This article uses computer learner corpora to compare the variety and frequency of some modal expressions in the writing of university-level EFL students and native speakers. Even though the prime focal point of the investigation is Brazilian EFL writers, the author recurrently relies on comparisons with Spanish and Czech EFL writers in an effort to determine whether certain characteristics of Brazilian EFL writing are likely to stem from mother tongue interference, or are, by and large, shared by EFL writers of different language settings. The study is based on four 33,000-word sub-corpora and takes into account not only modal auxiliary verbs but also a broader variety of modal devices, such as lexical verbs and adverbs with a modal value. Results reveal an overall overuse of modal expressions by all EFL writers, a propensity which may be partially developmental, and partially interlingual. The study also discovers evidence of register interference, where the learners appear to transfer patterns of use from spoken English into their writing, and particularly a high-degree of topic sensitivity in the use of particular modals. It concludes by arguing for the necessity to offer learners a broader variety of modal expressions including larger sentence patterns and modal phrases.
corpus linguistics; modality; academic writing