A Comparison Analysis of Modal Auxiliary Verbs in Technical and General English

Abstract Engineering students should be able to identify, comprehend and accurately use those discourse elements which characterize scientific language. Modality is a complex aspect of the English language for Spanish students due to the differences in expression between Technical and General English in terms of frequency of use and semantic values. Therefore, it is important to present the different uses of modality in context. In this work we present an analysis of modal verbs in Technical and General English based on a corpus. The results will allow us to shed some light on the role played by these verbs in both genres, with special emphasis on their use in technical texts.