A Spoken Discourse Analysis of Mark Zuckerberg's Educational Speech Through Gee's Theory

Authors

  • Amira Mohamed Mohamed Al-kamel Al-akrout Libyan Academy for Postgraduate Studies Department of English Language Author
  • Anwar Abdullatif El Dalli Libyan Academy for Postgraduate Studies Department of English Language Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.65405/bbjkhp42

Keywords:

Spoken discourse analysis, educational discourse, Gee's Seven Building Tasks, Mark Zuckerberg, language and identity, qualitative research

Abstract

This study analyzes Mark Zuckerberg's educational speech through the framework of Gee's Seven Building Tasks of language. The aim of this study is to discuss how language is used to construct meaning, ideas of learning, success, knowledge, and personal development in Zuckerberg's speech. The study uses qualitative approach and applies spoken discourse analysis to the chosen speech. The data of this study are taken from the transcript of Zuckerberg's 2017 Harvard Commencement speech analyzed by using Gee's Seven Building Tasks: Significance, Activities, Identities, Relationship, Politics, Connections, and Sign System Knowledge. The study examines particular words, expressions, and rhetorical strategies that shape audience's understanding of learning and success. Through this framework we can see that language plays an important role in building educational messages and social values in public speeches. This research provides a better understanding of how educational discourse shapes the idea of learning and success. It contributes to discourse analysis by showing that Gee's framework is useful for studying spoken educational texts and uncovering the ideologies and meanings expressed through the language.

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References

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Published

2026-06-22

How to Cite

A Spoken Discourse Analysis of Mark Zuckerberg’s Educational Speech Through Gee’s Theory. (2026). Al-Farooq Journal of Sciences, 2(3), 1327-1335. https://doi.org/10.65405/bbjkhp42

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