The use of modals in requests : a communicative study

Abstract EN

The purpose of this paper is to study how sociolinguistic variation is manifested in language use with reference to making requests in English ;and to investigate the usage of modal auxiliaries in requests on the basis of a questionnaire.

In this case, one has to view language in its broader context which extends beyond the linguistic context, i.

e., one has to view language in its communicative context which includes the total context of situation for the speakerhearer behaviour.

Communicative context means the speaker's "competence for use", whereas the linguistic context means the speaker's" competence for grammar" (Hymes, 1972 =296).

Communicative context includes paralinguistic factors which are both attitudinal and social.

Among the attitudinal factors, the intuition, emotion, and attitude of the speaker/writer lend great significance to the communicative role of language behaviour.

For example, the same sentence or utterance may have different attitudes of the speaker such as happiness, anger, or sympathy, depending on the tone of voice and intonation.