Cover not available

Article published In: Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts
Vol. 1:1 (2015) ► pp.27–48

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Translanguaging aspects of modality

Teaching perspectives through parallel data

 | National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Published online: 30 March 2015
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ttmc.1.1.02sid
This article explores aspects of modal marker use in English and Greek and suggests that parallel data may significantly contribute to raising learners’ intercultural sensitivity in the FL classroom, as an instance of TOLC (Translation in Other Language Contexts). Parallel data seem to assume a dynamic potential (privileging learner autonomy and developing self-study skills), which other traditional approaches to the use of the modal system lack, leaving important aspects of cross-cultural variation out of the perspective of the learner. The study focuses on two aspects of intercultural variation in the use of the modal systems of English and Greek, namely shifting degrees of possibility-certainty and the shift across epistemic-deontic, as manifested through a 2013–2014 sample of parallel data from newspapers. It offers a set of sample exercises highlighting the potential of translation to contribute valuable insights to L2/additional language learning (ALL) and syllabus design, assuming an ecological ethic in acknowledging the primacy of context, including L1, especially if L1 is a less widely spoken language.
References (56)
Ansaldo, Umberto. 2010. “Identity Alignment and Language Creation in Multilingual Communities.” Language Sciences 32(6): 615–623. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baker, Mona. 2011. In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bash, Leslie. 2014. “The Globalization of Fear and Construction of the Intercultural Imagination.” Intercultural Education 25 (2): 77–84. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bednarek, Monika. 2007. “Epistemological Positioning and Evidentiality in English News Discourse: A Text-Driven Approach.” Text & Talk - An Interdisciplinary Journal of Language, Discourse Communication Studies 26 (6): 635–660. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bella, Spyridoula. 2012. “Pragmatic Development in a Foreign Language: A Study of Greek FL Requests.” Journal of Pragmatics 441: 1917–1947. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bonyadi, Alireza. 2011. “Linguistic Manifestations of Modality in Newspaper Editorials.” International Journal of Linguistics 3 (1): 1–13. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brown, Penelope, and Stephen Levinson. 1978/1987. Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cuenca, Maria-Josep, and Maria-Josep Marín. 2012. “Discourse Markers and Modality in Spoken Catalan: The Case of (És) Clar.” Journal of Pragmatics 441: 2211–2225. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dean, Gay, and John Roe. 1989. Develop Your Grammar 4 (Teachers’ Book, Greek text by Maria Zaphiropoulou, Zoe Zaphiropoulou, and Mariana Desipri). Limassol: Burlington Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
de Haan, Ferdinand. 2006. “Typological Approaches to Modality.” In The Expression of Modality, ed. by William Frawley, Erin Eschenroeder, Sarah Mill, and Thao Nguyen, 27–69. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1999. “Evidentiality and Epistemic Modality: Setting Boundaries.” Southwest Journal of Linguistics 181: 83–101.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Delanty, Gerard. 2006. “The Cosmopolitan Imagination: Critical Cosmopolitanism and Social Theory.” The British Journal of Sociology 57 (1): 25–47 Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Efstathiadi, Lia. 2010. “The Use of Epistemic Markers as a Means of Hedging and Boosting in the Discourse of L1 and L2 Speakers of Modern Greek: A Corpus-based Study in Informal Letter-Writing.” Themes in Science and Technology Education 3 (1-2): 181–206.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fang, Jing, Zhongwei Song, and Canzhong Wu. 2008. “What May Be Hidden behind a Translator’s Choices: A Comparative Analysis of Two Translations of The Art of War .” In Systemic Functional Linguistics in Use. Odense Working Papers in Language and Communication Vol. 291, ed. by Nina Nørgaard, 283–306. Odense: University of Southern Denmark. [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Garzone, Giuliana. 2013. “Variation in the Use of Modality in Legislative texts: Focus on shall .” Journal of Pragmatics 571: 68–81. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gibson, Melissa Leigh, and Carl A. Grant. 2012. “Toward a ‘Paideia of the Soul’: Education to Enrich America’s Multicultural Democracy.” Intercultural Education 23 (4): 313–324. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
González-Davies, Maria. 2014. “Towards a Plurilingual Development Paradigm: From Spontaneous to Informed Use of Translation in Additional Language Learning.” The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 8 (1): 8–31. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gorski, Paul C. 2008. “Good Intentions Are not Enough: A Decolonizing Intercultural Education.” Intercultural Education 19 (6): 515–525. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gottlieb, Henrik. 2006. “Kirsten Malmkjær: Linguistics and the Language of Translation. Edinburgh University Press, 2005.” Applied Linguistics 27 (4): 757–759. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gundara, Jagdish S. 2014. “Global and Civilisational Knowledge: Eurocentrism, Intercultural Education and Civic Engagement.” Intercultural Education 25 (2): 114–127. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Halliday, M.A.K. 1976. “Modality and Modulation in English.” In Halliday: System and Function in Language, ed. by Gunther Kress, 189–213. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1978. Language as Social Semiotic: The Social Interpretation of Language and Meaning. Baltimore: University Park Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Halliday, M.A.K., and Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen. 2004. An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Hodder Arnold.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hammer, Mitchell R., Milton J. Bennett, and Richard Wiseman. 2003. “Measuring Intercultural Sensitivity: The Intercultural Development Inventory.” International Journal of Intercultural Relations 271: 421–443. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Heywood, Andrew. 1997/2002/2007. Politics. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2006/2009. Εισαγωγή στην Πολιτική (Isagogi stin Politiki) [Orig. Politics]. Translated by G. Karabelas. Athens: Polis Editions.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hill, Jimmie, Rosalyn Hurst, Michael Lewis, Celia Blissett, and Katherine Hallgarten. 1989/1990. Grammar and Practice with Answer Key. London: Language Teaching Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hofstede, Geert, and Gert Jan Hofstede. 2005. Cultures and Organisations - Software of the Mind. New York: McGraw Hill.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Holmes, Janet. 1988. “Doubt and Certainty in ESL Textbooks.” Applied Linguistics 9 (1): 21–44. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
House, Juliane. 2009. Translation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
James, Carl. 1998. Errors in Language Learning and Use. London: Pearson.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kontos, Petros, and Maria Sidiropoulou. 2012. “Political Routines in Press Translation.” In Journalism and Translation, ed. by Roberto Valdeón, special issue of Meta 57 (4): 1013–1028.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Koutsantoni, Dimitra. 2005. “Certainty across Cultures: A Comparison of the Degree of Certainty Expressed by Greek and English Speaking Scientific Authors.” Intercultural Pragmatics 2 (2): 121–149. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kramsch, Claire. 2008. “Ecological Perspectives on Foreign Language Education.” Language Teaching 41 (3): 389–408. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Laviosa, Sara. 2014. Translation and Language Education: Pedagogic Approaches Explored. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lock, Graham. 1996. Functional English Grammar: An Introduction for Second Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Malmkjær, Kirsten. 2005. Linguistics and the Language of Translation. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Manika, Evangelia. 2006. The Use of English Modal Verbs by EFL Learners in Greek State Schools. PhD diss. National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
Marmaridou, Sofia. 1994. “Conceptual Metaphor in Greek Financial Discourse.” In Themes in Greek Linguistics: Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, ed. by Irene Philippaki-Warburton, Katerina Nikolaidis L., and Mary Sifianou, 247–252. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mortelmans, Tanja. 2012. “Epistemic MUST and its Cognates in German and Dutch. The Subtle Differences.” Journal of Pragmatics 441: 2150–2164. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Palmer, Frank. 1979. Modality and the English Modals. London: Longman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1986. Mood and Modality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rocci, Andrea. 2012. “Modality and Argumentative Discourse Relations: A Study of the Italian Necessity Modal Dovere .” Journal of Pragmatics 441: 2129–2149. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sidiropoulou, Maria. 2004. Linguistic Identities through Translation. Amsterdam: Rodopi.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2008. “Cultural Encounters in Advertisement Translation.” Journal of Modern Greek Studies 26 (2): 337–362. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sidiropoulou, Maria, and Spyronikolas Hoidas. 2014. “Metaphorical Conceptualizations of Vertical and Horizontal Space in English Press Articles and their Greek Translations.” Across Languages and Cultures 15 (2): 177–197. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sidiropoulou, Maria, and Efpraxia Tsapaki. 2014. “Conceptualizations across English-Greek Parallel Press Data: A Foreign Language Teaching Perspective.” In Translation in the Language Classroom: Theory, Research and Practice, ed. by Sara Laviosa, special issue of Interpreter and Translator Trainer 8 (1): 32–51.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sifianou, Mary. 1992. Politeness Phenomena in England and Greece. Oxford: Clarendon.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sleeter, Christine E. 2014. “Multiculturalism and Education for Citizenship in a Context of Neoliberalism.” Intercultural Education 25 (2): 85–94. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Takimoto, Masato, and Hiroko Hashimoto. 2010. “An ‘Eye-Opening’ Learning Experience: Language Learning through Interpreting and Translation.” Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 7 (1): 86–95.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tarozzi, Massimiliano. 2014. “Building an Intercultural ‘Ethos’ in Teacher Education.” Intercultural Education 25 (2): 128–142. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tymoczko, Maria. 1998. “Computerized Corpora and the Future of Translation Studies.” In L’Approche Basée sur le Corpus/The Corpus-based Approach, ed. by Sara Laviosa, special issue of Meta 43 (4): 652–660.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Weigl, Robert C. 2009. “Intercultural Competence through Cultural Self-Study: A Strategy for Adult Learners.” International Journal of Intercultural Relations 33 (4): 346–360. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Järvinen, Heini-Marja. 2009. “What Has Ecology to Do with CLIL? An Ecological Approach in Content and Language Integrated Learning.” In CLIL Practice: Perspectives from the Field, ed. by David Marsh, Peeter Mehisto, Dieter Wolff, Rosa Aliaga, Tuula Asikainen, Maria-Jesús Frigols-Martin, Sue Hughes, and Gisella Langé, 164–171. CCN: University of Jyväskylä, Finland. [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sweetser, Eve E. 1982. “Root and Epistemic Modals: Causality in Two Worlds.” The Annual Proceedings of the Berkeley Linguistics Society online via eLanguage, the Linguistic Society of America’s digital publishing platform. 484–507. [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (7)

Cited by seven other publications

Papakonstantinou, Vasiliki
2024. Teaching cross-cultural pragmatics through AVT. Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts 10:3 ► pp. 318 ff. DOI logo
Dell’Oro, Francesca
2023. The Digital Tool Pygmalion and its Interactive Maps: Visualising Modal Verbs in the Classroom. Recherche et pratiques pédagogiques en langues de spécialité - Cahiers de l'APLIUT Vol. 42 N°1 DOI logo
Pan, Jun, Billy Tak Ming Wong & Honghua Wang
2023. Investigating the Chinese and English Language Proficiency of Tertiary Students in Hong Kong: Insights from a Student Translation Corpus. In Corpora and Translation Education [New Frontiers in Translation Studies, ], ► pp. 171 ff. DOI logo
Sidiropoulou, Maria
2021. Im/politeness in Translated Academic Discourse. In Understanding Im/politeness Through Translation [Advances in (Im)politeness Studies, ], ► pp. 53 ff. DOI logo
Sidiropoulou, Maria
2021. Im/Politeness in Translated Press Discourse. In Understanding Im/politeness Through Translation [Advances in (Im)politeness Studies, ], ► pp. 23 ff. DOI logo
Sidiropoulou, Maria
2021. Im/Politeness and Translation: Concluding Remarks. In Understanding Im/politeness Through Translation [Advances in (Im)politeness Studies, ], ► pp. 167 ff. DOI logo
Sidiropoulou, Maria
2021. Im/Politeness, Fiction and AVT. In Understanding Im/politeness Through Translation [Advances in (Im)politeness Studies, ], ► pp. 137 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 21 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue