CONTENTS
ABSTRACT
中文摘要
Chapter One INTRODUCTION-1
1.1 Background of the Study-1
1.2 Necessity for the Study-1
1.3 Objective of the Study-2
1.4 Structure of the Thesis-2
Chapter Two LITERATURE REVIEW-4
2.1 The Definition of Hedges-4
2.2 The Classification of Hedges-5
Chapter Three METHODOLOGY-7
3.1 Research Questions-7
3.2 Data Collection-7
3.3 Procedure-8
Chapter Four RESULTS AND DISCUSSION-10
4.1 Results-10
4.2 Discussion-11
4.2.1 The function of adaptors in English medical article-11
4.2.2 The function of rounders in English medical article-13
4.2.3 The function of plausibility shields in English medical article-14
4.2.4 The function of attribution shields in English medical article-16
4.3 Summary-17
Chapter Five CONCLUSION-19
5.1 Major Research Findings-19
5.2 Implications of the Study-19
5.3 Limitations of the Study and Suggestions for Future Research-20
REFERENCES-22
