Hedging devices used in English speeches by president Joseph Biden on the covid-19 = Các phương tiện rào đón trong các bài phát biểu tiếng Anh của tổng thống Joseph Biden về covid 19

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

QUY NHON UNIVERSITY

PHAN THỊ CẨM TÚ

HEDGING DEVICES USED IN ENGLISH SPEECHES

BY PRESIDENT JOSEPH BIDEN

ON THE COVID-19

Field: English Linguistics

Code: 8 22 02 01

Supervisor: Bùi Thị Đào, Ph.D

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN

PHAN THỊ CẨM TÚ

CÁC PHƯƠNG TIỆN RÀO ĐÓN

TRONG CÁC BÀI PHÁT BIỂU TIẾNG ANH

CỦA TỔNG THỐNG JOSEPH BIDEN VỀ

COVID 19

Chuyên ngành : Ngôn ngữ Anh

Mã số: 8 22 02 01

Người hướng dẫn: TS. Bùi Thị Đào

i

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby declare that I am the sole author of the MA thesis entitled

―Hedging devices used in English speeches by President Joseph Biden on the

Covid -19‖. The thesis contains no material published elsewhere or written by

other people except where reference is made in the text of the thesis.

Moreover, this research has not been submitted for any other degree or

diploma at any university.

Quy Nhon, 2022

PHAN THỊ CẨM TÚ

ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The completion of this study is the result of not only my efforts but also

other assistance of individuals to whom I would like to express my special

gratitude.

Firstly, I am deeply grateful to my supervisor, Dr. Bùi Thị Đào, who

has supported me with her endless patience, thoughtful guidance and

comprehensive advice during the whole period of the study. Without her

instructions, this thesis would have been impossible to be completed.

Secondly, I am also thankful to all the lecturers of the courses for their

valuable lectures and experiences, which provide essential knowledge for this

thesis.

Thirdly, my gratitude is devoted to my colleagues and close friends for

their kind support and warm encouragement, without which I could not have

overcome all the trouble during the fulfilment of this study.

Finally, I owe my whole family a debt of gratitude, especially my

parents, who always stand by me and provide me with emotional support and

great care while my thesis was in process and have helped me overcome

many unexpected difficulties during the course and the thesis. This

accomplishment would not have been possible without them.

iii

ABSTRACT

Based on Salager-Meyer‘s classification framework, the present study

aimed to investigate the linguistic devices which act as hedges used in 10

speeches made by President Joseph Biden on COVID-19. The main purpose

of the study is to explore kinds of hedging devices in speeches to find out the

most dominant type of hedging devices and the frequencies of the hedging

devices are identified in the speeches of the President Joseph Biden

experience the world in COVID-19. The study is a combination of qualitative,

quantitative, descriptive, analytic, and synthetic method. The results indicate

that modal auxiliaries verbs, which is the most frequently used hedging

device in President Joseph Biden‘s speeches and the most frequently used

hedging device subcategory is the modal auxiliary ―will‖. The findings of the

study could serve as data for further understanding. To learners, this kind of

hedging devices is proved to be one of the effective instruments for

improving their English skills in general and in communication in particular.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ...................................................................i

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.................................................................................ii

ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................iv

ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS .................................................. vi

LIST OF TABLES ..........................................................................................vii

LIST OF FIGURE..........................................................................................viii

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION................................................................. 1

1.1 RATIONALE.......................................................................................... 1

1.2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVE...................................................................... 4

1.2.1. Aims................................................................................................ 4

1.2.2. Objective ......................................................................................... 4

1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS ................................................................... 4

1.4. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY....................................................... 5

1.5. SCOPE OF THE STUDY...................................................................... 5

1.6. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY.................................................... 5

CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW...................................................... 7

2.1. AN OVERVIEW OF HEDGES AND PREVIOUS STUDIES............. 7

2.2. DEFINITIONS OF HEDGES.............................................................. 12

2.3. TYPES OF HEDGES........................................................................... 15

2.3.1. Modal auxiliary verbs ................................................................... 20

2.3.2. Modal lexical verbs....................................................................... 21

2.3.3. Adjectival, adverbial and nominal modal phrases........................ 22

2.3.4. Approximators of degree, quantity, frequency and time .............. 25

2.3.5. Introductory phrases...................................................................... 26

v

2.3.6. If clauses........................................................................................ 28

2.3.7. Compound hedges......................................................................... 29

2.4. SUMMARY......................................................................................... 31

CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY............................................................... 32

3.1. RESEARCH METHODS .................................................................... 32

3.2 DESCRIPTION OF DATA .................................................................. 32

3.3. DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES ............................................. 33

3.4. DATA ANALYSIS.............................................................................. 33

3.5. VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY....................................................... 35

3.6. SUMMARY......................................................................................... 36

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION......................................... 37

4.1. AN OVERVIEW HEDGING DEVICES TYPES EXPLORED FROM

THE DATA.................................................................................................. 37

4.1.1. Modal auxiliary verbs ................................................................... 39

4.1.2 Modal lexical verbs........................................................................ 42

4.1.3 Adjectival, adverbial and nominal modal phrases......................... 44

4.1.4 Approximators of degree, quantity, frequency and time ............... 47

4.1.5. Introductory phrases...................................................................... 50

4.1.6. If clauses........................................................................................ 53

4.2. SUMMARY......................................................................................... 54

CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS.......................... 55

5.1 REVIEW OF FINDINGS IN THE STUDY......................................... 55

5.2. IMPLICATIONS ................................................................................. 56

5.3. LIMITATIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES ...................................... 58

5.4 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES...................................... 59

REFERENCES.............................................................................................. 61

APPENDIXES

vi

ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS

(a) Abbreviations

Adj.: Adjective

Adv.: Adverbs

HD: Hedging devices

AFT.: Approximators of degree, quantity, frequency and time

(b) Conventions

- Boldface is used to mark the first use of technical terms.

- Italics are used for examples, emphasis, and technical terms.

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1 The categories and some examples of hedging words.................... 19

Table 4. 1. Distribution of Hedging types....................................................... 37

Table 4. 2. Frequency and percentages of modal auxiliaries.......................... 39

Table 4. 3. Frequency and percentages of modal lexical verbs...................... 42

Table 4. 4. Frequency and percentages of adjectival, adverbial and nominal

modal phrases ................................................................................ 44

Table 4.5. Frequency and percentage of approximators concerning degree,

quantity, frequency and time ......................................................... 47

Table 4.6. Frequency and percentages of introductory phrases...................... 50

Table 4.7. Frequency and percentages of if clauses....................................... 53