International Journal of Language and Linguistics

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Epistemic Modal Markers in L2 Learners’ Persuasive Letters

Received: 19 December 2013    Accepted:     Published: 30 January 2014
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Abstract

The present study sets out to focus on epistemic modal markers in EFL learners’ formal and informal writing samples. To this end, and by means of a proficiency test, one hundred participants were divided into two groups of higher and lower proficient, and were subsequently asked to write one formal and one informal letter on the topics provided by the researcher. The quantitative analysis revealed some differences in the use of epistemic modal markers across the two proficiency levels. That is, while the learners in the higher proficient group used more epistemic markers in their formal letters, the lower proficient learners tended to deontically modalized their sentences. The quantative analysis of the data in both formal and informal letters suggested that the level of directness corresponds not only with the formality requirements of the topic but also with the possessed pragmatic knowledge.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijll.20130104.25
Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 1, Issue 4, November 2013)
Page(s) 199-205
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Epistemic Modality, Pragmatic, EFL Learner, Modality

References
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[9] Jonny Butler, (2003). "A minimalist treatment of modality", Lingua 113, 2003, 967–996.
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[13] Elizabeth Traugott, "Approaching modality from the perspective of relevance theory", Language Sciences 25, 657–669, 2003.
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[20] Shoshana Blum-Kulka, Juliane House, and Gabriele Kasper, "Cross-cultural Pragmatics: Requests and Apologies", Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1989.
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[22] Mompoloki M. Bagwasi, "Pragmatics of letter writing in Setswana", Journal of Pragmatics 40, 2008, 525–536.
[23] Hsin-I. Chen, "Contrastive learner corpus analysis of epistemic modality and interlanguage pragmatic competence in l2 writing", 27 Arizona Working Papers in SLA & Teaching, 17, 2010, 27-51.
[24] Penelope Brown and Stephen Levinson,, "Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage", Great Britain: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
[25] John R. Searle, "Expression and meaning: Studies in the theory of speech acts", Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979.
[26] Costas Gabrielatos, "If-conditionals as modal colligations: A corpus-based investigation", Corpus Linguistics 2007, 28-37.
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[28] Maria Economidou-Kogetsidis, "Please answer me as soon as possible’’: Pragmatic failure in non-native speakers’ e-mail requests to faculty", Journal of Pragmatics, 43, 2011, 3193–3215.
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Author Information
  • University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

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    Tahmineh Tayebi. (2014). Epistemic Modal Markers in L2 Learners’ Persuasive Letters. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 1(4), 199-205. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20130104.25

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    Tahmineh Tayebi. Epistemic Modal Markers in L2 Learners’ Persuasive Letters. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2014, 1(4), 199-205. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20130104.25

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    AMA Style

    Tahmineh Tayebi. Epistemic Modal Markers in L2 Learners’ Persuasive Letters. Int J Lang Linguist. 2014;1(4):199-205. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20130104.25

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijll.20130104.25,
      author = {Tahmineh Tayebi},
      title = {Epistemic Modal Markers in L2 Learners’ Persuasive Letters},
      journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
      volume = {1},
      number = {4},
      pages = {199-205},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20130104.25},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20130104.25},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20130104.25},
      abstract = {The present study sets out to focus on epistemic modal markers in EFL learners’ formal and informal writing samples. To this end, and by means of a proficiency test, one hundred participants were divided into two groups of higher and lower proficient, and were subsequently asked to write one formal and one informal letter on the topics provided by the researcher. The quantitative analysis revealed some differences in the use of epistemic modal markers across the two proficiency levels. That is, while the learners in the higher proficient group used more epistemic markers in their formal letters, the lower proficient learners tended to deontically modalized their sentences. The quantative analysis of the data in both formal and informal letters suggested that the level of directness corresponds not only with the formality requirements of the topic but also with the possessed pragmatic knowledge.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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    AB  - The present study sets out to focus on epistemic modal markers in EFL learners’ formal and informal writing samples. To this end, and by means of a proficiency test, one hundred participants were divided into two groups of higher and lower proficient, and were subsequently asked to write one formal and one informal letter on the topics provided by the researcher. The quantitative analysis revealed some differences in the use of epistemic modal markers across the two proficiency levels. That is, while the learners in the higher proficient group used more epistemic markers in their formal letters, the lower proficient learners tended to deontically modalized their sentences. The quantative analysis of the data in both formal and informal letters suggested that the level of directness corresponds not only with the formality requirements of the topic but also with the possessed pragmatic knowledge.
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