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ENTRY 11: Writing strategies | HEDGING and BOOSTING.


VIDEO 1: THE IMPORTANCE OF HEDGING

Publishing a research should be thought of as making a contribution to the ongoing dialogue in your field or discipline. The focus of all research is problem-solving and collaboration and teamwork often expedite this process.

The most useful contributions are made in such a way where the primary writer or researchers will receive credit for his or her unique and original contribution but will also leave room for others to add to the dialogue to build off points made earlier to refine them and reinterpret them. One way to achieve this is through the effective use of HEDGING.

Definition of hedging

Lakoff defined it as words whose job it is to make things more or less fuzzy. Words that can make statement less clear or absolute

Hyland wrote that Hedging is the expression of tentativeness and possibility in language use. It represents an absence of certainty and is used to describe an linguistic item or strategy employed to indicate either a lack of commitment to the truth value . He defines it as a collection of words or language strategies that allow a writer to make a statement without implying that he or she believes it to be a hundred percent true or the ultimate solution or answer.

Crompton defines it as a linguistic strategy allowing the author to avoid committing to the absolute truth of a proposition. The hedge sentence allows the writer to put some distance between himself and the absoluteness of the claim.

Hedging strategies are writing techniques that allow a writer researcher the flexibility to make a claim without making it an absolute or categorical one.

The importance of Hedging in academic writing

Academic writing is the language we use to convey answers to research questions. We answer these questions by creating arguments. These arguments are based on claims made by an individual which are then supported with evidence. Hedging is a helpful part of this process because the research writers’ answers are not likely to be the best only or most complete answers. Hedging allows writer researchers to anticipate and address possible opposition to his or her claims while still contributing something new to the ongoing dialogue. Academic writing is a balance of facts and evaluation. X may cause Y vs X causes Y. Hedging is important because it allows the writer researcher to:

1. Submit new arguments and claims into an ongoing dialogue while acknowledging that there might be other, equally valid points of view.

2. Make a new contribution to their field in a productive and cooperative way.

3. Have the flexibility to avoid making absolute/categorical statements which claim that the writer has found the perfect and only answer, hedging allows the writer/ researcher to offer something new and establish him/herself as a possible authority on a topic, while leaving room for other voices and perspectives.

4. Participate in ongoing conversations in fields where new evidence generated all the time and it’s almost impossible to stay completely up to date on the current state of affairs.

5. Hedging encourages and allows writers to be what Skeleton calls “confidently uncertain” in their claims. This term means that we need to accurately state how precise we can be when doing something and to feel Ok with being imprecise.

Hedging Strategies: three different ways to hedge our claims.

These strategies include

  • using lexical verbs: They are any kind of verb other tah auxiliary verbs. Some examples are indicate, propose, suggest, assume, estimate, appear, tend to, argue and doubt.

  • using adverbial constructions: some of the most common adverbs used to hedge claims include often, almost, occasionally, sometimes, quite, usually, probably, certainly and clearly.

  • using modal verbs: modal verbs include the auxiliary verbs must, will/would, should, may, can/could, might. They make requests more polite or indicate a stronger logical possibility of a claim. According to Cassandra Rosado, modals can be ranked depending on their strength.

     



5 pairs of sentences (examples)

HEDGING EXAMPLE #1

Categorical claim

The issues highlighted in this study are applicable to all participating institutions.

"Hedged" claim

The issue highlighted in this study may be applicable to many participating institutions.

HEDGING EXAMPLE #2

Categorical claim

Government support will assure the spread of new knowledge and the skills necessary to use the internet to thousands in rural areas.

"Hedged" claim

Government support may help with the spread of new knowledge and the skills necessary to use the internet to thousands of people in rural areas.

HEDGING EXAMPLE #3

Categorical claim

The study proves the link between smoking and lung disease.

"Hedged" claim

The study indicates/suggests a (possible) link between smoking and lung disease.

HEDGING EXAMPLE #4

Categorical claim

The number of unemployed people will continue to raise as the poor economic situation persists.

"Hedged" claim

The number or unemployed people will probably continue to raise as the poor economic situation persists.

HEDGING EXAMPLE #5

Categorical claim

This (and subsequent) studies led to the conclusion that the GTP itself must be elusive base, and therefore to the proposal of the GTP-as-base mechanism. (Schweins et al. 1994, 1995)

"Hedged" claim

This (and subsequent) studies led to the conclusion that the GTP itself may be the elusive base, and therefore to the proposal of the GTP-as-base mechanism. (Schweins et al. 1994, 1995)


VIDEO 2: HEDGING AND BOOSTING. (at 3:43 min: BOOSTING).

Hedging and boosting are two important aspects of style in academic writing. Both imply using language like adverbs of frequency, adverbs and adjectives of certainty, modal verbs  and other verbs to achieve writer’s aims.

What is hedging?

We use hedging language when we want to soften what we are saying to avoid making too strong a claim. 

HEDGING EXAMPLE

Students arrive late for Monday morning classes.

It is a general statement. This sentence means that ALL students ALWAYS arrive late on Monday mornings. This is likely to be an over-generalization and it is not always true.

Students tend to arrive late for Monday morning classes.

The word phrase “tend to” limits or qualifies the writer’s claim. This is called a HEDGING claim.

To hedge claims it is good to :

  • use adverbs of frequency like usually, normally, generally, often, sometimes…

  • use adverbs and adjectives of certainly such as possible, probable, possibly, probably, likely, maybe, perhaps, generally speaking... For example:  Generally speaking, students arrive late for Monday morning classes.

  • use modal verbs such us may, might, could to show that we are not 100% sure. For example: Students may find this exercise challenging.

  • use lexical verbs such as tend to, suggest, indicate, appear, seem… to show that we are being tentative. 

Example of different ways of hedging in a paragraph:

“Our results suggest that rapid freeze and thaw rates during artificial experiments in the laboratory may cause artificial formation of embolism. Such experiments may not quantitatively represent the amount of embolism that is formed during winter freezing in nature. In the chaparral at least, low temperature episodes usually result in gradual freeze-thaw events” (Hyland, 1998).

What is Boosting?

It is basically the opposite of hedging. Whereas hedging softens a statement, boosting strengthens it. The author can present a strong point of view. 

BOOSTING EXAMPLE

Clearly, these sales figures show a definite increase in consumer confidence, which will undoubtedly have an impact on our share price.

These words are used to show a strong point of view and to persuade the reader of the author’s point of view.

Expressions used in Boosting include:

  • Adverbs of frequency such as always or never

  • Adverbs and adjectives of certainly such as  certain, certainly, obvious, obviously, definite, definitely, conclusive, conclusively, evident, evidently. For example: Certainly, this has had an impact on learning outcomes.

  • Modal verbs like will and should. For example: this will have an impact on future research in the field.

  • Strong verbs like show, prove and evidence.


PODCAST (IN PROCESS)


METACOGNITIE ANALYSIS

Hedging and boosting are two essential aspects of style in academic writing which can modify the force of a statement, either weakening it or intensifying it. Sometimes, in this type of writing, a writer needs to be cautious when he or she is creating arguments in order to remark the difference between what is a fact and what is a claim, avoiding stating things categorically. This process is known as hedging, and it implies the use of some linguistic devices to express uncertainty or doubt as well as to demonstrate politeness. Boosting, on the contrary, "is a process by which a writer adds friendly enthusiasm and expresses intense interest in a statement". In this last type of statements, there is no doubt on what the author is trying to convey because his or her point of view is strong and very precise. Knowing about these two types of styles is useful for an academic writer to elaborate an attractive piece of text for his or her intended audience by choosing the correct linguistic items.


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