How to Teach Modals of Possibility/Probability/Deduction
27th July 2013 by Alex CaseModals like âIt must have been the CIAâ and âIt canât really be Elvis!â are so much fun that many teachers already spend too much classroom time on this point. However, that doesnât mean that this grammar point is necessarily well taught, and many classes could benefit from more emphasis on typical student confusions, pronunciation and related forms before moving on to classic activities like guessing ambiguous pictures. The practice stage could also be made more useful by adding less controlled and so therefore at least slightly more realistic speaking tasks.
Typical student confusions when studying and using these kinds of modals include:
- Trying to use âcanâ as the opposite of âcanâtâ and/or âmustnâtâ as the opposite of âmustâ, perhaps because those are the opposites when the verbs have different meanings (e.g. âI can ride a bikeâ/âI canât ride a bikeâ)
- Thinking âcouldâ and âmightâ must have past meanings
- Confusions between âmustâ and âwillâ
- Trying to use âbeâ in all sentences (often because the form is taught as âmust have beenâ etc rather than âmust + have + PPâ)
- Trying to use âshouldâ and âwouldâ in context where it isnât possible
âShouldâ does actually have this meaning, as indeed do all true modals, but it is much more limited in use. In most practice activities âThat should be some kind of birdâ and âAliens should have landed hereâ would be wrong, so it is usually best to ignore this form. This leaves, in approximate order of certainty:
- must
- may/might
- could
- canât
Iâve seen quite a few lists that put âcouldâ higher than âmight/mayâ but I would argue that âIt cooooooouldâ with extreme intonation to show more doubt is more common than âIt miiiiiiiightâ and âIt maaaaaaaayâ. Varying the level of certainty in this way is a pronunciation point which is well worth teaching, and something that means it is usually best to avoid putting percentages on each verb as some books do.
You can also show the level of “could” with a look at the useful area of collocations with these verbs. I would also argue that âcould possiblyâ is a more natural collocation than âmight possiblyâ and âmay possiblyâ, with the more certain âmight wellâ and âmay wellâ being more natural than âcould wellâ. The collocations âreally mustâ and âreally canâtâ are also worth teaching.
A fuller list with variations of pronunciation and collocations could include:
- REALLY MUST
- really must
- must
- may well/might well
- may/might
- could
- could possibly
- coooooould poooooossibly
- canât
- really canât
I often get students to put such expressions into a graded list in just this way as a discovery approach to presenting the language, with example sentences spoken by the teacher or on a CD helping them use the doubtful or sure intonation to check their answers. Lower-level classes might not need all the collocations, but I do âcooooouldâ with all classes and âREALLY MUSTâ with most as a way into the very important pronunciation point. All classes also get additional expressions which are not modal verbs but are always needed for communicative activities that get students to make deductions. All my classes get âprobablyâ, as it fills a vital gap between âmay/mightâ and âmustâ. Most also get âalmost certainlyâ, with the negative forms âprobably notâ and âalmost certainly notâ also being useful. Higher-level classes also get âwillâ to give me a chance to clear up the confusion that both âmustâ and âwillâ basically mean 100%, but with the former being according to my logic and the latter seen as a fact. To help with this, after they try to put the expressions into order I sometimes give classes a ranking sheet with hints like this:
1. ITâS A FACT!
2. Itâs a fact.
3. IâM SURE!
4. Iâm sure.
with the answers being âwill definitelyâ, âwillâ, âREALLY MUSTâ and âmustâ.
As well as presenting modals as part of a general lesson on speculating, you can also do so as part of a lesson on hedging/generalising, e.g. giving students statements like âTV has no futureâ to make it more realistic.
Higher-level classes might also benefit from a whole lesson on different grammar of modal verbs depending on their meaning, e.g. that âcouldnâtâ is the past of âI canât speak Spanishâ but âcanât have beenâ is the past of âIt canât be the right thing to doâ.
Practising modals of possibility/probability/deduction
FCE Speaking tasks with pictures, especially Speaking Part Two, are really good for this point. In that task, students compare two pictures that theyâve never seen before and therefore need to say things like âThis could be a lake too, but itâs probably the seaâ. To emphasise this language point, you can get them to speculate on one picture before you show them the second one to compare with it. Another way of doing that is to give two groups one of the two photos each to speculate on, then put them in pairs to find the similarities and differences without showing the pictures to each other, insisting on speculating language at that stage too.
Itâs also possible to make discussion questions similar to FCE Speaking Parts One and Four (and the similar IELTS Speaking Parts One and Three) such as âWho was your favourite teacher at school? Do you think they enjoyed their job?â and âWhat are your predictions for the future of this city?â