Factors determining the development of modality in advanced l2 speech – a longitudinal study

The article discusses the results of a longitudinal study of how modality, as an aspect of spoken discourse competence of selected thirteen advanced students of English, developed throughout their three-year English as a Foreign Language tertiary education. The study investigated possible factors determining the development of three aspects of modality: (1) epistemic modality, (2) specific modality, that is those modality expressions that are both characteristic of natural English discourse or are underrepresented in L2 discourse, and (3) modality diversity. The analysis was carried out in relation to a number of variables, including two reference levels, one represented in English native discourse and the other observed in teacher talk in actual Practical English classes, language type exposure, as registered by the subjects of the study on a weekly basis.