Hedging your bets: L2 learners' acquisition of pragmatic devices in academic writing and computer-mediated discourse

Abstract

This study had two purposes: The first was to investigate the effects of instruction on pragmatic acquisition in writing. In particular, the focus was on the use of hedging devices in the academic writing of learners of English as a second language. The second purpose was to discover whether this training transferred to a less-planned, less-formal, computer-mediated type of writing, namely a Daedalus interaction. Graduate students enrolled in an academic writing class for non-native English-speakers received treatment designed to increase their metapragmatic awareness and improve their ability to use hedging devices. Data were compared to a control group that did not receive the treatment. The treatment group showed statistically significant increases in the use of hedging devices in the research papers and in the computer-mediated discussion.