| AVKNOWLEDGEMENTS | 第8-9页 |
| Abstract | 第9页 |
| 摘要 | 第10-14页 |
| LIST OF ABBREVIATION | 第14-15页 |
| CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION | 第15-19页 |
| 1.1 Background | 第15-16页 |
| 1.2 Rationale of the Study | 第16-17页 |
| 1.3 Objectives of the Study | 第17页 |
| 1.4 Organization of the Thesis | 第17-19页 |
| CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW | 第19-32页 |
| 2.1 Theoretical Basis | 第19-20页 |
| 2.2 Definitions of Hedges and Boosters | 第20-21页 |
| 2.3 Functions of Hedges and Boosters in Academic Writing | 第21-22页 |
| 2.4 Taxonomies of Hedges As an Umbrella Term | 第22-27页 |
| 2.5 Comparative Studies on Hedges and Boosters in Academic Writing | 第27-30页 |
| 2.5.1 Disciplinary Differences in the Use of Hedges and Boosters | 第27-28页 |
| 2.5.2 Linguistic and Cultural Variations in the Use of Hedges and Boosters | 第28-30页 |
| 2.6 Summary | 第30-32页 |
| CHAPTER III METHOD | 第32-38页 |
| 3.1 Construction of the Comparable Corpora | 第32-33页 |
| 3.2 Taxonomy of English and Chinese Hedges and Boosters | 第33-34页 |
| 3.3 The Identification of Specific Hedges and Boosters | 第34-36页 |
| 3.4 Data Coding | 第36-37页 |
| 3.5 Procedures of Data Analysis | 第37-38页 |
| CHAPTER IV RESULT AND DISCUSSION | 第38-65页 |
| 4.1 Overall Frequency of Hedges and Boosters in the Three Corpora | 第38页 |
| 4.2 The Statistical Differences of Hedges and Boosters Among the Three Corpora | 第38-39页 |
| 4.3 Linguistic Differences of Hedges and Boosters Between English and Chinese | 第39-61页 |
| 4.3.1 Modal Auxiliaries | 第40-46页 |
| 4.3.2 Epistemic Verbs | 第46-54页 |
| 4.3.3 Epistemic Adjectives/Adverbs | 第54-59页 |
| 4.3.4 Phraseological Expressions | 第59-61页 |
| 4.4 Discussion | 第61-65页 |
| 4.4.1 Chinese EFL Students’ Lack of Hedges in Their Academic Writing | 第62页 |
| 4.4.2 Cross-linguistic Differences between English and Chinese | 第62-63页 |
| 4.4.3 Socio-cultural Factors in the Use of Hedges and Boosters | 第63-65页 |
| CHAPTER V CONCLUSION | 第65-68页 |
| 5.1 Major Findings | 第65页 |
| 5.2 Pedagogical Implications | 第65-66页 |
| 5.3 Limitations of the Study | 第66-67页 |
| 5.4 Suggestions for Future Research | 第67-68页 |
| REFERENCES | 第68-72页 |
| APPENDIX I | 第72-75页 |
| APPENDIX II | 第75-77页 |
