Oral testimonies among Christians on a University campus in Ghana

Abstract

Genres in religion are gradually being studied in applied linguistics, in general, and discourse analysis, in particular, by scholars in both Anglo-European contexts and non-Anglo-European contexts. This study reports findings of a wider investigation into a key genre among Christians in a non-Anglo-European context. This study aimed to examine the organizational and linguistic features in oral testimonies presented among Christian students in an English-medium university in Ghana, drawing on Swales’ rhetorical move analysis. Findings of the investigation showed three key findings. First, oral testimonies in the selected Christian churches showed a five-move structure. Second, there were obligatory and optional moves that assisted the presenters of testimonies to achieve their overall communicative purpose. Third, the study indicated the dominant use of key lexical items such as personal pronouns and slogans. These findings have implications for the scholarship on genre studies, religion and language as well as future research