Protest Discourses in July Revolution: An Analysis Using Hymes’ SPEAKING Grid

Abstract

This study examines the protest discourses of the 2024 July revolution in Bangladesh through an interactional sociolinguistic lens. Adopting qualitative method this study aims to explain the discourse focusing on the ways in which Generation Z articulated political dissent through slogans during the 2024 movement. A total of 40 slogans are selected from three key sources: street protest, graffiti and social media. Dell Hymes’ SPEAKING grid within an interactional sociolinguistic framework is used as an analytical framework to explore how contextual factors such as setting, participants, ends and norms etc. shape the meaning and function of protest discourses. The findings reveal that the SPEAKING model provides a nuanced understanding of how Gen Z utilized linguistic diversity and contextual adaptability to transform slogans into powerful tools of political resistance. It demonstrates that these slogans functioned as strategic interactional acts that effectively shaped collective identity and redefined the discourse of the movement.

Mother Language, 2026; 10(1): 262-281