Los verbos modales ingleses : organización en contexto oracional libre y restringido

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study the cognitive organization which native and nonnative speakers of English present with regard to modal verbs in English This was inferred from the semantic networks, obtained with the Pathfinder procedure (Schvaneveldt 1990; Schvaneveldt, Durso and Dearholt, 1989; Schvaneveldt, Durso, Goldsmith, Breen, Cooke, Tucker and De Maio 1985; Thompson, Gomez and Schvaneveldt, 2000), of two groups of subjects (native and non-native speakers of English) in a task dealing with modal verbs in a limited sentential context and with another task: a multiple choice test containing modal verbs in a free sentential context (Leech and Svartvik, 1975). The results of this investigation show context (limited / free) as a help for a better conceptual understanding, which make students more similar to native speakers in their command of modal verbs. Context is also considered as an important factor to gain knowledge on subjects cognitiveorganization, which is useful to teach this lexical group in a more effective way.