A Socio-Pragmatic Study Of Hedging In Selected Economic News

Abstract

The current study attempts to check and analyze the term hedging in the selected economic news from a socio-pragmatic view point. The study aims at identifying the forms and kinds of hedging that English native speakers commonly utilize when talking about economic news and also identifying functions of hedges which mostly take place in the rhetorical sections of economic news. This study is qualitative one since it deals with content analysis. The study adopts Hyland's model (1996) to determine the forms and kinds of hedges commonly utilized via English speakers. The data of study is taken from two channels: CNN and BBC. The results of study display that content-oriented hedges are utilized more frequently in terms of types of hedging, while reader -oriented are also the hedging which being utilized mostly as forms of hedging in economic news. As a result, it is obvious that hedging is an essential aspect of economic news since hedging makes a text more readerable as those hedges permit speech to take place between the speaker and the listener. Hedges too permit the message to be achieved more precisely and obviously.