Checking back instructions and modal verbs

When my Russian students read a task or instruction or when I give instructions to them they often don't understand them immediately and ask questions like

• 'Should I do this exercise?', or
• 'Should I read it aloud?', or
• 'Should I write the correct form of the verbs?'

For me should here sounds a little bit strange, and I personally would use shall. On the other hand, if I think about the rules this situation looks for me like an obligation and I would rather frame the question

• 'Do I have to do the exercise?'

But the examples with 'do I have to' that I have found look like they express annoyance or even sarcasm. So, what is the best modal verb in this situation?

I have the same doubts about another example of checking the instructions. My student said that she asked her mother whether she SHOULD go to the shop. Is it correct or would it be better to ask something like 'Do I have to go to the shop?' or 'Shall I go to the shop?'. In this situation the student was again checking if she was obliged to do it or not, so she was talking about her duties or responsibilities which her mother charged her with.

Solution 1:

Modal verbs have many usages, and mastering them takes many years.

(2) For the individual who has been asked to read a passage aloud, modal choice is governed among native speakers by the desire not to sound stupid. We'll assume that the person chosen knows they've been asked to do something. "Shall I read it aloud?" sounds ridiculous. "Should I read it aloud?" doesn't sound a lot better. I'd expect the fragment "Read it out/aloud?" as the prompt request for confirmation instead.

(1) (and (3)) Again, one assumes the class have been informed what to do already. "Is it exercise twenty?" or "[Sorry,] are we doing exercise twenty, miss/sir?" is what I'd expect.

These neatly bypass the need to choose one of the intractable modals.

"Should I do this exercise, miss?" might be used if a pupil has finished the work set so far. It is a highly polite form.

"Shall I do this exercise, sir?" could well be used when the teacher has shown that he wasn't really prepared for a pupil working so quickly, fielding 'Sir, I've finished" poorly. While not being impolite, it is more direct than the "Should I ...?" variant.

You're right in eschewing "Do I have to ...", though perversely "Do we have to ..." doesn't default to the complaining sense. In speech, emphasis distinguishes senses.

............

• [S]he asked her mother whether she should go to the shop

defaults to the unmarked request for advice / guidance / knowledge of her mothers wishes. There would have to be context to force the deontic 'was constrained to', obligation sense of 'should' (perhaps "The lockdown was severe....") So the sentence here defaults to "Mum, shall I go to the shop?" in direct speech. To ask about obligation, "Do I have to go to the shop?" or "Must I go to the shop?" are the usual choices.