Asian Research Thesis Index

Abstract

Corpus Based Study of Modal Expressions in Selected British and Pakistani Newspaper Editorials In present age of increased digitized data, corpus linguistics has facilitated research by opening new vistas such as this research of corpus-based study of modal expressions. The purpose of this study is to explore grammatical (syntactic and semantic) features of verbs collocating with `to'-infinitive. The analysis proceeds through quantitative and qualitative analysis of ten selected modal expressions from British and Pakistani newspaper editorials. These specialised corpora were compiled by keeping in view the guidelines for compilation of corpus by McEnery and Hardie (2012). This approach incorporates quantitative and qualitative research encompassing discourse analysis of grammar. Quantitative analysis is conducted with the help of AntConc software. The quantitative comparison of the two corpora show's there is no significant difference in NS (British) and NNS (Pakistani) use of modal expressions in lieu of modal verbs in editorial writing (formal opinionated writing). Qualitatively the analysis initially ascertains that modal expressions (like semi modals) syntactically behave more like lexical verbs but through semantic qualitative analysis of examples extracted from the corpora, the researcher established that same domains of modality are manifest in both modal verbs and modal expressions. It is clear that modal expressions are also used by speakers / writers in seclusion or in combination of other markers that create complicated patterns of modal network that is intentional and pragmatically determined by the speaker/writer. This research has potential for further research work on verbal and non verbal modal markers (a category little explored) in English language through integration of corpus linguistics. It can be beneficial for improving ESP / andragogical studies in countries like Pakistan where functional courses are much in demand to improve writing and speaking skills for specific purposes once a person enters into a profession and realizes her/his deficiency.

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