Abstract:

The present research paper is concerned mainly with a critical analysis of Robert F. Kennedy’s (henceforth: RFK) speeches against social injustice. Social injustice is one of the most important issues facing a society, which must be prevented and resisted in various ways, the most important of which is the use of language as it has a great impact in bringing about social change. Accordingly, the current study will show the role of language in RFK’s speeches in addressing social injustice and standing against it. Therefore, this study aims to reveal the linguistic forms and styles along with the ideologies that RFK’ speeches employed in an attempt to eliminate and resist this issue. In order to achieve its aims, the study analysed two speeches by adopting an eclectic model consisting of van Dijk (1980, 1997, 2000b), and Cockcroft and Cockcroft (1992). Besides, mixed methods research will be followed in analysing the data, which is a sort of combinations of qualitative and quantitative methods; to gain a better understanding of the data The study shows that the language has a central role in revealing the practices of social injustice and in advocating social justice through the ideologies, linguistic forms and styles it employs, which have an effective power and great impact to achieve the purposed goals. It also reveals that RFK regulates the language of his speeches against social injustice in a way that articulates his ideologies, such ideologies are, anti-racism, equality, social justice, and liberalism.

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