Modal adverbs of certainty in the rhetoric of Advocates General: a dialogic view

Abstract

The article deals with EU judicial rhetoric and aims to demonstrate how a selection of modal adverbs of certainty (indeed, clearly, (not) necessarily and of course) are used in the Opinions of the Advocates General at the European Court of Justice (ECJ). To this end, it focuses on the rhetorical functions of these adverbs, such as adding emphasis, showing a high degree of commitment and backgrounding alternative viewpoints. The study applies the notions of stance and engagement (Hyland, 2005) and builds on the research into modal adverbs of certainty reported in Simon-Vandenbergen and Aijmer (2007). In summary, the analysis sheds light on the rhetorical potential of modal adverbs, stressing the dialogic dimension of legal opinion writing.

Functional Analyses of Metadiscourse Markers in L2 Students’ Academic Writing

“…Hence, these textbooks did not include sufficient information on the modal verbs. Emphatics as the second subcategory are used to reveal certainty (Szczyrbak, 2017) by using expressions like 'it is clear, clearly, obviously, obvious, in fact', and 'definitely'. According to Hyland and Tse (2004), boosters are effective linguistic expressions in strengthening the illocutionary force of speech acts (Holmes, 1982).…”

Functional Analyses of Metadiscourse Markers in L2 Students’ Academic Writing

“…Hence, these textbooks did not include sufficient information on the modal verbs. Emphatics as the second subcategory are used to reveal certainty (Szczyrbak, 2017) by using expressions like 'it is clear, clearly, obviously, obvious, in fact', and 'definitely'. According to Hyland and Tse (2004), boosters are effective linguistic expressions in strengthening the illocutionary force of speech acts (Holmes, 1982). Obviously, the function of boosters is revealing confidence in an assertion (Holmes, 1988;Crismore et al, 1993) or ending the debate and the possible alternative argument (Hyland, 1998;Gillaerts & Van de Velde, 2010): ''by closing down possible alternatives, boosters emphasize certainty and construct rapport by marking involvement with the topic and solidarity with an audience, taking a joint position against other voices'' (Hyland, 2005, p. 53).…”