Language and Health Sensitization: A Mood Analysis in Selected NCDC Text Messages

Abstract

The paper is concerned with a mood analysis of selected Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) text messages on COVID-19 health precautions. Using Halliday's (1987) mood system within Systemic Functional Linguistics (hereafter SFL), fifteen out of twenty-five text messages were purposively selected and grouped into forty-two clauses to examine the types of mod choice used by NCDC in sensitizing Nigerians, and the most frequently used mood in the text messages and what necessitates its predominance. The findings revealed imperative, declarative, interrogative and minor sentences as types of mood choice in the text messages. Imperative mood is the most frequently used mood which calls on all Nigerians to take actions on the precautions given in the text messages at the right time. NCDC choice of Imperative mood is meant to command, order, warn or drag the recipients to do its wish concerning COVID-19 health precautions. Declarative mood is used by NCDC to provide information on the novel disease; Interrogative mood occurs once to give room for predominance of imperative mood, and one instance of minor sentence acts as a reminder to Nigerians to remember the rules guiding social gathering during Sallah celebration. Since NCDC feels a sense of sensitizing over its subject by its use of language; its text messages which are meant for sensitizing purpose, make use of well selected words and phrases that is, conforming to a particular style.