Modality, from the cognitive linguists' perspective, relates to a "speaker's assessment of, or attitude towards, the potentiality of a state of affairs" (Radden and Dirven, 2007, p. 233, Cognitive English grammar. USA: John Benjamins Publishing Company). A type of modality that is very much visible in contracts is the deontic modality. A considerable body of literature, various empirical studies and actual Philippine court cases put forward how deontic uses in legal documents such as contracts can bring about issues and confusion leading to comprehension problems. Contract drafting entails a specialized work that a legal drafter must be able to write assessable and comprehensible contracts. This study addressed how contractual modalities are interpreted in the Philippine context and investigated how the most commonly misused modal shall is employed in different Philippine contracts. In examining deontic meanings, this work attempted to address the following questions: 1) What modals/non-modals are employed in expressing the meanings of obligation, permission and prohibition in selected Philippine contracts? 2) How is the modal shall utilized in the given contracts? Matulewska's (2010, Deontic modality and modals in the language of contracts. Comparative Legilinguistics 75-92) work on the three deontic meanings of obligation, permission and prohibition and Stark's (2007, Drafting contracts -How and why lawyers do what they do. USA: Aspen Publishers) construct on the correct usage of shall in contracts served as frameworks of this study. Results reveal the concurrence or likeness in the use of modals of these contracts vis-a-vis the local codified laws and in a number of contracts in other countries (Bondi and Diani, 2010. Conveying Retrieved from http://edipuglia.it/wp-content/uploads/ESP%202010/ Bondi-Diani.pdf). More importantly, two central findings of this study have uncovered the differences on the rules and at the same time the overwhelming number of incorrect shall uses, resulting in misunderstanding of the contracts, as reflected in a number of Philippine legal cases filed in court.
Given the paucity of studies regarding research practices of teachers, particularly English language teaching (ELT) practitioners in the ASEAN region and in the Philippines, this study explores the research practices of English language teachers in the Philippines. Using purposive-convenience sampling, a total of 49 teachers of English from a Philippine university were asked to answer a survey. To validate the data, pertinent public university documents were examined, and interviews with the university research heads were conducted. Findings suggest that the teachers were cognizant of the link between teaching and their own and their schools’ research practices. This research also reports the teachers’ positive perception towards research, and high receptivity to and interest in it. However, such research engagement was somehow constrained by factors such as crowded teaching timetables or heavy workload, lack of funding or financial support, difficulty in understanding (e.g., the language) published research, and the challenge of contextualising research findings for classroom use. This paper concludes with a note on how a conducive research climate in a school is a requisite in cultivating teachers’ interest in research.
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