epistemic
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回复: epistemic
Epistemic modality is concerned with the expression of the users degree of certainty, or commitment to the truth, of their statements, or the assessment of the likelihood of something being, or having been, the case (e.g. Biber et al., 1999;Coates, 1983; Huddleston & Pullum, 2002; Palmer, 1986, 1990; Quirk et al., 1985). A small number of auxiliary verbs, also termed modal auxiliaries (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would), are regarded as the prototypical morphological realisation of epistemic modality (e.g. Huddleston, 1984: 164). However, epistemic modality is also expressed by a number of lexical verbs (e.g. believe, infer, know), adjectives (e.g. definite, probable, unlikely), adverbs (e.g. arguably, certainly, possibly), and multi-word units and colligations involving lexis expressing degrees of certainty (e.g. call into question, chances are, it seems plausible).
Academic writing lends itself to studies of epistemic modality, as one of the characteristics of the genre is the frequent use of hedging (e.g. Thompson, 2002). Consequently, the ability to qualify statements appropriately (e.g. conveying the degree of certainty that the research evidence calls for) is central to good academic writing and is, therefore, a skill that MA students, NS and NNS alike, need to master.
The examination of the degree of certainty expressed in the dissertations, as well as the selection of linguistic devices in terms of types and frequency can provide helpful indications as to the areas MA students need help with, which can then form the basis for support seminars and workshops before students begin work on their dissertations. The comparison between native and non-native writers, as well as between writers of different native languages, can yield interesting patterns as to the problematic areas that are specific to each group (e.g. Hyland & Milton, 1997; McEnery & Kiefle, 2002).
Quoted from:
http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/102/01/Epistemic_modality_in_MA_dissertations.pdf
Epistemic modality is concerned with the expression of the users degree of certainty, or commitment to the truth, of their statements, or the assessment of the likelihood of something being, or having been, the case (e.g. Biber et al., 1999;Coates, 1983; Huddleston & Pullum, 2002; Palmer, 1986, 1990; Quirk et al., 1985). A small number of auxiliary verbs, also termed modal auxiliaries (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would), are regarded as the prototypical morphological realisation of epistemic modality (e.g. Huddleston, 1984: 164). However, epistemic modality is also expressed by a number of lexical verbs (e.g. believe, infer, know), adjectives (e.g. definite, probable, unlikely), adverbs (e.g. arguably, certainly, possibly), and multi-word units and colligations involving lexis expressing degrees of certainty (e.g. call into question, chances are, it seems plausible).
Academic writing lends itself to studies of epistemic modality, as one of the characteristics of the genre is the frequent use of hedging (e.g. Thompson, 2002). Consequently, the ability to qualify statements appropriately (e.g. conveying the degree of certainty that the research evidence calls for) is central to good academic writing and is, therefore, a skill that MA students, NS and NNS alike, need to master.
The examination of the degree of certainty expressed in the dissertations, as well as the selection of linguistic devices in terms of types and frequency can provide helpful indications as to the areas MA students need help with, which can then form the basis for support seminars and workshops before students begin work on their dissertations. The comparison between native and non-native writers, as well as between writers of different native languages, can yield interesting patterns as to the problematic areas that are specific to each group (e.g. Hyland & Milton, 1997; McEnery & Kiefle, 2002).
Quoted from:
http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/102/01/Epistemic_modality_in_MA_dissertations.pdf