ABSTRACT

The present thesis reports a study on the use of hedges in Chinese and English disaster news reports. It aims at finding out how hedges are used and whether their use is influenced by the nature of disasters. The study chooses three kinds of disasters to analyze the use of hedges. They are war, disease and natural disaster news reports, extracted from Chinese and English news websites.

The result of the study shows that hedges are widely used in all kinds of disaster news. English disaster news reports use more hedges than Chinese disaster news reports. First, approximators are used much more than shields both in Chinese and English disasters news reports. According to the use of approximators, rounders are used much more than adaptors in disasters news reports. For the use of shields, attribution shields are used much more than plausible shields in disasters news reports. Among three different types of disasters, both Chinese and English war news reports use the largest number of hedges. 

To conclude, this study, by exploring how hedges are used in disaster news reports, deepens our knowledge of the subjectivity of disaster news. Besides, this study has implications for journalistic teaching and writing.

Key words: hedges; disaster news reports; comparative study

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

Chapter One INTRODUCTION-1

  1.1 Object of the Present Study-1

  1.2 Need for the Present Study-2

  1.3 Overview of the Thesis-3

Chapter Two LITERATURE REVIEW-5

  2.1 Definitions of Hedges-5

2.2 Taxonomy of Hedges-6

2.3 Functions of Hedges-7

2.4 Empirical Studies of Hedges-8

2.5 Summary-9

ChapterThree METHODOLOGY-10

3.1 Research Questions-10

3.2 Data Collection-10

3.3 Data Analysis-13

Chapter Four RESULTS AND DISCUSSION-15

4.1 The Use of Hedges in Disaster News Reports-15

4.2 The Use of Approximators in Disaster News Reports-16

4.3 The Use of Shields in Disaster News Reports-17

4.4 The Use of Hedges in Different Types of Disasters-19

4. 5 Summary-21

Chapter Five CONCLUSION-22

5.1 Summary of the Study-22

5.2 Major Findings of the Study-22

5.3 Implications of the Study-23

5.4 Limitations of the Study-24

5.5 Recommendations for Future Research-24

REFERENCES-26