Hedging in Scientific Discourse: Comparative Analysis of English and Russian Traditions in Academic Writing

Abstract

AbstractThe article addresses the issues concerning the comparative analysis of hedging techniques used by Russian and English-speaking authors in their research papers. The starting point of considering the problem is the fact that English has become the globally accepted language of communication in the academic environment and, in particular, when it comes to publishing research papers in the international peer reviewed journals. Given there are established traditions of the English language academic discourse that in many ways are not similar to those of the Russian-language science-orientated communication, Russian-speaking scholars, when writing their articles in English, are faced with the need to adhere to the stylistic and rhetorical conventions they are not used. One of the commonly recognized characteristics of the English-language scientific discourse is its noticeable non-categorical tone which is achieved due to a variety of hedging techniques actively used by the native English speakers. The analysis of publications written by the native English speakers gives grounds to consider hedging as an essential element of English-language academic discourse, which is not often the case with Russian research writers. Undertaken here, the comparative analysis of hedging techniques used by Russian and English-speaking authors is based on the articles on electrical engineering.KeywordsAcademic writingHedgingStylistic featuresRhetorical conventionsEngineering disourse