Introduction I conducted research into attitudes towards six grammatical structures, focusing particularly on three linguistic aspects- the conditional verbs ‘were’ and ‘was’, the positioning of the adverb ‘always’ within a clause, and the modal auxiliary verb phrases ‘would of’ versus ‘would have’. In this report I will discuss the methodology used to carry out this investigation, including the data collection method, the findings presented in tables and graphs, along with a discussion of the obtained data and a brief research summary.
Methodology To begin the study I used the convenience sampling method in order to gain participants to take part. Participants were debriefed by being given an information sheet to read. The information sheet outlined the nature of the study and the requirements of the participant. Informed consent was obtained from all participants via consent forms that they were asked to sign, having read the information provided and had the opportunity to ask questions. The participants were each given a questionnaire that consisted of 3 questions and asked to draw a circle around one of the four options to indicate which response they agreed with. All participants’ consent forms and questionnaires were collected and their responses to each question were analysed. I devised three tables to represent the quantitative data gathered from each question and presented the results in bar charts.
Findings
Question 1- a) ‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you’ b) ‘I wouldn’t do that if I was you’ The most common response for part a was ‘correct’ with over 50% of participants choosing this response. ‘Acceptable- would use’ followed with 37% and no participants chose ‘acceptable-wouldn’t use’ or ‘wrong’. 58% of participants answered ‘wrong’ for the use of ‘was’ in a similar conditional clause. The second most common response, however, was ‘acceptable-would use’. This suggests that although many believe the use of ‘were’ in part a to be acceptable and would use or even correct, the use of ‘was’ is still being used by 26% of participants. Only 5% believed ‘was’ to be correct. Question 2- a) ‘It is impossible to always be punctual’ b) ‘It is impossible to be punctual always’ The most common response chosen for part a was ‘correct’ by just over half of the participants, followed by 32% choosing ‘acceptable-would use’. Only 5% chose ‘wrong’ making this is the least common response. Adversely, the least common response with 5% for part b, the adverb proceeding the infinitive, was ‘correct’. Very few participants chose ‘acceptable- wouldn’t use’ and ‘wrong’ for part a. However, for part b 26% chose ‘acceptable-would use’ from which it could be inferred that there is not such a strong preference for either adverb placement. 42% believe it is acceptable yet wouldn’t use this structure, and 26% believed the adverb following the infinitive in this structure to be wrong. Question 3- ‘I would of stayed at home’ ‘I would have stayed at home’ The most common response for part a was ‘wrong’ by just over half of participants and the least common response was ‘correct’. Interestingly, the second most common option was ‘acceptable- would use’ with 26%, followed by 11% choosing ‘acceptable- wouldn’t use’. There is not much difference between the frequencies of ‘acceptable- would use’ and ‘acceptable-wouldn’t use’ for both part a and part b, with both scoring low percentages. For part b, 74% of participants chose ‘correct’, demonstrating a strong positive attitude towards the use of ‘would have’. ‘Acceptable- wouldn’t use’ scored the lowest percentage and both ‘acceptable- would use’ and ‘wrong’ both scored 11%.
Summary The results for Question 1 suggest that all participants seem to believe that ‘were’ is definitely acceptable with most believing it to be the correct form, suggesting a strong general attitude towards the use of ‘were’ in conditionals. All participants use this verb in similar grammatical structures, based upon these results. The results for part b reflect this attitude as the majority answered ‘wrong’ for the use of ‘was’. It is possible that many of the participants were considering either speech or writing when answering these questions, therefore it is likely that their responses were relevant to either one or the other of these forms of language. The figures for Question 2 suggest that the use of the adverb placed in between the infinitive is preferred above the non-split infinitive with the adverb placed after. With few participants choosing ‘acceptable- wouldn’t use’ and ‘wrong’ for part a, this further supporting the conclusion that attitudes towards the adverb splitting the infinitive are generally positive. The results for Question 3 suggest that many of the participants have a strong attitude towards the use of ‘would of’ versus ‘would have’. Nearly three quarters of the participants chose ‘correct’ for the use of the conditional ‘would have’, srongly suggesting this is the preferred option.
Comments