Modal Verbs in Research Article Abstracts in Applied Linguistics: Juxtaposing Discursive Practices of the Inner and Outer Circles of English
The article introduces and discusses a computer-assisted study that
seeks to shed light on the frequency and use of the central modal
verbs (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would) in
research article (further: RA) abstracts in applied linguistics
published in the Inner and Outer Circles of English, respectively.
The study is informed by the construal of the Circles of English that
are comprised of the Inner Circle, where English is spoken as the
mother tongue (for example, the United Kingdom), the Outer
Circle, where it is used as a second language in the former British
colonies (for instance, Hong Kong, Malaysia, etc.), and the
Expanding Circle (e.g., Japan), where English is spoken and taught
as a foreign language (Kachru 48). In the construal of the Circles of
English, the Outer Circle is regarded as a heterogeneous
sociolinguistic space with fluid boundaries (Higgins 615) that
affects the frequency and use of the central modal verbs in a variety
of textual genres (Lee and Collins 501). Against this background,
the study aims at identifying and analysing the frequency of the
central modal verbs in a corpus of RA abstracts in applied
linguistics published by international peer reviewed journals
associated with the Outer Circle (one journal published in Hong
Kong and one in Malaysia, respectively) and the Inner Circle of
English (one journal published in the United Kingdom). The results of the quantitative analysis of the corpus indicate that the most
frequent modal verbs in the entire corpus are can and may, which
function as hedging devices in the journals that are associated with
the Outer and Inner Circles of English, respectively. These findings
are discussed in the article through the prism of the construal of the
Circles of English.
seeks to shed light on the frequency and use of the central modal
verbs (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would) in
research article (further: RA) abstracts in applied linguistics
published in the Inner and Outer Circles of English, respectively.
The study is informed by the construal of the Circles of English that
are comprised of the Inner Circle, where English is spoken as the
mother tongue (for example, the United Kingdom), the Outer
Circle, where it is used as a second language in the former British
colonies (for instance, Hong Kong, Malaysia, etc.), and the
Expanding Circle (e.g., Japan), where English is spoken and taught
as a foreign language (Kachru 48). In the construal of the Circles of
English, the Outer Circle is regarded as a heterogeneous
sociolinguistic space with fluid boundaries (Higgins 615) that
affects the frequency and use of the central modal verbs in a variety
of textual genres (Lee and Collins 501). Against this background,
the study aims at identifying and analysing the frequency of the
central modal verbs in a corpus of RA abstracts in applied
linguistics published by international peer reviewed journals
associated with the Outer Circle (one journal published in Hong
Kong and one in Malaysia, respectively) and the Inner Circle of
English (one journal published in the United Kingdom). The results of the quantitative analysis of the corpus indicate that the most
frequent modal verbs in the entire corpus are can and may, which
function as hedging devices in the journals that are associated with
the Outer and Inner Circles of English, respectively. These findings
are discussed in the article through the prism of the construal of the
Circles of English.
Publisert i East-West Cultural Passage, 2022
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