A Study Of Hedges In Persuasive Speeches From The Perspective Of Adaptation Theory

Fuzziness is one of the essential attributes of human language.Hedges,as one of its classic representatives,are widely in use for varied communicative purposes.Literature reviews have demonstrated a constant and scholarly research on hedges and their pragmatic functions in discourses.Nevertheless,most of the concerns with hedges focus largely on discourses such as news,business,medicine,academics as well,while a very few are found on hedges in speech discourse,not to mention in persuasive speeches.The general aim of this study is to explore the use of hedges in persuasive speeches under Verschueren's Adaption Theory.The specific aims of this study fall into two categories:(i)expository and(ii)analytic.The expository tasks are: first,to show the functions and application of hedges in persuasive speeches theoretically and pragmatically;second,to sketch Adaption Theory,its influences and its relationship with the application of hedges in languages.The analytic tasks are: first,to prove that hedges,semantic in character,do play significant roles and pragmatic effects in the persuasive speeches;second,to look at strategies for effective use of hedges based on the analytic work and data support.This study selects at random 24 persuasive speeches from TED official website,where a small corpus is built,covering six topics about business,education,culture,technology,design,and entertainment.With Lakoff's and Prince's theoretical support,and under the Adaptation Theory,this study,aiming at hedges in persuasive speeches,attempts to solve the following questions:(1)How are hedges used as a language device? What are their frequency and distribution in the application?(2)What are the motivations of the application of hedges under contextual adaptation?(3)What are the persuasive functions that hedges achieve?(4)What possible strategies are to be explored on hedges in persuasive speeches?The research result,firstly,confirms the positive data of frequency of hedge use in persuasive speeches clarified in four types: the plausibility shields,the adaptors,the rounders,and the attribution shields.Secondly,the use of hedges in persuasive speeches is directly proportional to motivational tendency,involved in a continuous adaptation to the mental,social,and physical world.Thirdly,the use of different hedges achieves different persuasive functions,contributing to rational,credible and effective appeals.Fourthly,a better comprehension of a speaker's intention in persuasive speeches is closely related to speaker's strategic use of hedges.The present study has both theoretical and practical significance.Theoretically,the present study,under Adaptation Theory,extends the discourse analysis of hedges into a little-touched area of speech discourse.Practically,the corpus selected from the TED speech,either philosophically or logically,has by far been a universally recognized excellent English material for learning.Most of all,this study helps further people's understanding about hedges and their ability to use hedges flexibly in daily life,thus improving their communicative and expressive skills.By enhancing people's persuasive power of hedges,it is beneficial for people to reduce verbal conflicts and create a harmonious interpersonal relationship for effective communication.