Japanese EFL undergraduate students’ use of the epistemic modal verbs may, might, and could in academic writing

IF 0.7 Q3 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Willem B. Hollmann, Kazuko Fujimoto, Masahiro Kuroda
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Modifying and hedging one’s claims appropriately is an important characteristic of academic writing. This study focuses on the three main English modal verbs used to express “epistemic possibility” to avoid making strong statements, viz., may, might, and could. The purpose of this corpus-based study is to explore modal verb usage by Japanese EFL undergraduate students and consider pedagogical implications of our findings. Our analysis suggests that the Japanese students’ use of these modal verbs, especially could, has a tendency to be informal and insufficiently academic. While the Japanese students use could very frequently, they do not use it sufficiently in the sense of “epistemic possibility”, and some of their use is inappropriate not just in academic English but in English more generally. The observed high frequency of could may be related to topics and may also be due to the influence of L1. We discuss different factors that may explain the findings, based mainly on the overview of factors impacting on EFL learners’ use of academic English offered by Gilquin and Paquot (2008). Too chatty: Learner academic writing and register variation. English Text Construction 1(1). 41–61), suggest several additions to this overview, and discuss implications for the instruction of these modal verbs in academic writing and in order to improve relevant teaching materials.
日语 EFL 本科生在学术写作中使用认识情态动词 may、might 和 could 的情况
对自己的主张进行适当的修改和对冲是学术写作的一个重要特点。本研究的重点是用于表达 "认识可能性 "以避免强词夺理的三个主要英语情态动词,即 may、might 和 could。本研究以语料库为基础,旨在探讨日本 EFL 本科生的情态动词用法,并思考研究结果的教学意义。我们的分析表明,日本学生对这些情态动词的使用,尤其是could的使用,有非正式和学术性不足的倾向。虽然日本学生使用 could 的频率很高,但他们并没有在 "认识论可能性 "的意义上充分使用它,而且他们的一些用法不仅在学术英语中不合适,在一般英语中也不合适。观察到的 could 的高使用频率可能与话题有关,也可能是受 L1 的影响。我们主要根据 Gilquin 和 Paquot(2008 年)对影响 EFL 学习者使用学术英语的因素的概述,讨论了可能解释这些发现的不同因素。太健谈:Learner academic writing and register variation.English Text Construction 1(1).41-61),对这一概述提出了一些补充建议,并讨论了在学术写作中指导这些情态动词的意义,以改进相关教材。
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来源期刊
Language Learning in Higher Education
Language Learning in Higher Education EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH-
CiteScore
1.00
自引率
0.00%
发文量
18
期刊介绍: Language Learning in Higher Education deals with the most relevant aspects of language acquisition at university. The CercleS journal presents the outcomes of research on language teaching, blended learning and autonomous learning, language assessment as well as aspects of professional development, quality assurance and university language policy. Its aim is to increase the quality of language teaching and learning programmes offered by university language centers and other providers in higher education by presenting new models and by disseminating the best results of research activities carried out at language centers and in other higher education departments.
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