Constructing persuasive appeals through illocutionary acts: a pragmatic analysis of Dino Patti Djalal's climate change speech

Sumiati, Yesi and Ardiansyah, Erlan Aditya and Pramita, Agry (2026) Constructing persuasive appeals through illocutionary acts: a pragmatic analysis of Dino Patti Djalal's climate change speech. Esteem Journal of English Education Study Programme, 9 (2). pp. 1-15. ISSN 2622-2213

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Abstract

This study aims to investigate how illocutionary acts construct persuasive appeals in Dino Patti Djalal's We Can Beat Climate Thanos! speech delivered at the Indonesia Net-Zero Summit 2025. This study employs a descriptive qualitative approach. The research data consist of 199 utterances obtained from the official transcript of the speech. The data were collected from the transcript and video of the speech and analyzed using Searle's Speech Act Theory to identify the types of illocutionary acts and Aristotle's rhetorical appeals to examine how ethos, pathos, and logos are constructed through those speech acts. The findings reveal that assertive acts are the most dominant illocutionary act (67.8%), followed by directive acts (27.1%) and expressive acts (5.0%), while commissive and declarative acts are absent. Regarding persuasive appeals, pathos is the most dominant appeal (55.8%), followed by logos (31.2%) and ethos (13.1%). The findings further indicate that assertive acts construct both logical and emotional persuasion, while directive and expressive acts mainly function to generate emotional engagement. This study contributes to the literature by applying the combined framework of Speech Act Theory and Aristotelian rhetorical appeals to an Indonesian diplomatic speech on climate change, providing a broader understanding of how illocutionary acts and rhetorical appeals interact in persuasive climate change communication.

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