Use of hedging devices in public speeches given by third year english students at huflis

HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH HOANG NGUYEN ANH THU USE OF HEDGING DEVICES IN PUBLIC SPEECHES GIVEN BY THIRD-YEAR ENGLISH STUDENTS AT HUFLIS GRADUATION THESIS SUPERVISOR: TRAN QUANG NGOC THUY, PH D Hue, academic year 2022-2023 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, my thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself Hue City, 16th April 2023 Investigator Hoàng Nguyễn Anh Thư ii ABSTRACT This study explored the use of hedges in academic spoken language by thirdyear English students at HUFLIS It examines the frequency of students' use of hedging devices in public speeches This study also compares how English major students use hedging devices during public speeches and when they comment on their friends' speeches during the discussion time in their speaking class in terms of frequencies and purposes The findings of this study can be used to reflect tertiary students' pragmatic ability, particularly in terms of hedge usage Therefore, it may increase their understanding of the role that hedging serves in academic English In doing so, 74 speaking presentations performed by students within the time limit of 6– minutes were collected in a speaking course and then compared with their comments on their classmates’ presentations in the follow-up discussion sections Their speaking performances were examined for hedging devices that occurred using the grammatical hedging taxonomy developed by Salager-Meyer (1998), Namasaraev (1997), and Hyland (1998), as well as the functional taxonomy developed by Prince et al (1982) In the study, comparisons are made in their use of hedging devices It was found that the frequency of occurrence of hedges in the two corpora shows that students tend to use more hedges when commenting on their friends’ presentations than when giving public speeches There are also differences in the frequencies and purposes of hedging devices in the two corpora The results indicate that the distribution of subcategory of hedges in one corpus may not be the same in the other corpus, despite the fact that both corpora are studied on the same group of objects The study has offered some important practical implications for EFL teaching and the learning of hedging devices in English classes iii TÓM TẮT Nghiên cứu khám phá việc sử dụng phương tiện rào đón ngơn ngữ nói học thuật sinh viên tiếng Anh năm thứ ba đại học HUFLIS Nghiên cứu điều tra tần suất sử dụng phương tiện rào đón sinh viên diễn thuyết trước đám đông Nghiên cứu thực so sánh cách sinh viên chuyên ngành tiếng Anh sử dụng phương tiện rào đón diễn thuyết họ nhận xét phát biểu bạn bè phần thảo luận lớp học nói Kết nghiên cứu sử dụng để phản ánh khả thực dụng sinh viên đại học, đặc biệt mặt sử dụng rào đón Do đó, sinh viên nâng cao hiểu biết vai trị thành phần rào đón tiếng Anh học thuật Để đạt mục đích trên, tác giả thu thập 74 thuyết trình sinh viên thực giới hạn thời gian 6–8 phút lớp học nói sau so sánh với việc sử dụng phương tiện rào đón phần sinh viên nhận xét thuyết trình bạn phần thảo luận Các cơng cụ rào đón phần thuyết trình phát biểu sinh viên xác định cách sử dụng khung phân loại rào đón theo ngữ pháp phát triển học giả Salager-Meyer (1998), Namasaraev (1997) Hyland (1998), khung phân loại theo chức phát triển nhà nghiên cứu Prince (1982) Theo đó, tác giả tiến hành so sánh dựa số liệu Kết cho thấy sinh viên có xu hướng sử dụng rào đón nhiều nhận xét thuyết trình bạn bè phát biểu trước đám đơng Ngồi cịn có khác biệt tần suất mục đích thiết bị phòng ngừa rủi ro hai trường hợp Kết phân bố phân loại phương tiện rào đón kho ngữ liệu khơng giống với kho ngữ liệu kia, thực tế hai kho ngữ liệu nghiên cứu nhóm đối tượng Nghiên cứu đưa số kiến nghị việc giảng dạy sinh viên kỹ học phương tiện rào đón lớp học tiếng Anh iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This research paper marks the final stage of my long journey to acquire my BA There are many people who made this journey easier with words of encouragement First and foremost, I would like to express sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Tran Quang Ngoc Thuy, for providing clear instructions and invaluable counsel throughout the preparation and completion of this graduation paper She was always willing to assist with wholehearted guidance and constructive comments throughout the research process She also consented to allow me to use the public speech recordings from her English-major students as the corpus of my research The data collection process would have been much more difficult without her help I am immensely grateful for her understanding and support during this period In addition, I also want to express my deep appreciation to English faculty and Hue University of Foreign Languages and International Studies for giving me this opportunity to complete my graduation thesis in the optimal condition Next, I am grateful to my all lecturers in the university, who gave me much knowledge and valuable materials in the lessons throughout years Those are valuable resources of knowledge for me to establish my thesis Last but not least, I am grateful to my family and my dearest friends, Ngoc Nhu, Duc Long, Bhavya Dhruva, and Alokeveer Mondal for their dedication and the many years of support during my study v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT v CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research background 1.2 Rationale of the research 1.3 Research aims and research questions 1.4 Scope of the research 1.5 Significance of research .3 1.6 Structure of the Thesis CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definition of hedges .5 2.2 Importance of hedges in academic spoken discourse .6 2.3 Classifications of hedges 2.3.1 Classifications based on grammatical aspect .8 2.3.2 Classifications based on lexical aspect .13 2.4 Review of related studies of hedges in different discourses 15 2.4.1 Use of hedges in English academic writing 15 2.4.2 Use of hedges in English academic speaking .17 2.5 Research gaps .19 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 20 3.1 Theorical framework 20 3.2 Participants 21 3.3 Data collection methods and procedure 21 vi 3.3.1 Methods 21 3.3.2 Video recording 22 3.3.3 Data collection procedure 22 3.3.4 Data Analysis Procedure .23 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 25 4.1 Frequency of hedging taxonomy of HUFLIS students in their public speeches and comments on their friends’ presentations in follow-up discussion sections .25 4.1.1 Frequency of hedging taxonomy of HUFLIS students in their public speeches .25 4.1.1.1 Modal auxiliary verbs .25 4.1.1.2 Modal lexical verbs 27 4.1.1.3 Adjectival modal phrases .29 4.1.1.4 Adverbial phrases 30 4.1.1.5 Nominal modal phrases 34 4.1.1.6 Introductory phrases 35 4.1.1.7 If clauses 37 4.1.1.8 Quantifiers and Determiners 38 4.1.1.9 Fillers 39 4.1.2 Distribution of hedging taxonomy of HUFLIS students in their comments in follow-up discussion sections 41 4.2 Comparison of hedges used in public speeches and in the comments on their friends’ presentations in terms of frequency and purpose of students' utilization 46 4.2.1 Differences in the overall distribution of hedging in students’ academic speeches .46 vii 4.2.2 Differences in particular linguistic devices in students’ public speeches and comments on their friends’ presentations in follow-up discussion sections 47 4.2.3 Differences in students’ purposes of using hedging devices in public speeches and in comment sections 50 4.2.3.1 Approximator .51 4.2.3.2 Shields 52 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 56 5.1 Summary of the findings of the research questions 56 5.2 Implications 57 5.2.1 Implications for EFL teaching .57 5.2.2 Implications for EFL learning .58 5.3 Limitations and future research 59 REFERENCES 61 APPENDICES 71 APPENDIX 71 APPENDIX 72 APPENDIX 80 APPENDIX 82 APPENDIX 83 viii LIST OF TABLES Table Namsaraev’s classification of hedging Table 2: Hyland’s classifications of hedges 11 Table 3: Hedging devices recognized by researchers based on grammatical aspect 12 Table The classification of hedges on syntactic level 20 Table The classification of hedges on functional aspect 21 Table Types of Modal auxiliary verbs in HUFLIS students’ public speeches 25 Table Types of Modal lexical verbs in HUFLIS students’ public speeches 27 Table Types of Adjectival modal phrases in HUFLIS students’ public speeches 29 Table Types of probability adverbs in HUFLIS students’ public speeches 30 Table 10 Types of adverbs of indefinite frequency in HUFLIS students’ public speeches 31 Table 11 Types of adverbs of indefinite degree in HUFLIS students’ public speeches 32 Table 12 Types of approximative adverbs in HUFLIS students’ public speeches 33 Table 13 Distribution of adverbs in HUFLIS students’ public speeches 34 Table 14 Types of nominal modal phrases in HUFLIS students’ public speeches 34 Table 15 Types of introductory phrases in HUFLIS students’ public speeches 35 Table 16 Types of If clauses in HUFLIS student’s public speeches 37 Table 17 Types of Quantifiers and Determiners in HUFLIS students’ public speeches 38 Table 18 Types of Fillers in HUFLIS students’ public speeches 39 Table 19 Frequency of hedges in students’ comments in follow-up discussion sections 41 Table 20 Overall frequency of hedging in students’ academic speeches 46 Table 21 Rank and frequency of top modal auxiliaries 48 Table 22 Rank and frequency of adverbial phrases hedges 49 Table 23 Students’ purposes of the use of hedging devices during the public speech and in their comments on their friends’ presentations 50 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Prince et al.’s (1982) Taxonomy of Hedges 13 Figure The frequency of hedges for each subcategory in the student’s public speech and comments on their friends’ presentations in follow-up discussion sections 47 x APPENDICES APPENDIX ORAL PRESENTATION TOPIC A group of 3rd year American students are going to study in your university for one semester starting from January 2022 in an exchange program These American students have not visited any Asian country before, and this is the first time they stay for half a year abroad You are one of the students in your university who are selected to deliver an online speech to these American students before their departure Your speech can be about any topic that you think is necessary and useful for the fellow American students (e.g food, weather/clothes, learning styles in your university, extracurricular activities, historical places in your city, accommodation, local people, festivals, charitable activities, etc.) and can last for 6-8 minutes Record your speech and name the video file with " PS.G1Ind." and your full name, e.g PS.G1Ind.Nguyenvanbinh You need to submit the speech outline, audience analysis and speech script (full text) on the LMS 71 APPENDIX SAMPLES _ TRANSCRIPTION OF STUDENTS’ PUBLIC SPEECHES _ CODE 10, 21, 58, 66 Code 10 Hi guys, welcome to Vietnam, I’m so excited to be here to talk and share with you some topic that I think is necessary for foreigners coming to Vietnam for the first time, hope that my speech today will be useful for you So let get started! I know most of you are coming to Asia for the first time, and there will be a lot of strange things for you, the different environment, the different language, the different culture, and so on I believe that these things will confuse you a lot, and it will take a long time for you to adjust to the daily life in Vietnam When you come to a new place, you will often pay attention to food, weather, travel and sightseeing/ festivals, and I think that you are also like me Let’s move on to the topic of today, about food Does anyone here know how to use the chopsticks or have tried it before? It's a pity if you cannot use chopsticks when eating Vietnamese food There are many dishes that are shaped like noodles, and it will be difficult for you if unfortunately, the place you eat does not have a fork My country is known for its awesome food culture and great places to visit You may know that Vietnamese food is very diverse The cuisine of Vietnam and the US has a huge difference, both in terms of ingredients and processing Vietnamese people will often use a lot of spices when cooking And you are in Hue city now, hmm, you need to know that most of the dishes here are very spicy, so if you are the one who cannot eat spicy, you can tell the cook not to put chili in the dish Next, I want to move to the topic about the weather in Hue Because here is a tropical monsoon climate, the weather is sometimes not favorable There are usually two seasons, the wet season and the dry season You only stay for half a year, is it from January to June? Most of this time the weather is quite pleasant, but starting from April is the dry season, the temperature will be higher and higher and the sun will be quite intense, especially at noon and afternoon And I know that most you like 72 sunbathing, and you will probably be surprised to see Vietnamese women cover up very well when going out One reason is that they like white skin, the other reason is because the sun here is very harmful to health, most seriously can cause skin cancer, so you should use sunscreen in the summer You also need to be careful if you stay in the sun for too long, you can get heatstroke or become dehydrated Third topic, I want to share with you about traffic in Hue You must keep in mind that you always go on the right of the street, if you follow the habit and the opposite, you may have an accident or be fined You need to wear a helmet if riding a motorbike and there are a lot of traffic laws and signs you need to learn If you want to use a motorbike, you need to study and take a driver's license test before being allowed to ride it In big cities of Vietnam, there are often traffic jams at peak hours Uh, in Hue city, there are also have traffic jams but not too serious, but you should still leave earlier during peak hour if you don't want to be late The last topic is about sightseeing and festivals, perhaps you will be very interested in this topic Hue is a very peaceful city and has a lot of interesting things for us to explore I don't grow up here, my hometown is a small province next to Hue and I have been coming to Hue for years, and this is the 3rd year This city used to be the capital of Vietnam, there are many palaces, mausoleums and temples There are many interesting places for you to visit The natural scenery in Hue is also very beautiful, with many hills and the sea In addition, traditional craft villages are also interesting places to visit In February is the Lunar New Year, the biggest holiday in Vietnam, at this time there are many interesting activities for you to participate in For example, cooking traditional dishes, celebrating New Year's Eve, organizing folk games, and so on In April, there will be a program called Festival Hue, the atmosphere at this time is very lively and bustling, the streets are also decorated beautifully That's all I can conclude after staying in Hue for a long time, there are many interesting things in this city that I have not experienced yet I hope you remember all of these things and can apply them in the future That is the end of my speech Hope you have many memories and enjoy this time Thank you 73 Code 21 Hi! Nice to meet you! I am studying at Hue University of Foreign Language; my major is English Linguistics Today I am so proud of representing my university to deliver this speech to you before you come to my country as well as my university Hopefully, my speech may give you necessary and helpful information and help you have a ready preparation for your exchange program I understand that you maybe have lots of concerns and search for my country as well as my university Hue University of Foreign Language is located in Hue city and Hue city belongs to Thua Thien Hue province Hue is a small and ancient city There are several of beautiful and historical places such as Hue Citadel, Minh Mang tomb, Tu Duc tomb, and many famous Buddhist temples like Thien Mu pagoda, Tu Dam pagoda so on If you were a person who is intrigued by Buddhism, my Hue city would be an attractive place for you The first thing that I want to share with you that is the people, most of the local people is extremely hospitable and easy-going, therefore, you can help get them to find the address of somewhere or any other problems Uhm, I am sure that they are willing to help In Vietnam, as you know, the traffic of my country is too crowded and complex In my country as well as Hue city the resident uses a motorbike to commute, which is the most popular means of transport, so that in peak hours and work hours, of course, you might witness the traffic congestion It is such an obvious thing in the daily life of the Vietnamese And so, to not be late in your plan you should prepare everything before you go out early about 20-30 minutes In the US, the climate is maybe colder than Vietnam partly, and as you know, in Vietnam, there is only one city that occurs snow in the winter while in Hue city, especially, there are two seasons in a year, those are rainy season and sunny season I believe that it would feel difficult to adapt to this climate, but with a long time, around months you might be into it I have a small piece of advice for you about the clothes you will bring along, you ought to collect and prepare summer clothes because I bet that you might use them much when you live there 74 The next part, I want to mention, I think one of things you are quite curious about that is the food or cuisine in Hue Don’t worry about that In Hue, there are a variety of dishes for you, not only traditional and low-price food but also fast food or Western food suitable for you You can go to the GO! Supermarket, Vincom mall, or even the Western restaurants located in Western Town in Le Loi street That place has a bustle and crowded space Everyone usually goes there on the weekend to relieve stress and entertain You have another critical aspect to be concerned about, maybe, your accommodation, where you will live during the exchange program in my university I think our professor will support you with accommodation They will introduce and give you some offers for instance: some groups of fellow students will live together in a dormitory of Hue University or you can live in a rent-house or an apartment separately as long as you prefer Obviously, you can’t arrange everything wholly for your department, but you would rather set a detailed plan about everything needed and be ready for good health If you have any concerning questions, please nice to ask me or contact my professors We are willing to respond to you Yeah, I hope that you have a warm and delighted Christmas holiday with your family! See you soon, guy! Code 58 Hello everyone Maybe this is your first time visiting an Asian country and staying in our country Each country, whether rich or poor, has its own unique cuisine, creating a unique cultural identity that is not confused with any other country As for the culinary culture of Asia, especially Vietnam, what are your experiences? Is it interesting? And have you ever tried to learn about the cuisine of a country? Feel free to share it with me and there will be time for a question and answer at the end of my presentation My country is known for its awesome food culture and great places to visit Today, I would like to take this opportunity to talk about the culinary culture of Hue, which has become a feature of Vietnamese cuisine My presentation is divided into main parts, first I will introduce the characteristics 75 that create Hue culinary culture, next, I will focus on the unique features of Hue cuisine Ok so let's get started! Well, The Ancient Capital culture is the convergence and relatedness of many cultural flows from different communities Therefore, it also has an influence on Hue's culinary culture Especially since Hue became the capital, it became the living place of a large class of emperors and royalty So the food and drinks here are royal styles For Hue people, cooking food is to show their passion for art Therefore, Hue women are very active in shaping the dishes artistically, creating a strong impression every time they sit at the table All processing experience is passed down from generation to generation and is getting more and more perfect Uhm, Hue cuisine is known over time by families with traditional cooking, good chefs, and famous craft villages, with local specialties Hue food has a clear and rich flavor Because Hue people consider food as the philosophy of life, there are all kinds of flavors from salty, sweet, bitter, spicy, but any taste is always clear Coming to Hue, you will enjoy three types of food: royal cuisine, folk cuisine, and vegetarian cuisine It can be said that Hue royal cuisine is the pinnacle of Vietnamese culinary art because it always shows sophistication, elegance, and charm in each dish Uh, The royal-style dishes served in the meals of the Nguyen kings have been handed down through the ages Hue folk cuisine has many similarities with royal cuisine, the highlight is the diversity and the art of the dishes Each meal of Hue people is a natural harmony between the nature, taste, and color of the dishes Hue's popular cuisine has become a famous dish, attracting tourists everywhere Simple ingredients from fresh plants, under the talented hands of Hue chefs, can still be processed into delicious and luxurious dishes Hue used to be the "capital" of Vietnamese Buddhism, so not only the king was a vegetarian, but all classes of people had two vegetarian days a month, so vegetarian cuisine is also an indispensable cultural feature when it comes to Hue cuisine My presentation introduces you to the culinary culture of Hue I hope to help you 76 have more new knowledge when coming to our country Here I would like to end my talk for today Thank you for your interest and I will be happy to answer any questions Code 66 Hello everyone, welcome to my presentation, a third-year student at Hue University of Foreign Languages So, the first thing I want to say is that I’m very glad to hear that you will coming to Vietnam, especially to Hue city as the exchange students who are going to study at Hue university of foreign languages next year Well, I know this is the first time you have had a chance to visit Vietnam, especially Hue city, right? I guess there are a lot of things that will make you feel curious about and want to experience, right? Therefore, Today, I am here to share with you an interesting Topic about Hue food culture and I think that will be a useful experience for you before visiting this city Uhm, I know that you already heard about Hue cuisine on social media, or some websites on the internet since it is extremely famous around the world However, I want to bring you a close look at hue food culture from my personal experience Honestly speaking, I am not a local person in Hue but I have been learning in hue for years, so there are many interesting things that I already experienced here especially Hue cuisine You know, Hue cuisine really impressed me with its culture and diversity Nowadays, although Hue is not a part of the central economy of the country, Hue is still maintained in the rich style of cuisine And of course, in the long-standing cultural characteristics of Hue, the cuisine of Hue is an important part of the culture and arts of the lifestyle here Today, with the combination of royal skills and the talent of the locals adding popular ingredients here, Hue people can cook hundreds of different kinds of Hue food which are luxurious and rustic If you have a chance to visit Hue in the early morning, you definitely meet too many mobile streets vendors selling all sorts of local common delicacy, you can have your pick at a diverse selection of dishes from these street vendors, from the simplest of snacks to more elaborately made meal here true to the nature of Hue cuisine And now I will introduce two typical names of food that contribute to hue food culture First of all, Bun Bo Hue, which is the best-known soup in this city BUN BO HUE 77 originated as a dish in the ancient Hue royal court Now, it has become a rustic dish of the people of the ancient capital As time goes by, the ingredients and the way to prepare Hue beef noodle soup may change, but it always converges to the quintessence of Hue cuisine: sophisticated, proportionate, unique This food includes white noodles, beef, and the simmering water broth with a rich aroma master by lemongrass, and the occasional steamed crab in for paste meatballs; the centerpiece is the round pillars of the pig's food You know all these combines to create the renowned to be the perfect noodle soup of Hue With simple ingredients, but through the skillful and delicate processing hands of Hue people, it has created a dish with a typical flavor of the ancient capital Besides, referring to the characteristics of Hue cuisine, it is impossible not to mention the spicy taste of this delicacy of Hue I believe that when you try this food, you will be extremely impressed by all the ingredients combined in a bowl of BUN BO HUE which balance well together Some addresses selling delicious BUN BO HUE that you can refer to such as Dong Ba market, Hai Ba Trung market, Ly Thuong Kiet Street, Me Keo beef near Bach Dang Street, O Cam noodle shop on Tran Cao Van Street, in addition, everywhere in the ancient capital, visitors can easily see street vendors selling beef noodles with a pot of fragrant, smoky broth Furthermore, when it comes to hue’s typical culture and cuisine features Hue cake is part of that beauty trait Hue cake (Banh Hue) is only a term for cakes in general of many different types but sharing the common base ingredients of rice flour and shrimp However, it is the difference in recipes coupled with the skills of Hue people that makes each kind of cake a distinctive taste some of Hue cakes are ‘bánh it’, bánh lọc’’ bánh gói’,’ bánh nậm’ you know, A world of hue cake possesses a hundred variety of cakes, each made using a different method or sophisticated from the process of selecting the ingredients to the active make the cakes, they have been analyzed linking the characteristic of hue cakes to those of hue women, both simple and small, they are meticulous a detail Enjoying the way cake dinners can appreciate the dexterity of Hue women Well, this is also one of the specialty foods in Hue, so it is popular everywhere and you can buy them at a super cheap price of about 2VNĐ 78 And for a more new and interesting experience, you can ask local people to teach you how to make these cakes, so you can understand the value of liking between Hue cake and Hue women It is often said that food is the soul of a land Although I was not born in the royal culinary cradle of the central, when enjoying the flavors of the food here, I feel the richness and sophistication but simple and rustic of Hue people This, to be honest, is what I treasure the most about Vietnamese cuisine So, after hearing all the interesting information about Hue cuisine, are you excited and looking forward to coming to Hue and experiencing the rich food culture region as soon as possible? My country is known for its awesome food culture and great places to visit I hope that you guys will come to Hue soon, so we can together experience and enjoy the food culture in Hue I'm sure it will be an unforgettable experience when you come to Hue to study That’s all about my share today I hope you can enjoy your time in Hue city and get some valuable experience through my sharing Thank you for listening 79 APPENDIX SAMPLES _ TRANSCRIPTION OF STUDENTS’ COMMENTS ON THEIR CLASSMATES’ PRESENTATIONS IN THE FOLLOW-UP DISCUSSION SECTIONS _ CODE 13, 27, 42, 47 Code 13 Thank you for your very nice speech Your pronunciation is very good You speak fluently, and your content is very clear and informative It is very attractive, and I can't take my eyes off your speech Such a great job! As you say in your speech, Hue is considered the heart of the national heritage And there are many historical sites You know, I'm really interested in Vietnamese culture and history, especially their culture So, can you tell me some famous places to visit in this area? Code 27 I'm T, and after watching your video, I have some comments for you Firstly, I feel your confidence, and you have a good preparation for your speech I surely believe you have researched and prepared very well for what you are going to say Also, I recommend that you should know how to make more connection with your audience; that is what really attracted me to seeing how you speak it fluently Secondly, your pronunciation is really good, but I believe you can be completely better than that And the last one is from your content And I believe you did a good job of sharing information about the weather and festivals in this land I trust that is absolutely useful for American students And so that's all Code 42 Yeah, hi, and, uh, I want to say thank you very much for your speech I can see a lot of useful information Uhm, about whether the locals in her arm were famous first, and so on Your speech is also very clear, but I'd like to ask you some questions I'm curious about what things are famous about food and whether there is any 80 controversy This is because I'm afraid I won't be able to handle the food here I'd be grateful if you could answer my questions Goodbye Code 47 Hi, my name is T, and certainly I'd like to share that Thank you a lot for your valuable speech because you know, your speech includes a lot of valuable information that could be helpful for me during my stay, and now I would like to share with you something You know, before listening to your speech, I was so curious and wondered what I should to deal with the difficult language barrier when I come to your city And, you know, I was worried about getting mixed up with locals because of the different languages But you know, thanks for your speech, now I know a lot Please tell me a little bit about what dialect is, and thank you for your advice I know what I need to to overcome the language barrier I need to try my best to learn and explore Vietnamese and its dialects So, you know I'll need you And moreover, I have a compliment for your speaking skill because you know your voice is so natural and fluent And also, your pronunciation is so good that it's like a native speaker's And finally, I hope that we will meet soon at the university and that we can communicate a lot about your city and your school as well So thank you for listening 81 APPENDIX SAMPLE_RAW DATA ANALYSIS_CAN 82 APPENDIX RAW DATA COLLECTION Words Hedges in student’s public speech (52524 words) Hedges in students’ comments on their friends’ presentations of follow-up discussion sections (7771 words) Tokens Tokens/ 10000 words Tokens Tokens/ 10000 words would 63 11.99 10 12.87 may 72 13.71 7.72 could 13 2.48 10 12.87 should 114 21.7 10 12.87 can 384 73.11 91 117.07 will 512 97.48 37 47.60 might 19 3.62 1.29 must 33 6.28 1.29 0.76 0 Is/are/was/were likely to Is/are/was/were certain to Is/are/was/were possible to Is/are/was/were able to Is/are/was/were obvious 0.38 0 13 2.48 7.72 10 1.9 10.29 0 1.29 sometimes 15 2.86 1.29 often 45 8.57 0 normally 1.33 0 83 occasionally 0.38 0 quite 54 10.28 10.29 somewhat 0.57 0 slightly 0.38 0 relatively 0.57 0 about 12 2.28 0 nearly 0.38 0 around 1.33 0 opinion 0.95 2.57 recommendation 1.14 2.57 Doubt 0.38 0 idea 0.57 0 Personally, 0.38 0 according to 1.33 1.29 37 7.04 10 12.87 95 18.09 11.58 If 165 31.41 26 33.45 much 37 7.04 24 30.88 a (little) bit 29 5.52 5.15 few 26 4.95 5.15 some 189 35.98 53 68.18 a lot of/ lots of 70 13.33 37 47.60 most 129 24.56 9.01 many 177 33.7 13 16.72 someone says that/ I would like to say that/ it can be said that It is known that/ I know 84 several 14 2.67 0 less 12 2.28 0 Uh/ uhm/ hmm/ huh 103 19.61 34 43.74 1.52 3.86 155 29.51 0 kind of 1.71 3.86 Well 24 4.57 0 yeah 1.33 10 12.87 tend 1.14 0 seem 1.14 5.15 appear 0.95 0 think 89 16.94 26 33.45 recommend 23 4.38 11.58 believe 43 8.19 9.01 suggest 0.76 1.29 hope 92 17.52 19 24.44 feel 73 13.90 11.58 perhaps 1.52 0 probably 12 2.28 1.29 maybe 25 4.76 6.43 Total 3088 587.87 513 660.03 I mean so 85