Modality in spoken Malaysian English : a comparison with the supervarieties

The interest in Malaysian English generated many studies on Malaysian English focusing on various grammatical features. However, modality in Malaysian English is still under-researched, especially in post-independence and new Englishes contexts. As a new variety of English, it raises questions o...

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Main Authors: Ang, Leng Hong, He, Mengyu, Hajar Abdul Rahim
Format: Article
Language:en
Published: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2022
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/20686/1/57632-194038-1-PB.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/20686/
https://ejournal.ukm.my/3l/issue/view/1543
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author Ang, Leng Hong
He, Mengyu
Hajar Abdul Rahim,
author_facet Ang, Leng Hong
He, Mengyu
Hajar Abdul Rahim,
author_sort Ang, Leng Hong
building Tun Sri Lanang Library
collection Institutional Repository
content_provider Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
content_source UKM Journal Article Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
description The interest in Malaysian English generated many studies on Malaysian English focusing on various grammatical features. However, modality in Malaysian English is still under-researched, especially in post-independence and new Englishes contexts. As a new variety of English, it raises questions on how Malaysian English has developed from the historical input variety, i.e., British English and how resistant or accepting Malaysian English is to American English which is highly influential globally. This study aimed to contribute to the development of Malaysian English studies by reporting a corpus-based research of the frequency and statistical differences of a set of modal and quasi-modal verbs in three spoken corpora representing Malaysian, British, and American English. AntConc software (Version 3.5.9) (Anthony, 2020) was used to explore and generate the relevant data in the spoken Malaysian English corpus, while the spoken British and American English corpora were accessed online using the tools on the respective websites. The findings show that the use of modal and quasi-modal verbs in spoken Malaysian English does not entirely resemble either of the Supervarieties, i.e., spoken British English and American English. Log-likelihood test carried out in the study shows significant differences in the use of certain modal and quasi-modal verbs between the varieties, suggesting that Supervarieties are not always in the lead in using quasi-modals. The results also suggest that these significant differences are mainly accounted for by the nativisation process and evolution of Malaysian English as a new English variety. The findings shed new light on the current knowledge of modal and quasi-modal verbs in post-independence spoken Malaysian English.
format Article
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institution Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
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publisher Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
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spelling my-ukm.journal.206862022-12-11T00:53:47Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/20686/ Modality in spoken Malaysian English : a comparison with the supervarieties Ang, Leng Hong He, Mengyu Hajar Abdul Rahim, The interest in Malaysian English generated many studies on Malaysian English focusing on various grammatical features. However, modality in Malaysian English is still under-researched, especially in post-independence and new Englishes contexts. As a new variety of English, it raises questions on how Malaysian English has developed from the historical input variety, i.e., British English and how resistant or accepting Malaysian English is to American English which is highly influential globally. This study aimed to contribute to the development of Malaysian English studies by reporting a corpus-based research of the frequency and statistical differences of a set of modal and quasi-modal verbs in three spoken corpora representing Malaysian, British, and American English. AntConc software (Version 3.5.9) (Anthony, 2020) was used to explore and generate the relevant data in the spoken Malaysian English corpus, while the spoken British and American English corpora were accessed online using the tools on the respective websites. The findings show that the use of modal and quasi-modal verbs in spoken Malaysian English does not entirely resemble either of the Supervarieties, i.e., spoken British English and American English. Log-likelihood test carried out in the study shows significant differences in the use of certain modal and quasi-modal verbs between the varieties, suggesting that Supervarieties are not always in the lead in using quasi-modals. The results also suggest that these significant differences are mainly accounted for by the nativisation process and evolution of Malaysian English as a new English variety. The findings shed new light on the current knowledge of modal and quasi-modal verbs in post-independence spoken Malaysian English. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2022-09 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/20686/1/57632-194038-1-PB.pdf Ang, Leng Hong and He, Mengyu and Hajar Abdul Rahim, (2022) Modality in spoken Malaysian English : a comparison with the supervarieties. 3L; Language,Linguistics and Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies., 28 (3). pp. 116-127. ISSN 0128-5157 https://ejournal.ukm.my/3l/issue/view/1543
spellingShingle Ang, Leng Hong
He, Mengyu
Hajar Abdul Rahim,
Modality in spoken Malaysian English : a comparison with the supervarieties
title Modality in spoken Malaysian English : a comparison with the supervarieties
title_full Modality in spoken Malaysian English : a comparison with the supervarieties
title_fullStr Modality in spoken Malaysian English : a comparison with the supervarieties
title_full_unstemmed Modality in spoken Malaysian English : a comparison with the supervarieties
title_short Modality in spoken Malaysian English : a comparison with the supervarieties
title_sort modality in spoken malaysian english : a comparison with the supervarieties
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/20686/1/57632-194038-1-PB.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/20686/
https://ejournal.ukm.my/3l/issue/view/1543
url_provider http://journalarticle.ukm.my/