An analysis of hedging devices in complaint business letters

Hedging devices are important tools and have been used widely in academic and scientific writing, but their usefulness in business writing has seldom been explored. In a business setting, very few studies have been carried out on hedging in business letters. Some scholars have indicated that the use...

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Main Authors:	Hooi, Chee Mei, Munir Shuib
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2014
Online Access:	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/7769/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/7769/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/7769/1/7105-18838-1-PB.pdf

id	ukm-7769
recordtype	eprints
spelling	ukm-77692016-12-14T06:45:08Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/7769/ An analysis of hedging devices in complaint business letters Hooi, Chee Mei Munir Shuib, Hedging devices are important tools and have been used widely in academic and scientific writing, but their usefulness in business writing has seldom been explored. In a business setting, very few studies have been carried out on hedging in business letters. Some scholars have indicated that the use of hedges is also important in business letters. However, not many business writers are aware of the use and importance of hedging devices in business letters, especially complaint business letters. The aim of the paper is to present findings in the use of hedging devices in complaint business letters among 30 native speakers of English, who have working experience in the business context. The study aims to determine the types and forms of hedging devices that native speakers of English commonly use when writing business letters, as well as, to determine the types and forms of hedging devices that commonly occur in the rhetorical sections (introduction, body, and closure) of business letters. The study employs Hyland‟s model of hedging to identify the forms and types of hedges commonly used by native speakers of English. The findings show that content-oriented hedges are used more frequently in terms of types of hedging devices, while reader pronouns are the forms of hedging devices that are used most frequently in terms of forms of hedging devices in complaint business letters. In all the rhetorical sections of complaint business letters, content-oriented hedges and reader pronouns are commonly used. From the findings, it is clear that hedging is an important aspect of business writing because hedges make a text more reader-friendly since those hedges allow negotiation to occur between the writer and the reader. Hedges also allow the message to be carried across more clearly and precisely. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2014 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/7769/1/7105-18838-1-PB.pdf Hooi, Chee Mei and Munir Shuib, (2014) An analysis of hedging devices in complaint business letters. GEMA ; Online Journal of Language Studies, 14 (3). pp. 123-142. ISSN 1675-8021 http://ejournal.ukm.my/gema/index
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia
building	UKM Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
description	Hedging devices are important tools and have been used widely in academic and scientific writing, but their usefulness in business writing has seldom been explored. In a business setting, very few studies have been carried out on hedging in business letters. Some scholars have indicated that the use of hedges is also important in business letters. However, not many business writers are aware of the use and importance of hedging devices in business letters, especially complaint business letters. The aim of the paper is to present findings in the use of hedging devices in complaint business letters among 30 native speakers of English, who have working experience in the business context. The study aims to determine the types and forms of hedging devices that native speakers of English commonly use when writing business letters, as well as, to determine the types and forms of hedging devices that commonly occur in the rhetorical sections (introduction, body, and closure) of business letters. The study employs Hyland‟s model of hedging to identify the forms and types of hedges commonly used by native speakers of English. The findings show that content-oriented hedges are used more frequently in terms of types of hedging devices, while reader pronouns are the forms of hedging devices that are used most frequently in terms of forms of hedging devices in complaint business letters. In all the rhetorical sections of complaint business letters, content-oriented hedges and reader pronouns are commonly used. From the findings, it is clear that hedging is an important aspect of business writing because hedges make a text more reader-friendly since those hedges allow negotiation to occur between the writer and the reader. Hedges also allow the message to be carried across more clearly and precisely.
format	Article
author	Hooi, Chee Mei Munir Shuib,
spellingShingle	Hooi, Chee Mei Munir Shuib, An analysis of hedging devices in complaint business letters
author_facet	Hooi, Chee Mei Munir Shuib,
author_sort	Hooi, Chee Mei
title	An analysis of hedging devices in complaint business letters
title_short	An analysis of hedging devices in complaint business letters
title_full	An analysis of hedging devices in complaint business letters
title_fullStr	An analysis of hedging devices in complaint business letters
title_full_unstemmed	An analysis of hedging devices in complaint business letters
title_sort	analysis of hedging devices in complaint business letters
publisher	Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
publishDate	2014
url	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/7769/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/7769/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/7769/1/7105-18838-1-PB.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T19:50:34Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T19:50:34Z
_version_	1777406191863857152

An analysis of hedging devices in complaint business letters

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