Assess1 the english modal “can” and its vietnamese counterpart“có thể” 2018

Since the modality is frequently utilized in daily encounters to indicate cooperative politeness and reduce threatening acts, I decided to review the article The English Modal can and Its Vietnamese. Review the modal verb can and its counterpart có thể in Vietnamese

Since the modality is frequently utilized in daily encounters to

indicate cooperative politeness and reduce threatening acts, I decided to

review the article The English Modal "can" and Its Vietnamese Counterpart

"có thể" by To Minh Thanh The author has compared and contrasted the spectrum of distinctive meanings delivered by the modal verb "can" in

English and Vietnamese, revealing intriguing insights about

second-language learning and cross-cultural communication "Có thể" is only one

of many ways to translate the English modal "can" into Vietnamese,

besides a wide range of its counterparts, including "được," "mới…được,"

"có thể…được," "có thể sẽ," and so on The author highlighted this

variation to better illustrate the similarities and differences between the two languages, and advocate the non-English-speaking learners' attempt

to overcome challenges, confusion, and lack of confidence when

translating or interpreting

The purpose of Minh Thanh's article aligns well with the practical need for Contrastive Linguistics According to Zabrocki (1980), the study

of contrastive data suggests solutions and further findings into

contemporary linguistics problems, especially when more than one

language should be considered better to investigate the analytical

evidence (Zabrocki, 1980) Similarly, To Minh Thanh, via his focus on

research modality, proved that the English modal "can" can have

distinctive meanings when translated into Vietnamese The discoveries of Minh Thanh helped to advance general linguistics, which include cross-cultural appropriation To further explore how "can" can be employed for various objectives, he enumerated five main references that "can" be translated into Vietnamese, each of which was followed by four to seven sub-references As the author noted, all of the examples in this article are

in the active voice and indicative mood, which presented some translation challenges and ambiguities in communication There is variance in this article when Minh Thanh also mentioned about other forms like “Be

Allowed to”, Neither “Can” nor “May”, Used with the Perfect or Infinitive Forms in 4.3.5

The study's scope includes roughly fifty simple declarative

statements, and each meaning of the modal verb "can" in both English and Vietnamese is examined Because the analysis method is based on applied contrast analysis, the author's directions are varied and open to unprecedented findings For example, in section 4.1.4, Minh Thanh

illustrated how "could" – the past-tense form of "can" – referred to a

general ability in the past, occasionally with a regretful or pitiful tone by the speaker Specifically, he started with the communicative situations (a reference to capacity, describe a future ability, describe personal

characteristics, etc.) and further investigates to find the linguistics

correlates between English and Vietnamese in the mentioned situational variable Tying these findings back to Minh Thanh's primary purpose of the article – to help English learners overcome challenges – the audience can easily spot the barrier in translation caused by the lexicalization of

culture-specific concepts and notions These are a few relations that Minh Thanh’s article has in common with topics covered in Ping Ke’s study On that recognition, Ke’study mentioned 5 common features of Modality (M), including negation, tense, mood, aspect, and speaker’s attitude (p.127)

Another notable strength in To's article "The English Modal "can" and Its Vietnamese Counterpart "có thể" is the transparency, un-bias, and

practicality that his research method and findings have, especially in helping his main target audience The scope of 's work, even at a

moderate number, covers arguments and purposes that he mentions in the Abstract section Five dozen declarative sentences have been singled

out, and then the meaning of the model verb "can" is analyzed case by

case, resulting in a list of ways of reference in section 4 – Result of

Research For each finding, the author takes specific, unique, and relevant examples (with different pronouns and different contexts) to best justify his point of argument The bilingual translation Viet-English makes the text globally accessible, targeting a wide range of audiences

Moreover, Minh Thanh’s article is backed up with many credible and relevant citations, with the application of academic terms, making his work up-to-date, practical, and scientifically based Specifically, section 5.3, To points out the inter-lingual difficulties in which English learners express modality in highly distinctive contexts and emotions English and Vietnamese are two parallel linguistic systems; therefore, it is tricky and sophisticated to go back and forth between the two languages The author names this intra-lingual difficulty In addition, there is a wide range of citations from diverse yet credible sources by both Vietnamese and

British/American linguists, showing that the article is unbiased, carefully researched, and contributes to the development of cross-cultural

communication

However, several gaps hinder the success of "The English Modal

"can" and Its Vietnamese Counterpart "có thể." First, Vietnam is a diverse

country with many ethnicities and regional differences, meaning that the

way the locals use the modal verb "can/ có thể" greatly varies

Vietnamese evolves, so the author could have included an insight into

how "can/có thể" has transformed There are also differences between

British English and American English, and the author still needs to cover this distinction Suggesting how the English-learning community can spot and eliminate such errors in modal verb use will make To's writing more practical in literary usage

To Minh Thanh's "The English Modal "can" and Its Vietnamese

Counterpart "có thể" is insightful not only because of the level of detail he

invests in to investigate the multiple functions of the word "có thể," but

also of the contribution to cross-cultural communication The need to study English, and other foreign languages, among young Vietnamese, is increasingly popular; therefore, it is necessary to shed light on obstacles

they encounter, and the modal verb "can" is one of them

REFERENCE

Ke, P (2019) Contrastive Linguistics (Vol 1) Peking University Press.

To, T M (2018) The English Modal “can” and Its Vietnamese Counterpart

“có

thể” International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 6(3), 61–69

https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20180603.12

Zabrocki, T (1980) Theoretical contrastive studies In J Fisiak (Ed.),

Theoretical issues in

contrastive linguistics (pp 43–56) Amsterdam, the Netherlands: John

Benjamins B.V