Within the system of modality, modalization builds an area of uncertainty. It is an intermediate point between positive polarity (it is) and negative polarity (it is not), which has various degrees of indeterminacy (Halliday and Matthiessen 2014: 176). This indeterminacy includes probability and is expressed through items that Holmes (1990) and Hyland (1998) termed hedges and boosters. However, hedges and boosters can also function within intensity, where they convey a certain level of degree. Through them, writers achieve approval by finding the right balance between the reinforcement of statements with the assurance of reliable knowledge and the tentativeness to convey doubt and adequate social interrelations (Hyland 1998b: 349). The aim of this comparative study is to investigate the usage of hedges and boosters in Italian and Albanian student academic writings in their L1 and L2. Author-related and proposition-related hedges (e.g. suppose, approximately) and boosters (e.g. show, completely) as well as interrelated aspects such as their positioning, orientation, manifestation, and prosody of modalization will be analysed. My paper will interweave Prince et al.’s (1980) categorization of hedges, Quirk et al.’s (1985) model of boosters, Lafuente Millán’s (2008) categorization of approximative meanings and related concepts of the Systemic Functional Grammar (henceforth SFG) (Halliday and Matthiessen 2014) to create an innovative combination. I have compiled two corpora of Italian student writings (around 3 million words each) respectively in Italian and English and two corpora of writings by Albanian students in Albanian (around 2.2 million words) and in English (around 600.000 words). All corpora include a similar number of words and genres for each disciplinary domain as well as a balance of male and female writers. Disciplinary domains pertain to both soft and hard sciences (Social Sciences, Languages and Literature, Medicine, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Informatics). As Toska (2015) stated, very little research has been conducted on academic writing in Albania. Thus, it is essential to initiate research in this field. Results of the quantitative analysis show that hedges were favored by Albanians and boosters were favored by Italians. The neutral position (in-between the clause complex, next to the verb, temporal or finite operator) of hedges and boosters was the most frequently encountered position in my corpora, followed by medial (in-between the clause complex, not next to verb, temporal or finite operator) and thematic position (at the beginning of the clause). Lastly, the same hedge (probably) and booster (significantly) appeared as author-related (shield) and proposition-related (approximator). This overlap between author-related and proposition-related categories demonstrates the importance of context in ranking these items and suggests relevant modifications to the original categorization by Prince et al. (1980). From my findings, I conclude that Italians show more commitment than Albanians, who appear more tentative in their writings. / Da Sprache (nach Halliday/Matthiesen 2014: 25) ein Mittel des persönlichen Ausdrucks und der fachlichen und gesellschaftlichen Verständigung ist, beinhalten unsere Texte unsere persönlichen und pädagogischen Erfahrungen, unseres alltäglichen Umfeldes und unserer Kultur. Die vorliegende Dissertationsschrift ist ein Beitrag aus der Perspektive der systemisch-funktionalen Grammatik und des wissenschaftlichen Schreibens. Sie befasst sich mit pragmatischen, semantischen und syntaktischen Aspekten von Hedges und Booster. Dafür wurden vier Korpora albanischer und italienischer wissenschaftlicher Arbeiten von Studenten in deren Muttersprache sowie ihrer Zweitsprache Englisch erstellt und untersucht. Die fünf Forschungsfragen beziehen sich größtenteils auf die qualitativen und quantitativen Unterschiede in der Verwendung von Hedges, Booster und deren semantischen und pragmatischen Unterkategorien in den albanischen und italienischen Korpora. Zudem wurde untersucht, welche Rolle Geschlecht und Genre bei der Verwendung von Hedges und Booster spielen.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:38446 |
| Date | 28 February 2020 |
| Creators | Dheskali, Vincenzo |
| Contributors | Schmied, Josef, Bondi, Marina, Technische Universität Chemnitz |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:doctoralThesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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