Leonzini, L. (2015) Teacher, learners and corpus linguistics: cross-analysing modality in the language of editorials and developing writing skills. In Innovation in Methodology and Practice in Language Learning: Experiences and Proposals for University Language Centres, Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 158-183 ISBN 978-1-4438-8015-2.

ABSTRACT This paper describes the application of a corpus-based approach to teaching English for specific and academic purposes. I discuss the pedagogical implications that corpus investigation may have for language learning and language teaching processes. The specific focus of this paper is on modality which, both in epistemic and deontic verbal expression, is identified and analysed in a corpus of 67 editorial articles from The Economist. In order to develop learners’ persuasion-based writing skills, the unequivocally momentous role that modality plays in newspaper editorials is highlighted; particular attention is paid to the modal expressions used by journalists to communicate their personal concerns over and dis/agreement with specific issues, and to influence the reader’s opinion. Keywords: corpus investigation, language learning, epistemic modality, deontic modality, The Economist.