The appropriate use of hedged expressions is particularly a problematic feature of non-native writers' English academic writings. This study analyses the features of hedging in NNS and NS academic essays by using two different corpora from Korean masters' students and from English native speakers in the UK. This corpus-based study focuses on the types and frequencies of epistemic devices, examining the salient features of hedging used in the Korean L2 writings. The results from both frequency and contextual analysis indicate that they rely heavily on using modal verbs and other certainty markers of adverbs, and this led to stronger and direct statements. Along with their serious confusion with impersonalized or personalized forms in relation to the usage of lexical verbs, they showed a strong preference for giving personal involvement, which occurred in specific patterns of personalized devices in conversational hedges. These patterns can be partly explained by the cultural transfer from L1 to L2 as well as lack of linguistic knowledge across different genres. The findings thus can contribute to giving some pedagogical implications for teaching alternative strategies to raise both culture and genre-specific awareness in the areas of second language pragmatics.

• Juhyun Back(Kyungpook National University)