On The Incorporation Of Pragmatic Information Concerning Hedges In English Chinese Learner's Dictionaries

A hedge is a word or a phrase whose job is to make things fuzzier. With the feature of making a precise concept fuzzy, hedges are likely to be broadly used in daily communication. However, since second language learners may not know the pragmatic rules concerning hedges, they are subject to commit pragmatic failures. As essential tools for Chinese learners of English, ECLDs are expected to present enough PI concerning hedges. This paper contributes to the study of pragmatic information concerning hedges in ECLDs. It mainly discusses three questions: 1) how is the treatment of PI concerning hedges in ELDs and ECLDs? 2) What are the types of PFs committed by Chinese learners of English? 3) How to better present the adequate PI concerning hedges in ECLDs? In order to achieve the research purpose, this paper makes a comparative study on PI concerning hedges in Big Five and three newly published China-made ECLDs from the perspectives of macro-structural level and micro-structural level; then launches test paper and questionnaire among 90 juniors of English majors and analyzes the results. Based on the contrastive study and experimental study, it puts forward a presentation model for treating PI concerning hedges in ECLDs, and offers some samples.