Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'English modal verbs'

The thesis provides a corpus-based study of the development of Irish English modal verbs from the fourteenth to the twentieth centuries in comparison to mainland English. More precisely, it explores the morpho-syntax of CAN, MAY, MUST, SHALL and WILL and the semantics of BE ABLE TO, CAN, MAY and MUST in the two varieties. The data of my study focuses on the Kildare poems, i.e. fourteenth-century Irish English religious poetry, and a self-compiled corpus consisting of personal letters, largely emigrant letters, and trial proceedings from the late seventeenth to the twentieth centuries. The analysis of the fourteenth and nineteenth centuries is further compared to a similar corpus of English English. The findings are discussed in the light of processes associated with contact-induced language change, new-dialect formation and supraregionalization. Contact-induced language change in general, and new-dialect formation in particular, can account for the findings of the fourteenth century. The semantics of the Irish English modal verbs in this century were mainly conservative in comparison to English English. The Irish English morpho-syntax showed an amalgam of features from different dialects of Middle English in addition to some forms which seem to be unique to Irish English. The Irish English poems recorded a high number of variants per function in comparison to a selection of English English religious poems, which does not conform to predictions based on the model of new-dialect formation. I suggest that this might be due to the fact that the English language had not been standardized by the time it was introduced to Ireland, and thus the need to reduce the number of variants was not as great as it is suggested to be in the post-standardization scenarios on which the model is based. In seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Ireland, increased Irish/English bilingualism caused the formation of a second-language (L2) variety of English. In the nineteenth century the bilingual speakers massively abandoned the Irish language and integrated into the English-speaking community. As a result, the varieties of English as spoken by the bilingual speakers and as spoken by the monolingual English speakers blended and formed a new variety altogether. The use of modal verbs in this new variety of Irish English shows signs of colonial lag (e.g. in the development of a deontic possibility meaning for CAN). Additionally, the subtle differences between BE ABLE TO and CAN in participant-internal possibility contexts and between epistemic MAY and MIGHT in present time contexts were not fully acquired by the L2 speakers, which resulted in a higher variability between the variants in the new variety of Irish English. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the use of modal verbs converged on the patterns found in English English, either as a result of linguistic accommodation in the case of informants who had migrated to countries such as Australia and the United States, or as a result of supraregionalization in the case of those who remained in Ireland.

This thesis explores certain aspects of the structure of lexical semantics and its interaction with pragmatic processes of utterance comprehension, using as a case-study a sample of the English modal verbs. Contrary to previous polysemy-based accounts, I propose and defend a unitary semantic account of the English modals, and I give a relevance-theoretic explanation of the construction of their admissible (mainly, root and epistemic) contextual interpretations. Departing from previous accounts of modality, I propose a link between epistemic modality and metarepresentation, and treat the emergence of epistemic modal markers as a result of the development of the human theory of mind. In support of my central contention that the English modals are semantically univocal, I reanalyse a range of arguments employed by previous polysemy-based approaches. These arguments involve the distributional properties of the modals, their relationship to truth-conditional content, the status of so-called speech-act modality, and the historical development of epistemic meanings: it turns out that none of these domains can offer reasons to abandon the univocal semantic analysis of the English modals. Furthermore, I argue that the priority of root over epistemic meanings in language acquisition is predicted by the link between epistemic modality and metarepresentation. Finally, data from a cognitive disorder (autism) are considered in the light of the metarepresentation hypothesis about epistemic modality. The discussion of modality has a number of implications for the concept of polysemy. I suggest that, despite its widespread use in current lexical semantics, polysemy is not a natural class, and use the example of the Cognitive Linguistics to illustrate that polysemy presupposes some questionable assumptions about the structure of lexical concepts. I propose a division of labour between ambiguity, semantic underdeterminacy, and a narrowed version of polysemy, and present its ramifications for the psychology of word meaning. In the final chapter, I extend the proposed framework for modality to the analysis of generic sentences, thereby capturing certain similarities between genericity and modality.

PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO
O presente estudo busca investigar o uso de verbos modais na produção escrita de universitários brasileiros em inglês como língua estrangeira (ILE), contrastando-o com o emprego realizado por alunos universitários americanos e britânicos que têm o inglês como primeira língua. Para tanto, lança-se mão do arcabouço teórico da lingüística de corpus (Sinclair, 1991; McEnery & Wilson, 1996; Hunston, 2002; Berber Sardinha, 2004; McEnery, Xiao & Tono, 2006) e de recursos tecnológicos, especialmente o programa computacional WordSmith Tools (Scott, 1999), para analisar dois corpora. O corpus de estudo consiste em uma fração do Br-ICLE (The Brazilian Portuguese Sub-corpus of the International Corpus of Learner English), coletada em quatro universidades do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, totalizando 51.430 palavras, enquanto o de referência corresponde a uma parte do LOCNESS (Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays), somando 165.135 palavras. Adotando uma abordagem textual à escrita (Hyland, 2002) e uma abordagem estatística para quantificar os resultados, a investigação tem como foco os verbos modais centrais (Biber et al., 1999), a saber, can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will e would. Os resultados indicam que os falantes brasileiros de inglês empregam menos verbos modais do que seus pares americanos e britânicos. Mais especificamente, nota-se que will e would são usados com freqüência significativamente menor na escrita em ILE de brasileiros. Diferenças entre os modais também são encontradas quando se analisa o padrão de uso destes verbos. Os resultados da pesquisa evidenciam, de certa forma, a diferença na produção escrita dos dois grupos estudados, o que pode contribuir para o ensino de língua inglesa no contexto brasileiro.
The present study aims at investigating and contrasting the use of modal verbs in the writing of Brazilian undergraduates majoring in English as a foreign language (EFL), contrasting it to that of British and American university students who speak English as a first language. To this end, it makes use of both the theoretical background of Corpus Linguistics (Sinclair, 1991; McEnery & Wilson, 1996; Hunston, 2002; Berber Sardinha, 2004; McEnery, Xiao & Tono, 2006) and of technological resources, especially the computer program WordSmith Tools (Scott, 1999), to analyze two corpora. The research corpus consists of a section of the Br-ICLE (The Brazilian Portuguese Sub-corpus of the International Corpus of Learner English) which has been collected in four universities in the city of Rio de Janeiro, totaling 51,430 words, while the reference one corresponds to a part of the LOCNESS (Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays), accounting for 165,135 words. Adopting a textual approach to writing (Hyland, 2002) and using statistical tests to quantify the results, the investigation focuses on central modal verbs (Biber et al., 1999), namely, can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will and would. Results indicate that the Brazilian speakers of English make less use of modal verbs than their American and British counterparts. More specifically, it is observed that both will and would present significantly lower frequencies in Brazilian EFL writing. Differences among modals are also found when the patterns of use of these verbs are taken into account. Research results show that there are certain differences in the written production of the two groups, which may contribute to the teaching of English in the Brazilian context.

This paper analyses the use of modal auxiliaries in an investment fund prospectus and how they are translated into Swedish. The semantics of modal auxiliaries is a rather fuzzy area. One modal verb such as may or will can have several different meanings, depending on the textual and situational context. Correctly interpreting the modal verbs is an important prerequisite for an accurate translation. A theoretical background founded on linguistic studies and grammatical presentations by Palmer (2001), Huddleston and Pullum (2002), Coates (1983), Teleman et al. (1999) and Wärnsby (2006) and others, provides a framework for analysing the meanings of the modal verbs in the source text and determining the most equivalent expressions in the Swedish modal system. Different types of modality, such as epistemic, deontic and dynamic, are discussed, along with the different textual and situational factors associated with each type. The analysis includes the most frequent modal auxiliaries found in the source text, namely (in the order of frequency from high to low) may, will, should, can, shall and must. Each modal verb is analysed in terms of its meanings and possible Swedish translations are discussed. One interesting aspect highlighted in the study is the close relationship between modality and futurity, which is particularly true for will. Due to the nature of the source text as a legal contract between the investment fund and the investors, the use of modal verbs specific to legal register is also considered in the analysis. The analysis shows that an awareness of the various factors associated with different types of modality and the linguistic features typical for the particular text type can help the translator correctly interpret and translate the modal verbs as accurately and consistently as possible.

This study is a corpus-based comparison between student essays written in the subject areas of English linguistics and literature at undergraduate level. They are 200 Bachelor degree theses submitted at a variety of university departments (such as English, Language and Literature, Humanities, Social and Intercultural Studies) in Sweden. The comparison concerns frequencies of core modal verbs and how often they occur together with the I, we and it subject pronouns and in the structures this/the [essay, study, project, thesis] when students attempt to communicate their personal claims. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the essays show few similarities in the ways that core modal verbs appear in both disciplines. The results indicate mainly distinct differences, especially in relation to clusters and variation of performative verbs. Specific patterns in the ways that students use core modal verbs as hedges have also been identified.

Engelska

This study is intended to shed light on similarities and differences in terms of functional structure of the clause when modality is expressed by use of modal operators in Russian and English, in order to arrive at findings which inform, and are applicable to, the process of English language acquisition by the Russian learner. The need for the investigation was prompted by the author’s work experience in the field of English teaching, and the lack of explicit guidance in available textbooks currently used in Russian schools and institutions with regard to the particular issue highlighted. While learning the subject of Systemic Functional Linguistics, I drew parallels between the functional structures in the two languages, the purpose of which is to provide a roadmap which facilitates the learning and teaching of English modality to the Russian learner. The approach of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), focusing on the metafunctions as the correspondence in the sociolinguistic message of the clause, is used as a basis for comparing the functional structures in both languages. The investigation of functional grammar features is carried out in order to spotlight  both the similarities and the differences inherent in expressing a degree of probability of an event or statement indicated, not only by the choice of an appropriate modal verb, but also its placement within the clause. The role of the social context in which the text is set is noted as significant for delivering the precise meaning of the message. Hence, the proposition will be pursued through further investigation in the field of modality, and viewed from perspectives of sociolinguistics.

[ES] El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar las perífrasis modales, sus significados y la existencia de variación en las secciones mencionadas del artículo científico en un corpus de las secciones denominadas "introducción" y "conclusión" del artículo de investigación en la disciplina de turismo. Estos textos se han extraído de revistas en el campo y con un índice de impacto notorio en la especialidad. Las perífrasis modales reflejan el punto de vista del hablante. Como parte de la metodología, se usan herramientas de lingüística de corpus que permiten la gestión de los textos y su consulta, además de la extracción de ejemplos concretos que ilustren las formas, las categorías semánticas y las funciones que se encuentren en los textos estudiados. Sin embargo, dado que el contexto es fundamental para poder identificar los significados modales, parte del análisis de los textos requiere de un reconocimiento visual directo de cada caso, pues una misma perífrasis modal puede indicar diferentes significados. El análisis y discusión de los datos se nutre de estudios en lingüística funcional que permitan dar cuenta de los usos y funciones. Las conclusiones indican que, en efecto, existe variación no solo en cuanto a las formas usadas en cada una de las introducciones y en las conclusiones, sino también con respecto al significado. En este sentido, se constata que la modalidad dinámica es más frecuente en las introducciones, según frecuencias relativas, y la modalidad epistémica es más frecuente en las conclusiones. Igualmente, se han detectado varias funciones estrechamente relacionadas con los significados modales. Así, la función de mitigación y cortesía lingüística se relaciona en mayor medida con la modalidad epistémica y lo mismo ocurre con la formulación del significado inferencial, que refiere a la necesidad epistémica. La expresión de la factualidad y de la imposibilidad se nutren de la modalidad dinámica, mientras que la predicción, la organización de los contenidos, la autoridad y la recomendación se manifiestan con el uso de la modalidad deóntica.
[CA] L'article d'investigació en el camp dels estudis de turisme no ha sigut prou estudiat, malgrat ser una disciplina que representa un sector de desenvolupament econòmic per a nombrosos països. Altres gèneres textuals relacionats amb el registre turístic com el resum, els fullets i les pàgines webs en el registre turístic, els últims amb gran rellevància pel seu clar impacte social i econòmic dels estudis turístics, han rebut major atenció. La investigació científica en turisme, no obstant això, proveeix a les organitzacions, ja siguen públiques o privades, d'informació rellevant per a la millora de l'activitat que es tradueixen en recomanacions que, amb freqüència, s'aporten en les conclusions d'aquests treballs. S'entén, per tant, que existeix una relació directa entre el progrés del sector i la investigació empírica, la qual cosa, al seu torn, indica l'interés per la publicació acadèmica periòdica. Per aquest motiu, en aquest treball, s'inclou una caracterització formal del gènere en una estructura de seccions. Aquest estudi es complementa amb una anàlisi de les estructures lèxic-gramaticals recurrents en cadascuna de les seccions de l'article científic i les variables lèxiques i sintàctiques que caracteritzen al text dins del registre científic, tant per la complexitat com pel nivell d'elaboració que exhibeix la llengua usada en aquests treballs. Aquestes estructures persegueixen indicar la perspectiva dels autors, entre altres aspectes. Dit això, l'objectiu d'aquest treball és analitzar les perífrasis modals, els seus significats i l'existència de variació en les seccions denominades "introducció" i "conclusió" de l'article d'investigació en la disciplina de turisme. Aquests textos s'han extret de revistes en el camp i amb un índex d'impacte notori en l'especialitat. Les perífrasis modals reflecteixen el punt de vista del parlant. Com a part de la metodologia, s'usen eines de lingüística de corpus que permeten la gestió dels textos i la seua consulta, a més de l'extracció d'exemples concrets que il·lustren les formes, les categories semàntiques i les funcions que es troben en els textos estudiats. No obstant això, atés que el context és fonamental per a poder identificar els significats modals, part de l'anàlisi dels textos requereix d'un reconeixement visual directe de cada cas, perquè una mateixa perífrasi modal pot indicar diferents significats. L'anàlisi i discussió de les dades es nodreix d'estudis en lingüística funcional que permeten donar compte dels usos i funcions Les conclusions indiquen que, en efecte, existeix variació no sols quant a les formes usades en cadascuna de les introduccions i en les conclusions, sinó també respecte al significat. En aquest sentit, es constata que la modalitat dinàmica és més freqüent en les introduccions, segons freqüències relatives, i la modalitat epistémica és més freqüent en les conclusions. Igualment, s'han detectat diverses funcions estretament relacionades amb els significats modals. Així, la funció de mitigació i cortesia lingüística es relaciona en major mesura amb la modalitat epistémica i el mateix ocorre amb la formulació del significat inferencial, que es refereix a la necessitat epistémica. L'expressió de la factualidad i de la impossibilitat es nodreixen de la modalitat dinàmica, mentre que la predicció, l'organització dels continguts, l'autoritat i la recomanació es manifesten amb l'ús de la modalitat dóntica.
[EN] The research article in the field of tourism studies has not been sufficiently studied, despite being a discipline strongly connected with a sector of economic growth for many countries. Other textual genres related to the tourism register such as the summary, brochures and web pages in the tourism register, the latter with great relevance for their clear social and economic impact of tourism studies, have enjoyed more scholarly attention. Scientific research in tourism, however, provides organisations, whether public or private, with relevant information for the improvement of the activity, which translates into recommendations that are often included in the conclusions of these studies. It is held, therefore, that there is a direct relationship between the development of the sector and empirical research, which, in turn, shows the interest in academic publications in leading journal. For this reason, this paper includes a formal characterisation of the genre into sections. This study is supplemented with a description of the recurrent lexicalgrammatical structures in each of the sections of the scientific article and the lexical and syntactic variables that characterise the text within the scientific register, both in terms of the complexity and the level of elaboration exhibited in the language used in these works. These structures are intended to signal the authors' perspective, among other aspects. That said, the aim of this paper is to analyse modal verbs, their meanings and the existence of variation in the "introduction" and "conclusion" sections of the research article in the discipline of tourism. These texts have been taken from leading journals in the field and with a clear impact index in the discipline. Modal verbs reflect the speaker's point of view. As part of the methodology, corpus linguistics tools are used to allow the management of the texts and their consultation, as well as the excerption of concrete examples illustrating the forms, the semantic categories and the functions found in the texts studied. However, given that context is fundamental to the identification of modal meanings, part of the analysis of the texts requires direct visual recognition in each occurrence, as the same modal verb may entail several meanings. The analysis and discussion of the data is informed by studies in functional linguistics which allow us to count on the uses and functions of the different modal forms. The conclusions indicate that there is indeed variation not only in terms of the forms used in each of the introductions and conclusions, but also in terms of meaning. In this sense, it is found that dynamic modality is more frequent in the introductions, according to their relative frequencies, and epistemic modality is more frequent in the conclusions. Likewise, several functions closely related to modal meanings have been detected. Thus, the function of mitigation and linguistic politeness is most closely related to epistemic modality, as is the formulation of inferential meaning, which refers to epistemic necessity. The expression of factuality and impossibility are nourished by the dynamic modality, while prediction, content while prediction, content organisation, authority and recommendation are manifested using deontic modality. The thesis is structured in five chapters, and bibliographical references are included finally in this dissertation.
Domínguez Morales, ME. (2021). Los verbos modales en las introducciones y en las conclusiones de los artículos científicos de turismo [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/172247
TESIS

Due to vague boundaries, a diversity of meanings and variations of modal strength, the translation of modals might be challenging. This paper investigates the translation of the modal should in a text with recommendations on horse feeding. The translations of deontic and epistemic meanings of should expressing an obligation or necessity are analysed using a framework based on grammatical definitions and linguistic theory. The translation strategies are based on Reiss’ text typology and strategies recommended for informative and operative texts (2000), and Newmark’s communicative translation (1988). Also, procedures of Vinay & Darbelnet (1995) are used to describe some of the translations. The study reveals that majority of the examples are used in the deontic sense and that should is mostly translated as bör and ska. The high frequency of ska might be related to its flexibility and multifunctional properties. Possible translation problems involve differences in the interpretation, where a modal might come across as too strong or too weak to target readers. Another translation problem may arise if the chosen modal can be perceived as less moralising than intended. There are also ambiguous cases that could be said to have both deontic and epistemic meanings. The analysis shows how deontic and epistemic meanings can be determined by context. However, even though a deeper understanding of the topic and an evaluation of the context might support the translation choices, some ambiguity can still be said to remain. The paper concludes that the translation of modals requires thoughtful consideration. A thorough interpretation of meaning related to context and profound knowledge on the topic are equally important in the translation of should.

Este trabalho trata do uso dos verbos modais em manuais de aviação em inglês sob uma perspectiva da lingüística de corpus. O objetivo é gerar subsídios que permitam elaborar materiais didáticos que reflitam as estruturas lingüísticas como aparecem em seu contexto de uso. Parte-se da hipótese de que o uso dos verbos modais no corpus de estudo apresenta peculiaridades com relação à freqüência de ocorrência, estrutura sintática e sentidos. O corpus de estudo é composto de três manuais técnicos da aeronave BOEING 737, sendo dois manuais de operações destinados a pilotos e um manual de manutenção destinado a mecânicos. A pesquisa é realizada em três etapas. Na primeira etapa é realizado um contraste entre o corpus de estudo, um corpus de referência de inglês geral e um corpus de contraste composto de manuais de sistemas operacionais para computadores pessoais. Esse contraste visa a verificar as diferenças de ocorrências entre os verbos modais e as suas estruturas sintáticas. Depois, são realizadas comparações entre os três manuais que compõem o corpus de estudo também com relação às freqüências dos modais e suas estruturas sintáticas. Na terceira etapa são verificadas as colocações principais de cada VM no manual de manutenção e em um dos manuais de operações. Outro objetivo desta investigação é contrastar o manual de manutenção e um livro didático que tem por objetivo ensinar inglês técnico para mecânicos de aeronaves. Nesse sentido, é feita uma análise do livro no que tange os verbos modais e sugeridas algumas modificações. O trabalho reúne referenciais teóricos da Lingüística de Corpus, Lingüística das Linguagens Especializadas e Verbos Modais. Os resultados do trabalho mostram que há diferenças entre a presença dos modais nos três corpora pesquisados e principalmente entre os três manuais que compõe o corpus de estudo. O estudo mostra a importância de realizar pesquisas baseadas em corpus para revelar as peculiaridades de uma linguagem especializada e assim fornecer subsídios para a elaboração de material didático com propósitos específicos mais de acordo com as necessidades do público alvo.
This thesis is about the use of modal verbs in aviation manuals in the light of corpus linguistics. The goal is to gather subsides to enable the creation of classroom material which presents the linguistic structures as they appear in their natural context. The hypothesis is that the use of modal verbs in the corpus has peculiarities in terms of frequency, syntactic patterns, and meanings. The aviation corpus is composed of three manuals from the BOEING 737 aircraft: two operations manuals directed to pilots and one maintenance manual directed to mechanics. The research has been carried out in three stages. In the first stage, the aviation corpus is contrasted to a reference corpus and another specialized corpus composed of personal computer operational systems. Such contrast aims at verifying the differences in the number of modal tokens and their syntactic patterns. In the second stage, the three manuals that make up the aviation corpus are compared in terms of modal frequencies and their syntactic patterns. In the third stage, the main collocations of each modal are checked. This thesis also aims at contrasting the maintenance manual and a course book designed to teach aviation English to mechanics. Thus, an analysis of the modal verbs in the course book is carried out and changes to the book are suggested. This thesis brings together theoretical assumptions from Corpus Linguistics, the Linguistics of Specialized languages and Modal Verbs. The results point out that there are differences in the use of modal verbs in the three investigated corpora and mainly among the three manuals that compose the aviation corpus. This study shows the importance of corpus based research to reveal the peculiarities of a specialized language and, therefore, provide input to produce specific pedagogical material which better meets the needs of the target public.

This study describes the diachronic development of modality in South African English (henceforth SAfE) from the early 19th century up to its contemporary state (1820s to 1990s) in the registers of letters, news, fiction/narrative and non-fiction, on the basis of the theoretical framework of socio historical linguistics and the empirical approach of corpus linguistics. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses are conducted for modal and quasi-modal verbs, by means of the newly compiled historical corpus of SAfE and ICE-SA (with the addition of Afrikaans corpora for comparison). The study explores general frequency changes, register-internal changes and macro- and micro semantic changes, with the focus of the main semantic analysis more strongly on the obligation and necessity cluster1. A set of parameters is compiled for analysing the strength of obligation in the modals must and should, and the quasi-modal HAVE to, and is applied in the micro semantic analyses. The findings are compared with the trends for modality in other native English’s, such as American, British and Australian English (cf. e.g. Mair & Leech, 2006; Collins, 2009a; Leech, 2011), in an attempt to present a complete and comprehensive description of SAfE modality, as opposed to the traditional approach of focusing on peculiar features. It is reported that the trends of modality in SAfE correspond to those of other native varieties in some cases, but do not correspond in others. The modals of SAfE for example have declined more and the quasi-modals have increased less over the 20th century than in other native varieties of English. One particular case, in which SAfE is reported to be unique among other varieties, is the quantitative and qualitative trends for must, which has some implications for the manifestation of the democratisation process. Must in SAfE has not declined significantly over the 20th century (as it has in other native varieties) and has become less face threatening, since uses with a median (weaker) degree of force are just as frequent as those with a higher degree of force by the 1990s (unlike in other native varieties, where must has become restricted to high-degree obligative contexts). Based on socio historical, as well as linguistic evidence (on both quantitative and qualitative levels), language contact with Afrikaans is posited as the main influence for the increased use of must in contexts that are not face threatening. Extrapolating from the semantic findings, some new insights are offered regarding the phase in which SAfE finds itself within Schneider’s (2003) model of the evolution of New English’s, and some support is offered for Bekker’s (2012:143) argument that “SAfE is ...the youngest of the colonial varieties of English”, especially in the Southern Hemisphere. Ultimately, this thesis offers a piece in the larger puzzle that is SAfE, both in terms of linguistic (textual) and socio historical (contextual) aspects.
PhD (English), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014

Kyoto University (京都大学)
0048
新制・課程博士
博士(人間・環境学)
甲第21866号
人博第895号
新制||人||214(附属図書館)
2018||人博||895(吉田南総合図書館)
京都大学大学院人間・環境学研究科共生人間学専攻
(主査)准教授 中森 誉之, 教授 服部 文昭, 准教授 PETERSON Mark
学位規則第4条第1項該当

Le but principal de cette recherche est de savoir si les manuels scolaires d'anglais langue seconde du deuxième cycle de l'école secondaire du Québec approuvés par le Ministère de l'Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport du Québec en 2007 préparent les étudiants à utiliser les verbes modaux ainsi que les structures des verbes modaux par le biais de fréquences semblables à celles de l'anglais écrit ou de l'anglais oral. Dans ce but, les fréquences des verbes modaux et de leurs structures dans un corpus contenant les manuels scolaires déjà mentionnés ont été comparées avec celles dans le corpus d'anglais écrit et dans le corpus d'anglais oral du Corpus National Britannique en utilisant des outils statistiques. Par rapport aux fréquences des verbes modaux, la seule différence significative entre les trois corpus (le corpus de manuels scolaires, le corpus d'anglais oral et celui d'anglais écrit) correspond aux contractions des verbes modaux. Tandis qu'elles sont très nombreuses en anglais oral, leurs fréquences dans le corpus de manuels scolaires sont très proches de celles du corpus d'anglais écrit. En effet, les manuels en question préparent rarement l'étudiant à utiliser les contractions 'Il et 'd. L'étude montre aussi que la préférence pour les verbes can et will parmi les locuteurs d'anglais langue seconde (Montero, Watts et Garcia-Carbonell (2007) et Debbie (2009)) coïncide avec les verbes modaux les plus fréquents dans le corpus de manuels scolaires. Par contre, les fréquences des structures des verbes modaux dans ce dernier sont proches de celles de l'anglais oral. Effectivement, l'étude indique que les manuels scolaires préparent l'étudiant à utiliser des verbes modaux dans des fréquences semblables à celles de l'anglais écrit mais dans des structures plus simples.

This study aims to investigate the acquisition of three Chinese modal auxiliary verbs: NENG, HUI, and KEYI by English-speaking learners who study Chinese as a foreign language and attempts to examine the following issues. 1) Are English-speaking learners able to distinguish the semantic difference between NENG, HUI and KEYI and realize their corresponding syntactic constraints? Does leaner’s acquisition of these three auxiliary verbs increase with the improvement of their Chinese proficiency level? Can these three auxiliary verbs be mastered completely by English-speaking leaners? 2) What is the acquisition order when they are learning NENG, HUI and KEYI? Furthermore, what is the acquisition order of the multiple semantic meanings within one single Chinese modal auxiliary verb? 3)What is the relationship between English-speaking learners’ comprehension and production, in regard to their performance on learning these three auxiliary verbs? 4) whatpedagogical implication does this study reveal? This research is composed of a comprehension test and production analysis. A questionnaire is designed to test English-speaking learners’ comprehension of NENG, HUI and KEYI, including fourteenmultiple choices questions. In addition, 275 essays from the participants are collected anonymously as production database to be analyzed. In total, 90 English-speaking learners who enrolled in Chinese courses at University of Massachusetts Amherst in Spring 2019 were participated, and they were divided into three experimental groups: beginning level, intermediate level, and advanced level. 60 native Chinese speakers were also invited into this research, served as a control group. The result in this research shows that 1) English-speaking leaners’ acquisition of NENG, HUI and KEYI do not always increase with the improvement of their Chinese proficiency level. Both HUI and KEYI present the same trend, which rises rapidly and significantly after experiencing a relatively flat stage, while the development of NENG is shown by U-shape learning curve. 2) For English-speaking learners, the acquisition order is(from the easiest to hardest): HUI > KEYI > NENG. 3) English-speaking learners’ production of NENG, HUI, and KEYI is not always parallel to their comprehension. Also, some implications for teaching NENG, HUI and KEYI are discussed in this thesis.

This dissertation analyzes undertheorized grammatical and linguistic details of Shakespeare’s language. Using tools derived from the fields of linguistics, pragmatics, and discourse analysis, I trace the ways that Shakespeare’s speakers represent themselves in language, and how they position themselves relative to their interlocutors. Grounding my study in a selection of Shakespeare’s works in which questions of self-positioning are particularly fraught, I argue that the nuances of grammar that undergird the linguistic performance of Shakespeare’s speakers encode significant clues about interaction and interpersonal relationships. I maintain that the minute details of linguistic encounters, easily overlooked words such as modal verbs (particularly shall and will) and deictic markers (words such as I, this, and now), hold important information about speakers’ perceptions of themselves, their interlocutors, and their environment. Attention to such details, and to charged moments of linguistic encounter in which speakers must negotiate their modes of self-positioning, helps to illuminate the troubled processes of self-representation and changing self-perception. Chapter one focuses on Shakespeare’s sonnets, and suggests that these poems provide a productive model for the examination of the nuances of speech and interactive dialogue. I anchor my discussion in the particular resonance of the word shall in the sonnets, and explore the ways in which the sonnet speaker attempts to preserve linguistic control relative to a threatening interlocutor. The second chapter extends these concerns to consider how the speakers of Troilus and Cressida respond to a wide network of potentially threatening interlocutors. In this chapter, I focus on linguistic encounters such as arguments and gossip to examine the risks that speakers encounter when they enter the fray of communal discourse. My third chapter turns to Coriolanus to consider moments of aggressive linguistic collisions, in which speakers vie for the right to speak a potent and contested word such as shall. The fourth and final chapter analyzes Richard II through the frame of deictic markers and grammatical modes of self-reference to consider the protective strategies afforded by language in moments of crisis.

碩士
國立清華大學
外國語文學系
95
Journal publication is one of the productive vehicles through which one’s contribution to the research community is expressed. However, it has been found to be a particularly challenging task for scholars who are not English native speakers (e.g. Flowerdew, 1999, 2000, 2001; Martinez, 2005; Sionis, 1995). Previous research has indicated that Chinese non-native writers of English may have difficulty in expressing an appropriate level of authority. However, these studies usually centered on novice academic writers whose performance is likely to be overshadowed by the possibility that they had not yet mastered the academic language in the discipline. This study reports on the way in which varying degrees of authority, encoded in grammatical subjects and modal verbs, are used in the conclusion and implication sections of empirical journal articles in applied linguistics. The purpose of the study is to compare the strategic choices made by Chinese non-native writers of English to exercise their authority with that of English and Chinese natives and identify any traces of first language linguistic and cultural influences on English second language (L2) writing in order to shed light on academic writing pedagogy for non-native speakers. A detailed analysis of the texts revealed that the L2 writers differ from the two native groups by limiting most of their choices to impersonal subjects and possibility modals to imply neutrality in their display of research contributions. The Chinese native writers “outperform” the English native group by exhibiting an even higher level of authority through the prevalent use of personal subjects in conjunction with necessity modals. The results indicate that authority, rather than self-effacement, may be used by Chinese writers to demonstrate group solidarity. Also, the non-native scholars’ lack of authorial presence suggests that a sub-culture in the academic community may have been formed.

碩士
中原大學
應用華語文研究所
98
Auxiliary verbs in Chinese language, also called “modal verbs” or “optative verbs”, are the parts of speech in Chinese language that express possibility, ability and permission. According to their meanings, such verbs in general are called “modal verbs”. Among them, “hui, keyi, neng” are the focal points in elementary Chinese grammar teaching. In the past, previous researchers have put most emphasis on semantic division and the definition of parts of speech, which belong to the scope of linguistics. Few studies have aimed at learning processes and teaching applications. Furthermore, researches combining both theories and practice are quite few. In terms of teachers’ instruction and teaching materials, English word “can” is still used for the corresponding translation for “hui, keyi, neng”. However, the word “can” has the property of multiple meanings in English, which has added difficulty to teachers’ “teaching” and learners’ “learning practices”. Therefore, the main theme of this paper is to observe the influence of learner’s first language (English), teachers’ instruction, materials and learning strategies on elementary Chinese learners in an English environment, as well as the situations of their learning processes and their interlanguage (IL). First, this study analyzes the first and second-stage learning processes in which learners learn “hui1, Keyi1, Keyi2 and Neng1”. Then, the data collected through learning sheets are compiled. Through primary data analysis, the findings indicate: learners have the best grasp on “hui1” when expressing “learned skills” and the “keyi1” when expressing “permission”, while having poorer grasp on “hui2” when expressing “possibility” and “Neng1” when expressing the capability affected by situations. Then, the reasons of correct or incorrect usage are analyzed and compiled for the design of remedial instruction in class. According to the research findings, four main reasons account for the mistaken usage of these Chinese modal verbs: 1. The influence of English translation is attributed to semantic confusion of modal verbs; for example, the mutually-mistaken usage of “hui1” and “keyi1” occurs most frequently. 2. Due to the characteristics of semantic overlapping and mutually-interchangeable usage in some modal verbs in Chinese, the mistaken substitution occurs easily, e.g. “Keyi” and “Neng”. 3. Due to the teaching influence of teachers and teaching materials, learners can not build up clear concepts, e.g. the differences in expressing “possibility” by “keyi2” and “hui2”. 4. Because the complicated pragmatic function of modal verbs, “hui, keyi, neng” should be used selectively, depending on the linguistic contexts. Also, the semantic meanings and usage of modal verbs will be changed, depending on different personal subject and co-occurrence of verb phrases. For example, “keyi” expresses “permission”(keyi1) or “possibility”(keyi2); however, in the meaning of “permission”, different difficulties should be taken into account, regarding the speaker’s status and position. According to the findings mentioned above, three suggestions for remedial instruction are proposed in this study: First, situations introduction should replace English translation. That is, the semantic meanings should be understood through situations. Second, precise English explanation should be used to replace “can”, so as to reduce the wrong correspondence of the semantic meanings between English and Chinese. Finally, to assist learners in establishing complete and orderly recognition systems of modal verbs, the emphasis should be put on the collocation relation between modal verbs and the verb phrases that learners have learned. In the end, the data in the third written test are analyzed. It shows that after receiving remedial instruction, learners have a better concept of “hui2” when expressing “possibility”; its accuracy rate is enhanced to 75％ from 23％. However, there are still problems in the semantic meanings regarding the negative “bu neng” shared by “neng1” and “keyi2”, hence the mistaken substitution of “bu neng” with “bu keyi”, reaching only 18% of accuracy rate. This paper analyses the learning processes and the implementation of remedial instruction to understand the learning difficulties, learning strategies and the influence of teachers’ instruction and materials with respect to Chinese modal verbs “hui, keyi, neng”. It can assist teachers in designing teaching materials and learners in learning modal verbs effectively.