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MODAL VERBS AS A CHALLENGE IN AN ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
CLASS: THE MODAL SHOULD
Conference Paper · July 2021
DOI: 10.21125/edulearn.2021.0074
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MODAL VERBS AS A CHALLENGE IN AN ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN
LANGUAGE CLASS: THE MODAL SHOULD
Olga A. Blinova
Moscow State Institute of International Relations (RUSSIAN FEDERATION)
Abstract
The paper explores the English modal verb Should and addresses the challenges of introducing it to
adult EFL / ESL learners. I focus on the modal meanings of Should: obligation, duty, probability,
predictions, as well as unfulfilled actions and obligations (the other uses of Should, such as in conditional
clauses, reported speech or in the subjunctive mood, are not the subject of this study). The choice of
this particular focus is informed by the needs of the learners: due to its relatively simple form and
straightforward range of meaning, Should appears to be a good starting point to introduce lower-level
learners to the modal verbs system of English. Then I proceed to analyse common learner issues
regarding the modal should (use and meaning, such as using Must for advice instead of Should;
confusion resulting from the negative forms of Shouldn’t, Mustn’t and Don’t have to, as well as form and
phonology mistakes). I conclude with a series of suggestions that EFL / ESL teachers can use in their
classroom practices to help their learners avoid these mistakes (these include awareness raising
activities, focus on meaning rather than form, and written production).
Keywords: ESL, EFL, teaching grammar, modal verbs, modality, should.
1
INTRODUCTION
Should is a relatively widely-used modal verb that is used to denote obligation, duty, probability,
predictions, unfulfilled actions and obligations, as well as a number of other meanings. It is usually
introduced to learners at lower levels. In this study, we will explore the English modal verb Should and
address the challenges of introducing it to adult EFL / ESL learners. The data for the common learner
issues draws primarily on evidence from adult learners of English whose L1 is Russian or Turkish.
2
ANALYSIS
Recent corpus-based research by Leech (2003) has demonstrated that over the past decades the socalled core modals have decreased in frequency in both written and spoken English [1]. However, an
analysis of the graphs in Aarts, Wallis & Bowie (2011) reveals that of all the core modals, should has
demonstrated a relatively small decline in usage, especially compared to such verbs as would, may or
must, all of which have significantly declined in frequency. As such, should remains a stable element of
the English language system [2].
2.1 Meaning
Modality is a semantic-grammatical language category that expresses the speakers’ opinion on and
attitude to the content of their speech through lexical (adverbs such as perhaps, maybe, possibly etc.)
and grammatical (modal auxiliaries) means [3; 4]. In terms of meaning, linguists distinguish between the
following types of modality, and should possesses them all:
• epistemic, i.e. arising from evidence, logical reasoning, or the speaker’s beliefs [3, p. 10], e.g.
When you apply soda to a mosquito bite, it should stop itching.
• deontic, i.e. arising from rules or the speaker’s desires [3, p. 10] e.g. You should respect the
elderly.
• extrinsic, i.e. relating to «the speaker’s assessment of the likelihood of the situation» [4, p. 133]
e.g. I think I’ve seen wear a ring. She should be married.
• intrinsic, i.e. relating to «the speaker’s attitude to the necessity or desirability of the situation»
[4, p. 133], e.g. I shouldn’t have had to remind you about the deadline.
Proceedings of EDULEARN21 Conference
5th-6th July 2021
0204
ISBN: 978-84-09-31267-2
2.1.1 The main meanings of should
Should is used to denote:
Obligation and duty:
The use of should for obligation and duty is socially oriented, i.e. the speaker follows the conventions of
their community [5, p. 107]:
- In Turkey, you should give up your seat to senior people when you’re on bus.
- The speed limit is 50 m/h, but you shouldn’t go so fast because you’re not an experienced driver
yet.
Advice:
The use of should for advice is rooted in the speaker’s beliefs of what is good or bad for the addressee.
The belief itself may be rooted in factual information about the world or subjective their beliefs:
- You should stop smoking, it’s really bad for your lungs.
- You shouldn’t eat after 6 pm, it makes you put on weight.
- Should I apologise first? He started it!
Question forms are often used to ask for instructions:
- Should I upload the assignment to Moodle?
Probability:
If something os logical under the circumstances, in positive sentences should can be used to denote
probability [6, p. 510]:
- We should be there by noon unless we run out of petrol.
Predictions:
The use of should for predictions, unlike for probability, presupposes some expectations on the part of
the speaker as opposed to logical or normal circumstances [6, p. 512]:
- I think your next assignment should be fine unless you ignore the tutor’s comments.
Unreal actions and unfulfilled obligations:
Should + perfect infinitive can be used to denote past actions or events that either never took place, or
may have happened [6, p. 511]:
- You should not have called her so late. She’s really angry now. (—> the action took place).
- You should have called her, she was so worried. (—> the action did not take place).
2.1.2 Should in comparison with other modal verbs
Should vs Ought to
Both should and ought to are used to denote obligation, duty, and advice. Swan states that they are
often interchangeable [6, p. 511]. Palmer claims that should is more frequent than ought to, but
otherwise the two are identical in meaning with the sole exception of subordinate clauses [6, p. 122].
Should vs Must
Should and must are both necessity modals, should being a weaker version of must. The negative
forms shouldn’t and mustn’t both refer to a necessity not to act [6, p. 511].
However, should and must do differ in what Palmer calls actuality, i.e. must, unlike should, !does not
allow for the event referred to not to take place” [3, p. 123], e.g. She should hand in the assignment
today, but she won"t as opposed to *She must hand in the assignment today.
2.2 Form
The Based on the formal features of the verbs, most scholars of English recognise nine #pure $"(also
called #core$"and #auxiliary") modal verbs (can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must) and
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an undefined number of #semi-modals$"also referred to as marginal or periphrastic modals (e.g. need,
have, be able to etc.), see Aarts, Walli & Bowie (2011) [2], Thornbury (2006) [4], and Yule (1998) [5].
They are juxtaposed to the so-called lexical verbs (e.g. look, believe etc.).
Like all other modal auxiliaries, should:
• has no non-finite forms (infinitives or participles);
• does not take 3rd person -s (e.g.*she shoulds);
• forms questions by inversion (e.g. Should I come?);
• forms negation by adding not (e.g. You should’t / should not);
• occurs before the base infinitive (e.g. You should do it. He should have done it. She should be
doing it. I should have been doing it.);
• does not allow cooccurrence (*she should can come) [3, p. 2; 4, p. 133].
Should can form passives (e.g. This should be done), but Palmer (1990) asserts that they are rare [3,
p. 127].
When used in direct speech, should then remains unchanged in reported speech [6, p. 510], e.g. «I
should not lie to her,» I thought. —> I thought I should not lie to her. Apart from reported speech,
however, should is not used to refer to the past [3, p. p. 43; 6, p. 510] and is substituted by to be
supposed to.
The past form of should takes the shape of Should + perfect infinitive: e.g. He should have done it
yesterday.
According to Online Etymology Dictionary, formally, should is the past tense of shall and originates from
an Old English verb of Germanic origin, sceal (present) / sceolde (past) [7]. However, in contemporary
English they function as two different verbs [3, p. 43-44].
2.3 Phonology
Should has a strong /ʃʊd/ and a weak /ʃəd/ form, the latter being used in an unstressed position in
connected speech. On the sentence level, should is unstressed in positive sentences and special
questions:
- I should go. —> / ‘aiʃəd’gəʊ /
- What should I do? —> /‘wɔʔʃədai’du:/
In negative sentences and general questions, however, should carried the stress:
- You shouldn’t go there. —> /jə’ʃʊdnʔ’gəʊðeə/
- Should I do it? —> /‘ʃʊdai’duit/
3
METHODOLOGY
Based on the needs analysis of a sample group, in this section I will now explore the most common
issues that English learners face when studying the modal should. The group where the needs analysis
was conducted via a grammar test and an interview comprised 17 learners (n=17) all of whom had
previously been placed as pre-intermediate learners. All were L1 Turkish speakers. Below I list the
issues that came up and provide broader context for discussion grounded in EFL / ESL research.
3.1 Use & Meaning
3.1.1 Using Must for Advice instead of Should
As shown by Hatipoğlu (2018):, learners struggle with modals in general because their use depends
heavily on culture, context, topic and discourse [8, p. 960]. Indeed, despite its relatively simple form, the
use of should poses difficulties to Russian learners at both lower and higher levels, as they simply
neglect to use it in speech. The cause of this may lie in the L1 speech culture where verbs of stronger
modality, such as must, are preferred. My assumption is that Turkish learners may have the same
problem. For example, even an advanced Russian-speaking learner of English will often say: *You
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mustn’t watch Titanic, it’s terrible. You must watch Avatar instead. This type of errors tends to disappear
once learners reach CEFR B2.
3.1.2 Confusing shouldn’t, mustn’t and don’t have to
In native Russian speakers interchangeable use of the negative forms of should, must and have to is
quite common even as they reach CEFR C1. This may be the result of L1 interference, as in
contemporary Russian all these meanings are rendered by two synonymous structures, не надо / не
нужно, whose meaning depends entirely on context. Thus, the three phrases below,
- You don’t have to bring your laptop (you can the computers in the lab).
- You shouldn’t bring your laptop (it’s heavy, and we’re going for a walk after the class).
- You mustn’t bring your laptop (it will definitely be stolen).
are translated in Russian in the same way (Не надо / не нужно приносить ноутбук).
3.2 Form
Russian learners at lower levels (up until CEFR B1) often use to-infinitives after should (e.g. *You should
to do it), which is likely to result from confusing it with the structure of another commonly used modal,
have to (the same problem occurs frequently with *must to and *can to).
The form may pose a difficulty for Turkish learners as well, as, according to Kiliic (2013), «although
modality exists in Turkish, it is not as clearly marked as it is in English. Since there are no modal
auxiliaries in Turkish like the ones in English, modality is usually marked on the main verb» [9, p. 5]. In
Turkish, modality is rendered by means of suffixation. The suffixes «cannot be separated from the
predicates (verbs / nouns / adjectives) which have final position but English modals and auxiliaries are
used as separate words as the modal -malı in Turkish which is equivalent to should in English: Onunla
konuşmalısın —> him + to (-a) + talk + modal (should) (-malı)+ personal suffix (you) (you should talk to
him).,» as demonstrated by Abushihab (2012) [10, p. 241].
3.3 Phonology
Swan points out that «the sheer mechanics of the English forms, with their contractions and neutralised
vowels, cause a great deal of trouble» [11, p. 220]. Indeed, in my experience, even advanced learners
tend to use the full form instead of weak in connected speech. Moreover, as Russian L1 speakers do
not differentiate [ʊ] and [u] will often use the longer vowel, e.g. *[ʃu:d], *[ʃu:dnt].
On sentence level, learners tend to pause between Subject and should, and then put excessive stress
on the modal, e.g. You … —> should call him first. This is caused by the lack of fluency and the need to
decide on the right verb.
4
RESULTS & DISCUSSION
In this section I will outline a number of activities and classroom practices that can help teachers
overcome the learner issues mentioned above.
4.1 Raising Awareness: use the Language from the Text approach
It is important to raise the students’ awareness by having them notice how should is used in a text, oral
or written, as one of the issues is learners’ neglecting to use it at all. For example, the following
procedure may be helpful: learners are presented with a text where they have to spot instances of should
for advice. The task is to write out structures that match synonymous sentences on a separate handout.
For example, the sentence “I think it’s a good idea to stay at home and study for the test” is matched
with the phrase “I think we should stay at home…”, and the sentence “My advice to you is not to speak
with your parents like that” is matched with “You really shouldn’t speak to your parents like that”.
This activity fosters inductive learning by pushing learners to focus on the details and work out the
meaning from context, which leads to better retention. The exercise uses context that is familiar to the
learners’, which facilitates understanding as students focus on the new language and are not distracted
by unfamiliar vocabulary. It allows the teacher to avoid using translation to explain the meaning of the
modal, as it will inevitable lead to confusion.
0207
4.2 Controlled Practice: Focus on Meaning via ‘fill the gap’ exercises
Higher level students often confuse various modal verbs because of the vagueness of some of their
meanings. Innovations Advanced [12, p. 24] suggests an activity where students fill the gaps in
sentences with a variety of modal verbs, should / shouldn’t, could, must, etc. (see Figure 1). The choice
between the verbs is based on the context of the sentence in the exercise and the bigger context of the
listening activity they have done before. Students work individually and then compare their answers with
partners.
Fill-in-the-gaps activities may seem boring and de-personalised. However, if the gapped sentences
contain enough context, they do expose students to more contextualised target language. This helps
deepen their understanding of the concept.
Figure 1. Innovations Advanced.
4.3 Address the phonology
To address the phonology issues, drilling appears to be the most effective approach. New English File
Pre-Intermediate [13, p. 71] offers a listening exercise where learners start by listening several short
sentences with should and are tasked with marking the stressed and unstressed words. It is followed by
drilling the sentences as students repeat after the recording (see Figure 2):
Figure 2. New English File Pre-Intermediate.
Drilling is often overlooked because of its perceived boredom, but intonation plays a vital role in real-life
communication. Therefore, students need to be exposed to typical models of the aural form. Apart from
the students$"own pronunciation skills it improves their listening skills. In groups that are easily bored,
the teacher may model the sentences instead of the recording, varying the pitch and tone of the voice
(e.g. alternating normal level of volume with whispering).
0208
4.4 Focus on Written Production via Freer Practice
As suggested in New English File Pre-Intermediate [13, p. 71], students read four forum postings where
people ask their online friends for advice. Students then create a short written response to one of the
texts (whichever they identify with the most). An alternative for stronger students would be to first write
a posting of their own based on the model and then have a partner create a response to it. Finally,
students compare their written responses in groups and decide on the best advice (see Figure 3):
Figure 3. New English File Pre-Intermediate.
In real life people use should for advice in written and oral communication alike. This activity presents
students with an authentic context which allows them to personalise the task (by acting as experts),
which ensures their involvement in the procedure. It encourages individual work but allows to follow it
up by collaboration when students compare and discuss their written product with peers.
5
CONCLUSIONS
Being a relatively widely-used modal verb that denotes obligation, duty, probability, predictions,
unfulfilled actions and obligations, as well as a number of other meanings, the modal Should is usually
introduced to learners at lower levels. It also seems to be a good starting point to introduce lower-level
learners to the modal verbs system of English, due to its relatively simple form and a fairly
straightforward range of meaning. The common learner issues associated with mastering the use of the
modal Should include: (1) use and meaning mistakes, such as using Must for advice instead of Should;
(2) confusion resulting from the negative forms of Shouldn’t, Mustn’t and Don’t have to; (3) form and
phonology mistakes. Some of the suggestions that EFL / ESL teachers can resort to in order to avoid
the pitfalls include: (1) using the language from the text approach to raise the learners’ awareness; (2)
focus on meaning rather than form when doing gap-fill exercises; (3) choosing written rather than oral
production for freer practice.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author would like to thank Dr. Tom Godfrey (International Training Institute, Istanbul, Turkey) for his
invaluable comments on the Cambridge Delta Language Systems background essay which laid the
foundation for this paper.
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REFERENCES
[1]
G. Leech, "Modality on the move: the English modal auxiliaries 1961-1992" in Modality in
contemporary English (eds. R. Facchinetti, M. Krug and F. Palmer), 223-240, Berlin/New York:
Mouton de Gruyter, 2003.
[2]
B. Aarts, S. Wallis, J. Bowie, University College London Projects, Profiling the English Verb
Phrase over Time: Modal Patterns, 2011. Retrieved from https://www.ucl.ac.uk/englishusage/projects/verb-phrase/ModalPatternsDraftMay2011.pdf 02 July 2019.
[3]
F.R. Palmer, Modality and the English Modals. Routledge, 1990.
[4]
S. Thornbury, An A-Z of ELT. Macmillan Books for Teachers, 2006.
[5]
G. Yule, Explaining English Grammar. Oxford University Press, 1998.
[6]
M. Swan, Practical English Usage. Oxford University Press, 2005.
[7]
Online Etymology Dictionary, Accessed 02 July 2019. Retrieved from
https://www.etymonline.com/word/shall#etymonline_v_23330
[8]
Ç. Hatipoğlu,, S. Algı, "Catch a tiger by the toe: Modal hedges in EFL argumentative paragraphs,"
Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, vol. 18, 957–982, 2018.
[9]
V. Kiliic, "A contrastive study of Turkish and English modality with reference to speech act theory,"
Dialectologia, vol. 10, 1-22, 2013.
[10]
I. Abushihab, "Syntactic contrastive analysis of Turkish and English", Dacoromania, serie nouă, vol.
17, no. 2, 230–244, 2012.
[11]
M. Swan, Smith, B. Learner English. Cambridge University Press, 2002.
[12]
H. Dellar, A. Walkley, Innovations Advanced. A course in natural English. Thomson ELT, 2007.
[13]
C. Oxenden, C. Latham-Koenig, P. Seligson, New English File Pre-Intermediate. Oxford University
Press, 2005.
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