Abstract
This study investigated the statements of lawmakers through video recordings of legislative hearings in Philippine politics. It focused on the communication styles and language variations used by male and female legislators. The speeches from various legislative sessions were transcribed and examined using qualitative discourse analysis combined with basic quantitative frequency techniques. The goal was to understand how language differences and communication styles work in social and political situations, particularly regarding meaning-making, power relations, and interaction dynamics. The statements were analyzed by identifying and classifying language differences: jargon, boosters, hedges, and fillers, along with communication styles: passive, assertive, aggressive, and passive-aggressive used by the lawmakers. Results showed that male lawmakers generally used an assertive communication style, clear from their high number of assertive exchanges. In contrast, female lawmakers took a more varied approach, mixing assertive, passive, and passive-aggressive styles in their interactions, although assertiveness was the most common overall. Regarding language differences, male lawmakers mainly used jargon, fillers, hedges, and boosters to create a technical, careful, and persuasive way of speaking that often felt informal and spontaneous. Female lawmakers used these devices much less and preferred direct and clear speech with few rhetorical embellishments. The findings highlighted that communication style and spoken language variations are closely linked to the strategic discourse and ideological positions of Philippine lawmakers, directly influencing the outcomes and dynamics of legislative hearings.
Keywords: Discourse analysis, political communication, language variations, communication styles, Philippine legislative hearings