Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

HEDGING AND BOOSTING

146

Academic texts are most frequently characterised by a desire to avoid making

claims and statements that are too direct and assertive, since academic discourse

is often about theories, conclusions drawn from evidence, exchanging viewpoints,

and so on, rather than hard, indisputable facts. Therefore, hedging (making a

proposition less assertive) is very important in academic styles. Less often, it is

sometimes also necessary to assert a claim or viewpoint quite directly and more

confidently, a process we shall refer to as boosting.

Hedging and boosting are principally realised through modal expressions and

through the use of simple tense forms. We also examine the role of adverbs and

other constructions in asserting (boosting) and hedging.