Translating hedging devices in news discourse

•Modifications of hedging devices are identified in texts translated by trainee translators.•Translation solutions are classified as pragmatically equivalent, modified or omitted.•Discourse-based interviews are used to explore the reasons for the changes.•Reasons related to pragmatic competence, discourse position and form are examined.•Some of the trainee translators’ modifications of hedges are deliberate.

Though pragmatic elements such as hedging have been recognised as potentially challenging in intercultural communication, translation of hedging devices has received limited research attention. To gain a better insight into the impact of translating on the use of hedging, it is necessary to explore both translated texts and the reasons for modifications. The paper investigates trainee translators’ performance in translating hedging devices; it also investigates their perceptions of the pragmatic role that these devices play in a journalistic text. The translation task analysis reveals a considerable degree of omission and modification of hedging devices in translation. The analysis of the target texts, combined with subsequent discourse-based interviews, showed that several factors, including pragmatic competence, the discourse position and form of hedging devices, as well as intentional interventions, contributed to modifications. Our findings offer important insight into the challenges that pragmatic elements may present in translation.