声明
摘要
ABSTRACT
Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Research Background
1.2 Significance of the Study
1.3 Layout of the Thesis
Chapter 2 Literature Review
2.1 Definitions of Hedges
2.2 Classification of Hedges
2.2.1 Grammatical Perspective
2.2.2 Semantic Perspective
2.2.3 Pragmatic Perspective
2.3 Linguistic Realization of Hedges
2.4 Previous Empirical Studies on Hedges
2.4.1 Non-sociolinguistic Studies on Hedges
2.4.2 Sociolinguistic Studies on Hedges
2.5 Summary
Chapter 3 Research Methodology
3.1 Research Questions
3.2 Corpus-driven Approach
3.3 Corpus Used
3.4 Data Collection and Analysis
3.4.1 Tools Used for Data Collection and Analysis
3.4.2 Procedures for Data Collection and Analysis
Chapter 4 Results and Discussion
4.1 Gender
4.1.1 Overall Distributions of Hedges across Gender
4.1.2 Characteristics of nearly across Gender
4.1.3 Discussion
4.2 Age
4.2.1 Overall Distributions of Hedges across Age
4.2.2 Characteristics of sort of across Age
4.2.3 Discussion
4.3 Social Class
4.3.1 Overall Distributions of Hedges across Social Class
4.3.2 Characteristics of quite across Social Class
4.3.3 Discussion
4.4 Region
4.4.1 Overall Distributions of Hedges across Region
4.4.2 Characteristics of really across Region
4.4.3 Discussion
4.5 Occupation
4.5.1 Overall Distributions of Hedges across Occupation
4.5.2 Characteristics of a little bit across Occupation
4.5.3 Discussion
Chapter 5 Conclusion
5.1 Major Findings of the Study
5.2 Implications
5.3 Limitations and Suggestions
References
Appendices
Acknowledgments
Resume