On Differences in the Use of Hedging in English and Armenian Academic Discourse

The aim of the present paper is to show differences in the ways scientific discourse is presented in English and Armenian. The first part of the paper examines hedging as one of the features that distinguish English scientific discourse from that of many languages. It focuses on the use of hedges in the English and Armenian academic writing, revealing considerable differences between them - English characterized by an abundant use of hedges, in contrast to Armenian least characterized by this feature. It also considers the difference in the character of hedges used in the related languages: English manifests diverse forms of hedging - modal words (verbs, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs), approximators, impersonal and passive constructions, if-clauses, etc., while Armenian uses predominately modal words. The second part of the paper considers the pragmalinguistic aspect of hedging, emphasizing the fact that the lack of hedges may have a negative perlocutionary effect and that the strategies employed in the unhedged discourse could be considered as face-threatening acts, functioning as a means of imposition on the reader or listener. The final part presents various types of assignments for Armenian students to achieve competence in the appropriate use of hedges. These include rewriting, inserting, translation with variation and other exercises, which would help students present their critical views on various issues in a more acceptable communicative fashion. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license.