• Original research article
  • October 29, 2021
  • Open access

Quantitative Analysis of Hedges Distribution across Scientific Article Sections (by the Material of the English Language)

Abstract

The article considers the phenomenon of hedging as a means of scientific communication which allows the researcher to express his attitude to submitted information. The paper aims to reveal the principles of hedges distribution across scientific article sections. Scientific originality of the study lies in the fact that hedging in academic writing is still poorly investigated. Relying on the conducted quantitative analysis the author concludes that hedges are unequally distributed across scientific article sections, their frequency depends on section purpose. The maximum concentration of hedges is observed in “Discussion” section, because this section is most vulnerable to criticism. As a result, it is proved that hedging allows the researcher to reduce his responsibility for submitted information.

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Author information

Ekaterina Yurievna Dubinina

PhD

Saint Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation

About this article

Publication history

  • Received: September 9, 2021.
  • Published: October 29, 2021.

Keywords

  • корпус текстов
  • модальные глаголы
  • научная коммуникация
  • научная статья
  • научный текст
  • text corpus
  • modal verbs
  • scientific communication
  • scientific article
  • scientific text

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© 2021 The Author(s)
© 2021 Gramota Publishing, LLC

User license

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)