Modal auxiliaries in second language varieties of English
-
Carolin Biewer
Abstract
Although Sridhar and Sridhar pointed out as early as 1982 that the two linguistic fields of second language acquisition (SLA) and New English studies could benefit from each other, the gap between the two disciplines has never been closed. This article draws attention to some of the reasons why these two disciplines have not come together and discusses how SLA theory could be applied to New English studies to explain grammatical patterns found in many, if not all, L2 varieties of English. As a case study the usage of modals and semi-modals of obligation and necessity in various varieties of English as a second language (ESL) in Africa, Asia and the South Pacific will be considered. In this context it will also be discussed to what extent the (ENL)-ESL-EFL distinction of Kachru’s model is still suitable if we now include a learner’s perspective and focus on similarities between ESL and EFL (English as a foreign language). As differences in the usage of modal auxiliaries in different ESL varieties are mostly quantitative rather than categorical, a corpus linguistic approach was chosen.
Abstract
Although Sridhar and Sridhar pointed out as early as 1982 that the two linguistic fields of second language acquisition (SLA) and New English studies could benefit from each other, the gap between the two disciplines has never been closed. This article draws attention to some of the reasons why these two disciplines have not come together and discusses how SLA theory could be applied to New English studies to explain grammatical patterns found in many, if not all, L2 varieties of English. As a case study the usage of modals and semi-modals of obligation and necessity in various varieties of English as a second language (ESL) in Africa, Asia and the South Pacific will be considered. In this context it will also be discussed to what extent the (ENL)-ESL-EFL distinction of Kachru’s model is still suitable if we now include a learner’s perspective and focus on similarities between ESL and EFL (English as a foreign language). As differences in the usage of modal auxiliaries in different ESL varieties are mostly quantitative rather than categorical, a corpus linguistic approach was chosen.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Modal auxiliaries in second language varieties of English 7
- English in Cyprus 35
- From EFL to ESL 55
- Formulaic sequences in spoken ENL, ESL and EFL 79
- Studying structural innovations in New English varieties 101
- Interrogative inversion as a learner phenomenon in English contact varieties 125
- Overuse of the progressive in ESL and learner Englishes – fact or fiction? 145
- Typological profiling 167
- A principled distinction between error and conventionalized innovation in African Englishes 189
- Discussion forum 209
- Bionotes 219
- Index 221
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Modal auxiliaries in second language varieties of English 7
- English in Cyprus 35
- From EFL to ESL 55
- Formulaic sequences in spoken ENL, ESL and EFL 79
- Studying structural innovations in New English varieties 101
- Interrogative inversion as a learner phenomenon in English contact varieties 125
- Overuse of the progressive in ESL and learner Englishes – fact or fiction? 145
- Typological profiling 167
- A principled distinction between error and conventionalized innovation in African Englishes 189
- Discussion forum 209
- Bionotes 219
- Index 221
