scholarly journals Recent change in modality in informal spoken British English: 1990s–2010s

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 537-562
Author(s):  
ROBBIE LOVE ◽  
NIALL CURRY
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Recent Change ◽  
British English ◽  
The Core ◽  
Modal Auxiliaries ◽  
Language Data ◽  
Diachronic Study ◽  
Functional Analyses ◽  
Future Work

Studies in modality comprise a complex canon of functional, formal, sociological and diachronic analyses of language. The current understanding of how English language speakers use modality is unclear; while some research argues that core modal auxiliaries are in decline, they are reported as increasing elsewhere. A lack of contemporary and representative spoken language data has rendered it difficult to reconcile such differing perspectives. To address this issue, this article presents a diachronic study of modality using the Spoken BNC2014 and the spoken component of the BNC1994. We investigate the frequency of core modal auxiliaries, semi-modals, and lexical modality-indicating devices (MIDs), as well as the modal functions of the core modal auxiliaries, in informal spoken British English, between the 1990s and 2010s. The results of the analysis are manifold. We find that core modal auxiliaries appear to be in decline, while semi-modals and lexical MIDs appear relatively stable. However, on a form-by-form basis, there is significant evidence of both increases and decreases in the use of individual expressions within each modal set. As a result, this study problematises form-based studies of change, and illustrates the value and coherence that functional analyses of modality can afford future work.

Recent change in non-present perfect constructions in British and American English

Corpora ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinyue Yao ◽  
Peter Collins
Keyword(s):  
American English ◽  
Recent Change ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Present Perfect ◽  
British English ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
General Decline ◽  
Modal Auxiliaries

A number of recent studies of grammatical categories in English have identified regional and diachronic variation in the use of the present perfect, suggesting that it has been losing ground to the simple past tense from the eighteenth century onwards ( Elsness, 1997 , 2009 ; Hundt and Smith, 2009 ; and Yao and Collins, 2012 ). Only a limited amount of research has been conducted on non-present perfects. More recently, Bowie and Aarts’ (2012) study using the Diachronic Corpus of Present-Day Spoken English has found that certain non-present perfects underwent a considerable decline in spoken British English (BrE) during the second half of the twentieth century. However, comparison with American English (AmE) and across various genres has not been made. This study focusses on the changes in the distribution of four types of non-present perfects (past, modal, to-infinitival and ing-participial) in standard written BrE and AmE during the thirty-year period from the early 1960s to the early 1990s. Using a tagged and post-edited version of the Brown family of corpora, it shows that contemporary BrE has a stronger preference for non-present perfects than AmE. Comparison of four written genres of the same period reveals that, for BrE, only the change in the overall frequency of past perfects was statistically significant. AmE showed, comparatively, a more dramatic decrease, particularly in the frequencies of past and modal perfects. It is suggested that the decline of past perfects is attributable to a growing disfavour for past-time reference in various genres, which is related to long-term historical shifts associated with the underlying communicative functions of the genres. The decline of modal perfects, on the other hand, is more likely to be occurring under the influence of the general decline of modal auxiliaries in English.

scholarly journals Exploring a Diachronic Change in the Use of English Relative Clauses: A Corpus-Based Study and Its Implication for Pedagogy

SAGE Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824402097502
Author(s):  
Muchamad Sholakhuddin Al Fajri ◽  
Victoria Okwar
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Relative Pronoun ◽  
Sharp Decline ◽  
British English ◽  
Written Texts ◽  
Diachronic Study ◽  
English Relative Clauses

This corpus-based diachronic study aims to investigate the change in the use of English relative clauses over a 45-year time span. It does not only focus on change over time but also change between two varieties of English (British and American). The data were taken from the Brown family of corpora. Each corpus in the Brown family corpora consists of 500 texts of approximately 2,000 words of written published standard English. The finding indicates that the overall trend of the use of relative clauses in written texts has largely decreased in both American and British English. The frequency of the relative which has experienced a sharp decline in both English and American varieties but the relative pronoun that has dramatically increased. This trend suggests the move toward colloquialization, meaning that both the English varieties tend to employ less formal or speech-like style in written texts. The pedagogical implication of this research is that it can bring about a change in syllabuses and materials of English language teaching (ELT), particularly for teaching general writing by taking into account colloquialization hypothesis.

Suresh Canagarajah, Resisting linguistic imperialism in English teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. Pp. viii+216. Pb. $24.95.

2002 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 631-634
Author(s):  
Rakesh M. Bhatt
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Cultural Hegemony ◽  
English Language Acquisition ◽  
British English ◽  
English Teaching ◽  
Oxford University ◽  
Linguistic Imperialism ◽  
The Core ◽  
Future Goals ◽  
Eighth Grade Students

As eighth-grade students of English in a “periphery” community school in India, we were assigned to discuss and to appreciate a piece of prose, from our textbook, called “On not answering the telephone”; it was a satirical piece demonizing telephones because their existence and use flouted all tenets of British English linguistic etiquette. None of us in that class had a phone in our homes, and none of us had any desire to learn the alien etiquette. We were interested only in learning the language to the extent that it could help us realize our immediate and, perhaps, future goals. This was our tacit response, and resistance, to English linguistic imperialism: awareness of the pragmatic rewards of English-language acquisition and use, but negation and denial of the cultural hegemony of English. This dynamic of ideological imposition and resistance (and appropriation) forms the core of Canagarajah's book, Resisting linguistic imperialism in English teaching.

scholarly journals POLITENESS IN MAKING REQUESTS USING MODAL AUXILIARIES IN EFL SPEAKING CLASS

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
deny efita nur rakhmawati
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Research Method ◽  
English Language ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
State University ◽  
Qualitative Research Method ◽  
Language And Literature ◽  
Modal Auxiliaries

People communicate each other mostly by using spoken language. During the communication, they cannot avoid using modal auxiliaries especially in asking their interlocutors which then it influences the politeness of the utterances. This research, therefore, discusses the students’ usage of modal auxiliaries in speaking class. Here, the modal auxiliaries are found during their performances in the classroom. It is integrated into the English Language and Literature classes in Sunan Gunung Djati Islamic State University in the year 2012. While carrying out the research, qualitative research method is employed. Data are mainly gathered through the observation by recording of students’ performances and interview. The research reveals that ‘can’ is the highest occurrence of modal auxiliaries used by the students (43%). Moreover, 90% students in speaking class tend to produce positive politeness. ‘Can’ is in the highest occurrence since the students think it as the simplest modal and most heard in daily communication, while the positive politeness tends to appear since they consider that they need to create refined communication with the interlocutors. At the end, it is hoped that this research might inspire the English lecturers to be more aware of students’ politeness during speaking English.

British-American Contrasts in the Use of the Past Perfect: Negotiating Ambiguity versus Redundancy?

2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-319
Author(s):  
Stephanie Kleppel ◽  
Matthias Eitelmann ◽  
Britta Mondorf
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Language Change ◽  
American English ◽  
Recent Change ◽  
Present Perfect ◽  
British English ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
The Past ◽  
Distribution Studies ◽  
The Cost

Abstract The present study provides an empirical analysis of British-American contrasts in the overall use of the past perfect as well as its functional distribution. Studies on variation according to national variety report a decline of the past perfect spearheaded by American English (cf. Elsness, J. 1997. The Perfect and Preterite in Contemporary and Earlier English (Topics in English Linguistics 21). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyte; Bowie, J., S. Wallis, and B. Aarts. 2013. “The Perfect in Spoken British English.” In The Verb Phrase in English. Investigating Recent Language Change with Corpora, edited by B. Aarts, J. Close, G. Leech, and S. Wallis, 318–52. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 348; Yao, X., and P. Collins. 2013. “Recent Change in Non-present Perfect Constructions in British and American English.” Corpora 8 (1): 115–35: 121f.). However, these findings still await an explanation as to possible motivations for the decline. The present study is able to provide novel insights by taking the semantic functions of past perfect structures into account (anteriority, backshifting in indirect speech, hypothetical past). A functional quantitative and qualitative analysis of newspaper corpora comprising 112 million words (27 million British English and 85 million American English) reveals that the overall decline results in a reduction of redundant information at the cost of potential ambiguity. Finally, our findings will be related to the four dichotomies of British-American differences outlined in Rohdenburg and Schlüter (2009 “New Departures.” In One Language, Two Grammars? Differences between British and American English (Studies in English Language), edited by G. Rohdenburg, and J. Schlüter, 364–423. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 421), i.e. progressiveness, formality, consistency and explicitness.

scholarly journals Auction-Based Consensus of Autonomous Vehicles for Multi-Target Dynamic Task Allocation and Path Planning in an Unknown Obstacle Environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 5057
Author(s):  
Wan-Yu Yu ◽  
Xiao-Qiang Huang ◽  
Hung-Yi Luo ◽  
Von-Wun Soo ◽  
Yung-Lung Lee
Keyword(s):  
Path Planning ◽  
Task Allocation ◽  
Autonomous Vehicles ◽  
Autonomous Vehicle ◽  
Dynamic Task ◽  
The Core ◽  
Dynamic Task Allocation ◽  
Vehicle Technology ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Complicated Task

The autonomous vehicle technology has recently been developed rapidly in a wide variety of applications. However, coordinating a team of autonomous vehicles to complete missions in an unknown and changing environment has been a challenging and complicated task. We modify the consensus-based auction algorithm (CBAA) so that it can dynamically reallocate tasks among autonomous vehicles that can flexibly find a path to reach multiple dynamic targets while avoiding unexpected obstacles and staying close as a group as possible simultaneously. We propose the core algorithms and simulate with many scenarios empirically to illustrate how the proposed framework works. Specifically, we show that how autonomous vehicles could reallocate the tasks among each other in finding dynamically changing paths while certain targets may appear and disappear during the movement mission. We also discuss some challenging problems as a future work.

Embracing multidimensionality in phonological analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-139
Author(s):  
Abigail C. Cohn ◽  
Margaret E. L. Renwick
Keyword(s):  
Native Speaker ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Iterative Approach ◽  
Full Spectrum ◽  
Multiple Factors ◽  
Multiple Data ◽  
Language Data ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract We pursue the idea, implicit in much current phonological research, that understanding the multiple factors that shape speech production and perception is within the purview of phonology. In particular, increased access to naturalistic data has highlighted the multidimensional reality of variation in spoken language. At the same time, longstanding methods of doing phonology – including impressionistic analysis, and laboratory and experimental studies – remain crucial to understanding native speaker competence and grammar. We advocate for an expanded methodological toolbox in phonological analysis, using an iterative approach that crucially includes naturalistic corpus data. Integrating across multiple data sources offers fuller insight into the nature of the phonological system and native speaker-hearer ability. Several case studies highlight findings gained through linked, iterative studies, showing the importance of naturalistic data for a richer understanding of phonological phenomena, and leading us to reflect on desiderata for corpora to reveal speaker-specific patterns in fine phonetic detail and variability, which we argue are part of a speaker-hearer’s phonological competence. Phonological analysis that embraces the full spectrum of variation in spoken language data (from categorical to gradient, and systematic to sporadic) contributes to a deeper understanding of phonology in this richer sense.

scholarly journals Structuring of scientific articles taking into account the requirements of international scientometric databases

Ergodesign ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 (3) ◽  
pp. 99-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Андрей Киричек ◽  
Andrey Kirichek ◽  
Анна Морозова ◽  
Anna Morozova ◽  
Валерий Спасенников ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Editorial Policy ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Scientific Journals ◽  
Russian Scientific ◽  
Language Data ◽  
Correct Design

The necessity to ensure compliance of scientific articles in Russian scientific journals with international standards for their inclusion in scientometric databases is substantiated. It is shown that the design of the journal, placement and presentation of the necessary elements of articles, completeness of English-language data and other characteristics are determined by the editorial policy and should reflect compliance with the requirements of international databases. The possibility of correct design of articles, interpretation of their elements from the standpoint of international scientometric databases is shown.

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