| Acknowledgements | 第1-6页 |
| Abstract | 第6-8页 |
| 摘要 | 第8-13页 |
| Chapter One Introduction | 第13-17页 |
| ·The purpose and significance of the study | 第13-14页 |
| ·Data selection and methodology | 第14-15页 |
| ·The organization of the thesis | 第15-17页 |
| Chapter Two A brief account of the previous studies of hedges/hedging | 第17-36页 |
| ·A review of various definitions of hedges/hedging in previous studies | 第17-23页 |
| ·Lakoff’s definition | 第18-20页 |
| ·Channell’s definition | 第20-21页 |
| ·Hyland’s definition | 第21-23页 |
| ·A review of previous taxonomy of hedges | 第23-36页 |
| ·Prince et al.’s model | 第23-28页 |
| ·Approximators | 第23-25页 |
| ·Shields | 第25-28页 |
| ·Hyland’s model | 第28-31页 |
| ·Content-oriented hedges | 第28-30页 |
| ·Reader-oriented hedges | 第30-31页 |
| ·Wu Tieping’s model | 第31-33页 |
| ·Chen Linhua and Li Fuyin’s model | 第33-36页 |
| Chapter Three Linguistic realization of hedges in research article | 第36-74页 |
| ·A working definition of hedges | 第36页 |
| ·Linguistic realization of hedges in research articles | 第36-74页 |
| ·Lexical level | 第37-72页 |
| ·Modal verbs | 第37-54页 |
| ·Lexical verbs | 第54-62页 |
| ·Adjectives, adverbs and nouns | 第62-72页 |
| ·Harmonic combinations | 第72-74页 |
| Chapter Four Pragmatic functions of hedges in research article | 第74-87页 |
| ·Hedges and the cooperative principle | 第74-80页 |
| ·Grice’s cooperative principle (CP) | 第74-75页 |
| ·Hedges and the maxims of cooperative principle in research article | 第75-80页 |
| ·Violation of the maxim of quantity | 第76-78页 |
| ·Violation of the maxim of manner | 第78页 |
| ·Violation of the maxim of relevance | 第78-80页 |
| ·Hedges and FTAs in research articles | 第80-83页 |
| ·Face theory | 第80-81页 |
| ·Hedges and FTAs in research articles | 第81-83页 |
| ·Functions of hedges in research articles | 第83-87页 |
| ·Avoiding giving details | 第83页 |
| ·Increasing creditability | 第83-84页 |
| ·Achieving self- protection | 第84-85页 |
| ·Showing politeness | 第85-87页 |
| Chapter Five Conclusion | 第87-91页 |
| ·Implications for teaching of hedges in academic writing | 第87-88页 |
| ·Suggestions for further study | 第88-89页 |
| ·Summary of the thesis | 第89-91页 |
| Bibliography | 第91-94页 |
| Appendix 1 | 第94-103页 |
| Appendix 2 | 第103-104页 |
