A Comparative Analysis of Deontic Modality in Pakistani and British Newspaper Editorials

Abstract

This study while carrying out the Corpus Linguistics thematic comparative analysis of selected deontic modal verbs and expressions occurring in the two corpora (Pakistani English newspaper editorials and British newspaper editorials) evaluates both linguistic and extra-linguistic features that govern the choices made by the speakers of the two varieties of English: British Standard English and Pakistani English. The data was converted to text files and manually perused through software AntConc 3.2.4w to extract commonly occurring deontic modals and quasi-modals for a comparative thematic analysis at sentential level. This helped to ascertain specific meaning in the context to comprehend which ideologies and opinions are most promoted by the two (Pakistani and British) press and how. The research concludes that though there is not any significant difference in the usage of modal markers by the speakers/ writers due to their proficiency in the language, the choices were pragmatically governed by the respective cultural norms within their respective communities and also reflect how they want to convey their opinion to the reader. This research, also significant for ESP / andragogical studies for modality, would help in observing various means of expressing meaning and successfully attaining objectives without apparently applying modality.