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Qualitatively, the study adopted a content analysis approach. There were eight State of the Nation addresses that the Ex-President John Kufour delivered during his tenure of office but only two of them are analysed in this study. The purposive sampling approach was used to select two State of the Nation addresses samples. The State of the Nation addresses of two years were picked for the study. The years are: 16<SUP>th</SUP> February 2001, and 14<SUP>th</SUP> February 2008. The qualitative data was analysed by the use of the interpretative technique based on the themes arrived at during the content analysis of the two speeches delivered by ex-president Kufour. Selective coding was used to code the occurrence of the categories of the epistemic modality expressions in the data. The epistemic modal elements as well as the sentences in which they occurred were then manually copied for further verification. These processes made the frequency count faster, more effective and more accurate. The data shows the relevant clauses or sentences containing modal expressions sampled within the contexts of epistemic meanings in the texts. The study has made it apparent that the expression of certainty is predominant. The data also indicates that the Ex-president has a greater tendency to use more modal adjuncts followed by the other modal auxiliary verb categories in expressing certainty in the selected State of the Nation Addresses during his State of the Nation Addresses. One question that arises is, why the Ex-president had a greater tendency to express more certainty in his State of the Nation Addresses. The answer is that Ex-president was fully sure and convinced of the information on the nation’s development and future programmes captured in the addresses. Thus, he appeared a confident, trustworthy and knowledgeable leader. Furthermore, the use of epistemic modality in the State of the Nation Addresses is neither haphazard nor coincidental. Instead, it is informed by reason of specific communicative intent. It is recommended that Public speakers and politicians should take the epistemic markers into consideration when writing the State of the Nation Address or any other texts in order to clarify shared opinion. It is also recommended that the Faculty of Language of the University of Education of Winneba should consider the concept of epistemic modality as a course of study in all various Language Departments including the Department of Communication Skills.

The study sought to analyze the communicative functions of metaphors in Selected political speeches of Mr. John Dramani Mahama. Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA) developed by Jonathan Charteris-Black as an approach solely for the analysis of metaphors in political discourse was adopted as a theoretical framework for the study. The study is rooted in a qualitative research approach and grounded in textual analysis as the design. The sampling method adopted in the study was purposive, and the analysis was done in line with the research question posed. The study has shown that language plays a crucial role in human existence as a means of communicating world events. The study has also revealed that in Critical Discourse Analysis, metaphor is conceived as speech actions which build together to create coherent social interactions. This study has indicated that metaphor is a cognitive phenomenon other than a purely lexical one. The study concludes that metaphor is a deep-seated conceptual phenomenon that shapes the way we think (and not just the way we speak). Working inductively from the bottom up with a metaphor, CDA has been able to reveal a rich body of facts about discourse and demonstrate that CDA follows an elaborate, but systematic, set of rules or architecture. It is recommended that future studies could explore the possibility of quantifying the frequency of the occurrence of metaphors and known end results to find out whether there is a correlation between the number of metaphors and persuasion. It is also recommended that research could also be carried out into Ghanaian politics as a discourse community with a view to unearthing language basically associated with that vocation. A study could also be conducted into the use of other rhetorical/oratorical devices, e.g. the politicians’ use of analogy in their speeches.