Open AccessTHE STUDY OF MODAL VERBS FROM A PEDAGOGICAL PERSPECTIVE: AN ANALYSIS OF TEXTBOOKS AND GRAMMARS
Author(s) -
Ramiro Cruz Durán,
Pilar Alonso,
Marı́a Jesús Sánchez
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
revista de lingüística y lenguas aplicadas
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.175
H-Index - 3
eISSN - 1886-6298
pISSN - 1886-2438
DOI - 10.4995/rlyla.2007.699
Subject(s) - modal verb , linguistics , modal , computer science , grammar , rank (graph theory) , modality (human–computer interaction) , natural language processing , confusion , rule based machine translation , artificial intelligence , mathematics , psychology , verb , philosophy , chemistry , combinatorics , polymer chemistry , psychoanalysis
This paper shows how the indiscriminate combination of the form-function criterion in the traditional presentation of modal verbs brings more confusion than light to the subject due mostly to the fact that the grammatical simplicity of modal verbs clashes with their semantic complexity. In order to verify the treatment of modals in the EFL classroom, both a reduced but representative sample of textbooks and English grammar books will be analysed. Based on the findings of research conducted in this field, this article concludes that when studying modals in the EFL classroom the pragmatic uses of modal verbs should be primed over potential polysemic often indeterminate semantic values and/or grammatical criteria based on a higher or lower rank of graded modality