Epistemic modality in english with reference to the vietnamese equivelents

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M.A THESIS EPISTEMIC MODALITY IN ENGLISH WITH REFERENCE TO THE VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS (Tính tình thái chân ngụy tiếng Anh liên hệ với cách diễn đạt tương đương tiếng Việt) TRẦN THỊ HỒNG Field: English Language Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Assoc.Prof Dr Ho Ngoc Trung Hanoi, 2017 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled EPISTEMIC MODALITY IN ENGLISH MAIN CLAUSES WITH REFERENCE TO THE VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENCE submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Language Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis Hanoi, 2017 Tran Thi Hong Approved by SUPERVISOR (Signature and full name) Date:…………………… ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am deeply indebted to a number of people for helping me to make this M.A thesis possible First and foremost, my deepest gratitude goes to Assoc Prof Dr Ho Ngoc Trung, my supervisor, who supported and encouraged me generously throughout this study Without his excellent academic guidance and support, my thesis would not have been possible My appreciation is also extended to a number of staff members of Faculty of Postgraduate of Hanoi Open University for their assistance in statistical issues and for their assistance in editing work Finally, I would like to thank my family, especially my parents and my husband for their constant source of love, support and encouragement in times of difficulty and frustration Despite the fact that the study has been made with great effort, there might still exist inevitable shortcomings here and there in the paper I deeply appreciate any comments and suggestions for the study ABSTRACT It can not be denied that modality, which is normally classified into deotic modality and epistemic modality, plays an important role in English language While deontic modality expresses the obligation or necessity, epistemic modality adds different degree of certainty to the speakers’ attitude, belief and commitment to the realis Besides, epistemic modality challenges both speakers and listeners in their communicative strategy such as politeness or hedges Owning to the intergral part of epistemic modality in English, the study is chosen to investigate epistemic modality in both terms of semantic and syntactic features However, the semantic meaning and syntactic features of epistemic modality are not accessed in a traditional way; they will be focused in the view of pragmatics for their meaning in context and in the view of theme- rheme structure for their occurrence in the utterances, clauses or sentences The contrastive analysis of epistemic modality in English with the Vietnamese equivelents will reveal the similarities and differences between the two languages To some extent, English and Vietnamese share the same matter of epistemic modality regardless of the differences in the markers of the two languages English in this point of view seems to be more various, expresing larger scale of certainty degree In terms of syntactic features, epistemic modality is more flexible, i.e easier to move in utterances, clauses or sentences than in Vietnamese The similarities and differences of epistemic modality in English and Vietnmese set the ground for the survey which will be carried out at NBK high school to find out the common errors of the learners there The suggestions for a better understanding and the implications for teaching and learning English epistemic modality, therefore, will be a valuable source to help the learners learn English better Key- word: Epistemic modality, syntactic- semantic features, theme- rheme structure Hanoi, 2017 Trần Thị Hồng LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS NBK: Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm Madv: Modal adverb Madj: Modal adjective Maux: Modal auxiliary MN: Modal noun MLV: Modal lexical verb EM: Epistemic modality T: Theme R: Rheme I: Initial M: Medial P: Proposition LIST OF TABLES Page Table 2.1: Epistemic gradient Table 2.2: Theme- Rheme structure Table 3.1: Position of EM markers in declarative clauses Table 3.2: EM markers in in Theme- Rheme structure Table 3.3: The source of information (SOI) of EM Table 3.4: The scale of objective, subjective and deduction of EM Table 3.5: The occurrence of EM in English and Vietnamese Table 3.6: Position of epistemic modality in theme- rheme structure Table 3.7: Pragmatic features of EM in English Table 3.8: Pragmatic features of EM in Vietnamese Table 3.9: Madv and Madj in English and Vietnamese Table 3.10: The certainty degree of EM in English and Vietnamese Table 4.1: Errors in using certainty degree of epistemic modality Table 4.2: Errors in pragmatic meaning Table 4.3: Errors in syntactic features of epistemic modality 10 16 22 23 27 31 32 38 39 39 41 45 51 51 52 LISTS OF FIGURES Figure 3.1: Scale of evidentiality Figure 3.2: Scale of inferential evidentiality Figure 3.3: Scale of possibility Figure 3.4: Scale of certainty 25 26 28 28 TABLE OF CONTENTS Certificate of originality Acknowledgements Abstract List of abbreviations List of tables CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale for the study 1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Methods of the study 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Significance of the study 1.7 Design of the study CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Previous studies 2.2 Modality 2.2.1 Concepts of modality 2.2.2 Kinds of modality 2.3 Epistemic modality 2.3.1 Judgements and evidentiality of epistemic modality 2.3.2 Certainty degree of epistemic modality 2.3.3 Modal function of epistemic modality 11 2.4 Epistemic modality in the view of pragmatics 11 2.4.1 Epistemic modality and speech acts 13 2.4.2 Presuppositional features of epistemic modality 14 2.4.3 Epistemic modality in communicative contract 14 2.5 Epistemic modality in the view of Theme-Rheme structure 15 2.5.1 The clause concept 15 2.5.2 Theme- Rheme structure 16 2.5.3 Epistemic modality in Theme- Rheme structure 17 2.6 Summary 18 CHAPTER III: ENGLISH EPISTEMIC MODALITY WITH REFERENCE TO THE VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS IN SOME BILINGUAL BOOKS 18 3.1 Syntactic and semantic features of epistemic modality in English 18 3.1.1 Syntactic features of epistemic modality in English 19 3.1.2 Semantic features of epistemic modality in English 23 3.2 English epistemic modality with the Vietnamese equivalents 31 3.2.1 Syntactic similarities and differences of English and Vietnamese EM 33 3.2.2 Semantic similarities and differences of EM in English and Vietnamese 38 3.3 Summary 48 CHAPTER IV: COMMON ERRORS MADE BY NGUYEN BINH KHIEM HIGH SCHOOL LEARNERS WHEN USING EPISTEMIC MODALITY IN ENGLISH 49 4.1 Survey questionnaires 50 4.1.1 Subject 50 4.1.2 Questionnaire 50 4.1.3 Procedure 50 4.2 Common errors made by Nguyen Binh Khiem high school learners of English when using epistemic modality in English 50 4.2.1 Errors in semantic features of epistemic modality 50 4.2.2 Errors in symantic features of epistemic modality 52 4.3 Causes of committing errors 52 4.4 Suggestions for learning epistemic modality in English 53 4.4.1 For learners and learning material 53 4.4.2 Suggested exercises 54 4.5 Summary 55 CHAPER V: CONCLUSION 56 5.1 Concluding remarks 56 5.2 Limitation of the study 57 5.3 Suggestions for further study 58 REFERENCE APPENDIX CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale for the study In daily communication, not only speakers interact with each other by giving and receiving information but they also exchange their attitude and knowledge to the realis One of the effective means used to express the different shades of their attitude and knowledge to the fact is modality, a large branch of English and Vietnamese linguistics The aspect of semantics that involves the factual status of statement is epistemic modality Epistemic modality reveals the speaker’s different degrees of certainty, doubts, possibility, for example The syntactic features of epistemic modality lies in the relation of their complements, i.e epistemic modality markers, modal verbs, for instance with the whole or the part of the clause that contains epistemic meanings Attitude and knowledge of the participants expressed in communication is very important Which language items used to express it and how to operate the language items is quite hard for Vietnamese learners of English, especially for high school learners of English When learning English, Vietnamese learners focus more on the syntactic function, modal verb structure, for example, than the semantic features of epistemic modality As a result, they are likely unable to make their interaction naturally They meet difficulty expressing their real attitude, thought or belief For example, instead of saying: “You might be true” to express their degree of doubt, they simply say: “You are true.” Vietnamese learners of English need to develop the ability to express the degree of certainty, doubt or the extent of their commitment to an assertion, as well as conveying their attitudes to the listeners in a variety of social contexts English and Vietnamese have various means and devices to express their status but they differ from one to another For example, besides modal verbs, modal adverbs, modal adjectives, English has modal nouns, which is unfamiliar to Vietnamese Epistemic modality has been seriously studied by several linguists and grammarians under the light of cognitive, pragmatic and functional grammar perfective Palmer (2001) investigates epistemic modality on the grounds of “systematized and organized” within the grammatical system of language However, the grammatical ground for epistemic modality can be distinguished by the meaning encoded by grammar and pragmatic principles and inference According to this point of view, the range of the grammatical devices used to indicate epistemic modality or evidence the speaker has for what he or she says must include a whole range of phenomenasyntactic, morphological, lexical and prosodic This thesis will focus on epistemic modality in the view of pragmatics to investigate all the semantic features of epistemic modality in broader contexts and in the view of functional grammar, Theme- Rheme structure, a clause that has a theme and a Rheme to find out the occurrences of epistemic modality in the clause and its connection to the rest of the clause The syntactic and semantic features of epistemic modality will be referenced in the bilingual book, fairy tales: “Happy Prince” by Oscar Wilde, translated by Ngo Thanh Tam, published in 2016 For the above mentioned reasons, the thesis has the title: EPISTEMIC MODALITY IN ENGLISH WITH REFERENCE TO THE VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS 1.2 Aims and objectives of the study The thesis will look into modality especially epistemic modality in English syntactically and semantically with Vietnamese equivalents in some bilingual story books to find out the similarities and differences in the two languages to help Vietnamese learners study modality in English effectively The thesis therefore will intend: - To investigate the syntactic features of epistemic modality in English in the view of functional grammar Theme- Rheme structure and the semantic features of epistemic modality in the view of pragmatic perspective - To find out the similarities and differences in meaning and structure of epistemic modality in English through the reference to the Vietnamese sequivalent in some bilingual books - To give some suggestions for teaching and learning epistemic modality in English effectively 1.3 Research questions The study is to answer the three questions: What are the syntactic and semantic features of epistemic modality in English? What are the similarities and differences of epistemic modality in English and the Vietnamese equivalents? What factors help Nguyen Binh Khiem high school learners learn epistemic modality in English effectively? 1.4 Methods of the study The research has been approached by describing the syntactic features of epistemic modality in English in the view of Theme- Rheme structure to find out the positions that epistemic modality often occurs in the clause The semantic features of epistemic modality will be seen in the view of pragmatics to look into the speakers’ attitudes to the facts or realis, whether they are assertions, commitments or He says you are going away soon now Anh nói anh rời khỏi (18: 12) He told me he might be going home Anh ta bảo nhà (18: 184) She told me you are going away Cô bảo anh xa (18: 90) In Vietnamese, the past tense is used as a device to emphasize the speaker’s confidence and có for some more validity to the truth of the assertion In English, this can be achieved by the prosodic means, for example: Eg (92) He said he couldn’t live up to it Anh ta nói khơng thể sống dựa vào tên Anh ta có nói khơng thể sống dựa vào tên In some assertions, naming the person who feeds the information seems to make the commitment a little stronger Eg (93) The captain said I was to call you Jim Ơng thuyền trưởng nói tơi phải gọi ông Jim (18: 36) My sister says you could take out a life insurance Chị tơi nói anh rút giấy bảo hiểm nhân thọ (18: 120) Sometimes, the pragmatic immediacy is postponed to the end: Eg (94) You are an old boy, the headmaster said Anh gã trai, ông hiệu trưởng bảo (18: 19) The postponsed markers serve as the after thought which carries less weight compared with those in the position of initiations When a speaker wants to present information not directly, he may dress it up as hearsay A distinctive feature in hearsay is that the information is not transmitted from to the speaker as secondhand knowledge but it may be circled around before it is received by the speaker as thirdhand knowledge In English, to mark this type of knowledge there are markers such as people/ they say, I’ve heard, I’ve read, rumour has it that, the story is going around that, it seems, … When the person who makes the assertion is named, the speaker makes the report more committive to the information whereas it is more difficult to identify the person who is responsible for giving the information in the hearsay In Vietnamese, the equivalent epistemic markers are nghe đâu, người ta đồn, người ta bảo, nghe nói, In general, the source of information in English and Vietnamese can be recognized with verbs of transmitting information such as hear, say,, tell, nghe, nói, bảo with the agent of feeding information other than the first person or the speaker This is called the evidentiality of epistemic modality in English and Vietnamese 3.3 Summary 48 The analysis of EM in English with the reference to Vietnamese equivalents shows that the two languages share some features in common English EM and Vietnamese EM have much similarity in I- position Most of English EM functions as Thematic This signals that English speakers and Vietnamese speakers are highly subjective in asserting a fact with the use of EM as a point of departure for their message At the initial clausal position, the modal meaning affects the whole proposition in their scope English and Vietnamese EM are also different in other positions, M1- position, M2- position and F-position At the final position, EM was not usual in Vietnamese whereas in English, this position can be used to soften the strength of the assertion or disagreement, pragmatically The analysis also points out the similarities and differences of English and Vietnamese EM in some aspects of pragmatics The low occurrence rate of speech acts, presuppositions can be explained for the choice of English and Vietnamese speakers It seems that people tend to prevent high degree of certainty when expressing their assertions to a fact Hence, the high frequencies of Madv and MLV in English and Vietnamese EM suggest that English and Vietnamese speakers prefer indirect source of information to soften their assertion or attitude to realis They seem to keep face for the listeners, one of the polite strategies that EM should be involved and more investigated CHAPTER IV COMMON ERRORS MADE BY NGUYEN BINH KHIEM HIGH SCHOOL LEARNERS WHEN USING EPISTEMIC MODALITY IN ENGLISH Epistemic modality with their syntactic and semantic features has been discussed in the previous chapters The discussion also shows how English and Vietnamese speakers use epistemic modality in their conversations 49 This chapter will investigate the NBK students’ awareness of epistemic modality and the use of the epistemic markers in their study A survey questionnaire has been carried out to collect data for the analysis The findings and suggestions for learning and teaching EM will be revealed at the end of the chapter 4.1 Survey questionnaires 4.1.1 Subject The questionnaire aims at 105 students from the English specialized grades 12 of NBK high school English is their core subjects and they take it lessons a week The textbook they are following is Tiếng Anh 12 This is the national curriculum set by the government Besides, they focus their main subject on another curriculum set by the school itself Some aspects of modality such as modal markers and modal lexical verbs are referred quite a lot in different lessons However, modality seen as the whole from the markers to the position occurred in utterances seems to be ambiguous to them 4.1.2 Questionnaire Owning to the broad scope of the survey, which outstrips the knowledge of 12 grade students and the requirement of the curriculum, the questionnaire, therefore, focuses only on the use of modality markers, the use of degree of certainty and the pragmatic meaning of modality in their study of English as these matters of the English language are mentioned in their curriculum Besides, in terms of syntactic features, the position of epistemic modality will be considered in the form of the changeable structures of proposition The questionnaire, on the whole, includes parts: Part investigates the semantic features of epistemic modality, which was designed to find out the errors in using epistemic markers, certainty of degree and the pragmatic meaning of epistemic modality Part investigates the symantic features of epistemic modality 4.1.3 Procedure The participants were asked to fill in the designed form These parts were carried out in separated lessons In each lesson they have 10 minutes to choose the best option for each question The data was then collected and analyzed quantitively and descriptively The findings and the suggestions drawn based on the analysis will be placed in the following 4.2 Common errors made by Nguyen Binh Khiem high school learners of English when using epistemic modality in English 4.2.1 Errors in semantic features of epistemic modality 4.2.1.1 Errors in using certainty degree of epistemic modality For the use of certainty degree of epistemic modality, the questions were there to identify whether they know there are different degrees of certainty or not and each degree they were asked to give a specific example 50 Table 4.1: Errors in using certainty degree of epistemic modality Low degree Medium High degree Example % Example % Example % Madv Perhaps 71% Probably 56% Surely, 83% really Madj Impossible 93% Probable 46% Sureness 27% MN Doubt 43% Probability 28% Certainty 77% Maux May, might 92% Will 97% Must 96% MLV I doubt 32% I think 84% I know 86% I hope I believe In this survey questions, learners know more about EM and EM markers but they get difficulty identifying the markers in the degree of certainty Madvs seem to be the most common and easiest in this part, 83% of learners can make out surely, really right; must accounts for the highest amount In the meaning, learners not confuse must as in the survey part Modal verbs are quite familiar to them so in most cases, they classified Maux right MLV in the low degree (32%), MN in medium (28%) and high degree (27%) takes the smallest percentage maybe because they not have a place in their actual conversations 4.2.1.2 Error in pragmatic meaning of epistemic modality A dialogue of the survey was made to find out epistemic modality with the different meaning in context such as the speaker’s belief, commitment or deduction to the realis which are expressed through EM markers really, actually, must, indeed, perhaps, … appearing in the dialogues and then put them in the column of pragmatic aspects as in the table below Table 4.2: Errors in pragmatic meaning Pragmatic Correct EM markers found aspects answers EM markers - actually, indeed, frankly, true efinitely 42% Deduction - may be right, must be taken, will live 68% Commitment - I’m sure, I wonder 73% Personal belief - I think, I believe, I suppose, 94% The total correct answers for showing degree of certainty account for the largest amount, 94% Rank second is showing doubt with 73%, the smallest is presupposition (42%) Learners find it easier to find the pragmatic meaning of EM than their structure In many cases, learners cannot make out the pragmatic meaning of presupposition, that’s the main reason why they can’t it right 51 From the data analysis above, the learners commit to quite a lot of errors Some are about the arcan be put into two type: errors of syntactic features and errors of semantic roles 4.2.2 Errors in symantic features of epistemic modality Five questions in this part were launched to investigate the position of EM markers: Madv, Madj, MN, Maux and MLV Because the Theme- Rheme structure is quite strange to the learners, the survey makes it clearer by exemplifying in the examples and for the concept of the clause Table 4.3: Errors in syntactic features of epistemic modality EM markers Madv Madj MN Maux MLV Position I- position (before subject) 53% x x x 5% Eg Really, she … M1- position (before Maux or aux) 23% x x 46% 6% Eg She really can …/ She really does … M2- position (between T and R) 15% 28% x 14% x M3- position (after modal aux/ aux) 14% 4% x 20% 4% Eg She can really … F1- position (after an object/ C) 7% 25% x 17% x F2- position (modal aux/ lexical V 5% 12% 15% 25% 7% Eg It’s really … In the theme- rheme structures, learners seem to be innocent to the positions of EM and EM markers The position they are acquainted to is the position of Madv before subject (I- position) Rank second is the position of Madv after auxiliaries In main and subordinate clause, only MLV is realized as in the structure I believe, so that S + can/ could ….The x cells not in reality 4.3 Causes of committing errors The primary cause for the leanrers’ errors is the influence of their mother tongue The logical thinking, the idea and the language features of Vietnamese affect their use and choice of English epistemic modality in their study English epitemic modality is expressed by various markers such as modal adverbs, modal adjectives, modal nouns, modal auxiliaries, modal lexical verbs, which have their own grammar and semantic features For the grammar structures of epistemic modality, the word orders in English make them confused when translating into Vietnamese For example, when they render the assertion “Cô đến muộn” they only use modal verbs She can arrive late They not know how to translate the clause There is a possibility that she arrives late or It is possible that she arrives late This error because of the language features of 52 English that can be used in structure There is + MN that P or It is + Madv that P which is quite unfamiliar in Vietnamese For the semantic features of epistemic modality, English seems to have more EM markers than Vietnamese This leads to the learners’ ambiguity when they want to express the precise of epistemic modality in English In the cases when epistemic modality is postponed as in the structure: There is + MN that P and Adv, P, the learners cannot make out the differences between the two structures For the both structures, they show the same features in Vietnamese Có lẽ đến muộn for the two structures There is a probability that she comes late and Probably, she comes late The degree of certainty is a big challenge for the Vietnamese learners of English epistemic modality They get confused by lexical modal verbs, reportive, sensory, and auditory markers most They not know these ones used to express modal meaning They put them in a different kind of speech The degree of certainty of these words seems not to be put on the three categaries scale of epistemic modality They think I think, I believe, I know, I assume, … have the same degree That is the reason why they use I think (tôi nghĩ) for all the cases that express personal opinion, but not for the speaker’s knowledge or belief to the assertion or commitment 4.4 Suggestions for learning epistemic modality in English Epistemic modality with the main semantic roles is to express speaker’s attitude, opinion, commitment or assertion in various shade of meaning has high utility in real life People communicate with each other not only by information but also by modality Learning how to express and interpret epistemic modality is not an easy task for learners of English in general and high school learners in specific English in a formal classroom situation tend to be declarative in form and informative in function by far Situations in classroom are mainly in modal dialogue and simple response to the teacher’s questions; therefore, learners are not familiar with expressing their real attitude to the validity of the utterance and to the listener in social interactions Hence, epistemic modality should be learnt and taught to help learners improve their communicative competence The suggestions below may be useful for both teachers and learners to gain more skills in using EM 4.4.1 For learners and learning material In speaking and listening lesson or in the presentation of a dialogue, student should be drawn into the attitude, the commitments or the assertions of the speaker when performing an agreement or disagreement, a complaint or compliment, an apology or a thank-you In these cases, EM has its place For example, when the speaker says “sorry” the attitude is not so impressive by “I’m really sorry” The teacher should also help the learners to interpret the truth value of the utterance with or without EM as in the example above The learners should be asked questions about the 53 speaker’s attitude in the dialogue and should be helped how to modify the truth value of the utterance or the presuppositions that goes with it At high school, learners get already acquainted with some of the EM markers but they not know clearly about the epistemic modality The teacher when teaching modal verbs, for example, should recommend a little more about the epistemic meaning of these markers The learners should be aware of the full range lexical devices to express epistemic modality For testing and marking in classroom, EM should also be added to raise the learners’ awareness about EM and this will be a force for them to put EM into practical The use of EM gradually will become part of their learning English, then In the textbook for high school learners, the knowledge about EM is hardly absent Only some of the EM markers are referred to but in the use of possible intention as may, might for instance There’s no other EM in contrast with “may” to establish its value though it can be understood with the clue I’m not sure/ I can’t make up my mind By far, EM is very important in daily conversation, the pragmatic aspects of EM help the speakers come nearer to the nature as the native speakers Therefore, EM should be introduced in more than one form or member in a class so that their value can be put up in various contexts Sensory markers and Reportive/ Hearsay markers should be introduced to learners at the first stage In many textbook EM are simply treated as the introductory clause to report an event without any modal implicature 4.4.2 Suggested exercises From the shortage in textbook and in reality of teaching and learning EM, the suggested exercises here can be helpful to fulfill the use and knowledge about EM Type 1: Multiple choice The aim of the exercise: help the learners recognize EM markers and their meanings Multiple choice exercise: Choose the best option A, B, C to complete the sentences The word maybe, reality, perhaps are called ………………? A modal verbs B adjective C epistemic markers Which of the following words is considered epistemic markers? A so B but C really Which of the following show the lowest degrees of certainty: A Surely, she is a manager B Probably, she is a manager C Likely, she is a manager In the sentences “People say that she is a manager”, the source of information come from …………………… A the person who says the sentence 54 B the manager in the sentence C other people In the sentence “I heard that she is a manager”, the evidence of the source of information is ………… A direct B indirect C visual Type 2: Multiple choice Qualify the following assertions with the appropriate EM which signals the speaker’s least/ greatest commitment to the content of is assertions The aim of the exercise: help the learners to build up the precise degree of EM For example: He …………… be a famous singer Many people are greeting her A can B could C may D will There ………… be something wrong with him He’s crying A can B must C will D may Type 3: Qualify the following assertions with the appropriate EM markers The aim of the exercise: to help the learners negotiate the EM in social interaction The learner should recognize the speaker’s intent and then strengthen the illocutionary force of the speech act For example: You didn’t it properly -> I think you didn’t it properly - > You probably didn’t it properly Type 4: Rewrite the sentences using the given word(s) Aim of the exercise: help the learners to recognize the equivalent expression of EM and the equivalent structure of EM For example: She may be ill Her voice sounds ill (probably) It ………………………………………………… -> It is probably that she is ill Type 5: Make sentence using the given words Aim of the exercise: help the learners to use the structure of EM For example: probably/ Mary/ get married/ next/ week -> It is probably that Mary will get married next week think/ Mary/ get married/ next week -> I think Mary will get married next week 4.5 Summary The survey questionnaire and the data analysis have pointed the common errors the learners often commit to and the causes for their errors English epistemic modality 55 with its syntactic features seems to be unfamiliar to the learners; moreover, the semantic role of English epistemic modality is restricted to prediction or intention only The common errors were there due to the shortage of knowledge about epistemic modaliy and the ambiguity of epistemic modality with modal verbs of the learners English epistemic modality is a large aspect of English language but it is not paid enough attention in teaching and learning at formal schools So far, the learners simply acquire the linguistic competence and therefore might fail to communicate successfully and naturally as the native speakers The suggested exercises therefore were introduced to help the learners to form receptive skill and reproduce skill in interpreting and mastering the use of English epistemic modality in various social contexts CHAPER V CONCLUSION 5.1 Concluding remarks The study on English EM with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents shows that the two languages share the matter of EM: the speaker’s commitment, assertion, attitude, doubt or certainty Typologically, the two language systems have at their disposal the following means to express EM: modal adverbs, modal auxiliaries, modal adjectives, modal nouns and modal lexical verbs (verbs denoting various degrees of knowledge and beliefs, reporting verbs and sensory verbs) Apart from modal auxiliaries, modal adverbs and modal lexical verbs are widely used as major means to convey epistemic commitment in spoken language Semantically, the thesis takes on the base of pragmatic aspects to investigate the differences and similarities of EM in the two languages EM in each category has been classified based on criteria of pragmatics so as to introduce a broad view on epistemic 56 modality in English and Vietnamese Besides, the use of EM in social interaction can be governed by pragmatic factors, social norms such as politeness, principle of modesty, hierarchy, social status Both English and Vietnamese EM tends to use indirect source of information to soften their commitment to facts or realis EM in the view of theme- rheme structures gives a view as the whole Clauses as message by Halliday help make out the positions of EM in the clause I- position seem to be common in both English and Vietnamese English epistemic markers are more mobile, their modal adverbs can occur at any positions open to an adverbial Epistemic modality in Vietnamese is restricted to the normal position due to the syntactical features of their own In some English expressions, personal EM I think, I know have been grammaticalzed to perform the functions as the operators in the syntactic structure of an utterance whereas some Vietnamese expression Tơi nghĩ, Tơi đốn are limited to the use of the prefatory clause that needs a complement This could explain the required pro-form after these expressions at the F- position Tôi nghĩ thế, anh biết đấy, ngời and the absence of these expression at M2- position Regarding EM in clauses, it mainly comes up in main clauses But quite a lot of expressions, modal form occur in subordinate clauses, which may function as an object, a subject of the main verb or an adverbial clause When seeing EM in subordinate clauses, in most cases, EM appears in structure I say P, I believe P, It is likely that P In addition, subordinate clause constitutes a complex sentence but may not signal a complex of meaning It is not the main clause that does express EM Main clause shows the belief I believe or knowledge I know The occurrence of EM in subordinate clause is restricted to reprotive evidence and takes I-position in both English and Vietnamese 5.2 Limitation of the study For some reasons, the thesis has some limitations: the sources of materials, questionnaire and results Firstly, the sources of material are limited to some bilingual books When being contrasted to Vietnamese, the analysis depends only on the translation of a person Hence, the results not reflect enough linguistic phenomenons as really as it is Moreover, some of the stories are narrative, not in form of conversations, so the examples collected may not cover all the aspect of EM in English and Vietnamese Secondly, some utterances in the text are shorten by cutting some speech fillers such as “well”, “um”, “err” to make them simple enough for the main aim of the study Therefore, the study shows neither the real attitude of the utter nor the precise degree of the speaker’s commitment to his assertion The real intent in actual situation and other linguistic factors such as body language, personal mood are absent, then The third thing is that chapter IV collected data from a questionnaire with high school students only The results and analysis, therefore, not refer to other subjects 57 of other environment The errors found in chapter IV may be partial, not be representatives for all Vietnamese learners of English of all learning environment Finally, the corpus from a questionnaire which is highly controlled may yield a result not as naturally as that of a collection from novels, whose characters and utterances are nearer to the daily life 5.3 Suggestions for further study The thesis focuses on the syntactic and semantic features of EM in the view of theme- rheme structure and pragmatics only Therefore, it cannot covey all aspects of EM and the results must be limited in only two views, then There are many other approaches that can be applied to investigate EM such as cognitive approach, cognitive- pragmatic approach or conservative approach to open the thesis The thesis will be broader and more multidimensional, then Therefore, for the further study about the same subject: EM, these approached will be considered to fullfil the desire of am overview about EM in English and the Vietnamese equivelents No matter how hard I try with great efforts, there might still exist inevitable shortcomings here and there in the paper I deeply appreciate any comments and suggestions for the study 58 REFERENCE * Books Anna Maria, Simon Vandenbergen and Karin Aijmer (2007) Semantic Field of Modal Certainty De Gruyter Mouton Chau, Do Huu (1983) Ngu Nghia Hoc He Thong va Ngu Nghia Hoc Hoat DongSystematic Semantics Active Semantics Language No.1 Chomsky (1965) Aspects of The Theory of Syntax The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cook, V.J and Mark Newson (1967) Chomsky’s Universal Grammar Blackwell Publishing (Third Edition) Geoffrey Leech (1982) English Grammar for Today Macmillan Givon, T (1989) Mind, Code and Context- Essays in Pragmatics Lawrence Erlebaun associates, Publisher London Gunter Radden and Rene Dirven (2007) Cognitive English Grammar John Benjamins Publishing Company Green Graham (1977) The Quiet American Penguin Book Translated by Vu Quoc Uy Halliday, M.A.K & Matthiessen, C.M.I.M (2004) An Introduction to Functional Grammar Edward Arnold 10 Jespersen (1924: 329-31) English Modal Verbs and Mood 11.Joan Bybee, Revere Perkins & William Pagliuca (1994) The Evolution of Grammar 12 John Lyons (1968) Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics Cambridge University Press 13 John Searle (1969) Speech Acts Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 14 Leech, J.N (1983) Language and Tact Pragmatics and Beyond Series 15 Leo Hoyer (1997) Adverbs and Modality in English Routledge 16 Martin, J Endley (2010) Linguistic Perspectives on English Grammar IAP 17 Nguyen Hoa (2004) Understanding English Semantics The national University Press 18 Oscar Wilde (2016) The Happy Prince The Gioi Publisher Translated by Ngo Thanh Tam 19 Palmer, F.R (2001) Mood and Modality Cambridge (Second Edition) 20 Randolph Quirk (1985) A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language Longman 21 Ronal Caster (2001) Modern English language Cambridge University Press 22 Willet (1988) A cross- Linguistic Survey of Grammarticalization of Evidentiality Studies in Language 23 Yule (1996) Exploitations in Applied Linguistics Cambridge University Press Cambrige * Website 24 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemic_modality 25 https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/grammar/clauses 26 https://www.thoughtco.com/subordinate-clause-grammar-1692149 59 APPENDIX The survey on epistemic modality in English was carried out at Nguyen Binh Khiem High School The participants of the survey come from three English specialized classes, who are at quite high level of English The study investigates the semantic and syntactic features of epistemic modality in English with reference to the Vietnamese equivalents to find out the similarities and differences of the two languages The result of the survey helps to regconize the learners’ knowledge about epistemic modality in terms of semantic and symantic features The survey, therefore, include two parts: part is about the semantic features of English epistemic modality; part focuses on the syntactic features of epistemic modality in the view of theme- rheme structure Class: ………………… SURVEY QUESTIONAIRE Nguyen Binh Khiem high school male female PART1: Semantic features of epistemic modality Task 1: Multiple choice For each question, please circle the given choice that matches your opinion Of the three markers perhaps, probably, surely which is the lowest, medium and highest degree of certainty? A Perhaps is the lowest, probably is the medium, surely is the highest B Perhaps is the medium, probably is the highest, surely is the lowest C Perhaps is the highest, probably is lowest, surely is the medium Of the three markers impossible, probable, sureness which is the lowest, medium and highest degree of certainty? A Probable is the lowest, impossible is the medium and sureness is the highest B Probable is the highest, impossible is the medium and sureness is the lowest C Probable is the medium, impossible is the lowest and sureness is the highest Of the three markers doubt, probability, certainty which is the lowest, medium and highest degree of certainty? A Doubt is the lowest, probability is the hightest, and certainty is the medium B Doubt is the lowest, probability is the medium, and certainty is the highest C Doubt is the highest, probability is the medium, and certainty is the lowest Of the three may/ might, will and must which is the lowest, medium and highest degree of certainty? A May/ might is the lowest, will is the medium and must is the highest B May/ might is the lowest, will is the highest and must is the medium 60 C May/ might is the highest, will is the lowest and must is the highest Of the phrase I doubt, I think/ I hope, I khow/ I believe which is the lowest, medium and highest degree of certainty? A I doubt is the lowest, I think/ I hope is the highest I khow/ I believe is the medium B I doubt is the highest, I think/ I hope is the medium, I khow/ I believe is the lowest C I doubt is the lowest, I think/ I hope is the mediu, I khow/ I believe is the highest Task 2: Dialogue A dialogue about setting up a national park with epistemic modality in context was made in order to find out: Tuan: What you think about the proposal of setting a national park to protect endangered species, Tam? Tam: Well, actually, it’s a good way, I think However, it’s not really good, indeed In fact, the animals are kept in a larger cage than a zoo They are fed and they are bred to meet people’s desire To some extent, it is for people’s entertainment and finance Tuan: What you say, I suppose, is totally true But they are considered to be the zoos of new kind The animals’ freedom must be taken away at some extent However, there is no other way better, I think Tam: You may be right at the present time, but I believe that we’ll definitely have something even better than a national park not only to protect the endangered species but also help them develop Tuan: Frankly speaking, I believe so, but I wonder what it will be like? Tam: I think so, I am sure it will not be too long With the advanced technology, human being will live in harmony with all kinds of the animals on earth Tuan: You may be right Question 1: Can you identify the epistemic modality markers in the dialogue? Question 2: Which markers show the speaker’s deduction, commitment and personal belief? PART2: Semantic features of epistemic modality This part was designed to ask you the position of epistemic modality markers in utterances, clauses or sentences For each question, please circle the given choice that matches your opinion Question 1: Where you put the word really in the sentence “I like music” A I really like music B Realy, I like music C I like music really D All are correct Question 2: Where you put the word really in the sentence “She can play the piano.” A She can really play the piano B She can play really the piano 61 C She really can play the piano D Both B and C Question 3: Where you put the word really in the sentence “She didn’t play the piano last night.” A She really didn’t play the piano B She didn’t really play the piano C She didn’t play really the piano D Both B and C Question 4: Where you put the word really in the sentence “She is a manager” A She really is a manager B She is really a manager C She is a manager really D Both B and C Question 5: Where you put the word I think in the sentence “She is very cute.” A I think she is very cute B She, I think, is very cute C She is very cute, I think D All are correct Bảng câu hỏi phục vụ đề tài nghiên cứu tính tình thái chân ngụy tiếng Anh liên hệ tương đương với tiếng Việt, ứng dụng vào giảng dạy tiếng Anh cho học sinh lớp 12 nói chung lớp 12 lớp chuyên Anh nói riêng Câu trả lời em cung cấp sở thực tiễn cho nghiên cứu Các sở liệu điều tra dùng cho việc nghiên cứu đề tài này, khơng mục đích khác - The end - 62 ... of certainty by using hedges or to avoid offending the hearers, they try to maintain the hearer’s face by using epistemic modality at low degree 2.5 Epistemic modality in the view of Theme-Rheme... differences in the two languages to help Vietnamese learners study modality in English effectively The thesis therefore will intend: - To investigate the syntactic features of epistemic modality in English. .. meaning and structure of epistemic modality in English through the reference to the Vietnamese sequivalent in some bilingual books - To give some suggestions for teaching and learning epistemic modality