THE USE OF MODAL VERBS IN RESEARCH ARTICLES
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Octavina Vidya Supramana
112007199
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
THE USE OF MODAL VERBS IN RESEARCH ARTICLES
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Octavina Vidya Supramana
112007199
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
THE USE OF MODAL VERBS IN RESEARCH ARTICLES
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Octavina Vidya Supramana
112007199
Approved by:
Prof. Dr. Gusti Astika, M. A. Anita Kurniawati, M. Hum.
Supervisor Examiner
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This thesis contains no such material as has been submitted for examination in any course or accepted for the fulfillment of any degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and my belief, this contains no material previously published or written by any other person except where due reference is made in the text.
Copyright@ 2012. Octavina Vidya Supramana and Prof. Dr. Gusti Astika, M. A.
All rights reserved. No part of this thesis may be reproduced by any means without the permission of at least one of the copyright owners or the English Department, Faculty of Language and Literature, Satya Wacana University, Salatiga.
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Name : Octavina Vidya Supramana Student ID Number : 112007199
Study Program : English Department Faculty : Language and Literature Kind of Work : Undergraduate Thesis
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The Use of Modal Verbs in Research Articles
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THE USE OF MODAL VERBS IN RESEARCH ARTICLES
Octavina Vidya Supramana
Abstract
Modal verbs are a part of grammatical structures. Modal verbs play important role in research articles. This study investigated the meanings of modal verbs used in research articles. In this study, the data were collected from 10 research articles taken from 10 different journals. Those 10 research articles were published between 2006 to 2010. This study only focused on the conclusion sections of each research articles which had sentences with modal verbs. In the analysis, the sentences with modal verbs were identified in accordance with their meaning based on the classifications of modal verbs proposed by Janet and Ellen Lange (1999). The modal verb would, was analyzed based on Weissberg and Buker (1990). The results showed that modal verbs often occurred in the conclusion indicating that modal verbs were important in conclusion sections of research articles to deliver the researchers’ intention. The modals can, should, may, could, might, would, must, and will were found in conclusion sections’ sentences. The modal verbs were used to show ability, possibility, advisability, expectation, past ability, degree of tentativeness, necessity, and future time. This study can be very useful for teachers and language learners in understanding research reports.
