Teaching and Learning Hedging in Academic Writing

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of the study was to reveal cultural and linguistic differences in hedging for the purpose of enhancing the pedagogy of writing instruction for English language learners. Thirty research article introductions were selected from two journals in the field of ESL/EFL education, English Teaching from Korea and TESOL Quarterly from the United States. The results showed that Korean writers tended not to hedge their statements to such a great extent, but are assertive, whereas Korean writers writing English introductions and native English-speaking writers appeared to favor hedging; more frequent use of hedging appeared in indicating a research gap in the field or announcing the implications of the study. For native English-speaking scholars in this study, hedging was considered a polite device in academic writing to gain acceptance for their statements, whereas Korean scholars considered hedging an indication of authors’ uncertainty. These differences can be utilized in teaching so as to enable students studying English to make appropriate choices about the way they write research papers in English.

참고문헌 (Reference)

1 "Written academic discourse in Korean Implications for effective communication Writing across languages Analysis of second language text" 153-168, 1987

2 "Writing research article introductions in software engineering: How accurate is a Standard model?" 42 (42): 38-46, 1999

3 "Towards a validated analysis of scientific structure" 7 57-70, 1986

4 Myers, "The pragmatics of politeness in scientific articles" 1-35, 1989

5 "Textual structure of Korean speakers’ argumentative essays in English" 129-142, 1988

6 "Some universals in language usage" Cambridge University Press 1987

7 "On the use of the passive in two astrophysics journal papers" 123-140, 1981

8 "On hedging in social science written texts University of Michigan Press" 1981

9 "On hedging in physicianphysician discourse" Prince Ablex Publishing Corporation 83-97, 1982

10 "Nurturing hedges in the ESP curriculum" 24 (24): 477-490, 1996

11 "Hedging in scientific research articles." John Benjamins Publishing Company 1998

12 "Hedging in newswriting Beads or bracelets" Oxford University Press 172-181, 1987

13 "Hedging and textual communicative function in medical English written discourse English for Specific Purposes" 149-170, 1994

14 "English in academic and research settings" Cambridge University Press 1990

15 "Care and maintenance of hedges" 37-43, 1988

16 "Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills." University of Michigan Press. 2004

17 "Academic writing for graduate students A course for non-native speakers of English University of Michigan Press" 1994

18 "A study in meaning criteria and the logic of fuzzy concepts Journal of Philosophical Logic" 458-508, 1972