Abstract
This work explored the stylistic use of phrases in job or vacancy advertisements captured in Daily Trust and the Vanguard newspapers published in February, 2023. Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) served as the theoretical framework which guides this study, and the analysis categorised and examined noun phrases, verb phrases, adjective phrases, and adverbial phrases discovered in the advertisements. The research findings indicated that writers of vacancy advertisements strategically use several forms of phrases to attain specific communicative purposes. Noun phrases were predominantly employed in order to provide precise descriptions of positions, qualifications, and institutional contexts through strategic modification. Also, verb phrases, constructed with appropriate auxiliary-main verb combinations, conveyed obligatory expectations, responsibilities, and procedural requirements while maintaining formal register and syntactic accuracy. On a similar note, adjective phrases served to specify desirable candidate attributes and job components through both pre-modification and post-modification styles. Moreover, adverbial phrases mainly functioned to provide temporal constraints and additional relevant information for time-bound application processes. Notably, the research argues that the use of language in Nigerian newspaper job advertisements represents a deliberate stylistic deviation from everyday language, conforming instead to professional register requirements while strategically employing grammatical structures to attract qualified candidates. This research contributes to understanding media English in Nigerian contexts and addresses the gap in job advertisement studies from Sub-Saharan Africa identified in existing literature.
Keywords:
Stylistics, phrase structures, job advertisements, Nigerian newspapers,
Systemic Functional Linguistics, media English
DOI: 10.36349/sojolics.2026.v02i02.037
author/Abubakar Darda'u
journal/Sokoto JOLICS 2(2) | August 2026 |
