| Acknowledgements | 第1-7页 |
| Abstract | 第7-8页 |
| 摘要 | 第8-9页 |
| List of Figures | 第9-10页 |
| List of Tables | 第10-11页 |
| List of Abbreviations | 第11-12页 |
| Contents | 第12-15页 |
| Chapter One Introduction of modal verbs | 第15-19页 |
| ·Rationale for the present study | 第15-16页 |
| ·Objectives of the present study | 第16-17页 |
| ·Tentative outline of the present study | 第17页 |
| ·Methodology and data collection | 第17-19页 |
| Chapter Two Overview of previous modal verb studies | 第19-24页 |
| ·Previous studies on syntactical features of modal verbs | 第19-21页 |
| ·Previous studies on semantic features of modal verbs | 第21页 |
| ·Corpus-based studies on modal verbs | 第21-23页 |
| ·Influence of cultural values on the use of modal verbs | 第23-24页 |
| Chapter Three Theoretical framework of the study | 第24-30页 |
| ·Theory of modality | 第24-25页 |
| ·Expressions of modality | 第25-26页 |
| ·Value degree | 第26-28页 |
| ·Enlightenments from the functional grammar | 第28-30页 |
| Chapter Four Corpus-based research of modal verbs | 第30-45页 |
| ·The frequency of target modal verbs in CLEC and FLOB | 第30-31页 |
| ·Corpus study focused on syntactical information | 第31-40页 |
| ·The distribution of phrase structure in CLEC and FLOB | 第32-34页 |
| ·Modal verb errors in CLEC | 第34-40页 |
| ·Corpus study focused on meanings of modal verbs | 第40-45页 |
| ·Meaning distribution of modal verbs in CLEC and FLOB | 第40-44页 |
| ·Meaning distributional analysis | 第44-45页 |
| Chapter Five Modal verbs in English learners' dictionaries | 第45-66页 |
| ·Syntactical information of modal verbs | 第45-51页 |
| ·Syntactical information in present learners' dictionaries | 第45-49页 |
| ·Syntactical error warning in learners'dictionaries | 第49-50页 |
| ·Modal verb phrase structure | 第50-51页 |
| ·Semantic information of modal verbs | 第51-66页 |
| ·Semantic information of separate modal entry | 第52-60页 |
| ·Semantic connection of each modal verb | 第60-66页 |
| Chapter Six Suggestions for displaying the modal verbs in the dictionaries | 第66-72页 |
| ·Suggestions for displaying syntactical information in learners' dictionaries | 第66-67页 |
| ·Suggestions for displaying semantic information in learners' dictionaries | 第67-72页 |
| Chapter Seven Conclusion | 第72-74页 |
| ·Major findings of the present study | 第72页 |
| ·Innovation of the present study | 第72页 |
| ·Limitation of the present study | 第72-73页 |
| ·Suggestions for further study | 第73-74页 |
| Bibliography | 第74-78页 |
| Appendix A 调查问卷Ⅰ | 第78-80页 |
| Appendix B 调查问卷Ⅱ | 第80-85页 |
| Appendix C Senses of modal verbs in learners' dictionaries | 第85-94页 |
