Volume 2, Issue 1 April 2019, pp. 32–46 
Regular Articles
An investigation of learners' use of CAN and COULD
Lauren Whitty 
1
1 Victoria University of Wellington, NEW ZEALAND 
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29140/ajal.v2n1.116
Abstract
CAN and COULD have multiple uses and multiple interpretations which can be difficult for learners of English to understand. For example, the difference of Can you help me? and Could you help me? may go unnoticed to an English language learner, but a native speaker of English would recognise a difference in politeness. The current paper reports on an investigation of learners' use of the modal auxiliaries CAN and COULD, including their negative counterparts (cannot/can't and could not/couldn't), in an English Proficiency Program (EPP) classroom at a New Zealand University. Through first examining the learners' use of CAN and COULD in spoken and written contexts, comparisons are made to their use in the British National Corpus, which results in the identification of areas in which learners' use could be strengthened.
Copyright
© Lauren Whitty
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Suggested citation
Whitty, L. (2019). An investigation of learners' use of CAN and COULD. Australian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2(1), 32–46. https://doi.org/10.29140/ajal.v2n1.116
Related Articles:
Beginning again
Glenn Stockwell
Australian Journal of Applied Linguistics Published: 1 April, 2018, Volume 1(1), 1–2. 
Insights from replication on the factors affecting task engagement in mobile-based learning activities
Glenn Stockwell
Technology in Language Teaching and Learning Published: 28 June, 2019, Volume 1(1), 33–51.
Syntactical and lexical development in NNS-NNS Asynchronous CMC
Glenn Stockwell
The JALT CALL Journal Published: 31 December, 2005, Volume 1(3), 33–49.
Investigating an intelligent system for vocabulary learning through reading
Glenn Stockwell
The JALT CALL Journal Published: 31 December, 2013, Volume 9(3), 259–274.
Review of Developing writing skills for IELTS: A research-based approach
Hassan Mohebbi
Australian Journal of Applied Linguistics Published: 28 April, 2021, Volume 4(1), 34–36.
Making global knowledge accessible to EFL speakers of an undergraduate leadership program through a flipped and ubiquitous learning environment
Nobue Tanaka-Ellis, Sachiyo Sekiguchi
Technology in Language Teaching and Learning Published: 28 June, 2019, Volume 1(1), 3–20.
Encouraging autonomy through the use of a social networking system
Adrian Leis
The JALT CALL Journal Published: 30 April, 2014, Volume 10(1), 69–80.
Exploring EFL teachers’ professional identity development in a CALL teacher preparation program
Hussein Meihami, Rajab Esfandiari
The JALT CALL Journal Published: 25 August, 2021, Volume 17(2), 135–157.
(Re)imagining a course in language and intercultural communication for the 21st century
Adriana Raquel Díaz, Paul J. Moore
Intercultural Communication Education Published: 29 December, 2018, Volume 1(3), 83–99.
Reframing and hospicing mobility in higher education: Challenges and possibilities
Adriana Raquel Díaz, Marisa Cordella, Samantha Dispray, Barbara E. Hanna, Anna Mikhaylova
Intercultural Communication Education Published: 19 April, 2021, Volume 4(1), 106–121.