter discussed the data size, data collection procedure, and
sampling technique used. Chapters Four and Five presented the analysis and
discussion. The last chapter, which is Chapter Six, presents a summary of the
entire work, findings of the study, conclusions, and recommendations of the
study.
6.2 Findings of the Study
The study revealed that there are two modes used in the construction of these
church posters; they were identified as the visual and the verbal modes. This
finding confirms the findings of Williams (2006), who indicates that two modes
are present in the posters: the visual and the written text. Hiippala (2012) also
identified that multimodal artefacts largely have these two modes.
The verbal mode was communicated solely through written text. Verbal
resources used in the design of charismatic church posters (CCP) are words,
groups, and clauses. These churches usually use words to signal detail
information, to profile participants, and as names of represented participants.
Words such as “Venue”, “Date”, “Time”, and “Contact” are sometimes used on
charismatic church programme posters (CCPs) to draw the attention of the
audience to specific details.
The nominal groups were used solely to name churches, events, and theme of
the events. In naming churches, “Chapel” serves as Thing (head) of the nominal
group of charismatic church programme posters in most cases. “Ministries” (4
instances) and “Church” (2 instances) followed. That charismatic churches in
Ghana deviate from the use of ‘church’ as Thing is noted by Tamumobelema
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and Aikoriogie (2018). Tamumobelema and Aikoriogie (2018) suggest that
such is done to “match and identify their (charismatic churches) motive and
identity” and to ‘catch’ attention.
Nominal groups were used in labelling events and themes. The head for labels
of events usually denote convergence of huge number of individuals for
(religious) events (Convention, Crusade, and Summit). Classifiers were used in
classifying the events with the classifiers: Holy Ghost, Easter (2x), Youth Week,
Financial Empowerment, Marriage (2x), Divine, Exploits and Vision. The
classification was usually done according to the purpose of the event (marriage,
financial empowerment), type of Christian event (Easter).
Lastly, nominal groups were used for the themes of the events. Following Dada
(2018), the headwords of nominal groups realizing themes were grouped into
three: those depicting spiritual warfare (Battle, Liberty, and Power), higher life
in Christ (Keys, Heights, and Portion), and supernatural transformation
(Ministry, Move). The results of this study corroborate the findings of Dada
(2018) that charismatic churches employ warfare-related concepts to construct
themes of events.
The verbal processes construed designate the primary occupation of the
represented participant (speaking and singing). Represented participants were
classified. The hosts were usually the highest in the rank of the categories. This
finding agrees with Ajibade’s (2012) finding that participants are usually
distinguished by classes. Also, it was found that there are both attributive and
suggestive symbols on charismatic church posters. According to the results, the
represented participants’ business-like dress makes “the leader looks more like
a religious entrepreneur than a pastor” (Hackett, 1998). Thus, the suggestive
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images reveal a hidden meaning in charismatic religious leaders. Attributive
symbols are seen in the background texts of some CPPs.
Visual modes realized interaction and modality functions. The represented
participants kept eye contact with the viewers and smiled to demand social
interaction with the viewers. Added to the fact that a social type of distance is
created in the choice of medium shot, CCPs employed visual resources to invite
audiences to socialize with the leaders. This observation relates to the absence
of clauses that invite participants in most of the posters. The visual grammar of
the represented participants uses interactive means to invite viewers.
The GSP of the charismatic church advertisement was established. Lead,
Emblem, Announcement and Call-visit-information were generic moves that
appeared on all the posters while Tag and Enhancer were sparingly used.
In terms of the structural arrangement of the generic moves, the posters were
found to follow a pattern. The patterns found are as follows:
• Lead + Emblem + Announcement + Call – visit – information (LEAC)
• Lead + Emblem + Announcement + Call – visit – information (LEAC),
Lead + Emblem + Announcement + Call – Visit – information + Tag
(LEACT)
• Lead + Emblem + Announcement + Enhancer + Call – visit –
information (LEAEC)
• Lead + Emblem + Announcement + Enhancer + Call – visit –
information + Lead (LEAECL)
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Out of twenty posters analysed, LEAC was used eleven (11) times, LEAECL
was the structure for seven (7) other posters, LEACT (1), and LEAC (1). The
grammar of the Charismatic church programme posters were, thus, established
as Lead + Emblem + Announcement + Call-visit-information (LEAC).
This pattern is followed by all posters, indicating that this is an established order
of charismatic posters. It is also very much required that any other generic move
that joins the structure must come after the Call-visit-information but not before
it. The Tag and enhancer are optional in charismatic advertisements and when
they are used, they take the final positions in the hierarchical arrangement of the
modes on the artefact.
6.3 Conclusion
The section of the study used GSP to find the grammar of charismatic church
programme posters. The study found that there exist two broad modes which
are visual and verbal modes. The modes were presented in both visual images
and text. The visual images were presented in the form of pictures of pastors
and their guests while the text was primarily conveyed using written texts to
convey the names of the churches, venues, themes of the programmes, and date
scheduled for a programme. The GSP of the posters were established as Lead +
Emblem + Announcement + Call-visit-information (LEAC), Lead + Emblem +
Announcement + Call –Visit - information + Tag (LEACT), Lead +Emblem +
Announcement +Enhancer +Call-visit-information (LEAEC), Lead+ Emblem+
Announcement +Enhancer+ Call -visit-information+ Lead (LEAECL). Lead +
Emblem + Announcement + Call-visit-information (LEAC) appeared to be the
root on which all other structures were built.
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6.4 Recommendations for Further Study
The present study was carried out within a stipulated time frame, thereby
limiting the study to the grammar of advertisement found in Charismatic church
programme posters.
It will be useful if a similar study is carried on the orthodox churches’
programmes to ascertain whether some variations do exist or they also follow
the grammar identified by this study.
Again, it will be of immense importance if a similar study uses not only posters
as this study did but also add audio visual church programme advertisements to
see how/what grammar is created.
Lastly, a study on identity construction of the images found on these posters
will not be out of proportion since most of these posters have the images of
either the head pastor or other pastors and their wives.
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APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1
CCP 1
APPENDIX 2
CCP 2
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APPENDIX 3
CCP 3
APPENDIX 4
CCP 4
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APPENDIX 5
CCP 5
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APPENDIX 6
CCP 6
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APPENDIX 7
CCP 7
APPENDIX 8
CCP 8
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APPENDIX 9
CCP 9
APPENDIX 10
CCP 10
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APPENDIX 11
CCP 11
APPENDIX 12
CCP 12
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APPENDIX 13
CCP 13
APPENDIX 14
CCP 14
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APPENDIX 15
CCP 15
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APPENDIX 16
CCP 16
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APPENDIX 17
CCP 17
APPENDIX 18
CCP 18
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APPENDIX 19
CCP 19
APPENDIX 20
CCP 20
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