Problems encountered by English - Majored students at Duy Tan university in using English collocations built on the pattern “I + cognitive non - factive verb and epistemic adverb” for communication

Tran Thi Minh Giang / Tạp chí Khoa học và Công nghệ Đại học Duy Tân 05(42) (2020) 132-145 132 
 Problems encountered by English-majored students at Duy Tan 
university in using English collocations built on the pattern 
“I + cognitive non-factive verb and epistemic adverb” 
for communication 
Những vấn đề sinh viên chuyên ngữ Trường Đại học Duy Tân gặp phải trong việc 
dùng kết ngôn tiếng Anh trong cấu trúc “tôi + kết ngôn giữa động từ phi thực hữu 
và trạng từ nhận thức” trong giao tiếp 
Tran Thi Minh Gianga,b* 
Trần Thị Minh Gianga,b* 
aInstitute of Linguistics, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, 550000, Viet Nam 
aViện Ngôn ngữ, Trường Đại học Duy Tân, Đà Nẵng, Việt Nam 
bFaculty of English, Duy Tan University, Danang 550000, Viet Nam 
bKhoa Tiếng Anh, Trường Đại học Duy Tân, Đà Nẵng, Việt Nam 
 (Ngày nhận bài: 28/5/2020, ngày phản biện xong: 11/9/2020, ngày chấp nhận đăng: 30/9/2020) 
Abstract 
This study aims at examining the problems that English-majored students at Duy Tan University in Da Nang, Viet Nam 
encounter in the use of the English pattern “I + Cognitive Non-factive Verb + Epistemic Adverb”. The pattern is herein 
referred to as “I + CNFV and EA” for short. The participants of the research were 162 English-majored students and 2 
lecturers of English who specialize in English speaking skill teaching at Faculty of English, Duy Tan University. The 
students were asked to give answers to a questionnaire. The teachers were invited to participate in semi-structured 
interviews on their students’ knowledge of the “I + CNFV and EA” and on the problems that students are likely to 
encounter in using this pattern in communication. The findings showed that most of the students did not or rarely used 
this English pattern. They could not communicate successfully via this type of collocation since they were not fully 
aware of the usages and the effectiveness brought about by “I + CNFV and EA” for conveying such pragmatic features 
as decreasing complaining/admonishing, giving counselling, and reducing boasting. On account of this, it is hereby 
expected that the article will provide readers with some understanding of recognizable problems in using English 
collocations along with the possible tentative solutions that might be offered to the identified problems. 
Key words: Cognitive non-factive verbs; epistemic adverbs; collocations, modality; problems. 
Tóm tắt 
Nghiên cứu này nhằm tìm hiểu những vấn đề mà sinh viên chuyên ngữ Trường Đại học Duy Tân gặp phải trong việc 
dùng những kết ngôn tiếng Anh trong cấu trúc “Tôi + những kết ngôn giữa động từ phi thực hữu và trạng từ nhận thức”. 
Tham gia nghiên cứu này là 162 sinh viên chuyên ngữ và 2 giảng viên dạy kỹ năng nói tại khoa Tiếng Anh, trường 
*Corresponding Author: Tran Thi Minh Giang; Institute of Linguistics, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, 550000, Viet 
Nam; Faculty of English, Duy Tan University, Danang 550000, Viet Nam.. 
Email: trantminhgiang@duytan.edu.vn 
05(42) (2020) 132-145
Tran Thi Minh Giang / Tạp chí Khoa học và Công nghệ Đại học Duy Tân 05(42) (2020) 132-145 133 
Đại học Duy Tân. Các sinh viên được yêu cầu đưa những câu trả lời cho một bảng câu hỏi. Giảng viên được yêu cầu 
tham gia những cuộc phỏng vấn bán cấu trúc về kiến thức của sinh viên về kết ngôn tiếng Anh này và những vấn đề mà 
sinh viên có thể gặp trong việc sử dụng loại kết ngôn này. Sinh viên hiếm khi hoặc không bao giờ dùng loại kết ngôn 
này vì họ không biết cách dùng và hiệu quả của kết ngôn này mang lại qua những đặc trưng ngữ dụng của nó như giảm 
lời phàn nàn, đưa ra lời khuyên, và giảm sự khoe khoang. Mong rằng bài báo sẽ giúp độc giả nhận ra được các vấn đề 
khi sử dụng kết ngôn này cùng với những giải pháp có thể cho những vấn đề này. 
Từ khóa: Động từ phi thực hữu; trạng từ nhận thức; các kết ngôn; tình thái; những vấn đề. 
1. Introduction 
In linguistics, modality has been one of the 
major concerns among linguists because of its 
complexity and variety. Modality can be seen 
as the soul of the utterance. According to 
Perkins, “Doing research on modality is very 
similar to trying to move in an overcrowded 
room without treading on anyone else’s feet” 
[41, 4]. There are a lot of lexical devices 
expressing modality such as modal nouns, 
adjectives, adverbs and lexical verbs. 
Combinations of modal lexical devices with 
other elements employable for communication 
have aroused so much interest that Hoye [22, 3] 
claimed “Modal elements frequently combine 
and interact dynamically”. 
Up to now there have been several studies 
on such collocations. However, most of the 
studies so far conducted only focus on the 
theoretical side of modality collocations and 
there have not been any surveys on the actual 
use of these collocations in reality. As a matter 
of fact, employing these collocations for verbal 
interaction is not an easy task for learners of 
English. Therefore, it is useful to conduct a 
mixed-method research consisting of both 
qualitative and quantitative analysis with the 
survey using a questionnaire and semi-
structured interviews and the participation of 
162 English-majored students and two English 
teachers in order to find out the problems 
encountered by learners of English in using 
collocations built upon the pattern “I + 
Cognitive Non-factive Verb and Epistemic 
Adverb” herein referred to as “I + CNFV and 
EA” whereby the epistemic adverb (EA) is 
mobile, i.e. it can occur either initially, 
medially or finally in the collocation. This is 
herein set forth as the major concern of the 
article; and as indicated in the title of the 
article, the scope is narrowed down to the 
problems encountered by English-majored 
students at Duy Tan University in using these 
collocations. 
The study is specifically aimed at (i) 
examining problems that English-majored 
students at Duy Tan University in Da Nang, 
Viet Nam encounter in using “I + CNV and 
EA” collocations for communication and (ii) 
tentatively finding out possible solutions to the 
problems identified. 
In harmony with the specific aims 
mentioned above, the following research 
questions are set forth as further elaborations: 
1. What are the problems encountered by 
English-majored students at Duy Tan 
University in using English “I + CNFV + EA” 
collocations for verbal interaction? 
2. What are the possible tentative solutions 
to the problems identified? 
In reality, the paper used to be presented 
orally in an international convention, 
VietTESOL in October, 2019 in Hue city ; 
however , it has never been published in any 
proceedings or articles so far. Before sending to 
DTU Journal of Science & Technology 
Studies, the paper had been improved better, so 
hopefully it will contribute something useful 
and practical to English language in general and 
learners of English in particular on the use of 
the English modal pattern “I + cognitive non-
Tran Thi Minh Giang / Tạp chí Khoa học và Công nghệ Đại học Duy Tân 05(42) (2020) 132-145 134 
factive verb and epistemic adverb” more 
effectively in daily communication. 
2. Literature review 
There have been research works on 
collocations of modal lexical devices by 
linguists such as McIntosh [32], Lyons [26], 
Coates [11], Perkins [41], Hoye [22], Cappelli 
[7] [8], Vo Dai Quang [52], Tran Thi Minh 
Giang [50] [51], Luu Quy Khuong and Tran 
Thi Minh Giang [28]. 
McIntosh [32] gave a clear and 
comprehensive definition of collocations. Later, 
Lyons [26], Coates [11] and Perkins [41] made 
brief introductions to collocations. Next, Hoye 
[22] conducted a study of modal adverb 
collocations. He found out a marked tendency 
for epistemic modals to attract adverb satellites. 
Then, Cappelli [7] also mentioned modulating 
attitudes via adverbs but she only presented her 
general overview of adverbs co-occurring with 
cognitive verbs. For collocations, Vo Dai 
Quang [52] discussed the possible collocations 
of adverbs and cognitive verbs; however, it is 
just a general introduction. Anyhow, his study 
advocated a basic theoretical ground of 
modality that has inspired us to the appearance 
of our research. Noticeably, Tran Thi Minh 
Giang [50] investigated the harmony between 
adverb satellites and non-factive verbs. Tran 
Thi Minh Giang [51] continued her study on 
the harmony of cognitive non-factive verbs 
immediately followed by epistemic adverbs 
along the line of certainty and possibility 
conveyance. In addition, the study by Luu Quy 
Khuong and Tran Thi Minh Giang [28] makes 
clear one of the pragmatic features inherent in 
English “I + CNFV and EA” collocations: 
speech-act modality with such uses as 
decreasing complaining/admonishing, giving 
counselling, and reducing boasting. 
3. Research Methodology 
3.1. Research participants 
The majority of participants in the study 
were 162 English-majored students from 4 
second year English classes at Duy Tan 
University in Da Nang, Viet Nam (male: 
33.9%; female: 66.1%) in the academic year 
2018-2019. They all are third-year English-
majored students aged between twenty-one to 
twenty-three. These students were asked to give 
answers to a questionnaire. The other 
participants were 2 lecturers of English with 
more than three years of English language 
teaching experience. They were invited to take 
part in semi-structured interviews. 
3.2. Research methods 
As mentioned above, the aims of the study 
are to find out the problems encountered by 
English-majored students at Duy Tan 
University and to tentatively provide some 
possible solutions to the identified problems; 
therefore, a mix-method study was conducted 
along the line of both qualitative and 
quantitative analysis. The survey, by means of 
using a questionnaire and semi-structured 
interviews, was implemented with 162 English-
majored students and 2 English lecturers who 
specialize in speaking skill teaching. Data 
collection, data analysis and presentation of 
findings were conducted in line with 
descriptive research method to make explicit 
the usage frequency of English “I + CNFV and 
EA” collocations used by English-majored 
students at Duy Tan University in Da Nang, 
Viet Nam. 
3.3. Research instruments and contents of the 
questionnaire and the interviews 
The three research instruments employed for 
data collection are a questionnaire, semi-
structured interviews and observation. 
Tran Thi Minh Giang / Tạp chí Khoa học và Công nghệ Đại học Duy Tân 05(42) (2020) 132-145 135 
The questionnaire for students consists of 
two parts: background and content. The former 
is designed to seek students’ background 
information on gender, age, knowledge of the 
English “I + CNFV and EA” collocation type. 
The latter consists of questions on the usage 
frequency of the specified English collocations 
via the use of these three adverbs of frequency: 
often, sometimes, never. 
The semi-structured interviews include two 
main interview questions and other follow-up 
questions. These questions were used to collect 
in-depth information about the problems 
encountered by the students in their classroom 
speaking activities. 
One of the three above-mentioned research 
instruments which is really necessary to 
conduct the study is observation. During the 
speaking classes, all English-majored students 
were under observation in order to find out in 
reality whether the students knew how to use 
the English pattern “I + CNFV and EA 
collocations” and how often they use it in 
communication. 
3.4. Data collection procedure 
The 162 copies of the questionnaire (see 
Appendix B) on students’ background 
information (gender and age) and knowledge of 
the English “I + CNFV and EA” collocation 
type were delivered to the English-majored 
students in the 4 English classes. These 
participants were given fifteen minutes to 
provide their answers to the questionnaire 
before their answers were collected. Another 
source of data came from the answers by the 
two lecturers of English who specialize in 
teaching speaking skills. These two lecturers 
were invited to participate in several 30-minute 
interviews (see Appendix A) on the problems 
the students encountered in their classroom 
speaking activities, and especially these 
interviews were carried out individually in 
Vietnamese and their answers were recorded 
for later analysis. 
4. Theoretical background 
The concepts and issues given in the 
following report on English “I + CNFV and 
EA” collocations, to a large extent, constitute 
the theoretical background for the research. 
4.1. Epistemic adverbs 
Epistemic adverbs are often considered as 
one of the most popular lexical devices 
transmitting modality because, in 
communication, the speaker almost always 
employs them to impart his/her commitment 
and attitudes towards the possibility of the 
states of affairs. This modal meaning embraces 
the propositional content being conveyed in the 
same way as the outer hard part of an oyster 
embraces its inner soft part. According to Biber 
et al. [4], there are three kinds of epistemic 
adverbs: epistemic stance adverbs, attitude 
stance adverbs and style stance adverbs. He 
argued that epistemic stance adverbs often used 
in communication are single word adverbs such 
as certainly, perhaps, probably, possibly, 
maybe, surely, definitely, etc,.For example: 
(1) Perhaps you’ll be hurt just a little in the 
foot. [20, 149] 
(2) That is certainly the simplest 
explanation. [31, 58] 
Luu Quy Khương and Tran Thi Minh Giang 
[27], however, support the division of epistemic 
adverbs into two kinds: assertive epistemic 
modal adverbs such as certainly, surely, 
definitely, clearly and non-assertive epistemic 
modal adverbs such as probably, possibly, 
perhaps, maybe. 
Based on the scale of certainty by Givón 
[15], assertive adverbs can be presented on the 
continuum below: 
Tran Thi Minh Giang / Tạp chí Khoa học và Công nghệ Đại học Duy Tân 05(42) (2020) 132-145 136 
 Surely/Clearly Definitely Certainly 
Figure 1. The scale of certainty expressed by assertive epistemic modal adverbs 
Palmer [39] suggested that epistemic 
modality should involve any modal systems 
indicating the degree of commitment by the 
speaker to what he or she says - the extent to 
which the truth of a proposition is possible. 
Therefore, non-assertive epistemic modal 
adverbs can be described as possibility-based. 
The degree of possibility can be presented as 
follows:
 Maybe / Perhaps Possibly Probably 
Figure 2. The scale of possibility conveyed by non-assertive epistemic modal adverbs 
In this study, epistemic adverbs are also 
classified in accordance with the scale of 
certainty and possibility. Epistemic adverbs are 
divided into two kinds: assertive and non-
assertive epistemic adverbs. 
4.2. Cognitive non-factive verbs 
There are a lot of modal lexical devices as 
modality-expressing means such as modal 
nouns, modal verbs, modal adjectives, and 
modal adverbs. Among them, modal lexical 
verbs are the modal devices with the highest 
frequency of usage in both languages (i.e. 
English and Vietnamese), especially in English 
with 75.11%” (Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy [36, 60]). 
According to Kiparsky [23], modal lexical 
verbs are divided into two main types: factive 
verbs and non-factive verbs. Non-factive verbs 
work as operators to mitigate the commitment 
and bring open-hearted atmosphere to the 
cooperation. In his research, Ngu Thien Hung 
[38] deals with three main types of non-factive 
verbs: (i) cognitive non-factive verbs: believe, 
think, expect, suppose, guess, hope..., (ii) 
perceptive non-factive verbs: look, feel, sound, 
seem, appear... and (iii) reportive non-factive 
verbs: say that, tell, hear, it is said that, etc.... 
Cognitive non-factive verbs do not inform the 
listener or hearer of the subject’s action, but 
show the speaker’s attitude towards the 
propositional content. From the views on 
cognitive non-factive verbs by Palmer [39], 
Thompson & Mulac [49], Halliday [19], and 
Hann [18], it is observed that, syntactically, to 
become a modal lexical device, propositional 
attitude verbs like non-factive verbs must 
satisfy the following distinctive features: 
- The subject is always in the singular first 
person. 
- The verb is in simple present tense. 
- Adverbial phrases of cause or purpose 
must not be added in the sentence. 
- In tag questions, the tag only aims at the 
subject of proposition (complement clause) 
- As a modal device, these structures can 
occupy different positions in the sentence such 
as initial, medial, and final. Besides, they 
function as adjuncts. 
- The complementizer that is often omitted 
(in about 90 % of the cases). 
For example, 
(3) I think you're really rude to throw off on 
my poor hands. [33, 347] 
(4) The advance of Red China, the challenge 
to Democracy, the role of the West - these, I 
suppose, were the complete works of York 
Harding. [16, 549] 
Tran Thi Minh Giang / Tạp chí Khoa học và Công nghệ Đại học Duy Tân 05(42) (2020) 132-145 137 
(5) They ragged him about me at the café, I 
guess. [21, 242] 
4.3. Mobility of Epistemic Adverbs in the 
Matrix Clause 
According to Quirk et al. [45, 991], a whole 
sentence containing a main clause and a 
subordinate clause is called a superordinate 
clause in which the main clause is known as a 
matrix clause like in the following example. 
(6) “I really believe you’re quite glad to see 
me.” [30, 727] 
The following Figure 3 will make the above 
example (6) clearer with such terms as Matrix 
Clause, Subordinate Clause, Superordinate Clause 
 Sentence 
 Superordinate Clause 
 S VP A 
 I really believe Subordinate Clause 
 Matrix Clause S V C 
 Adv Adj Pre V pro 
 You are quite glad to see me 
Figure 3. Matrix and subordinate clause in the superordinate clause 
 “I really believe” is known as the matrix 
clause, and “you’re quite glad to see me” as the 
subordinate clause. Therefore, structures like I 
certainly think, I possibly believe, I suppose 
perhaps  are derived from purely the matrix 
clause, they behave more like modal auxiliary 
adverbs and they show signs of 
grammaticalization. Furthermore, these 
epistemic adverbs are so mobile that they can 
occur at various places in the matrix clause 
(medially, and finally). 
Initial position: at the beginning of the 
matrix clause 
Medial position: in the middle of the matrix 
clause. 
Final position: at the end of the matrix 
clause. 
(7) “Certainly I think the election of John 
Kennedy and all he stood for was one that 
really was an inspiration.” [5] 
(8) “My own appetite came back 
miraculously. I am ashamed to record it, but I 
really believe I forgot Dora for a little while. I 
am satisfied that Mr. and Mrs. Micawber could 
not have enjoyed the feast more, if they had 
sold a bed to provide it.” [14, 392] 
 (9) “Remarkable - most remarkable! I think 
perhaps, we had better go down to Tredannick 
Wartha without further delay. I confess that I 
have seldom known a case which at first sight 
presented a more singular problem.” [12, 830] 
In (7) the position of the EA, certainly at 
the beginning of the matrix clause makes an 
emphasis in displaying the speaker’s attitude 
to the truth of the content of the proposition. In 
(8) and (9), together with cognitive non-
factive verbs, epistemic adverbs such as really, 
perhaps occur in the middle and at the end of 
the matrix clause, they occupy a marked 
position. The different positions of epistemic 
Tran Thi Minh Giang / Tạp chí Khoa học và Công nghệ Đại học Duy Tân 05(42) (2020) 132-145 138 
adverbs in the matrix clause show us vario