USE OF MODAL VERBS IN ACADEMIC WRITING: A COMPUTATIONAL FREQUENCY-BASED STUDY

Abstract

This study examines the use of modal verbs in academic writing across two disciplinary domains: Natural Sciences and Social Sciences. The research aims to explore how modal verb choices contribute to the expression of stance, certainty, and interpersonal meaning within the framework of M.A.K. Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics. The study adopts a mixed-methods research design, combining quantitative corpus analysis with qualitative functional interpretation. A purposive sample of research articles from the two disciplines was compiled to construct two corpora representing Natural Sciences and Social Sciences texts. Corpus analysis was conducted using AntConc 4.3.1, which allowed the identification and frequency analysis of modal verbs through part-of-speech tagging using the CLAWS C7 tagset,focusing on central modal verbs, and they were subsequently analyzed in terms of their epistemic and deontic functions.The quantitative analysis provides an overview of the distribution and frequency of modal verbs in both corpora, while the qualitative analysis examines how these forms function within their disciplinary contexts. The findings indicate notable similarities and differences in modal usage between the two fields, reflecting distinct patterns of certainty, interpretation, and authorial stance.The study demonstrates that modal verbs operate as important interpersonal resources in academic discourse, shaping how writers present claims and negotiate relationships with readers across disciplinary boundaries.