| This dissertation conducts a corpus-based study on modal configurations inEnglish research article abstracts based on a functional framework of modality.It isfound that abstract authors mainly use modal auxiliaries of probability with the lowvalue and the implicit subjective orientation to show that they assume muchresponsibility for their tentative arguments.Modality has long been a hot topic in text analysis,and scholars have beenapproaching this issue from different angles.However,there are still areas for furtherexploration,such as modal attitudes,interrelationships between modal systems,andmodality in academic texts.With this background,this dissertation puts forward a functional framework ofmodality and examines modal configurations in English research article abstracts.In this framework,there are three systems at three strata:the system of modalattitudes at the contextual stratum,the system of modal meanings at the semanticstratum,and the system of modal forms at the lexicogrammatical stratum.Modalattitudes include the speaker's modal role,modal commitment,and modalresponsibility.Modal meanings consist of types,values and orientations of modalmeanings.Modal forms include modal clauses,phrases,words,and unfree forms.Modal configurations refer to configurations of modal systems,including systems(sub-systems,sub-sub-systems,and so on) of modal attitudes,meanings and forms.They fall into two types:inter-stratum modal configurations and intra-stratum modalconfigurations.Inter-stratum modal configurations are configurations of modalsystems at different strata,that is,configurations of modal attitudes,meanings andforms.Intra-stratum modal configurations are configurations of modal systems at thesame stratum,including configurations of modal attitudes and those of modalmeanings.Based on this framework,this dissertation uses a corpus of 1,600 Englishresearch article abstracts randomly chosen from 40 academic journals of 8 disciplines to examine modal configurations quantitatively and qualitatively.Research results show that modal configurations in English research articleabstracts as a whole and in different generic elements and disciplines have much incommon.Most modal forms are auxiliaries,and they realize probability,the low valueand the implicit subjective orientation.Besides,nearly all clauses containing modalforms are declarative.These features show that abstract authors chiefly offer modaljudgments on how likely propositions are true.They only commit themselves slightlyto the validity of these judgments,but take much responsibility for them.Differences between modal configurations in different generic elements anddisciplines lie in their distribution.Roughly speaking,modal configurations occurfrequently in the generic elements of conclusion and introduction,less frequently inthe results,and rarely in the method,and they are commoner in soft disciplines than inhard disciplines.In addition,abstract authors only use the interrogative mood todemand modal judgments on probability and obligation in the introduction of softdisciplines.This study will deepen one's understanding of modality in English researcharticle abstracts.What's more,it makes contributions to academic fields like modality,functional linguistics,text analysis,and language teaching.It is hoped that moreresearch can be done on modal configurations in texts of different genres in the future. |
