Interpersonal Functions Of Modality In FIDIC Conditions

According to Matthiessen and Halliday (1997), the interpersonal metafunction is concerned with the interaction between the speaker and the addressee(s), which they view as a kind of grammatical resource (a network of inter-connected systems) for enacting social roles in general, and speech roles in particular, in dialogic interaction; i.e. for establishing, changing, and maintaining interpersonal relations. One of its major grammatical systems is modality, which bears the speaker's assessment of the truth of his/her message, or his/her attitude toward the statement.FIDIC Conditions (General Conditions of the Conditions of Contract for Works of Civil Engineering Construction prepared by the Federation International des Ingenieurs Conseils, the 4th Edition) is regarded as official and authentic in signing international contract for works of civil engineering construction. As a sub-genre of legal text, FIDIC Conditions, which is so important in international construction tender market, is given scant attention from the perspective of interpersonal function of modality system.The thesis takes functional grammar as the theoretical backup and investigates the interpersonal function of modality system in FIDIC Conditions. It focuses on the linguistic realizations of modality system in FIDIC Conditions with the aims of revealing the characteristics of the interpersonal function realized by modal expressions. It is expected that the findings of the research will contribute to a deeper understanding of FIDIC Conditions.The thesis is organized in six chapters. The first chapter servers as an introduction, presenting the research background, research purpose, specific research questions and the significance of the study. Chapter Two introduces Halliday's Functional Grammar, its rationale for interpersonal function and modality as the theoretical background of the study and as the point of analytical departure. Chapter Three introduces the genre of FIDIC Conditions. Chapter Four is designed to present the findings of the study with relative data and figures, as well as data collection and data analysis. Chapter Five is intended to analyze the roles of different modal expressions in FIDIC Conditions. Chapter Six is the conclusion, in which the limitations of the present study are also presented and suggestions for future studies are made.