A Functional Analysis Of Modality In Asking-for-Help Letters Addressed By Chinese EFL Learners

The purpose of the present study is a two-level one with the surface level being to arouse the awareness that thousands of average Chinese EFL learners lack the modality consciousness to quite large a degree and the deep level being to improve teaching or learning of English writing from the modality perspective.And in the study, the tasks to be fulfilled or questions to be answered are as follows: (i) what genre features the English asking-for-help letters are characteristic of, (ii) how many modal expressions are employed in the letters according to the functional account of modality, (iii) whether the modal expressions can be identified in a functional approach founded by Halliday (1985, 1994), (iv) how these modal expressions help the addressers to express the interpersonal meaning and (v) what difference mainly in terms of modality there exists between the learners' letters and the model letter.Generally speaking, the present study is necessary because it aims to improve teaching or learning of EFL writing from the modality perspective, which is of some practical value in terms of EFL teaching and learning.The present study is worthwhile because it is different from previous studies concerning English letters and concerning the English modality in various aspects, such as in the selection of subjects, in data and in focus of analysis and also because a descriptive approach is adopted and the functional account of modality is the main theoretical foundation on which the analysis is based.There are quite many studies on English letters and on the English modality as well. As far as English letters are concerned, it is undeniable that there are quite many researches undertaken based on modern linguistic theories such as Politeness Principle in pragmatics; however, Chinese researchers mainly discuss features of English letters and how to write good English letters. And in terms of the English modality, why previous researches catch many eyes mainly lies in their theoretical significance and Chinese researchers are remembered mainly because of their introductions of the foreign studies concerning modality into China. Moreover, both in China and in other parts of the world, there are very few researches undertaken by combining these two aspects of topics. Compared with previous studies, the present study not only combined...