| Acknowledgements | 第1-6页 |
| Abstract | 第6-7页 |
| List of Tables and Figures | 第7-8页 |
| Chapter 1 Introduction | 第8-10页 |
| ·Research questions | 第8-9页 |
| ·Overview of the thesis | 第9-10页 |
| Chapter 2 Hedging:A Critical Literature Review | 第10-21页 |
| ·Definitions of hedges and hedging | 第10-11页 |
| ·Differences between hedges,vagueness and fuzziness | 第11-14页 |
| ·Categorization of hedges | 第14-19页 |
| ·The semantic categorization | 第14-15页 |
| ·The grammatical categorization | 第15页 |
| ·The pragmatic categorization | 第15-19页 |
| ·Prince's categorization | 第15-16页 |
| ·Salager Meyer's categorization | 第16-17页 |
| ·Hyland's categorization | 第17-19页 |
| ·Studies on pragmatic functions of hedging | 第19-21页 |
| Chapter 3 Research Methodology | 第21-22页 |
| ·Data collection | 第21页 |
| ·Materials and procedure | 第21-22页 |
| Chapter 4 Results and Analysis | 第22-31页 |
| ·Distribution of hedges in hard news and soft news of VOA and BBC | 第22-25页 |
| ·Hard news and soft news | 第22-23页 |
| ·Distribution of hedges in hard news and soft news of VOA and BBC | 第23-25页 |
| ·Distribution of hedges in VOA and BBC | 第25-28页 |
| ·Comparison with the distribution of hedges in news | 第28-31页 |
| Chapter 5 Discussion of Hedging in English Broadcasting News | 第31-39页 |
| ·Hedges in English broadcasting news | 第31-36页 |
| ·Approximators | 第31-33页 |
| ·Shields | 第33-36页 |
| ·Functions of hedging in English broadcasting news | 第36-39页 |
| ·Seeking accuracy | 第36页 |
| ·Conforming with audiences' way of understanding | 第36-37页 |
| ·Avoiding absoluteness | 第37-38页 |
| ·Protecting reporters and the people concerned | 第38-39页 |
| Chapter 6 Conclusions | 第39-42页 |
| ·A summary of major findings | 第39页 |
| ·Limitations of the present study | 第39-40页 |
| ·Pedagogic and research implications | 第40-42页 |
| References | 第42-45页 |
| Appendix 1 | 第45-47页 |
| Appendix 2 | 第47-49页 |
| Appendix 3 | 第49-50页 |
