Modifiers in BASE and MICASE: A matter of academic cultures or lecturing styles?

Numerous studies have investigated the occurrence of modifiers in a variety of settings, especially academic research writing and casual spoken contexts. This study extends previous research in two ways: (1) it examines pragmatic force modifiers (PFMs) (Lin, 2010 and Nikula, 1996) in lectures in BASE and MICASE in order to reveal their functions specific to the particular genre; (2) it compares and contrasts the frequency and use of PFMs in the corpora and monologic/interactive sub-corpora in an attempt to identify similarities and differences potentially associated with academic cultures and lecturing styles. The results imply that although academic cultures appear to contribute to the distributional patterns of PFMs in the corpora, their functions are primarily dependent on the interplay between generic norms and lecturing styles.

► This study examines modifiers in lectures in BASE and MICASE. ► Academic cultures play a part in the distribution of modifiers. ► The functions of modifiers are dependent on generic norms and lecturing styles. ► This study pinpoints the context-sensitive and multifunctional nature of modifiers.