Exploring the Difficulties of Using English Modal Auxiliaries among the Tertiary Level Students

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate the difficulties encountered by the university second year students at Sudan University of Science and Technology in using the English Modals in writing and their ability in differentiating between these verbs in terms of their syntactic functions. The researcher used the descriptive analytical approach to describe the data collected via using a test given to the second level students at SudanUniversity, College of Languages.The sample was sixty students. The sample of this study was chosen randomly. The study used the SPSS to analyze the data. The study found out that the majority of the students were unable to use the modal English verbs correctly and theyare confusedby some of these verbs. It also found that, the students could not differentiate between the functions of some modal verbs. As a result of such findings, the researcher recommended that the students should read more grammar patterns especially in the case of auxiliaries and verbs to identify the use of modals in different contexts. As well as presenting some suggestions for the teachers and syllabus designers to conduct training sessions concerning the ways of teaching English modal verbs.