Chapter 5

Language Issues in ESP

(Hedging and Move)

應外系副教授 / 外語中心主任
蘇綉惠 (Patricia Su)
hhsu@cyut.edu.tw
Hedging/ vague language
 A feature of academic writing is the nee
d to be cautious in one’s claims or state
ments.
 Hedging represents the use of linguistic
devices to show hesitation or uncertaint
y, display politeness and indirectness, a
nd defer to the reader’s point of view
(Hinkel, 1996, 1997).
Hedging/ vague language
 George Lakoff termed ‘hedging’ in 1972,
197 that “ words whose job it is to mak
e things fuzzier or less fuzzy.”
 Selinker (1979) “an important and nece
ssary feature of ESP/EAP writing.. the w
ell-known practice of hedging in scientifi
c writing
 Three ways to comment on a
prediction
Makaya and Bloor (1987)
examined in economics reports.
 modal verbs (may, might, etc.)
 By hedging  Adverbs (possibly, perhaps, etc.)
 Adjectives (likely, probably, etc.)
 Impersonal verbs (suggest, seem, etc.)

 By attribution  X expects y …
 According to X, the y

 By specifying  X will happen if

conditions
 Salager-Meyer (1994)

found in the discussion and comments sections of

medical journal articles:
 Shield, e.g. all modal verbs expressing po
ssibility; semi-auxiliaries: to appear, to se
em; probability adverbs: probably, likely.
 Approximators, e.g. of quantity, degree, f
requency and time viz. approximately, rou
ghly, often
 Salager-Meyer (1994)

found in the discussion and comments sections of

medical journal articles:
 Expression such as ‘I believe’, ‘to our
knowledge’, etc. which express the author’s
personal doubt and direct involvement;
 Emotionally-charged intensifiers, such as:
extremely interesting, particularly encouraging,
unexpectedly;
Salager-Meyer (1994)

found in the discussion and comments secti

ons of medical journal articles:
 Compound hedges, i.e. the juxtaposition o

f several hedges, e.g. It may suggest that

…, it seems reasonable to assume…, etc.
Skelton(1988)
 It is by means of the hedging system of a
language that a user distinguishes between
what he says and what he thinks about what
he says.
 Without hedging, the world is purely
propositional.
 With a hedging system, language is rendered
more flexible and the world more subtle.
Skelton(1988)
 ‘Hedging ‘ is a pejorative term and for it subst
itutes the word ’comment.’
 Students should be taught the relationship be
tween proposition and comment.
 Comments are much more common feature o
f academic writing.. most verb tenses.
 Advantage of teaching ‘commentative system’
to students is to enable them to ‘achieve grea
ter delicacy of meaning. ‘
Modal Expression
 Modal verbs (e.g. would, could, may)
 Lexical verbs (e.g. seem, appear, suggest)
 Modal adverbs (e.g. probably, possibly,
apparently)
 Modal adjectives (e.g. certain, probable,
undoubted)
 Modal nouns (e.g. assumption, possibility,
estimate)
Channell (1994)
Expression being vague if:
 It can be contrasted with a precise way

of rendering the same proposition;

 It is ‘purposely and unabashedly vague.

 Its meaning arises from ‘intrinsic

uncertainty (caused by the speaker’s

habits of language being indeterminate).
Vague Language
 Numbers and approximators: about, aro
und, approximately
 Round numbers: ninety-nine per cent, a
couple of
 Non-numerical vague quantifiers: lots of
, a bit of, several
 EXAMPLE 1, 2: Compare the following:
 It may be said that the commitment to some of
the social and economic concepts was less
strong than it is now.
(The commitment to some of the social and
economic concepts was less strong than it is
now.)
 The lives they chose may seem overly ascetic
and self-denying to most women today.
(The lives they chose seem overly ascetic and
self-denying to most women today.)
 EXAMPLE 3, 4: Compare the following:
 Weismann suggested that animals become old because, if
they did not, there could be no successive replacement of
individuals and hence no evolution.
(Weismann proved that animals become old because, if
they did not, there could be no successive replacement of
individuals and hence no evolution.)
 Yet often it cannot have been the case that a recalcitrant
trustee remained in possession of the property entrusted to
him.
(Yet a recalcitrant trustee did not remain in possession of
the property entrusted to him.)
 EXAMPLE 5, 6: Compare the following:
 Recent work on the religious demography of Northern
Ireland indicates a separating out of protestant and
catholic, with the catholic population drifting westwards
and vice versa.
(Recent work on the religious demography of Northern
Ireland shows a separating out of protestant and catholic,
with the catholic population drifting westwards and vice
versa.)
 By analogy, it may be possible to walk from one point in
hilly country to another by a path which is always level or
uphill, and yet a straight line between the points would
cross a valley.
(By analogy, one can walk from one point in hilly country
to another by a path which is always level or uphill, and
yet a straight line between the points would cross a valley.
)
 EXAMPLE 7, 8: Compare the following:
 There are certainly cases where this would
seem to have been the only possible method of
transmission.
(There are cases where this would have been
the only possible method of transmission.)
 Nowadays the urinary symptoms seem to be of
a lesser order.
(Nowadays the urinary symptoms are of a
lesser order. )
Sales Promotion Letters
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 H:\應外系研究所\AFL 研.專技英文
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Job Application Letters
References
Jordan, R. R. (1997). English for Academi
c Purpose: A guide and resource book f
or teachers. New York: Cambridge Univ
ersity Press.
Swales, J.M. & Feak, C,B, (2007). Academ
ic Writing for Graduate Students. Taipei
: Crane Publishing.