The Author in the Text: Hedging Scientific Writing.

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a review of 26 research articles, discussing the importance, frequency, and realization of hedges in science research article. It also considers why students find hedging so difficult to master and raises implications thereof. The need to present scientific claims with precision and caution means that hedges are a significant resource for academics in anticipation of the reader's possible rejection of their propositions. As a result, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) students are often advised to avoid hedges and to adopt a detached style in their writings. Clearly, the.ability to hedge statements appropriately is essential to effective scientific communication and academic success. The need to carry out research and putlish results in English language journals presents non-native speakers with serious problems, especially regarding the research article genre in academic disciplines. A higher priority for hedging in both teaching and research agendas is recommended. ESP teachers need to move beyond the view that scientific writing is simply detached and factual and that hedges are merely conventions of the academic culture. (Contains 30 references.) (NAV) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************* HONG KONG PAPERS IN IJNGOISTICS AND 141. 311AGE TDICHING 18 (1995) The Author in the Text: Hedging Scientific Writing u S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION t ;1,3 IrnprOvon,E, EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) ti.Th,s document has been reproduced as crewed from die person or organr/ation originating i! 0 M:nor changes have been made to Inprove reproduction quality Points of view or opinions slated .0 this document do not necessarily represent offic.ai OERI positron or poticy Ken Hyland' Lingnan College, Hong Kong Abstract ISSN 1015-2059ISSN 1015-2059 -PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Despite a widely held view that scientific writing is purely objective and impersonal, the means by which scientists convey an attitude to their statements is central to scientific argument. The need to present claims with precision and caution means that hedges are a significant resource for academics in anticipating the reader's possible rejection of their propositiolis. Despite its importance however, we know little about how hedging is expressed or the functions it serves in different disciplines or genres. As a result, ESP students are often advised to avoid hedges and to adopt a detached style in their writing. Based on a corpus of 26 research articles, this paper discusses the importance, frequency and realisation of hedges in science research articles. It also considers why students find hedging so difficult to master and raises a number of implications of this. Introduction Hedging is the expression of tentativet.t-ss and possibility in language use and it is crucial to scientific writing where statements are rarely made without subjective assessments of truth: (1) This insertion, which we suspect is the membrane anchor, could associate peripherally with the membrane or might span half the bilayer (2) Possibly, phosphorylation of ACC synthase could contribute ... (3) It now seems possible that the oxygen carrier function may be feasible because if_ the hemoglobin in the root were mainly in the tip, it ... Hedges (underlined) indicate interpretations and allow writers to convey their attitude to the truth of the statements they accompany, thereby presenting unproven claims with caution and softening categorical assertions. These are central functions in an environment where the need to evaluate evidence and state the certainty of judgements can contribute to gaining the acceptance of knowledge claims. Hedging is a substantial means by which the professional scientist confirms his or her membership of the scientific community. Its study can therefore make an important contribution to our understanding of the practices of practical reasoning and persuasion in science. A better understanding of hedges can provide insights into the interactional and rhetorical nature of ('() the scientific research article (RA). The RA is now widely seen as less a vehicle for directly transmitting r( facts about the natural world than a significant literary accomplishment; a social artefact which conceals the contingency of knowledge while seeking to persuade readers to accept claims (egGilbert and Mulkay, 1984; Ken Hyland is a lecturer in the Ertglish Department at Lingnan College, Hong Kong Formerly he u head of Engliih at the Internationa) Pacific College at Palmerston North, New Zealand He has taught ESL m r Prince et al, 1982). Essentially it represents an absence of certainty and is used here to describe any linguistic item or strategy employed to indicate either a) a lack of commitment to the truth value of an accompanying proposition or b) a desire not to express that commitment categorically. The term does not therefore include other attitudinal markers or devices which convey the writer's conviction; items are only hedges in their epistemic sense and only then when they mark uncertainty. The concept has received most attention in its role in casual conversation where it is probably twice as frequent as in written discourse and helps speakers to create a convivial atmosphere, facilitate discussion, show politeness or hide a deficit of knowledge or vocabulary (eg Coates, 1987). Some writers have suggested that hedges are a means of signalling distance between a speaker and what is said (eg Prince, et al, 1982; Rounds, 1982) or to convey purposive vagueness in writing (eg Stubbs, 1986; Myers, 1989; Channell, 1994). Hedges have also been treated as a form of metadiscourse directing readers as to how they should evaluate propositions (eg Crismore and Farnsworth, 1990). Despite this interest however, there has been little work into how hedges work in academic genres based on analyses of adequate corpora and we know virtually nothing about the expression and function of hedges in scientific RAs. The functions of hedging in scientific writing Essentially hedges in academic writing signal a writer's anticipation of the possibility of opposition to his or her statements. While they exhibit indeterminacy of meaning, and there is inevitably some overlap between these categories, hedges serve three main functions in gaining reader acceptance of claims. First hedges allow writers to express propositions with greater precision in areas often characterised by reformulation and reinterpretation. Hedging here is an important means of accurately stating uncertain scientif.c claims with appropriate caution. Scientific writing is a balance of fact and evaluation as the writer tries to present information as fully, accurately and objectively as possible. So writers often say X may cause Y rather than X causes r to specify the actual state of knowledge on the subject. Hedges here distinguish the actual from the potential or inferential and imply that a proposition is based on the writer's

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