Epistemic Modal Markers in L2 Learners’ Persuasive Letters

Abstract

The present study sets out to focus on epistemic modal markers in EFL learners' formal and informal writing samples. To this end, and by means of a proficiency test, one hundred participants were divided into two groups of higher and lower proficient, and were subsequently asked to write one formal and one informal letter on the topics provided by the researcher. The quantitative analysis revealed some differences in the use of epistemic modal markers across the two proficiency levels. That is, while the learners in the higher proficient group used more epistemic markers in their formal letters, the lower proficient learners tended to deontically modalized their sentences. The quantative analysis of the data in both formal and informal letters suggested that the level of directness corresponds not only with the formality requirements of the topic but also with the possessed pragmatic knowledge.