Hedging and boosting in abstracts of applied linguistics articles: A comparative study of English- and Chinese-medium journals

Hedges and boosters are important metadiscursive resources for writers to mark their epistemic stance and position writer–reader relations. Building on previous research that suggests notable cross-cultural and cross-linguistic differences in the use of hedges and boosters in academic discourse, this comparative study investigates the use of such discourse markers in academic article abstracts. Based on a corpus of 649 abstracts collected from 8 journals of applied linguistics, this study examines if hedging and boosting strategies differ (a) between applied linguists publishing in Chinese- and English-medium journals and (b) between authors of empirical and non-empirical academic articles. Quantitative analyses indicated that abstracts published in English-medium journals featured markedly more hedges than those published in Chinese-medium journals and that abstracts of empirical research articles used significantly more boosters than those of non-empirical academic articles. Textual analyses further revealed that the distinct patterning of hedges and boosters in Chinese and English abstracts had a joint, interactive effect on the authorial certainty and confidence conveyed therein. These results are discussed in terms of culturally preferred rhetorical strategies, epistemological beliefs, lack of facility in English as a second/foreign language, and the nature of supporting evidence drawn on for knowledge claims in different types of academic writing.

► Article abstracts in English-medium applied Linguistics journals feature more hedges than Chinese and English abstracts in Chinese-medium journals.
► Abstracts of empirical and non-empirical articles do not differ in their use of hedges.
► Chinese abstracts in Chinese-medium journals use more boosters than their corresponding English abstracts published in the same journals.
► Abstracts of empirical articles use more boosters than abstracts of non-empirical academic articles.