ABSTRACT
The main purpose of academic writing is to inform other researchers about the writers’ findings in certain research. In this case, the writers will propose claims. For nonnative English speakers like Indonesians, this is a tough task to do. L2 learners find difficulty in writing academic texts or making claims. One of the strategies that L2 learners use is using hedging devices. This study aims to identify the hedges in academic writing produced by Indonesian researchers or writers. According to Levinson (1987) in his theory of FTA (Face Threatening Act), those words mostly function as a tool for speakers or writers to make them comfortable and save negative face. It means that the writers should choose the appropriate words to achieve their communicative goals. The data were taken from 5 dissertations written in English. The method used is a descriptive-qualitative analysis. The study focuses on 2 kinds of hedging strategies proposed by Hyland (1996), namely, writer-oriented hedges and reader-oriented hedges. The first strategy consists of (1) passive voice, (2) dummy subjects, and (3) abstract rhetors. The latter consists of (1) personal attribution and (2) conditionals. The results reveal that writer-oriented hedges, such as: passive constructions and dummy subjects, are the most frequent hedging devices used by Indonesian researchers. The conclusion of this study is that Indonesian researchers frequently used passive constructions and modality (can, may, might, should). It means that Indonesians like to let the data talk for themselves in order to avoid a potential conflict and hence maintain a harmony between the writer and readers.
