The “Permission/Possibility/Ability” Modals in Malaysian English Textbooks: A Corpus-Based Analysis

Abstract

In Malaysia, one of the most fundamental language inputs received in the classroom by learners is a textbook (Nooreen, Arshad 2005). However, the prescribed Malaysian English language textbooks used in schools are often reported as being prepared through a process of material development involving intuition and assumption (Mukundan 2004; Mukundan, Roslim 2009; Mukundan, Khojasteh 2011). As a result of using intuition, one argument is that the existing textbooks lack a broad empirical basis. Ultimately, the manner through which materials are presented by the textbooks and learnt by the students is of prime importance.