NyrIndictor Mar5,2018 LanguageAnalysisforTeachers:Grammar Prof.ScottThornburyWrittenAssignment#3:Modality(descriptionandevaluationofacoursebookextract)Textchosen:Mills,Martin(1990)Nexus:EnglishforAdvancedLearners.Oxford:HeinemannEnglishLanguageTeaching,Unit12“Motoring,cars,”SectionB,“Grammar:ModalAuxiliariesusedforlogicaldeductions:must;might,mightnot;can’t,”pp.133,136–7,181.[TextisreproducedinAppendixI.]Part1:IntroductionModalityinEnglishpresentsanumberofdifferentproblemsforlearners.Themodalsystemiscomplexand,unlessonespeaksaGermaniclanguage,worksquitedifferentlyfrommodalsystemsalearnerislikelytobeusedto.Furthermore,thesubtlesemanticnuancesofmodalexpressionsareuniversallydifficultforlearners,eventhosethatspeakcloselyrelatedlanguagestoEnglish.IndevelopingESOLmaterials,decidinghowtobreakdownmodalityintobite-sizedlessonscanbequitechallenging.Modalitycontinuestobeproblematicforstudentsatveryadvancedlevels,soitisnecessarytointroducefrequentreviewofmodalsalreadytaught.Inthispaper,MartinMills’approachtomodalityinhisadvancedNexuscoursebookwillbeexamined.ThepassagechosenisdescribedinPart2.Part3enumeratespotentialdifficultiesforthelearnerwiththespecifictypeofmodalitydiscussed,andPart4evaluatesMills’text,commentingontheusefulnessoftheexercisesandhowwelllearner(andteacher)needsareaddressed.Part2:DescriptionoftheTextIdentifytheareaofmodalitythatistargetedinyourextract,describingitintermsofthesemanticconceptthatunderliesit(e.g.isitanintrinsicorextrinsicmeaning?)andanypragmaticfunction(e.g.makingrequests,makingdeductions,etc)thatisexemplifiedinthismaterial.Inidentifyingtheareaofmodality,youshouldmakereferencetoadescriptivegrammarforteachersand/ortherelevantentryinAnA-ZofELT.Inkeepingwiththestyleofthecoursebookasawhole,Millsdescribesthetargetedareaofmodalityquiteexplicitlyinthetitleofthesection:“ModalAuxiliariesusedforlogicaldeductions:must;might,mightnot;can’t.”Inotherwords,thelessontargetstheextrinsicfunctions(Yule’s“epistemicuses”1)ofthesimplemodalverbs“must”and“might”aswellasthenegativesimplemodals“mightnot”and“can’t.”Wemaysummarizethetargetlanguagewiththefollowingtable:

1Yule(1999),p.88.

modalverb extrinsicmeaning2 examplesentencesmust logicalnecessity(pos.) Youmustbeateacher.can’t logicalnecessity(neg.) Youcan’tbeserious.might possibility(positive) Itmightbeacaseofmistakenidentity.mightnot possibility(negative) Itmightnottakeaslongaswehadthought.Althoughtheprimarypragmaticfunctiontaughtiscommunicatingadeduction(wemightalsocallthisconfidentargumentation),asecondaryfunctionisalsointroduced.Millswrites(p.137):

Weoftenusemustorcan’tsympatheticallyorpolitelywhenlisteningtosomeone.

Thisisquiteasubtlestatement,actually,asitobliquelysuggeststwoseparatefunctions:expressingsympathy(ifonecaresaboutwhattheotherpersonissaying),andrespondingpolitelytowhattheotherpersonappearstobefeeling(ifonedoesn’t).Mills’examplesforthisusageare:

Really?Youmustbeexhausted.Ugh!Thatcan’thavebeenverynice.

Thegrammarsectioniscomprisedofeightexercises/activities:1. Anawarenessexercise.Ssareaskedtodiscuss,inpairs,thedifferencebetween

pairsofsentencesinwhichonehasamodalandtheotherlacksit.2. Adictationexercise.Ssareaskedtolistentotherecordingandwritedown

twelvesentencescontainingtheTL.Partsofthefirstthreesentencesaregiven.3. Afollow-upgroupworkspeakingexercise.Ssareaskedtothinkofsituationsin

whichthesentencesin2mightbeuttered.4. Sslookatpicturesandreadthetext,andtrytofigureoutwhathashappened.5. Sslistentoandreadtwodialogues.6. Ss“improvise”dialoguescopyingtheformofthedialoguesinactivity5,using

theprompts.Controlledpractice.

2Theterms“logicalnecessity”and“possibility”arethoseusedbyThornbury(2006).DowningandLocke(1992)usedsimilarterminology(“logicalnecessity”and“epistemicpossibility”).Celce-MurciaandLarsen-Freeman(1983)prefertheterm“logical”or“logicalprobability”torefertoallepistemicfunctions.Despitetheslightterminologicaldifferences,allagreeabouttheuseandfunctionofthetermsinquestion.

7. Listeningawarenessexercise.Sslistentorecordingandnoticethedifferenceinintonationandstressbetweenasympathetic“must”sentenceandasympathetic“can’t”sentence.

8. Sscreateandpracticedialoguescopyingtheformofthedialoguesinactivity7,

usingtheprompts.Controlledpractice.Part2:ModalsofProbabilityandPotentialLearnerDifficultiesBeforeexaminingthetextitself,itmaybehelpfultoenumeratesomeofthepotentialdifficultieslearnershavewithModalsofProbability(MPs).MillshaschosentointroduceasubsetofMPsinhislesson;amorecompletesetofthesemodalsispresentedinappairofusefulclinediagramsonp.87ofCelce-MurciaandLarsen-Freeman(1983)3:

Thechoiceoftolimitthelessontothemoreextremeterms(logicalcertaintyandlogicalpossibilitybutnotlogicalprobability)isprobablymotivatedbythefactthatthesearethemostdifficulttouse,andtheoneswhosenegativeformsaretheleastintuitive.HerearesomeofthedifficultieslearnerscanbeexpectedtoencounterwithMPs:1. Confusionofintrinsicandextrinsicmeaning Thiscanhappeneasilyifthecontextfailstoclarifywhichmeaningisintended.

Forexample: SylviamustgotoChicago.(intrinsicmeaningsuggestedbyuseofsimple aspect) Sylivamustbe80yearsoldbynow.(extrinsicmeaningclearfromcontext; difficulttoimagineanintrinsicinterpretation) SylviamustspeakEnglish.(unclearwhetherintrinsicorextrinsic) Forthelastexample,afollowupsentence(“Herteacherinsistsonit.”or“Icould

tellsheunderstoodwhatIwassaying.”)isrequiredtocorrectlyinterpretthemeaningof“must.”Learnersmaymisunderstandsuchsentencesbecausetheyfailtonoticethelargercontext,ormayavoidextrinsicusagebecauseitistooeasilyconfusedtheintrinsicusage,withwhichtheyaremorecomfortable.

3Ihavereproducedtheseclinesbecausetheyallowforconvenientcomparisonofpositiveandnegativeterms.Thesecond(1999)edition,whichIhaveonlyjustobtainedandhavenothadtimetoread,abandonsthisimageinfavorofalongerandmoredetailedanalysis.

2. Studentpreferenceforadverbial/adjectivalparaphrase Celce-MurciaandLarsen-Freeman(1983)notethatextrinsicmodalsareoften

easilyparaphrasedwithadverbsandadjectives,whereasintrinsicmodalsareusuallymoreeasilyparaphrasedwithperiphrasticmodals.Forexample:

YoumustbeGertrude. Youareobviously/clearlyGertrude. Itisobvious/clearthatyouareGertrude. Youmustleavenow. Youhaveto/arerequiredtoleavenow. Insomelanguages(e.g.Chinese)logicalprobabilityisgenerallyindicated

adverbially,sotheremaybeapreferenceforadverbialstructuresinEnglish.studentsmayalsopreferadverbsbecausetheyareavoidingthegrammaticalcomplexityofmodals,ratherthanasaresultofL1interference.

3. Confusionaboutsubtlesemanticdifferencesbetweenexpressionsofmodal

probabilityandrelatednon-MPexpressions DowningandLocke(1992)makeanimportantpointaboutthe“certainty”of

“must”.Theywrite(p.385):

Whatwecallmodalcertaintyisnotthehundredpercentcertaintyofacategoricalassertion.Anunmodaliseddeclarativeconstitutesafarstrongerstatementoffactthananyexpressionofcertaintycan.If,forinstance,IknowforafactthatPatforgotyourbirthday,Isimplysay‘Patforgotyourbirthday’.IfinsteadIsay‘Patmusthaveforgottenyourbirthday’or‘Patmayhaveforgotten’Iamadmittinganelementofdoubt.Modalcertaintyistherefore,diminishedcertainty,choseneitherbecausethespeaker’sstateofknowledgehasnotpermittedaplainassertionorbecausethespeakerdoesnotwanttoexteriorisecommitmentatanygivenmomentinaparticularinterpersonalinteraction.Inmanycases,reasonsofpolitenessorthedesiretoavoidcommitmentprovidethemotivationforamodalisedratherthanacategoricalassertion.

Theygoontodiscussthedifferencesbetweenwillandmustin: Theconcertwillbeoverbynow.[“certaintybasedonrepeatedexperienceorcommonsense”] Theconcertmustbeoverbynow.[“‘logicalnecessity’…basedonaprocessofdeduction”] Therearealsosubtledifferencesbetweenmodalexpressionsofcertaintyand

adverbialsindicatingcertainty.Solearnersfacedwith: Heistired. Hemustbetired. Hewillbetired. Heiscertainlytired. Heisobviouslytired. Thereisnodoubtthatheistired. etc. willbehardpressedtomasterthesenuances.

4. Difficultyproducingandunderstandingpasttenseforms Modalsdonothavetenses4andarefollowedbynon-finiteverbs,sothe

indicationoftenseisdifferentfromthatinnon-modalfiniteverbphrases.Aswithinfinitivephrases,modalverbphrasesindicatetensewiththepresentperfectform“has/have”+pastparticiple(e.g.tospeak/tohavespoken;mustspeak/musthavespoken).Learnersmayeasilyproduceincorrectpasttenseformsiftheytrytoproducephrasesthatareanalogoustopasttensenon-modalfiniteverbphrases.

Possiblemistakes: ✗ AnnemustwenttoParis. ✗ AnnehadtogotoParis.(notpossiblewithextrinsicmeaning) ✗ AnnemustedgotoParis. ✗ AnnedidmustgotoParis. Correctforms: ✓ Annemusthavegone... (actioninthepast) ✓ Annehadtohavegone... ✓ Itmusthavebeen(thecase)thatAnnewent… (logicalpossibilityinthepast) ✓ Ithadtohavebeen(thecase)thatAnnewent… 5. Difficultyproducingandunderstandingnegativeforms Thereareseveralsourcesofconfusionrelatingtonegativeforms.Firstly,the

oppositeof“must”is“can’t”.Theexpectedopposites(“mustn’t”and“can”)arenotnormallyusedtoindicatelogicalpossibility(butseediscussionoftagquestionsinthenextsection).Secondly,asYule(1999)pointsout(p.109)“therearetwoelementsavailablefornegation”inthemodalsentence,namelythemodalverbandthemainverb.Yulegoesontopointoutthat,inepistemicmodals,thenegationtendstobeunderstoodasreferringtothemainverb.Learnersmaybeconfusedaboutwhatisbeingnegatedandthisconfusionmaybeincreasedifthelearnerisunsureofwhetherthemodalisbeingusedintrinsicallyorextrinsically.Thirdly,modalverbphrasesnegateinthesamewayasauxiliaries(V+not,ratherthando(es)not+V),withidiosyncraticcontractions(mustn’t,won’t,etc.);learnersmaymistakenlytrytonegatethemasthoughtheyaremainverbs.

Possiblemistakes: ✗ Youmustn’tbeGeorge.(notpossiblewithextrinsicmeaning) ✗ Youdon’tmustbeGeorge.

4Celce-MurciaandLarsen-Freeman(1983)discussthefactthatshould,would,could,mightarehistoricallypastformsofshall,will,can,mayrespectively,andthattheyhavesomeresidualpastnesstothem:theytendtobeusedinbackshifting,andtendtoexpressgreaterdistancethanthecorrespondingpresentforms.Theyalsonotethat“must”ishistoricallyapastformamotan,whosepresentformisobsolete.

✗ Youdon’thavetobeGeorge. (notpossiblewithextrinsicmeaning) ✗ YoucannotbeGeorge.(notpossiblewithextrinsicmeaning) ✗ Youmustaren’tGeorge. ✗ Youhaven’ttobeGeorge. Correctforms: ✓ Youcan’tbeGeorge. (logicalimpossibility) ✓ Youcouldn’tbeGeorge.(AmE) ✓ YoumustnotbeGeorge. (okforsomespeakers;notcontractable) ✓ Itcan’tbethecasethatyouareGeorge. ✓ Itcouldn’tbe(thecase)thatyouareGeorge. (AmE) ✓ Itmustbe(thecase)thatyouaren’tGeorge. ✓ Ithastobe(thecase)thatyouaren’tGeorge.6. Difficultyproducingandunderstandingquestionforms Modalsoflogicalprobabilityarenotnormallyusedinquestions,soaquestion

like“MustyoubeGeorge?”willprobablybeinterpretedasintrinsic(meaningsomethinglike“IsitnecessaryforyoutoplaytheroleofGeorge?”),ratherthanextrinsic.However,modalsoflogicalprobabilitycanbeusedintagquestions,andthetagisnotexactlywhatthelearnermightexpect:

✓ Hemustbetired,mustn’the? ✗ Hemustbetired,can’the? ✓ Itcan’tberaining,canit? ✗ Itcan’tberaining,mustit? Asinalltagquestions,theverbinthetagquestionisthesameasinthe

statement,withreversedpolarity,eventhoughtheoppositeofepistemic“must”isusually“can’t”.

7. Distinguishinghearinganddistinguishingreducedforms Oneofthedistinctivefeaturesofmodalverbsisthattheyhaveidiosyncratic

contractionsandconnectedspeechforms.Learnersmayhavedifficultyidentifyingmodalsinconnectedspeechbecausetheyaretypicallyunstressed,andmayhavedifficultyidentifyingmodalconstructionsasnegativebecausethe“not”isoftenquitedrasticallyreduced.

8. Regionalvariationinusage Anotherdistinctivefeatureofmodalverbsisthattheirusageexhibitsafair

degreeofregionalvariation.Learnersmaybepuzzledbysentenceslike: Youmustbealawyer. Youcan’tbealawyer.

IftheirEnglishspeakingfriendsprefer: You(’ve)gottabealawyer. There’snowayyou’realawyer. Theseexamplesareverycolloquial,showingthatsomeofthevariationalso

relatestoregister.Modalsareoftenusedtoindicatepoliteness,andAmEandBrE(forexample)differwidelyintheiruseofpoliteexpressions,somodalverbusageisquitedifferentinthesetwotypesofEnglish.

9. L1interferenceissues Englishmodalsarequitedifferentfromanalogousconstructionsinother

languages.TherearemanywaysinwhichL1interferencecanimpactuseofmodalverbs,buttwomistakesseemtobeparticularlycommon.

JohnmusttobeEnglish. (useofinfinitiveinsteadofbareinfinitive) Shecan’tswimming. (useofgerund,perhapsbecauseanalogousverb inL1istransitive) Part3:EvaluationEvaluatetheselectedextractintermsof:•thehelpfulnessofanygrammardescriptionsthatareincorporatedintheextract-takingintoaccountsuchfactorsaseaseofunderstandingandnaturalnessofexamples;•theappropriatenessofanytextsthatareusedascontextsforthetargetedgrammararea;•theoverallusefulnessandclassroomexploitabilityoftheextract,takingintoaccountthelevelitistargetedat.Inthefollowingtable,someprosandconsofeachexercisearelisted,alongwithgeneralcomments.Abbreviations:L(s)=learners,T=teacher,TL=targetanguage,WCFB=wholeclassfeedback,CCQ=conceptcheckquestion,MP=modalsofprobability.Concludingcommentsfollowthetable.Ex. Pros Cons Comments1 AsksLstonotice

semanticdifferencesbetweendifferentmodals,orbetweenmodalandnon-modalconstructions.Answersgiveninstudypagesalongwithdiscussionlogicalcertainty.

Decontextualizedsentencesoftenhavemorethanonemeaning.Thastosupply,orhelpLsfind,appropriatecontextsforthesesentences.Discussionoflogicalcertaintyonp.218(someonewhocommitssuicide“can’thavebeenhappy”)isbothmorbidandconfusing5.

AssumesbasicknowledgeaboutthemeaningsofthetargetmodalsonthepartoftheL.Thisisreasonableforadvancedlearners.

5Mills’noteonp.181(“Thisissaid,notbecausewearelessthat100%sure(itis100%certainthatshewasn’thappy),butbecausewedidn’tknowher,andsohavetorelyonlogicalreasoning.”)appearstocontradict

Ex. Pros Cons Comments2 Lspracticelistening

andwritingskills,practicenoticingunstressedmodals.Workswellw.ex.3

Dictationencourageslisteningtosounds;notmeaning.Ex.3helpsLstonoticemeaningaswell.

Tneedstogooveranswers,perhapsafterstudentshavediscussedinpairs.

3 MotivatedLsmayuseTLintheirresponses,eventhoughthisisnotrequired.[e.g.“youmightsaythiswhen…”]

Unmotivatedlearnersmayproducesentencefragmentslackingconversationalcoherence,oravoidantresponses.[e.g.“atschool”;“Idon’tknow.”]

EffectiveTmonitoringandWCFBneededtoinsureLsbenefitfromthisexercise.

4 Excellentmaterialtoencouragefreerconversation.

Instructionsveryunclear6.Freerconversationexercisewouldprobablybemoreeffectiveaftertherelativelycontrolledpracticeofexx.7–8,thoughexx7–8introduceadifferentfunctionoftheTL.

Tneedstoclarifyinstructions,whichcouldbeforpairstoformulateatheoryaboutwhathappened,orforindividualstudentstotheorizeaboutwhathappenedinwriting,or,perhaps,writeastorybasedontheimagesandtheclues.

5 Pointsoutco-occurrenceofconditionalswithMPs,helpsLsnoticeellipsisandsubstitution.Goodpreparationforex.6.

Agrammar-heavyexercisewithoutmuchfortheLtodo.Lsmaylistentodialogueswithoutcomprehension.Notreallynecessarytoteachthetermsellipsisandsubstitution.

Tneedstomodifyactivitytoinsurecomprehension.TmightaskCCQs,haveLslistenwiththebookclosedandanswerquestions,etc.

DowningandLocke’sassertionreferredtoearlierthat“Whatwecallmodalcertaintyisnotthehundredpercentcertaintyofacategoricalassertion”(p.385).Seeabove,Part2,Note3.Whetheronedidordidnotknowthesuicideisirrelevanttothediscussion,anditisperfectlypossibletoimagineotherreasons,howeverunlikelytheymaybe,forsuicidethanunhappiness.6“Trytofindoutwhathashappened.”Idonotunderstandthisinstruction:howareLstogoaboutfindingoutwhathashappened?Whataretheytodowhenandiftheyfindout?OnewaytoclarifythisexercisewouldbefortheTtowriteupasolutiontothemystery,whichisgiventoonestudentineachgroup,whocanthenconfirmordenytheassertionsoftheothersinthegroup.Another,tomymindbetter,approachisgiveninthecommentssection.

Ex. Pros Cons Comments6 Acontrolledexercise

thatinthehandsofimaginativeLscouldbecomequitecreativeandfunny/droll.7

TellingtheLstotry“touseellipsisandsubstitution”isvagueanddifficulttomonitor.

CouldbemademoreinterestingbyhavingLsmemorizeandperformdialogues,makevideosofthem,etc.

7 Helpslearnersnoticestressandintonationaldifferences;introducestwoillocutionaryfunctionsof“must”and“can’t.”Goodlead-intoex.8.

Stressandintonationpatternsarenotindicatedorexplained.Themodalmaybestressedorunstressedinthispattern;differentTsmaypreferdifferentstress/intonation.

Treallyneedstobeclearaboutwhathis/herpronunciationof“can’t”is,andhowitvariesinslowspeechandconnectedspeech.

8 Goodcontrolledpracticeofempathetic“must”and“can’t.”

Moreappropriatetoendlessonwithfreerpractice,especiallywithadvancedLs.

AmEspeakerstendtoavoid“can’t”.AmE-speakingTsneedtodecidewhethertoteachthisusage,orsubstituteanotherpattern.

Overall,Mills’treatmentofMPsisveryusable,withcertaincaveats.ThelanguageislargelyBrEandmayneedtobemodifiedforAmE-speakingteachers.Examplesentencesarenatural-soundingenough,butadvancedstudentswouldenjoyandbenefitfromsomeauthenticexamples(ashortscenefromadetectivenovelorfilmwouldfitinwellhere).Grammaticalexplanationisinvolved,andLsareexpectedtobecomefamiliarwitharangeofterminology(ellipsis,substitution,modals,logicaldeduction,etc.).Itmightbeappropriatetorelocateallgrammaticalexcursustoanappendix,whereitisavailabletomotivatedLs,butdoesn’toverwhelmthosewhoareintimidatedbygrammar.Theexercisesprovidegreatfoundationalmaterial,butofferlittleinthewayoffreerpractice.Theoneexercisewithrealpotentialforfreerpractice(ex.4)hasuncleardirections,butcouldwithlittleeffortbeconvertedintoahighlycreativespeakingorwritingexercise,perhapsbestmovedtotheendofthelesson.Inshort,inthehandsofanimaginativeteacher,thistextcouldbeusedtoteachaveryeffectivelesson.Iftheteacherdoesnothavethetimeorinclinationtomodifytheexercises,thelessonwouldbesubstantiallylessinteresting,lesswellsequencedandprobablylesseffective.

7Forexample,6ecouldproduceadialoguelike:“Mygrandfatherhadfifteendogs.”“Wow,hemusthavereallylikedanimals.”“Idon’tthinkso.Ifhehad,hewouldhavegiventhemnicernames.”

References:Celce-Murcia,Marianne,andLarsen-Freeman,Diane.(1983)TheGrammarBook:AnESLTeacher’sCourse.Cambridge,MA:HarperandRow.Seeesp.Chap.7,“ModalAuxiliariesandPeriphrasticModals,”pp.80ff.Thisisthefirstedition.Thesecondedition(1999,Heinle)hasnotbeenconsulted.Downing,Angela,andLocke,Philip.(1992)AUniversityCourseinEnglishGrammar.HemelHempstead:PrenticeHallInternational.Seeesp.sec.44.3“Modalcertainty,probabilityandpossibility,”pp.385ff.Swan,Michael.(2005)PracticalEnglishUsage.Thirded.OxfordattheUniversityPress.Seeesp.pp.302–303(inversion),480–488(questionsandquestiontags).Thornbury,Scott.(2006)AnA-ZofELT,firsted.Oxford:MacMillan.Seeesp.“ModalVerb,”pp.xxx–xxx,“Modality,”pp.xxx-xxx.Yule,George(1999)ExplainingEnglishGrammar.OxfordattheUniversityPress,Chapter4,“Modals,”pp.85–121.

AppendixI:Thetext

Mills,Martin(1990),p.133.

Mills,Martin(1990),p.136.

Mills,Martin(1990),p.137.

Mills,Martin(1990),p.181.