Ethnicity and the Pragmatic Strategies in American Christian Sermons

This study is concerned with the pragmatic aspects in American Christian sermons by White-American and African-American preachers. The study aims at detecting the noticeable differences between preachers in terms of the pragmatic strategies and tracing the social variable of ethnicity. The data under scrutiny are selected from official websites in forms of videos transcribed by the researchers and then analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The two types of analysis help the study to arrive at a variety of conclusions, the most central of which is there are considerable differences between the White-American and African-American preachers regarding their use of the pragmatic strategies. It also concludes that the social variable of ethnicity affects the African-American preachers more than their counterpart.


Introduction
The language of American Christian sermons is full of a number of pragmatic strategies which help in shaping the general structure of these sermons.Discovering and describing these strategies is the main focus of this study.Due to the fact that American sermons form a part of the language and the culture of the Christian communities, it is not surprising to find that sermons become the subject of linguistic analysis (Kuczok, 2014, p. 71).The present study focuses on examining American Christian sermons about the USA elections 2016 as they have a pivotal role in the USA elections.Harding (2016, p. 272) pinpoints that sermons about elections (or election sermons) are given by clergymen to voters or citizens prior to the event of elections.They serve to promote a patriotic fervor as they link between the natural rights and the Christian moral duty of the believers because Christianity requires both religious as well as political liberty (ibid.).At this point, this type of sermons is political in a broader sense as they emphasise the responsibilities of the believers and the moral seriousness of the election by emphasising the religious and civil liberty.
The two terms "White-American" and "African-American" in the USA are well known and documented.The endless fierce debates about the nomenclature and identify in America are not new.The United States Census Bureau officially (2000, p. 1) cites that the USA has a racially and ethnically diverse population with two major racial categories: White-Americans and Black or African-Americans.Corbould (2009, p. 1) notices that many individuals call themselves by the two terms "Black" and "African" Americans while others prefer one over the other so that they are names of choice.In whatever way, the primary focus of the present study is on the effect of the social variable of ethnicity on the American Christian sermons about the USA and the differences between White-American preachers and African-American preachers in terms of the preachers' uses of pragmatic strategies.On this ground, preachers are labeled as White-American preachers (henceforth WAPs) and African-American preachers (henceforth AAPs) in the present study for the sake of distinction and ease of reference.
Thus, the study concentrates on the social variable of ethnicity which refers to a social group that shares a common culture, religion, language, attitude or physical characteristics such as skin colour.Consequently, the study hypothesises that noticeable differences can be discovered between American sermons preached by WAPs and those preached by AAPs in terms of the use of the pragmatic strategies.It also hypothesises that the social variable of ethnicity is more reflected on AAPs than WAPs.Additionally, it deals with ethnicity and American Christian sermons from pragmatic perspectives by investigating the pragmatic strategies used by both WAPs and AAPs.These pragmatic strategies include Searle's (1969) speech acts, Grice's (1975) conversational maxims, and Brown & Levinson (1978) politeness strategies.

Statement of the Problem
Literature on American sermons preached by White-American preachers (WAPs) and African-American preachers (AAPs) has focused on the religious standpoint, ignoring examining it pragmatically.As a result, there have been insufficient discussions about the difference between WAPs and AAPs and there has been a growing need to study American Christian sermons from pragmatic perspectives.This knowledge gap has prompted the present study to bridge it and pragmatically study the pragmatic aspects of American Christian sermons.

Aims of the Study
The study aims at: 1) Detecting the noticeable differences between American Christian sermons preached by WAPs and AAPs in terms of the preachers' uses of pragmatic strategies; 2) Tracing the social variable of ethnicity in American Christian sermons and in whose sermons (WAPs or AAPs) it is more evident; 3) Developing an eclectic model for analysing American Christian sermons pragmatically.

Questions of the Study
The study attempts to answer the following questions: 1) What are the noticeable differences between American Christian sermons preached by WAPs and AAPs in terms of the preachers' uses of the pragmatic strategies?
2) Can the social variable of ethnicity be traced in American Christian sermons and in whose sermons (WAPs or AAPs) it is more evident?

Hypotheses of the Study
The study hypothesizes that: 1) Noticeable differences can be discovered between American sermons preached by White-American preachers and those preached by African-American preachers in terms of the use of the pragmatic strategies.
2) The social variable of ethnicity is more reflected on the African-American preachers than the White-American ones Labov (1966) carried out a practical study of the effect of some social variables on the American language variation in New York city in which ethnicity, social structure, and language are interacted.Labov (ibid., avers that ethnicity plays a vital role in social structure and it has to be placed at the very center of sociolinguistic studies especially in a community of ethnic groups like the USA.Discussing the relationship between the social variable of ethnicity and language, Fought (2006, p. 4) notices that ethnicity is a "socially constructed category" that plays a crucial role in language variation.The American society in the USA has an ethnic discrimination between White-Americans and African-Americans which is considered as the most noticeable historical and contemporary ethnic conflict (Nadal, 2009, p. 9).This conflict can be exemplified by the USA election 2008 when Barack Obama was elected as the first African-American president in the USA so that the mainstream media concentrated mainly on voting according to ethnic groups without much regard to other issues.Thomas (2004, p. 1) states that American Christian sermons in America have a central importance that Christianity thrives from it because it is an important source of White-American and African-American cultures.There are, of course, differences in terms of language, more precisely in the use of pragmatic strategies between the Americans and African-Americans even if they live within the same community and use the same strategies.

American Christian Sermons and the Effect of Ethnicity
As far as the main topic of the American Christian sermons in the present study is concerned, the USA presidential election in 2016 is the central subject of these sermons under examination.The date 2016 is intentionally selected because it has witnessed the highly heated conflictive period in the American policy in which American sermons and religion are necessary to a moral society.Stout (2006, p. 330) argues that religion and politics are twined together in the United States than in most other developed countries since the USA is basically built on religion, mainly Christianity, and politics.Due to the fact that American sermons form a part of the language and the culture of the Christian communities, it is not surprising to find that sermons become the subject of linguistic analysis (Kuczok, 2014, p. 71).The present study focuses on examining American Christian sermons about the USA elections 2016 as they have a pivotal role in the USA elections.Harding (2016, p. 272) pinpoints that sermons about elections (or election sermons) are given by clergymen to voters or citizens prior to the event of elections.They serve to promote a patriotic fervor as they link between the natural rights and the Christian moral duty of the believers because Christianity requires both religious as well as political liberty (ibid.).At this point, this type of sermons is political in a broader sense as they emphasise the responsibilities of the believers and the moral seriousness of the election by emphasising the religious and civil liberty.Mathews (2000, p. 76) clarifies that USA is a God-fearing and Christian nation where the vast majority of the Americans are Christians.Within the same vein, Buttrick (1988, p. 14) reflects on preaching in the USA as a challenging activity since is not an easy matter due to the turbulent political dominance and the continuous social change.Therefore, the present study is motivated as an attempt to examine the American Christian sermons with a political topic which is the USA election 2016 as the main subject along with the effect of the social variables on these sermons.
As soon as the struggle between Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate, and Donald Trump, the Republican candidate and the current USA president, starts its outbreak, politicians, critics, experts, and even the ordinary people begin to throw their queries and predictions about who will win in this election.The United States of America is imposingly biblical in its principles and Christians as religious members of the American society find it necessary to be guided by and equipped with preaching and effective sermons about the election from their authoritative preachers.Preaching is a necessity for Christians in the critical time of the American elections to lend a hand for people to take their decisions.Therefore, some sermons can be seen as instances of American Christian sermons about the USA elections 2016.

The Pragmatic Structure of American Christian Sermons
Generally, sermons require certain parts of composition to be fulfilled.Basing on the traditional rhetoric, Kuczok (2014, p. 72) provides a general schema of sermons that embraces three main elements which are the introduction, the main part, and the ending.The introduction covers general comments and observations to create a rapport management with the intended congregation.As for the main part, it implicates a presentation of a particular topic and its core ideas.Likewise, it is required to develop the central topic of the sermonic discourse, usually in points.In connection with the ending, it should recapitulate the topic of the sermon (ibid.).In other words, there are three main parts which are accomplished by different pragmatic strategies.In the introduction, the preacher can greet, welcome, thank, and pray to his congregation.Next, the preacher presents a lengthy and knotty step in which the preacher presents his main topic and ideas and then develops them by using different strategies, basically pragmatic strategies in the present study.In this regard, Hull (2006, p. 77) asserts that every sermon should have a main subject which represents the central theme that gives unity and form to the sermons.With reference to the final point, it epitomises the main topic of the sermon and presents the preacher's remarks.
The present study develops an eclectic model of the pragmatic structure of American Christian sermons which helps in picking up the considerable differences between WAPs and AAs in terms of the pragmatic strategies.This model depicts American Christian sermons as a structure of three parts including the introduction, the body, and the conclusion.These three parts involve certain pragmatic strategies.The present study adopts Searle's (1969) taxonomy of speech acts (henceforth SAs), Grice's (1975) conversational maxims (henceforth CMs), and Brown & Levinson's (1978) politeness strategies (henceforth PSs).Politeness strategies are used in the body but not in the introduction or the conclusion because they are used to formulate the preacher's message in order to save the congregation's face when face threatening acts are inevitable.However, no face threatening act is expected in introducing and terminating the sermons.Thus, bald on-record politeness, on-record positive politeness, on-record negative politeness, and off-record politeness which are abbreviated as: (BORP), (ORPP), (ORNP), and (OFRP) respectively.Schematically, Figure 1 below shows the pragmatic strategies used in the American sermons ijel.ccsenet.

Method
The analy analysis w applying t ANOVA.

Proced
The data u official we  the researchers.It is of great importance for the data to be oral rather than written, and consequently the data represent a reliable as well as authentic source for the analytical purposes conducted by the present study.The four American sermons are delivered by two WAPs and two AAPs and one sermon of each is selected.
The data collected to be analysed are represented by ( 12) extracts distributed over the three main parts of the four American sermons.Owning to the fact that a sermon is a lengthy discourse and the large size of the extracts can take a considerable space in the present study, the analysis of only some illustrative instances that are representative of the data under study are introduced.Hence, the main focus is on showing how the pragmatic analysis is achieved and on presenting the findings of this analysis.

Data Analysis and Discussion
Analysing the data under scrutiny goes in two directions.First, it deals with the pragmatic analysis depending on the eclectic model developed by the present study which serves it aims.Second, it deals with the statistical analysis that supports the pragmatic one to quantitatively support its findings.

The Pragmatic Analysis
The following sections deal with the pragmatic analysis of the four American sermons that are titled as "Presidential Election and the Christian Vote", "America in Peril", " Waiting For the Real Trump", and "Matthew 26" which are preached by WAPs: Pastor MacArthur and Pastor Lawson and AAPs: Pastor Dyson and Pastor Luter respectively.

Sermon (1): Presidential Election and the Christian Vote by Pastor MacArthur
Pastor MacArthur (1939-) is one of the famous contemporary American preachers who has emerged as the most notable American preacher at the end of the twentieth century (Shaddix, 2010, p. 52).What distinguishes his preaching is the objectivity in presenting any topic because his preaching is primarily concerned with the content of the biblical text in order to reflect the objectivity in explaining and applying Scripture to political and social topics.Then, he gains a reputation as one of the greatest preachers at the present time in America (Shaddix, 2010, p. 52).One of his influential sermons is preached on Sunday Morning in 6th November 2016 in Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, California in the USA.This sermon is titled "Presidential Election and the Christian Vote" which deals with the USA elections 2016 as the main topic.This sermon is analysed pragmatically in the following sections.

The Introduction
In the introduction, Pastor MacArthur presents general comments and observations by the use of the pragmatic strategies of SAs and CMs according to the eclectic model which is depicted in Figure 1.

Extract No. 1
(1) I understand that there is an election this coming Tuesday MacArthur asserts that there is an election in the coming Tuesday.He uses this assertion in a ridiculous way because he considers the coming USA elections insignificant as he says in utterance (5): "God is concerned its insignificance".However, his utterances, (1) and (2) count as an undertaking to the effect that they represent an actual state of affairs.Similarly, utterances (3) and ( 4) are Rep SA of asserting utilised by Pastor MacArthur in order to assert that the reason behind commenting on the issue of the coming USA elections is that he is constantly asked to do so and, thus, he wants to shepherd and help the congregation.Utterance (5) represents Dir SA of advising in which Pastor MacArthur attempts to get or commit the congregation to minimise the importance of the coming USA presidential elections because God has the power to control everything.Pastor MacArthur believes that this advice will benefit the congregation.Accordingly, Pastor MacArthur's utterance counts as an undertaking to the effect that his advice is in the congregation's best interest.Once again, Rep SA of asserting is used in utterances (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18).In all of these utterances, Pastor MacArthur asserts that the coming USA elections, presidents, politicians, and nations do not really matter because God is in complete control of everything.
With regard to CMs, Pastor MacArthur makes use of the observance technique in all utterances except utterances (1), ( 2), ( 14), and ( 16) in which the non-observance technique is used.In utterances (3), ( 4), ( 5), ( 6), ( 7), ( 8), ( 9), ( 10), ( 11), ( 12), ( 13), ( 15), ( 17), and ( 18), Pastor MacArthur keeps to the four CMs; therefore, he is informative, truthful, relevant, clear, brief, and orderly.Concerning the non-observance technique, on the other hand, flouting of CMs is used by Pastor MacArthur.In utterance ( 1) and ( 2), maxim of quality is flouted, precisely the sub maxim "Do not say what you believe to be false".Pastor MacArthur says that he understands that there is an election in the coming Tuesday, then, the congregation laughs because it is uncontroversial that all Americans know that there is an election in the coming Tuesday.What is more, this sermon is preached on Sunday morning in 6th November 2016, before just two days of the day of the USA elections, so that all Americans, especially preachers who are authoritative figures, know about the USA elections.Additionally, maxim of quantity is flouted in utterance ( 14) because Pastor MacArthur repeats what he says "Cycle of nations throughout all of human history, all of it, is temporal, and all of it, passes away" with the same words and idea.The same is true in utterance ( 16): "What happens in politics, what happens in an election has no bearing on the kingdom of God".Though this repetition flouts maxim of quantity, it helps to emphasise Pastor MacArthur's idea and attract the congregation's attention as well.

The Body
In the body, the pragmatic strategies of SAs, CMs, and PS are used.Extract (2) below represents this part: (1) We put it to you simply, our country, like all other countries, is the Titanic.
(2) The ship is going down.
(3) They are trying to rearrange the deck chairs, but the ship is going down.(4) Our responsibility is not to get caught up in the rearrangement of the deck chairs.(5) Our responsibility is to provide the lifeboat of the Gospel.( 6) That is, we are here for the rescue of souls.(7) So, do not overestimate this election.(8) It is just another part of the world system.
Regarding SAs, Pastor MacArthur felicitously uses Rep SA of asserting in utterances (1), ( 2), ( 3), ( 4), ( 5), (6), and (8).He wants to assert that America, his country, and all other countries are the Titanic which is going down and the Americans or the people of any nation have the responsibility of rescuing the souls of people.Pastor MacArthur wants to assert that people should rescue their nations as well as the people of that nation and they can do so by their votes for the right political party and candidate in the coming USA presidential elections.In utterance (7), Pastor MacArthur uses Dir SA of advising as he advises the congregation to avoid overestimating the importance of the coming election as it is a worthy issue.Accordingly, his utterance counts as an understating the effect that it is in the congregation's best interest.
The pragmatic strategy of CMs is apparent in extract (2) when Pastor MacArthur starts with the non-observance of CMs in utterances (1-6) for the reason that Pastor MacArthur metaphorically depicts his country as the Titanic which is going down and the American's responsibility is to provide the lifeboat of the Gospel for the rescue of souls.In this way, maxim of quality is flouted in the sense that what is actually said by Pastor MacArthur is not literally true.In utterances ( 7) and ( 8), alternatively, Pastor MacArthur keeps to the cooperative principle and its four CMs; therefore, he uses the observance technique by being informative, truthful, relevant, clear, brief, and orderly.
In order to preach appropriately, Pastor MacArthur resorts to PSs.He utilises ORPP in extracts (3).He uses the strategy of noticing H's interests to observe the congregation's interests, wants, needs, and conditions and this is apparent in utterance (1) when he says "We put it to you simply, our country…".The strategy of intensifying H's interests is also used by Pastor MacArthur to intensify the interest of the congregation when he refers to the tragic story of Titanic in utterances (1-6) to assimilate his country to the ships of Titanic to show the great destruction, distress, and suffering of the Americans.In addition, the strategy of presupposing common ground is used by Pastor MacArthur to create a common ground and to express the idea of sharing common concerns and attitudes with his congregation towards a particular event.It is manifested when Pastor MacArthur refers to "Titanic" in utterance (1) without recounting the story of Titanic on the ground that they are all already know it.In a similar vein, the strategy of including both S and H in the activity is employed when Pastor MacArthur includes the congregation in the activity by using the inclusive pronoun "we" in order to convey a mutual cooperation with the congregation.This strategy is clearly manifested in utterance (1): "We put it to you simply…" and utterance ( 6): "we are here…" and the pronoun "our" in utterances (1): "our country" and (4) as well as (5): "Our responsibility".Similarly, the strategy of giving reasons is used by Pastor MacArthur in utterance ( 7) when he advises the congregation to avoid overestimating the coming USA elections and, then, in utterance ( 8), he gives a reason for his advice when he says "It is just another part of the world system".In this way, he gives a reason as to why he advise them avoid overestimating the coming election.
Furthermore, ORNP is utilised when Pastor MacArthur uses the stagey of hedging when he uses "so" before FTA of advising in utterances ( 7) "So, do not overestimate this election" in order to communicate in some respects similar to the congregation's desire.Additionally, OFRP is employed by Pastor MacArthur.One of these strategies is the strategy of hints to raise the issue of the serious problems in America and the Americans' responsibility to change the situation in their country in the coming USA elections.Thus, he describes his country as the ship of Titanic in order to make the congregation looks for an appropriate interpretation in his utterance on the ground of the context and the mutually shared knowledge.Metaphor is used as another strategy of OFRP by Pastor MacArthur.It lies in comparing his country, America, and all other countries to the ship of Titanic in utterance (1), "our country like all other countries is the Titanic" and his metaphor is extended to utterance (6).This metaphor triggers seeking a figurative interpretation to arouse the imaginative interpretation of one thing, the state of his country, in the light of another, the ship of Titanic.

The Conclusion
To remind the congregation of the main points of his sermon, Pastor MacArthur gives a precise conclusion by employing the pragmatic strategy of SAs and CMs.

Extract No. 3
(1) The goal of government is to carry a sword which is the very most extreme threat and that threat is to maintain law and order.(2) Look and ask yourself in a Christian vote for a party that systematically weakens the military protection of its people and systematically weakens the police.
(3) We are vulnerable externally and internally.(4) We vote for a group of people that give a license to rioting and destruction.( 5) Can we vote for a coalition of people who will put judges into place, who will turn good and evil on its head, and will make laws to defend those who do evil and to punish those who do good?
As far as SAs are concerned, Pastor MacArthur uses different SAs to sum up his sermon.In utterance (1), Rep SAs of stating and asserting are used when Pastor MacArthur states that the goal of government is to carry a sword and then he asserts that this sword represents a threat and that threat is necessary to maintain law and order in any nation.In utterance (2), two categories of SAs are used namely, Dir SA of commanding and Rep SA of criticising.Pastor MacArthur wants to direct the congregation's attention to the importance and the sensitivity of the recent political issues, therefore, he commands the congregation to look and ask themselves in a Christian vote for the political party that systematically weakens the military protection of the American people and systematically weakens the American police.His utterance is an attempt to get the congregation to be careful and to pay attention to the current situation concerning the USA presidential elections in virtue of his authority over the congregation.Implicitly, Pastor MacArthur criticises the Democratic party because the Democrats want to reform the American criminal justice system and end mass incarceration as part of their election promise.Doing so, they weaken the military protection of the Americans as well as the American police.
In utterance (3), Pastor MacArthur complains and shows his discontent about the fact that Americans are vulnerable both externally and internally because they are not protected and confused in their country due to the weakness of the military protection and the police in America and, thus, his utterance counts as Rep SA of complaining.Again, Rep SA of criticising is used in utterance (4) by which Pastor MacArthur criticises the Democratic Party and those people who support it.He implicitly criticises the Democrats without mentioning the name of the party, but it is apparent to the congregation that he means them because their election promise is well known to all.In utterance (5), two categories of SAs are used, viz., Dir SA of asking and Rep SA of criticising.Pastor MacArthur's question is directed to the congregation in a way that makes the congregation thinks deeply before they vote for a particular political party or candidate in the coming USA presidential elections.Within the same utterance, he criticises the Democrats three times because they want to put laws to defend those who do evil and to punish those who do good.According to Pastor MacArthur, the Democrats, in their election promise, support evil things such as abortion, same sex marriage, immigration, transgender rights, etc.On the contrary, they are against good things such as criminal justice.
The pragmatic strategy of CMs is highlighted when Pastor MacArthur employs the non-observance technique in extract (8) because he resorts to flouting and opting out of CMs to convey his message.In utterance (1), Pastor MacArthur flouts the maxim of quality because he metaphorically states his idea when he says "The goal of government is to carry a sword…" to state the goal of government adequately.Literally, what he says is not true.In this way, he wants to depict the importance of government in any nation which is depicted as carrying a sword to maintain law and order.In the remaining utterances, from (2) to ( 5), he opts out the maxim of quantity because he is not informative as it is required, i.e. he does not mention the real name of the political American parties or the American USA presidential candidates due to the fact that he is not in a position to say what the maxim of quantity requires.

Sermon (2): America in Peril by Pastor Lawson
Pastor Lawson is an American popular preacher who is the head pastor at Temple Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee in the USA.He is well known for his serious and intellectual style and, thus, he is described as a" hellfire" and "brimstone" type of preacher (Web Source 1).

The Introduction
In the introduction, Pastor Lawson reports something in the past which is relevant to his utterance, motivates the congregation by asking, and asserts general truths or facts.What helps him to do so is the pragmatic strategies of SAs and CMs.Extract (4) below represents the introduction.

Extract No. 4
(1) Early this morning, the wee hours of the morning, I was watching Charles Stanley, the pastor in Atlanta Georgia, well-known across the country.( 2 5) He was preparing people for the election that is coming up this coming Tuesday.( 6) He was taking a stand, a very clear stand and trying to annunciate to the people the issues involved and how important that this up come election is.( 7) Brother Stanley says that we are living in perilous times.( 8) Brother Stanley said the seven words that characterize our society today.( 9) So, I jotted these down while he was giving them out.(10) Preachers listen to preachers.( 11) Preachers take notes from other preachers.( 12) Anything wrong with that?(13) So, these are the seven things that brother Stanley mentioned in his message this morning.( 14) He said America is an immoral country now, it is a greedy country, it is a prideful country, it is an indulgent country, it is a slothful country, it is an in grateful country, and it is a reverent country.(15) And I agreed on every point that he gave.
The strategy of SAs has been explicitly issued in extract (1).Reporting as Rep SA is abundantly employed by Pastor Lawson in utterances (1), ( 3), ( 4), ( 5), ( 6), ( 7), ( 8), (9), and ( 14).In these utterances, Pastor Lawson reports what Pastor Charles Stanley, a Pastor in Atlanta Georgia, said about the perilous times in which the Americans live concerning the election that is coming up the next Tuesday.Thus, Pastor Lawson employs SA of reporting because he asserts something about the past with respect to the time of his utterance.He reports that Pastor Charles Stanley characterises America in the present time, precisely in 2016, as an immoral, a greedy, a prideful, an indulgent, a slothful, a grateful, and a reverent country.In utterances (2) and ( 12), Pastor Lawson employs Dir SA of asking in which his utterances count as an attempt to elicit information from the congregation concerning who knows Charles Stanley and concerning the truthfulness of the idea that preachers listen to preachers and take notes from other preachers to emphasise the idea of unity and togetherness between preachers and between Americans as a whole.
Asserting as Rep SA is utilised in utterances ( 10), ( 11), (13), and (15) in which Pastor Lawson asserts the truth of the facts that preachers listen to preachers and take notes from other preachers.Then, in utterance (13), he asserts the seven things that brother Stanley mentioned in his message.In utterances (15), Pastor Lawson asserts that he agrees on every point that pastor Charles Stanley gave in his message.In this sense, Pastor Lawson's utterances count as an undertaking to the effect that they represent an actual state of affairs.
Pastor Lawson's introduction is an effective in extract (1) above and this effectiveness is demonstrated in the tactic of preaching effectively by keeping to CP and its four maxims; therefore, Pastor Lawson is informative, truthful since all the things that he has mentioned are truthful as they represent an actual state of affairs, relevant because he has kept to the main point of his topic concerning pastor Charles Stanley's sermon, and clear, brief, and orderly.

The Body
This part is achieved by the pragmatic strategies of SAs, CMs, and PSs.In this part, Pastor Lawson presents the main topic of his sermon which is the USA elections as explicated in extract (5) below: Extract No. 5 (  2), ( 4), ( 5), ( 6), ( 8), ( 9), ( 10), ( 11), ( 12), (13), and ( 14) are SA of asserting in which Pastor Lawson metaphorically asserts that if Americans want to see revival in America, their temperature has to be taken in the coming Tuesday which is the day of the USA elections.He asserts the idea of voting as he wants to persuade the congregation to participate in the coming elections and to vote for the one who deserves.Utterances (3): "Would not you?" is Dir SA of asking in which Pastor Lawson wants to attract the congregation's attention and reflect his power as a Christian religious leader.Utterance (3) serves as a tag question which provides support for the continuation of the preaching process rather than eliciting information from the congregation.Utterance (7): "Are you listening to me?", is Dir SA of requesting which is indirectly employed by Pastor Lawson.His utterance takes the form of a question, but the communicative intention is not the same as the form of the utterance and, hence, it is indirect SA of requesting.Utterance (7) counts as an attempt to get the congregation to listen to his speech.
Concerning CMs, Pastor Lawson starts with non-observance of Grice's maxims by flouting MM because some of his utterances are not clearly expressed and easily understood.Utterances (1) and ( 2) are not complete; Pastor Lawson movies to a question in utterance (3) rather than completing his utterances.His utterances are characterised by obscurity of expression and he is not orderly in his speech.In utterance (4), the maxim of quality is flouted when Pastor Lawson says "Maybe in a couple of days" which indicates that he is not really sure about what he says.Furthermore, utterance ( 6) is metaphorically expressed.As such, Pastor Lawson flouts quality maxim by saying what is literally false.For the same reason, quality maxim is flouted by Pastor Lawson in utterances ( 12) and ( 14) as he metaphorically says that politicians will take the vital signs of Americans and the church in America.In utterance (8), quantity and quality maxims are flouted because his utterance is repeated and expressed metaphorically.Moreover, opting out is also used by Pastor Lawson as he uses the passive form in his expression "America's temperature is going to be taken" in utterance (6) to avoid mentioning any name so that he opts out quantity maxim by providing less information that it is required.Furthermore, he uses the pronoun "they" in utterances ( 9), ( 10), ( 11), ( 12), (13), and (14) because he is not in a position to mention any name and this, actually opts out manner maxim because he is not clear and his utterances cause ambiguity.Observance of CMs is employed in utterances ( 5) and ( 7) only in which Pastor Lawson is informative, truthful, relevant, and perspicuous.
Pastor Lawson employs PSs.He uses the strategies of ORPP, precisely the strategy of noticing H's interests and the strategy of presupposing common ground.The strategy of noticing H's interests allows Pastor Lawson to observe the congregation's interests, wants, needs, and conditions.He tells them that if they want to see revival in America, they have to vote for the appropriate candidate in the coming Tuesday which is the day of the USA elections.The strategy of presupposing common ground is also used by Pastor Lawson to create a common ground and to express that they share common concerns as well as common attitudes towards a particular event which is the coming USA presidential elections.Additionally, OFRP is used when Pastor Lawson employs the strategy of hints in utterances (4) in order to raise the issue of the coming USA presidential elections that will be hold in the next Tuesday and, thus, he makes the congregation looks for an appropriate interpretation in the preacher's utterance.It is worth pointing out that Pastor Lawson's sermon is preached on Sunday Morning in the 6th of November in 2016, before a couple of days of the day of the USA elections which is hold on Tuesday in the 8th of November in 2016.Eloquently, Pastor Lawson uses the metaphor of "America's temperature" to arouse the imaginative interpretation of the coming USA presidential elections in the light of taking temperature in a hospital.The metaphor of the "the vital signs" is also used to indicates the participation and votes because the vital signs are important signs that show the condition of the vital functions of the body.

The Conclusion
Extract (6) below represents the conclusion in which Pastor Lawson terminates his main topic, the USA elections, which is presented in the body of the sermon with the aids of the pragmatic strategy of SAs and CMs.

Extract No. 6
(1) You may say that they are not going to save us.(2) You got as much use for the Republicans as you do for the Democrats.
(3) They are both traitorous as they can be.(4) No sir, but I do believe that God may have given us a respite.( 5) He has given us just a little bit of time to find out what we are.( 6) They have got all kinds of problems but one is infinitely better than the other one, infinitely better than the other one.
Pastor Lawson, in utterances (1), (2), and (3), is engaged in an issue of truth that he wants to state clearly and sufficiently.Next, Pastor Lawson, in utterances (4), ( 5), and (6) uses another Rep SA which is asserting in order to assert that God gives the Americans the coming USA presidential elections of 2016 as a respite.Additionally he asserts that, of course, the two candidates have got all kinds of problems but one of them is infinitely better than the other one.His utterances count as an undertaking to the effect that they represent an actual state of affairs and his assertion shows the effect of SV of power on his speech.
Pastor Lawson is not in a position to say what manner maxim requires because pastors in general are not in a position to bring political arguments into a worship meeting.Rather they can voice their political preference from the pulpit.For this reason, Pastor Lawson makes use of the tactic of preaching effectively when he employs non-observance of CMs since he opts out MM by using the plural pronoun "they" in utterances ( 1), ( 3), and ( 6) to refer to the USA presidential candidates, Trump and Clinton and this use of opting out causes an ambiguity and vagueness.For the same reason, he use "one" and "the other one" in utterance ( 6) to refer to the two USA presidential candidates.Additionally, flouting quantity maxim is also used in utterance (6) by repeating his utterance "infinitely better than the other one, infinitely better than the other one" because he is more informative than it is required in order to emphasise his idea.It is worth noticing that the techniques of observance of CP and its four CMs are employed in utterances ( 2), (4), and ( 5) because Pastor Lawson keeps to CP and its four CMs; therefore, he is informative, truthful, relevant as he has kept to the main point of the topic, and perspicuous because he is clear, brief, and orderly.

Sermon (3): Waiting for the Real Trump by Pastor Dyson
Pastor Dyson is a popular American preacher, distinguished professor, prolific researcher, and writer (Sloan, 2013, p. 37).He is one of the most inspiring and influential Black Americans and his works on race, class, and gender offer valuable and significant insights to many educators (ibid.).

The Introduction
Extract No. 7 (1) We thank you God for the magnificence of this hour, for the sweetness of this service, and for your grace and mercy.
(2) We thank you for another opportunity to come to your house and tell the truth about your great and matchless mercy toward us.(3) We thank you for the man of God you have placed in this midst, continue to strengthen him, and give him vision and vigor to realize your particular will and way.(4) May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight.( 5) O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer, Amen.( 6) It is an honor and a privilege whenever I get a chance to come back to my church because I enjoy many churches in my life.( 7) I am a corrupted Negro intellectual and we are incorrigible like herding cats.(8) If it was dependent upon Negro intellectuals to save the world, we would not be saved because we cannot agree on nuttin, but what we seem to agree with is that we have here an extraordinary convergence.
Extract ( 7) above represents the introduction in which the two the two pragmatic strategies of SA and CMs are used.In relation to SAs, Pastor Dyson uses Exp SA of thanking, Dir SA of praying, Rep SAs of asserting and criticising.Utterances (1), (2), and (3) count as expressions of gratitude or appreciation and, thus, they represent a felicitous Exp SA of thanking by which Pastor Dyson expresses his thanking to God.Pastor Dyson feels grateful and appreciative for the grace and mercy of God.In utterances ( 4) and ( 5), Pastor Dyson makes use of Dir SA which is praying when he entreats God to make the words of his mouth and the meditations of his heart acceptable in God's sight and, thus, his utterances count as an undertaking to the effect that the praying is in the congregation's best interest.Utterances ( 6) and ( 7) represent Rep SA of asserting in which Pastor Dyson asserts that he is in the state of honour and privilege as he speaks to the congregation.Besides, he asserts his identity and ethnicity as a Negro intellectual.It is worth indicating that Negro intellectuals are members of dark-skinned group of people who condemn racism and slavery so they advocate the American identity for Black people and black freedom (Wright, 1997, p. 6).Additionally, he asserts that they, the African-Americans, are "incorrigible like herding cats" in utterance ( 7).This utterance is used idiomatically to denote doing something that is very difficult which counts as a futile attempt to control a particular class which is inherently uncontrolled (Palta, 2006, p. 97).In this regards, ethnicity is clear in utterances ( 6) and ( 7) because Pastor Dyson plainly and publically asserts his identity as a Negro and African-American preacher.Utterance (8) counts as a felicitous Rep SA of criticising by which Pastor Dyson asserts his disapproval about the dissidence of the African-Americans in many issues and, as a result, his utterance counts as a negative evaluation.Employing Rep SA of criticising shows the effect of SV of power on the language used by Pastor Dyson as an authoritative preacher.Again, the identity of the preacher as an African-American is highlighted when he says "we cannot agree on nuttin" as he uses the double negation and the slang "nuttin" which stands for nothing.
In relation to CMs, Pastor Dyson resorts to the observance and non-observance techniques.The non-observances is also utilised when Pastor Dyson flouts quantity maxim by repeating his thanking in utterances ( 1), (2), and (3) to emphasise his gratitude and appreciation to God for His grace and mercy.Then, his observance of CMs is clear in his keeping to CP and its four CMs, that is, he is informative, truthful, relevant, and clear, brief, and orderly in utterances ( 4), ( 5), ( 6), ( 7), and ( 8).

The Body
In this part, Pastor Dyson presents the main topic of the sermon which is about the USA elections, especially, about the American Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump.This is apparent from the very beginning of extract ( 8) when Pastor Dyson uses the two words "trumpet" and "Trump" interchangeably.

Extract No. 8
(1) I want to preach very briefly this morning on the subject "waiting for the real Trump" [laughing and applause].
(2) I offer a warning any resemblance to real life is entirely coincidental [laughing].
(3) I am just preaching out the word this morning.( 4) In this first particular passage of the Bible which is well known to you, Paul is engaging in a broad-ranging conversation about the nature of the gifts of the church and there is an especially acute sensitivity around the issue of the gift of tongues.( 5) Paul does not want to dis the church because that gift of tongues is critical, but it has been exaggerated.( 6) The meaning and significance of those tongues have been elevated to an artificially high position and as a result of that what is intended as a good thing ends up being a bad thing.( 7) Now, we know about the gifts that we possess, the things that we have, the talents that God has given to us.( 8) Sometimes, they get so elevated that they get distorted and when they get distorted they are outside of the perimeter of their application and therefore through misapplication the gift becomes a scourge, becomes a burden.
Pastor Dyson starts with Rep SA of stating in utterances (1) when he is engaged in an issue of truth that he wants to state clearly and adequately.He wants to state the title of his sermon and the main topic of the preaching process which is "waiting for the real Trump" as stated in utterance (1).In utterance (2), he employs Dir SA of warning by which Pastor Dyson wants to warn the congregation that "any resemblance to real life is entirely coincidental".It is clear that SA of warning is infelicitous in utterance (2) because the resemblance to real life made by Pastor Dyson is intended.
What assures this is the laughing of the congregation after his utterance because the congregation knows well that Pastor Dyson intends the resemblance that he makes.In utterance (3), Pastor Dyson employs Rep SA of asserting by which he asserts that he is "just preaching out the word this morning".Additionally, utterances (4), ( 5), and (6) count as Rep SA of reporting as Pastor Dyson reports something about the past with respect to the time of the utterance.He reports Paul's conversation about the nature of the gifts of the church and the gift of tongues that God has given to humans.He also reports that the meaning and significance of tongues have been elevated to a high position which leads to the idea that what is intended as a good thing ends up a bad thing.Likewise, utterances ( 7) and ( 8) count as Rep SA of asserting by which Pastor Dyson asserts the kind of the gifts and talents that God has given to humans.
In relation to CMs and in all utterances in extract (3), except utterance (2), the effective preaching manifests itself in Pastor Dyson's employment of the observance technique of CP and its CMs by his keeping to CP and its four maxims, i.e., he is informative, truthful, relevant, and perspicuous because he is clear, brief, and orderly.In relation to the non-observance technique, flouting is employed because utterance (2) results in flouting quality maxim because his utterance is an ironic expression that is literally untrue because, here, the opposite is true.Pastor Dyson has no intention to deceive the congregation in any way, but rather he directs them to find another reasonable interpretation for his utterance.He says "I offer a warning any resemblance to real life is entirely coincidental" but he means entirely the opposite because the resemblance to real life made by him is entirely intended and deliberate in the sense that he intends to talk about the Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump.
Speaking politely, Pastor Dyson resorts to the tactic of preaching appropriately by the use of ORPP.He utilises the strategy of noticing H's interests which enables him to observe the congregation's interests, wants, and needs in accordance with his way of preaching in this sermon.He tackles current political issues concerning the coming USA elections and, therefore, he notices the congregation's wants and needs.Another strategy is the strategy of intensifying H's interests by which Pastor Dyson intensifies the interest of the congregation by reporting a good story about Paul who is generally considered as one of the most important figures of the Apostolic Age as he founded several churches in Europe.Also, within the same strategy, the vivid present is used in order to increase the immediacy of Paul's story and this strategy is clear in utterance ( 4) and ( 5).The strategy of using in-group identity markers is also utilised in this extract, precisely in utterance (5).The word "dis" is an African-American slang which comes from the word "disrespect".This strategy helps Pastor Dyson to claim a common ground with his African American congregation by the usage of slang.Accordingly, the effect of SV of ethnicity is clear in Pastor Dyson's use of language.Moreover, the strategy of presupposing common ground is used by Pastor Dyson to create a common ground and to express that he shares common concerns as well as common attitudes with his congregation towards a particular event namely, the USA presidential elections.This strategy is manifested in the use of referring to the story of Paul claiming that the congregation is familiar with Paul especially in utterance ( 4) and ( 5).In this way, Pastor Dyson mentions the biblical character, Paul, in utterances ( 4) and ( 5) without shedding light on his identity and such a reference to Paul underlies the assumption that every one of the Christian congregation knows who Paul is.The strategy of giving gifts to H is also used by Pastor Dyson in order to satisfy the congregation's positive face by satisfying their wants especially the wants to be cared about and understood.Accordingly, the sense of cooperation, and understanding are given to the congregation particularly when Pastor Dyson says "I want to preach very briefly this morning on the subject…" in utterance (1) and "I am just preaching out the word this morning" in utterance (3).
With regard to ORNP, one strategy is used which is the strategy of hedging in utterance (3) when Pastor Dyson says "I am just preaching out the word this morning" because "just" does the job of hedging in this context.With reference to OFRP, irony is used by Pastor Dyson in utterance (2), "I offer a warning any resemblance to real life is entirely coincidental [laughing]".Since irony is a strategy in which the intended meaning of an expression is usually the opposite of the literal meaning, utterance (2) counts as an ironic expression.In other words, Pastor Dyson intends the resemblance to real life in his speech, particularly by using "Trump" in order to refer the American Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump.The congregation's laughing reinforces the idea that any resemblance to real life is entirely deliberate and intended.

The Conclusion
In this stage, Pastor Dyson makes use of the pragmatics strategies of SAs and CMs as stated in the following sections.
Extract No. 9 (1) The future of this nation is at stake.(2) There is a battle going on out there.(3) Some of them are playing sounds that are hostile to the emphasis that we have strategically and historically embraced.(4) We got to demonize nobody.(5) And so, here, we are in that battle now and folk trying to act like they do not know where that sound came from.
In an attempt to provide a concise summary of his sermon, Pastor Dyson utilises the pragmatic strategy of SAs and CMs.In utterances (1), (2), and (3), Pastor Dyson makes use of Dir SA of felicitous warning.Pastor Dyson warns the congregation that the future of America is at stake because there is a battle going on in this nation which is an electoral battle and some of the candidates present hostile views.He is normally warning the congregation to get them to do something about it by voting for the suitable political party and for the right candidate.
Pastor Dyson employs CMs by the use of the observance and non-observance techniques of CMs in the recapitulation sub-stage which is represented by extract (9).In utterances (3) and (4), Pastor Dyson observes CP and its four supportive maxims by being informative, truthful, relevant, and perspicuous.On the contrary, in an attempt to refuse relaying political information, Pastor Dyson resorts to the non-observance technique, more precisely, the strategy of opting out of quantity maxim.In other words, instead of explicitly mentioning the importance and the sensitivity of the coming USA presidential elections, Pastor Dyson points out the "The future of this nation is at stake" in utterance (1) and, thus, he indicates reluctance or unwillingness to cooperate in the way the quantity maxim is required.Moreover, He refers metaphorically to the coming USA presidential elections as a "battle" in utterance (2) and ( 5).As a result, he opts out quality maxim in by being sarcastic rather than truthful.

Introduction
It is represented by the following extract with the use of SAs and CMs: Extract No. 10 (1) It is so sweet to trust in Jesus particularly these days and times that we are living in where we really do not know who to trust in, but it is so sweet to trust in Jesus.
(3) Thank you all very much.(4) Well, good morning all the professors, all of our pastors, all the students, everyone who is here on today, and all the guests.( 5) I am indeed delighted and excited because I have been invited to be here with you.( 6) It is always a joy and a privilege.( 7) We thank you for this wonderful and exciting privilege to be in the Lord's house on this day.
Pastor Luter, in extract (10) above, makes use of different SAs; namely, boasting, blessing, thanking, and greeting.He felicitously utilises Rep SA of boasting twice in utterance (1) when he expresses his pride of being a Christian who trusts in Jesus Christ.Pastor Luter performs Rep SA of boasting to assert the issue that Christians trust in Jesus in the times that they really do not know who to trust and this makes him boasts with pride and satisfaction.In utterance (2), Dec SA of blessing is felicitously employed when Pastor Luter places the congregation in a state of God's grace by declaring them to be in that state when he says "God bless you all".In utterance (3), Exp SA of thanking is utilised by Pastor Luter as he feels grateful and appreciative for the attendance of the congregation.In utterance (4), Exp SA of greeting is employed since Pastor Luter's utterance counts as courteous recognition of the congregation.Utterances ( 5) and ( 6) count as Exp SA of welcoming which indicates that Pastor Luter has just encountered the congregation and, thus, he receives the congregation hospitably by uttering expressions of pleasure and good feelings about the their presence.Once again, Exp SA of thanking is used in utterance (7) when he says "We thank you for this wonderful and exciting privilege to be in the Lord's house on this day".
Concerning CMs, Pastor Luter employs the observance technique in utterances (2), ( 5), and (6) because he is informative, truthful, relevant, and perspicuous.In utterances (1), ( 3), (4), and ( 7), the non-observance technique is used.Pastor Luter flouts quantity maxim in utterance (1) as he makes his contribution more informative than it is required by starting and terminating utterance (1) with "it is so sweet to trust in Jesus" to emphasise his speech and create a sort of religious atmosphere.In utterance (3) and ( 7), Pastor Luter repeats his thanking so that he also flouts quantity maxim.Similarly, he flouts quantity maxim in utterance (4) in his greeting by directing his utterance to "all the professors, all of our pastors, all the students, everyone who is here on today, and all the guests".What is more, in utterance (4), Pastor Luter flouts manner maxim as it is related to the way utterances is said rather than to what is actually said and, hence, he is not perspicuous and not brief.

The Body
The body of the sermon is characterised by the employment of SAs, CMs, and PSs as manifested in the following extract.

Extract No. 11
(1) With that text, with this day, with this occasion, I want to preach this morning from this subject what to do when you do not know what to do.(2) Today, people all over America would be going to the polls to make a choice, to make a decision.(3) Some of you have already voted.(4) But today, all over America, many people will be making a choice, many people will be making a decision on the US senator or the US congressman.( 5) Everyone all over America will be making a choice on who the next president of the United States of America will be.(6) The question I want to ask this morning, the question I want to ask to all of us is "How do we make those choices?","How do you come to the conclusion to make the decisions and the choices that you and I have to make as believers on a regular basis, on a daily basis, and even every four years when we have to vote for a president ?", "How do you make those decisions and choices as a believer, as a son, as the daughter of God, as a child of God?, "How do you decide what you need to decide about?" Pastor Luter utilises a felicitous SA of stating in utterance (1) as he states clearly and adequately that he wants to preach from the subject of what to do when American Christian people do not know what to do in relation to the USA elections.Likewise, he makes use of felicitous SA of asserting in utterances (2), ( 3), (4), and (5) since he wants to assert the fact that American people all over America will go to the polls to make their choices and their decisions and to vote legally to the next president of the United States of America.It is worth mentioning here that Pastor Luter's sermon is preached on the same day of the USA elections, that is the 8th of November, 2016.
In relation to CMs, Pastor Luter makes use of the technique of observances of CP and its CMs in utterance (3) when Pastor Luter is informative, truthful, relevant, and perspicuous.In the other remaining utterances, Pastor Luter makes use of the non-observance technique by the use of the strategy of flouting.In utterance (1) and ( 2): "With that text, with this day, with this occasion…" and "to make a choice, to make a decision" respectively, Pastor Luter flouts quantity maxim by being more informative than it is required.Additionally, in utterances ( 4) and ( 5): "today, all over America, many people will be making a choice, many people will be making a decision…" and "Everyone all over America will be making a choice…" respectively, Pastor Luter repeats the same idea and information which is already presented in utterance (2): "Today, people all over America would be going to the polls to make a choice, to make a decision", and hence, Pastor Luter flouts quantity maxim.Moreover, he flouts manner quality, more specifically the sub-maxim "be brief", in utterance (6) as he asks four questions with the same idea.
Concerning politeness strategies, they are employed by Pastor Luter when he resorts to the strategies of on-record positive politeness.Pastor Luter utilises the strategy of noticing the congregation's interests in utterances ( 2), ( 3), (4,) (5), and (6) which enables him to observe the congregation's interest, wants, needs, and conditions as he notices that the Americans will go to polls to make their choices and their decisions in order to decide the next president of the United States of America.Additionally, the strategy of presupposing common ground is apparent throughout the whole utterances in extract (11) because Pastor Luter wants to create a common ground and concern with the congregation as he talks about critical political as well as social occasion that of the presidential USA elections.Furthermore, the strategy of including both S and H in the activity is used when Pastor Luter uses the inclusive pronouns "us" and "we" respectively in utterance (6), "the question I want to ask to all of us is "How do we make those choices?...when we have to vote for …" in order to convey a mutual cooperation with the congregation.

A. The Recapitulation
To present the recapitulation of his sermon, Pastor Luter's utilises the pragmatic strategies of SAs and CMs.

Extract No. 12
(1) Not my will but yours will be done.(2), (3), and (4) are considered as a felicitous Rep SA of asserting in which Pastor Luter intends to assert his belief in the fact that God's will, but not human's will, is what will be done.In utterances ( 5), ( 6), (7), and (8), Pastor Luter makes use of Rep SA of complaining as he expresses his discontent about the current political and social issues which are characterised by doubts and uncertainty and, hence, his utterances count as an undertaking to the effect that the current state of affairs is bad.Within the same utterances of ( 5), (6), and ( 7), Dir SA of praying is used because he entreats his Lord to help him in making choices and decisions.Whereas, utterances ( 9), (10), and (11) count as declarations that Pastor Luter will do whatever God wants him to do, will go wherever God wants him to go, and will be whatever God wants him to be and, thus, his utterances are considered as a felicitous Com SA of promising.
With regard to CMs, Pastor Luter observes CP and its four supportive CMs in utterances (1), ( 9), (10), and (11) for the reason that he is informative, truthful, relevant, and perspicuous.Otherwise, he flouts QnM when prolongs his utterances with redundant repetition by repeating "everybody" three times in utterances (3): "Everybody on my left, everybody in the middle, everybody on my right", which is already used in utterance (2) and once again he uses "everyone" in utterance (4).This flouting of quantity maxim is employed for the sake of giving the congregation a special importance as he wants to attract his congregation's attention to the summary of his preaching.In the same vein, quantity maxim is also flouted utterances in ( 5), ( 6), (7), and (8) because Pastor Luter repeats the same expression "I surrender" to emphasise his complaining.

Statistical Analysis of WAPs and AAPs' Pragmatic Strategies
With regard to the comparison between WAPs and AAPs in terms of their use of the pragmatic strategies, a statistical comparison is conducted.The pragmatic strategies of SAs and CMs are used by WAPs more than AAPs because they tend to speak plainly, elaborately, and in details.With regard to PSs, they are used by AAP more than WAP because they usually prefer to speak indirectly to save the congregation's face.To answer the first question and confirm the first hypothesis that states "Noticeable differences can be discovered between American sermons preached by White-American preachers and those preached by African-American preachers in terms of the use of the pragmatic strategies", descriptive analysis is conducted in Table 2 which clearly shows the noticeable and statistically valuable differences between WAPs and AAPs in terms of the preachers' uses of pragmatic strategies.As such, there is a serious mismatch in terms of the use of pragmatic strategies between WAPs and AAPs.One-Way ANOVA Analysis is chosen as the best statistical equation to test the first hypothesis and, thus, the analysis shows statistically indicative level of significance that amounts to (0.05) as it equal to the standard significance (0.05) which confirms the acceptance of this hypothesis as shown in Table 3 below.Besides, the analysis reveals that a considerable diversity of employments of the pragmatic strategies by WAPs and AAPs as it shows that WAPs use more pragmatic strategies than AAPs where the former score the mean of analysis that amounts to (143.30) in opposite to the latter who score (140.00) as Figure 2 displays.This is because WAPs tend to elaborate more than AAPs who prefer to be short and precise in their sermons.

Conclusion
Basing on the pragmatic and the statistical analysis mentioned above, the following conclusions are remarked: 1) American Christian sermons have three main pillars which are the introduction, the body, and the conclusion.Pragmatically speaking, these three pillars are equipped with pragmatic strategies including SAs, CMs, and PSs.These strategies are helpful for the reason that skilful preachers can pick and rightly use the most effective pragmatic strategy from numerous strategies. 2) The social variable of ethnicity affects AAPs more than WAPs.Consequently, ethnicity is more reflected in the American sermons that are preached by AAPs than their counterpart.The effect of ethnicity is clearly manifested in the content rather than the use of the pragmatic strategies and, hence, the content of the sermons is the revealing indicator of ethnicity. 3) The selected social variable of ethnicity is suitably identified because it demonstrates a noteworthy value and effect in the American Christian sermons on the choice of pragmatic strategies.

4)
The eclectic pragmatic model has proved its accuracy and appropriateness for analysing American Christian sermons.
In the light of the findings of the present study, it is suggested that more studies about preaching are required by pragmatists to delve in the process of preaching pragmatically in order to untangle the pragmatic aspects of preaching exhaustively.
Figure 1.The p ) How many of you know Charles Stanley? [some of the congregation raise their hands as an indication that they know Pastor Charles Stanley] (3) I was watching brother Stanley.(4) He is bringing a message talking about what the perilous times are that we live in.( (2) All ladies and gentlemen, that is what God wants to hear from everybody today.(3) Everybody on my left, everybody in the middle, everybody on my right.(4) That is what I want to hear from everyone.(5) Lord, I am tired of messing up, I surrender.(6) Lord, I am tired of making a spacer, I surrender.(7) Lord, I am tired of making bad choices, I surrender.(8) I am tired of making bad decisions.(9) I will do whatever you want me to do.(10) I will go wherever you want me to go.(11) I will be whatever you want me to be.Pastor Luter resorts to two Rep SAs of asserting and complaining and one Com SA of promising.Utterances (1), 1) If you want to see revival in America.(2)Ifyouwant to see the churches in America and I would like to see that.(3)Would not you?(4)Maybe in a couple of days.(5)This is Sunday.(6)ThiscomingTuesday,America'stemperature is going to be taken.(7)Areyoulisteningtome? (8) Its temperature is going to be taken the vital signs.(9)Theydothatall the time when you are in the hospital.(10)Theycomeinfouro'clock in the morning, wake you up, plug you up, check your blood pressure, stick something in your mouth, and find out what your temperature is.(11)Now they say look at, walk out the door, and say you are still alive.(12)Theyaretakingyour vital signs.(13)AndIam not kidding you, they do.(14)And the vital signs in America for our churches need to be taken in.Pastor Lawson is sure of what he says and, thus, extract (3) is full of Rep SA of asserting.Utterances (1), (

Table 1 .
Table 1 below provides statistical differences between WAPs and AAPs in relation to the pragmatic strategies employed in the American sermons in number and type.Both, WAPs and AAPs, utilise the same pragmatic strategies but with different percentages.Statistical comparison between WAP and AAPs in terms of the use of pragmatic strategies

Table 2 .
Descriptive statistics of pragmatic strategies in American sermons