A Comparative Study Of Interpersonal Meaning Of Hedges In The Introduction Of English Educational Articles By Chinese And Foreign Scholars

Hedges are one of the inherent characteristics of human natural language.They are the typical and important manifestation of vagueness language.Previous scholars mainly focused on the abstracts and conclusions of academic papers in the study of hedges.But few researches are conducted on hedges in the introductions.In general,the introduction can directly attract the reader’s reading interest and clarify the relevant research and the main theme of the paper.It plays an important role in the process of establishing a good interaction with the readers.Therefore,the study of hedges in the introduction of academic papers has important practical significance and research value.The thesis mainly selects the Introductions of Chinese and Foreign English educational articles as corpora.In the analysis of the corpora,the study combines Prince’s classification of hedges with the Appraisal Theory,and compares the interpersonal meanings of hedges as different appraisal resources in the Introduction of these articles.The three questions will be answered:(1)What is the frequency and distribution of hedges in the Introduction part of Chinese and Foreign educational articles?(2)Are there any differences when Chinese and Foreign scholars realize interpersonal meanings in the Introduction through using hedges as engagement resources?(3)Are there any differences when Chinese and Foreign scholars realize interpersonal meanings in the Introduction through using hedges as graduation resources?Both qualitative and quantitative methods are adopted in the thesis.Specifically,AntConc3.5.7 and SPSS 22.0 are used to calculate the distribution and mean value of hedges in the two corpora.Through some typical examples,the thesis analyzes the interpersonal meanings of hedges as different appraisal resources.In view of data analysis,the main findings are:(1)On the whole,scholars use a large number of hedges in the Introduction part of the educational articles.Through comparative analysis of hedges as appraisal resources,the study reveals that foreign scholars use richer and more diversified hedges than Chinese scholars from either the total number of hedges or the some subtypes of hedges.(2)Inengagement resources,foreign scholars used more dialogic contraction and expansion than Chinese scholars.It reveals that the authors are willing to interact with potential readers for the purpose of supporting the proposition and recognize the existence of different voices.The proportion of dialogic contraction is larger than that of dialogic expansion in the two corpora.For the moves requiring clear explanation,the authors usually narrow the external voice to achieve their communicative purposes.In addition,significant differences are observed when hedges function as deny,concur and pronounce resources in the two corpora.In the dialogic expansion,entertain resources exist significant difference.(3)Concerning graduation resources,hedges as force resources occur most frequently,which not only helps the authors to express their positions and attitudes,but also enables the authors to persuade the readers to eliminate possibility by enhancing their own ideas.In addition,Chinese scholars prefer to use more upscaling resources than foreign scholars for highly committing to what they have stated.Finally,several possible interpretations concerning the similarities and differences of Chinese and foreign scholars’ use of hedge items are as followed: the similarities lie in scholars’ self protection and the moves of the Introduction part,etc.,while the differences can be attributed to cultural differences,second foreign language level,etc.