Stance modals in Chinese EFL learners’ monologue tasks: A corpus-based study

Abstract

This study investigates how Chinese tertiary-level EFL learners used modals as linguistic devices for expressing stances in spoken English. Modals convey speakers’ commitment to propositions (epistemic stance) and intentions to affect reality (effective stance). While existing research has primarily focused on written registers and epistemic stances, this corpus-based study analyzes both stances in a national-level standardized speaking test, examining modals’ frequency, choices, and tonal variations during an opinion-giving task. Our findings reveal that learners commonly used epistemic and effective modals but leaned more toward effective modals than native speakers. Their speech exhibited assertiveness, marked by high use of will , should , and must while showing less reliance on would and have to . Moreover, can was often employed with conditional clauses/phrases to soften claims and used in rhetorical sentences to enhance assertiveness. These patterns could be attributable to the influence of the Chinese language, rhetorical norms, cultural influences, limited linguistic resources, and teaching support. Our findings add knowledge about modal stance in speaking tasks by revealing patterns of CEFLLs’ modal use during the period examined. These findings also offer implications for addressing learners’ reliance on certain modals.