Nghiên cứu giao văn hóa về phương tiện rào đón thể hiện khoảng cách quyền lực trong tiểu thuyết anh và việt đương đại

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

TRẦN THỊ KIM ANH

A CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY ON HEDGES SHOWING POWER DISTANCE
IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE NOVELS

(Nghiên cứu giao văn hóa về phương tiện rào đón thể hiện khoảng cách
quyền lực trong tiểu thuyết Anh và Việt đương đại)

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Linguistics
Code: 8220201.01

HANOI – 2017


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

TRẦN THỊ KIM ANH

A CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY ON HEDGES SHOWING POWER DISTANCE
IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE NOVELS

(Nghiên cứu giao văn hóa về phương tiện rào đón thể hiện khoảng cách
quyền lực trong tiểu thuyết Anh và Việt đương đại)

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS
Field: English Linguistics
Code: 8220201.01
Supervisor: Huỳnh Anh Tuấn, Ph.D.

HANOI – 2017


DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP
I certify that the work presented in this study report has been implemented on my own.
I confirm that this paper is submitted in fulfillment of the requirement for the M.A.
Degree in English Linguistics and has not been submitted in any other form for the
fulfillment of any other degree or qualification. Besides the mentioned references, no
other person’s work has been used in this thesis without due acknowledgement.
Hanoi, 2017

Trần Thị Kim Anh

Approved by
SUPERVISOR

Huỳnh Anh Tuấn, Ph.D.
Date: …………………

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many people have given me valuable guidance, great support and encouragement

during my research and thesis writing. I would like to express my sincere gratitude and
appreciation for their contribution.
First and foremost, I would like to express my great gratitude to my supervisor Dr.
Huynh Anh Tuan, who helped me in many ways, from the selection of the topic for this
research to academic thesis writing. Thanks to his invaluably constructive suggestions
and comments during my research, the thesis has been successfully completed. I am
greatly grateful to his expertise, enthusiasm, kindness, encouragement and support.
Special thanks also go to my friend Nguyen Thi Sinh, who aided me to send the two
English novels from the UK. Without her help, the data collection procedure could not
be finished.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies,
University of Languages and International Studies, who provided me with adequate
support throughout the duration of my study.
Last but not least, I would like to say thanks to my colleagues in the Institute for
Nuclear Science and Technology, who took on my work when I was absent from the
office to attend the lessons and gave me time to complete the course.

ii


ABSTRACT
This study is conducted to investigate power distance manifestation through the use of
hedges in contemporary English and Vietnamese novels from the perspective of crosscultural communication. The analysis is carried out on the basis of the research data on
hedges identified in the four selected novels: “Clever girl” by Tessa Hadley, “Into the
darkest corner” by Elizabeth Haynes, “Bến không chồng” by Duong Huong and
“Nhắm mắt thấy Paris” by Duong Thuy. This study is implemented by the combination
of descriptive, comparative and contrastive methods. The findings indicate that both
low and high power distance are manifested in the use of the four hedge categories,
including modal, performative, pragmatic-marker and quantificational hedges. In the
English novels, all the groups of age, gender and social status share low power distance

by using hedges which mitigate the imposition on interlocutors, utterance propositions
expressing an epistemic judgment and strengthen the solidarity between interlocutors.
In contrast, in the Vietnamese novels, the power distance is very high in terms of age
and social status; the gender power distance stands at equal or low level. For the
younger and lower subgroups, the hedges are often used to show modesty or humble
attitude and respect for the interlocutors or to make uncertain statements. For the older
and higher subgroups, the hedges are used to strengthen the importance of the utterance
and the subjective propositions made by the speaker.

iii


TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP

i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ii

ABSTRACT

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

vii

LIST OF TABLES

viii

LIST OF FIGURES

ix

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

1

1.1. Rationale for the research

1

1.2. Aim of the research and research questions

2

1.3. Significance of the research

2

1.4. Scope of the research

3

1.5. Research methodology

3

1.6. Design of the research

4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

5

2.1. Theoretical background

5

2.1.1. Hedges and hedging

5

2.1.1.1. Development of the concept of hedges and hedging

5

2.1.1.2. Taxonomy of hedges

8

2.1.2. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions - Power distance

13

2.1.3. Cross-cultural communication

15

2.1.4. Politeness theory and hedging

18

2.1.5. Contemporary novels

19

2.2. Related studies on hedges

20

2.3. Chapter summary

23

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

26

3.1. Research questions

26

3.2. Research approach

26

3.3. Research method

26

3.4. Research data

27

3.5. Data collection

28
iv


3.6. Data analysis method

29

3.7. Analytical framework

30

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

32

4.1. The hedges showing power distance identified in the English and
Vietnamese novels in terms of age, gender and social status
4.1.1. Modal hedges

32
34

4.1.2. Performative hedges

40

4.1.3. Pragmatic-marker hedges

45

4.1.4. Quantificational hedges

49

4.2. The similarities and differences in the use of hedges showing power
distance in the English and Vietnamese novels in terms of age, gender and
social status
4.2.1. The similarities and differences in the use of hedges showing power
distance in the English and Vietnamese novels in terms of age
4.2.1.1. Similarities

53

53

53

4.2.1.2. Differences

54

4.2.2. The similarities and differences in the use of hedges showing power
distance in the English and Vietnamese novels in terms of gender
4.2.2.1. Similarities

55

4.2.2.2. Differences

55

4.2.3. The similarities and differences in the use of hedges showing power
distance in the English and Vietnamese novels in terms of social
status
4.2.3.1. Similarities

56

4.2.3.2. Differences

57

55

56

4.3. The answers to the research questions

58

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION

60

5.1. Concluding remarks

60

5.2. Implications of the findings

61

5.3. Limitations and suggestions for further research

62

REFERENCES
APPENDICES

64
68

v

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
PDI

Power Distance Index

HPD

High Power Distance

LPD

Low Power Distance

N/A

Not Applicable

EMVs

Epistemic Modal Verbs

EMAdjs

Epistemic Modal Adjectives

EMAdvs

Epistemic Modal Adverbs

EMNs

MSVs

Epistemic Modal Nouns
Deontic Modal Verbs (shifting the
responsibility away from the speaker to the
necessity or obligation)
Mental State Verbs

PVs

Performative Verbs

PM

Pragmatic-marker

IPMs

Interpersonal Pragmatic-Markers

PPMs

Propositional Pragmatic-Markers

QAs

Quantity Approximators

FAs

Frequency Approximators

DAs
F

Degree Approximators
Female

M

Male

Y

Younger

O

Older

E

Equal

L

Lower

H

Higher

DMVs

vi


LIST OF TABLES
Table 1.

Taxonomy of hedges by Salvager-Meyer

9

Table 2.

Taxonomy of hedges by Yu

11

Table 3.

Taxonomy of hedges established for the present study

12

Table 4.

33

Table 5.

Categories of hedges showing power distance used by groups of age,
gender and social status in English and Vietnamese novels
Modal hedges identified in the English novels

Table 6.

Modal hedges identified in the Vietnamese novels

37

Table 7.

Comparing modal hedges across the groups in the novels

39

Table 8.

Performative hedges identified in the English novels

41

Table 9.

Performative hedges identified in the Vietnamese novels

42

Table 10.

Comparing performative hedges across the groups in the novels

44

Table 11.

Pragmatic-marker hedges identified in the English novels

46

Table 12.

Pragmatic-marker hedges identified in the Vietnamese novels

47

Table 13.

Comparing pragmatic-marker hedges across the groups in the novels

49

Table 14.

Quantificational hedges identified in the English novels

50

Table 15.

Quantificational hedges identified in the Vietnamese novels

51

Table 16.

Comparing quantificational hedges across the groups in the novels

52

vii

35


LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.
Figure 2.

Hyland’s classification of scientific hedges
PDI in England and Vietnam

viii

9
14

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
The first chapter is a brief introduction of the motivation for conducting the research,
the aim of the research, the key research questions explored to achieve the goal;
provides the theoretical and practical significance of the research, the scope of the
research, followed by the research methodology. This section ends with an outline of
the research design with a brief overview of each chapter.
1.1. Rationale for the research
It is widely accepted that each culture has its own level of tolerance to inequality of
power. On the basis of Mulder’s study (1975), Hofstede (1984) introduced the cultural
variable power distance to describe cultural value differences towards the distribution
of power. It focuses on how a culture views power relationships between individuals.
The manifestation of power distance can be revealed through using various
communication devices in both spoken and written languages, in daily life and even in
literature. One of the means to show such manifestation is the use of hedges.
Being an important linguistic phenomenon, hedging has recently received a good
concern of linguists. Based on the first introduction of hedge as a linguistic term by
Lakoff (1972), both conceptual and empirical studies have been conducted on the
subject. Researchers have focused on different issues regarding definition, form,
category and function of hedges. However, Yu (2009) indicates that those previous
hedge studies mainly focus on genres of academic and scientific writings, several of
spoken discourse and hedge comprehension while less attention is paid to hedges in
literature (i.e., novels), one of the prominent types of discourse in which values,
beliefs, ideologies and cultural dimensions of a particular nation or a social class can be
presented through language.
This thesis, therefore, provides comprehensive research on power distance dimension
in close relation to the utilization of hedges in contemporary English and Vietnamese

1

novels with a systematic analysis of (1) the manifestation of power distance by using
hedges and (2) the similarities and differences in the use of hedges showing power
distance in the novels.
All of the above-mentioned information has encouraged me to conduct the study
entitled “A cross-cultural study on hedges showing power distance in contemporary
English and Vietnamese novels”.
1.2. Aim of the research and research questions
The aim of this research is to find out the similarities and differences in the use of
hedges showing power distance in contemporary English and Vietnamese novels. In
particular, the study fulfills the following tasks:
-

To identify hedges showing power distance used in contemporary English and
Vietnamese novels;

-

To compare the use of hedges showing power distance in contemporary English
and Vietnamese novels.

To achieve such goal, two research questions are addressed:
(i) Which hedges showing power distance are used in contemporary English and
Vietnamese novels?
(ii) What are the similarities and differences in the use of hedges showing power
distance in contemporary English and Vietnamese novels?
1.3. Significance of the research
Theoretically, the study provides criteria and guidelines for identification and
classification of hedges showing power distance in both English and Vietnamese
languages. Based on the pragmatic function analysis of hedges, the study gives a valid

explanatory framework underlying hedge choices for power distance manifestation.
Practically, the research findings can contribute to Vietnamese understanding of the
way English people use hedging expressions to show power distance. Accordingly,

2


Vietnamese learners of English are able to avoid culture shocks in cross-cultural or
intercultural communication, to improve their pragmatic competence and then to adopt
appropriate strategies in different communication situations.
1.4. Scope of the research
Although communication comes with paralinguistic factors (e.g., loudness,) and extralinguistic factors (e.g., facial expressions), within the limit of a minor thesis, this
research focuses on the verbal mode of hedges showing power distance in the four
contemporary English and Vietnamese novels including “Clever girl” by Tessa Hadley,
“Into the darkest corner” by Elizabeth Haynes, “Bến không chồng” by Duong Huong
and “Nhắm mắt thấy Paris” by Duong Thuy. In this study, power distance is examined
in terms of age power, gender power and social status power though it is expressed in a
variety of aspects. On the basis of the politeness theory, the study explains how power
distance actually works through the use of hedges.
1.5. Research methodology
To explore power distance manifestation through the use of hedges in the selected
contemporary English and Vietnamese novels, this study is conducted from the
perspective of cross-cultural communication. Accordingly, the research sheds light on
the similarities and differences in the way people of each cultural background use
hedges to show power distance.
The research data is composed of hedges taken from conversations in the four selected
novels. The collection of hedging expressions is implemented with the combination of
semantic, grammatical and pragmatic criteria. All of the identified hedges are then
classified on the basis of the categories developed by Yu (2009) and in groups of age,
gender and social status. After being processed, the data is arranged in overall

distribution for analysis and discussions later.

3


The research data is then qualitatively interpreted and discussed in order to explore the
manifestation of power distance. This pragmatic analysis is undertaken based on the
politeness theory.
Finally, to find out the similarities and differences in the use of hedges showing power
distance in the selected English and Vietnamese novels, comparative and contrastive
analysis methods are employed in the study.
1.6. Design of the research
The study is composed of five chapters:
Chapter 1 “Introduction” gives a brief introduction of the motivation for the research,
the aim of the research, the key research questions, the theoretical and practical
significance of the research, the scope of the research and the research methodology.
Chapter 2 “Literature review” attempts to establish a theoretical background for the
present study and presents an overview of previous works related to hedges.
Chapter 3 “Research methodology” explains the specific approach and methods for
conducting the research, data collection, data analysis and attempts to establish an
analytical framework of the study.
Chapter 4 “Findings and Discussion” presents research findings and provides full
discussions about the findings.
Chapter 5 “Conclusion” includes a summary of the research results, implications of the
findings, limitations of the study and suggestions for further research.

4


CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter presents a theoretical background and an overview of previous works
related to hedges for the study. The former provides a detailed discussion about hedges
and hedging, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, cross-cultural communication, politeness
theory and hedging, and contemporary novels. The latter briefly reviews related studies
on hedges in various areas in order to find out the knowledge gap and then raise a
rationale for the present research.
2.1. Theoretical background
This section first goes through the changing notion of hedge and hedging to witness a
development in the concept, and then gives a brief discussion about various taxonomies
of hedges to establish an appropriate taxonomy for the present study. Following the
account of hedges and hedging, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are presented with the
focus on power distance dimension. Serving as the research approach, the concept of
cross-cultural communication is also discussed in this section, followed by the account
of politeness theory and hedging. This section ends with a definition of contemporary
novels.
2.1.1. Hedges and hedging
2.1.1.1. Development of the concept of hedges and hedging
It seems challenging to give definitions of hedges and hedging covering all approaches.
This part presents the development of the concept of hedge and hedging to show clarity
and agreement as to what counts as a hedge and hedging.
The notion of “hedge” and its use as a linguistic term can be traced back to Lakoff
(1972) when he published his article “Hedges: A Study in Meaning Criteria and the
Logic of Fuzzy Concepts”. He used the term to refer to words or phrases that “make
things fuzzier or less fuzzy” (1972: 195). He indicated the possibility that hedges may
“interact with felicity conditions for utterances and with rules of conversation” (1972:
5


213). However, he was concerned with the logical properties of hedges, not interested
in the communicative value of the use of hedges. Lakoff’s definition focuses on

clarifying the semantic basis, on which the notion of hedge rests; therefore, his
definition of hedges has remained a basis for many analyses of the hedging
phenomenon. Supporting Lakoff's concern, another definition of hedge has been
developed by Brown and Levinson (1987: 145) as "a particle, word or phrase that
modifies the degree of membership of a predicate or a noun phrase in a set; it says of
that membership that it is partial or true only in certain respects, or that it is more true
and complete than perhaps might be expected".
The term has moved far from its origins since it attracted the interest of pragmatists and
discourse analysts. It is now used not only for expressions which modify the category
membership of a predicate or noun phrase, but also for other syntactic constructions.
After the mention of a fact that certain verbs and syntactic constructions may convey
hedged performatives (e.g., I suppose that…) (Lakoff, 1972), the idea of hedged
performatives has then become one direction of the expansion of the term. According
to Markkanen and Schröder (1997), hedges are considered as modifiers of the
speaker’s/writer’s commitment to the truth-value of a whole proposition, not as making
individual elements inside it more imprecise.
The concept of “hedge” is broadened in the furthest direction in which hedges are
treated as the realization of an interactional or communicative strategy called hedging.
When Markkanen and Schröder (1989, 1992) make a discussion about the role of
hedges in scientific writing, they see the hedges as modifiers of the writer's
responsibility for the truth value of the propositions expressed or as modifiers of the
weightiness of the information provided, or the attitude of the writer to the information.
In addition to the functional point of view, several researchers argue that hedges might
perform social functions. Brown and Levinson (1978, 1987) see hedges as strategies to
minimize the threat to face that is hidden behind acts of communication. According to
6


Pindi and Bloor (1986), hedges are used in academic writing to signal distance, to
protect one’s own reputation, to avoid absolute statements that may put researchers in

an embarrassing situation, to express the extent to which writers commit themselves to
the truth value of their statements and to allow researchers to be more open to other
possibilities of interpretation. On the basis of Brown and Levinson’s (1978, 1987)
work, Myers (1989) argues that hedges can be better understood as positive or negative
politeness strategies to deal with social interactions (i.e., solidarity with readers,
unspeakability of direct criticisms and deference towards the scientific community).
It can be seen from the above discussions that the term “hedge” is defined in various
ways, from a pure linguistic direction to other directions widened with pragmatic,
discoursal, interactional, communicative and social connotations. This development
can be divided into three stages. Firstly, Lakoff’s originally linguistic concept works on
a local level modifying words or phrases within a proposition with its focus on content.
Secondly, the term is investigated mainly in linguistic and pragmatic aspects modifying
the truth value of the whole proposition and the speaker’s/writer’s commitment or
attitude to the propositional content with its focus on the speaker/writer-content
relationship. Thirdly, the term is pragmatically and socially explored to modifying
relationships between interlocutors or social relationships in a wider context with its
focus on interpersonal and social relationships. It is concluded that a good way to fully
understand the concept of “hedge” is to take all those elements into consideration.
Therefore, hedges might be defined, in this study, as a word, particle, phrase or
linguistic means having functions to:
-

Modify the membership degree of another linguistic unit (e.g., a predicate or a
noun phrase) in a set; it reveals that membership is partial or true only in certain
respects, or that it is more true or complete than perhaps might be expected.

-

Perform a speech act, i.e. used as a hedged performative (e.g., I think that …).

7


-

Modify the weightiness of the information given, the speaker’s attitude or
his/her commitment to the propositional content of a statement or the speaker’s
responsibility for the truth value of the propositions expressed.

-

Reduce the risk of negation and disagreement; contribute to good interpersonal
relationship or good interactional behavior in communication.

-

Assist in saving the speaker’s or the hearer’s face, protecting the speaker’s
reputation, projecting the speaker’s personality, strengthening solidarity with the
addressee, showing modesty, gaining respect and approval from other people.

Based on the way of defining a hedge in this study, hedging can be described as a
linguistic phenomenon, which is composed of strategies to:
-

Convey the speaker’s certainty or doubt towards a statement and show the
degree of confidence the speaker assigns to his/her claim.

-

Allow the hearer to evaluate the truth value of the assertion.

-

Show politeness where it marks a statement as being provisional, pending
acceptance by the community or the hearer and mitigate face-threats.

-

Provide speaker-hearer interaction and act as a bridge which links the speaker’s
intentions and the hearer’s receptions of those intentions.

2.1.1.2. Taxonomy of hedges
Yu (2009: 55) indicates that “the taxonomy of hedges is rather arbitrary” because
“there are no unified criteria for the classification of hedges”. This part, thus, provides
an overview of several prominent categorizations of hedges available in the literature
and a proposal of taxonomy for the present study.
Salvager-Meyer (1994), in a study on how medical writers modulate their discourse in
different rhetorical sections of research paper and case reports, examined the frequency
and types of hedging techniques used in the different rhetorical sections of research
paper and case reports and how communicative purpose of each rhetorical section

8


influences the use of hedging conventions. He undertook a rigorous contextual analysis
in both formal and functional criteria to identify hedges and propose a taxonomy of
hedges. He attempted to establish a five-type taxonomy of hedges as in table 1.
Table 1. Taxonomy of hedges by Salvager-Meyer (1994: 154-155)
Category

Realized by
- All modal verbs expressing possibility
- Semi-auxiliaries
- Probability adverbs and their
Shields
derivative adjectives
- Epistemic verbs
Stereotyped adaptors as well as
rounders of quantity, degree, frequency
Approximators and time which express heed and
coyness
Personal
expressions
Emotionallycharged
intensifiers
Compound
hedges

Examples
- Might, can
- Appear, seem
- Probably, likely
- Suggest, believe
About
Somewhat
Often

Expressions of the author’s personal
doubt and direct involvement

I believe
To our knowledge

Comment words used to project the
author’s reactions

Extremely interesting
Unexpectedly

- Double hedges
- Treble hedges
- Quadruple hedges

- It may suggest that …
- It would seem likely that.
- It would seem somewhat
unlikely that …

Hyland (1996a) established different categories for scientific hedges (i.e., in the field of
cell and molecular biology) from a social, pragmatic, and discoursal point of view. His
category model for hedges is illustrated in figure 1.

Figure 1. Hyland’s classification of scientific hedges (1996a: 438)
He developed a fuzzy category model, in which two main types were mentioned,
including: content-oriented hedges and reader-oriented hedges.
9


The content-oriented hedges, subdivided into accuracy-oriented hedges and writeroriented hedges, mitigate the relationship between propositional content and a
representation of reality. According to Hyland (1996a), the accuracy-oriented hedges

concern the writer’s focus on propositional accuracy or in other words, they involve the
writer’s desire to express propositions with greater precision. Again, accuracy-oriented
hedges are separated into two small types: attribute and reliability hedges. The former
enables writers to specify more accurately how far their results approximate to an
idealized state. They are represented by adverbs (e.g., generally, almost, quite).
Whereas, the latter indicates the writer’s confidence or uncertainty in the truth of a
proposition and is realized by modal verbs (e.g., may, might, can, could), modal
adjectives (e.g., likely, possible), modal adverbs (e.g., apparently, maybe), and modal
nouns (e.g., chance, probability). The writer-oriented hedges, according to Hyland
(1996a), concern the writer’s focus on self-protection against the consequences of poor
judgment. They can be realized by employing the absence of writer agency with
impersonalized and passive constructions as the preferred forms.
Regarding the reader-oriented hedges, Hyland (1996a) implies that they help reduce
the risk of negation on subjective grounds and confirm the attention writers give to the
interactional effects of their statements. Thus, they can be realized through the use of
personal pronouns (e.g., I, we), questions, appeals to testability and suggestions for
alternatives.
Unlike the two above-mentioned category models for hedges, a different taxonomy
was developed by Yu in 2009 when he conducted a cross-sectional research on the
pragmatic development of hedging with Chinese-speaking EFL learners. Based on the
interactions between grammatical, semantic and pragmatic properties, the model is
composed of four broad types: modal hedges, performative (mental) hedges,
pragmatic-marker hedges, and quantificational hedges. This taxonomy can be
summarized as in table 2.

10


Table 2. Taxonomy of hedges by Yu (2009: 104)
Category

Realized by
- Modal auxiliary verbs
- Modal adjectives
Modal hedges
- Modal adverbs
- Modal nouns
Mental state predicates with
Performative
epistemic meaning and modalized
(mental) hedges
evidential meaning
Pragmatic- Interpersonal pragmatic-markers
marker
- Propositional pragmatic-markers
(implicit)
- Quite rarely, textual modifications
hedges
- Quantity approximators
Quantificational
- Frequency approximators
hedges
- Degree approximators

Examples
- Might, could
- Probable, likely
- Possibly, perhaps
- Chance, trend
I think that …

I can hear …
- If you like, You know
- Admittedly, In fact
- By the way
- Some, little
- Seldom, sometimes
- Nearly, sort of

From the above overview of three taxonomies of hedges by Salvager-Meyer (1994),
Hyland (1996a) and Yu (2009), several main points need to be taken into consideration
as follows. First, the classification of hedges in Salvager-Meyer (1994) is based on a
combination of functional and syntactic criteria, trying to match grammatical forms
with functional categories. Hyland’s taxonomy of hedges (1996a) is based on a wider
social, pragmatic and discoursal point of view and he tries to match the hedge functions
with grammatical forms. Both of the hedge taxonomies established by Salvager-Meyer
(1994) and Hyland (1996a) make a significant contribution to the hedge categorizations
in academic and scientific writing (i.e., medical discourse and textbooks on cell and
molecular biology). However, the differences in taxonomies of hedges reflect the lack
of unified criteria for hedge classification. This may also reflect hedges as highly
context-dependent and pragmatic in nature. Therefore, to offer a satisfactory
classification of hedges, it is necessary to provide a careful description of the properties
and characteristics of hedges. In agreement with that point of view, Yu’s (2009)
taxonomy of hedges is established on the basis of the complex interactions between
grammatical, semantic and pragmatic features of hedges.

11


The present study investigates hedges in the novels in which it is necessary to put the
interactions between characters into a particular context and pragmatically examined in

nature, thus the grammatical, semantic and pragmatic criteria should work together for
hedge classification. Accordingly, a taxonomy of hedges established for the present
study is adapted from the categorization developed by Yu (2009).
Nevertheless, the power distance manifestation in this study is explored through the use
of hedges, there needs to be a distinction between epistemic and deontic subtypes of
modal hedges which clearly clarify the level or the kind of power distance. In addition,
it is essential to distinguish mental state verbs from performative verbs in performative
hedge category. Regarding pragmatic-marker hedges, pure textual pragmatic markers
are rarely used as hedges; in case they are, such cases are often realized through their
implicit propositional or interpersonal functions. Textual modifications are thus not
investigated in this study. From the above account, the taxonomy proposed for this
study has the final terminologies as shown in table 3:
Table 3. Taxonomy of hedges established for the present study
Category

Realized by
- Epistemic modal verbs
- Epistemic modal adjectives
- Epistemic modal adverbs
- Epistemic modal nouns
(Those four epistemic hedges
Modal hedges
express possibility and
indefiniteness)
- Deontic modal verbs (shifting the
responsibility away from the speaker
to the necessity or obligation)
- Mental state verbs
Performative
- Performative verbs

hedges
- Interpersonal pragmatic-markers
Pragmaticmarker hedges - Propositional pragmatic-markers
- Quantity approximators
Quantificational
- Frequency approximators
hedges
- Degree approximators

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Examples
- May, might
- Probable, likely
- Maybe, perhaps
- Chance, possibility

- Must, should
- I think that …
- May you permit me …
- If you like, You know
- Admittedly, In fact
- Some, little
- Seldom, sometimes
- Somewhat, nearly


2.1.2. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions - Power distance
Geert Hofstede, a Dutch social anthropologist and psychologist, has studied
interactions between cultures. His cultural dimensions theory provides a systematic

framework for the assessment of the differences between nations and cultures. He first
focused his research on the 40 largest countries, and then extended it to 50 countries
and 3 regions. That initial analysis identified systematic differences in national cultures
on four dimensions: power distance , individualism-collectivism, uncertainty avoidance
and masculinity-femininity, and was published in Culture's Consequences book in
1984. Michael Harris Bond and colleagues conducted independent research among
students in 23 countries, using a survey instrument developed with Chinese employees
and managers in 1991. The results from that study led Hofstede to add a fifth
dimension to his model: long-term orientation - short-term orientation, initially called
Confucian dynamism, to cover aspects of values not discussed in the original
paradigm. In 2010, Minkov's World Values Survey data analysis of 93 countries finally
led Hofstede to identify a sixth last dimension: indulgence versus restraint. To sum up,
Hofstede’s theory is based on the idea that value can be placed upon six cultural
dimensions, including power distance, individualism versus collectivism, masculinity
versus femininity, uncertainty avoidance, long-term versus short-term orientation, and
indulgence versus restraint.
The present study investigates the manifestation of power distance through the use of
hedges in contemporary English and Vietnamese novels, the power distance dimension
is thus clearly presented and discussed in this part.
The term power distance was first mentioned by Mulder in 1958. It is a measure of
power imbalance between more powerful individuals and less powerful ones in a
society. Mulder (1975) indicated that individuals with more power tend to increase or
maintain the distance between themselves and the less powerful while individuals with
less power tend to decrease the distance between themselves and the more powerful.
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On the basis of Mulder’s studies, Hofstede (1984, 2001) introduced the cultural
variable power distance to describe attitudes towards the distribution of power. He
defined it as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions or

organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.
In this study, power distance refers to the way in which power is distributed and the
extent to which the less powerful accept that power is spread unequally. It is examined
in terms of the power relationships of three aspects: age (younger/older/equal), gender
(female/male) and social status (lower/higher/equal positions).
Hofstede’s power distance index (PDI) for over 70 countries (2010) indicates that the
range of inequality varies from culture to culture with the lowest score of 11, the
average score of 53 and the highest score of 104. According to his analysis (2003),
there are various differences between low power distance (LPD) and high power
distance (HPD) cultures. Those which have LPD emphasize individual credibility and
expertise, democratic decision-making processes, equal rights and relations, and
equitable rewards and punishments based on performance, whereas HPD exists in
cultures in which decision-making processes are automatic; credibility and experience
is judged on a status-basis.
The paragraphs below provide an overview of power distance assessment in England
and Vietnam. Figure 2 shows a comparison of PDI between England and Vietnam.

(Score)

120
70

90
60

35

30
0
England

Vietnam
(Country)

Figure 2. PDI in England and Vietnam

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As can be seen from Figure 2, England scores 35 on the cultural scale in terms of PDI.
In comparison with Arab countries in which the power distance is very high (PDI = 80)
and Austria where it is very low (PDI = 11), England belongs to the group of LPD
countries. On the other hand, the PDI of Vietnamese culture stands at 70, which, in
accordance with Hofstede’s assessment, is known as a HPD country.
In the words of Hofstede (1984, 2001), English culture views individuals as more or
less equal, tends to diminish status, and distributes power more evenly than HPD
cultures. His research shows that the PDI score at first seems incongruent with the
well-established and historical class system and it exposes one of the inherent tensions
in English culture – between the importance of birth rank on the one hand and a deep
seated belief that where people are born should not limit how far they can travel in life.
A sense of fair play drives a belief that people should be treated in some way as equal.
In Vietnam, people accept a hierarchical order, in which everyone has a place, needs no
further justification and avoids losing the other’s face. Due to the importance of saving
face, indirect speech is seen as one of the distinctive features in Vietnamese society.
Hierarchy in an organization is regarded as reflecting inherent inequalities. Gudykunst
(2001) and Heymer (2008) point out certain criteria of hierarchy that can be identified,
including age, gender, money status and qualification. Challenges to the leadership are
not well-received. According to Nguyen and Truong (2002), the HPD characteristic is
shown both in daily life and in business of Vietnamese people.
2.1.3. Cross-cultural communication

Culture, communication and the correlation between them remain a topic of great
interest to a number of linguistic researchers. Studies on that correlation have led to
technological terms of intra-cultural communication, cross-cultural communication,
intercultural communication and transcultural communication. Among those four kinds
of communication, there is a widespread agreement on the understanding of intracultural and transcultural communication. The former describes communication
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