A Comparative Study On The Use Of Hedges In Argumentative Writings Between Chinese EFL Learners And Native English Speakers

Lakoff(1972)was the first scholar who defined hedges as "words whose job is to make things more or less fuzzy",which have flexible semantic meanings and various pragmatic functions.Since then,studies on hedges have probed into many fields ranging from semantics,psycholinguistics,sociolinguistics,discourse analysis to pragmatics.And since the late 1970s,SLA researchers have paid increasing attention to the acquisition of hedges.The previous studies abroad are mostly confined to the use of hedges in spoken language and scientific research articles of native English speakers and European EFL learners,and Chinese researchers mainly study the hedges used in academic writings and spoken language of Chinese EFL learners.However,few of them have focused on the comparative study of the use of hedges between Chinese EFL learners and native English speakers.Therefore,the thesis attempts to probe into the use of hedges in Chinese EFL learners' argumentative writings in comparison with native English speakers,and aims to answer the following research questions:firstly,what are the overall distribution features of hedges in argumentative writings for Chinese EFL learners and native English speakers?Secondly,what are the similarities and differences between Chinese EFL learners and native English speakers in the use of hedges of different categories?In order to achieve the above goals,altogether 209 argumentative essays of American and British university students are picked out from Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays(LOCNESS)as a reference sub-corpus for comparing and 240 argumentative texts are randomly selected from Written English Corpus of Chinese Learners(WECCL 2.0)as a learner's sub-corpus.Sixty-five most commonly used hedges in native English speakers' written language are selected based on the previous studies and are divided into five categories according to Varttala's(2001)classification.Then those hedges are input into the two sub-corpora and their frequency and distribution features are compared and analyzed through Antconc and SPSS.Through the quantitative and qualitative analysis,the current research has found that Chinese EFL learners and native English speakers share some similarities in the use of hedges:(1)Hedges are frequently used in both two sub-corpora;(2)Hedges occurring in both two sub-corpora demonstrate similarities in terms of the distribution pattern.Modal auxiliaries are the most frequently used hedges in the two sub-corpora,while adjectives are the least frequently used hedges.More importantly,there are also distinct differences between the two sub-corpora:(1)In terms of the total occurrences,native English speakers use significantly more hedges than Chinese EFL learners in argumentative writings;(2)As concerns the variety in the type of the hedges,Chinese EFL learners are not diversified enough in the use of hedges,with only 46 of the 65 hedges presented in their argumentative writings;(3)Through the comparative analysis of 10 hedges with the highest frequency in the two sub-corpora,it can be found that Chinese EFL learners tend to overuse some hedges like will,may,think.Those differences are caused by various factors.The essential features of hedges,the negative transfer of Chinese,language competence and cultural differences are important factors affecting the correct and appropriate use of hedges by Chinese EFL learners.Meanwhile,the absence of proper guidance may lead to the failure of Chinese EFL learners to acquire hedges systematically and thoroughlyFinally,the thesis puts forward some pedagogical implications for English writing teaching and learning.In class,teachers could place emphasis on the use of hedges and attach more importance to explaining the employment of hedging devices.Besides,authentic sample texts could be selected from the corpus of native English speakers'argumentative writings and presented to learners.Meanwhile,learners could also be asked to do rewriting exercises in which specific attention would be given to the degree,types and functions of hedges.What's more,teachers could adopt corpora and the data retrieval software Antconc as modern tools to provide authentic materials,which will ultimately enhance the writing ability of Chinese EFL learners.