The Effects of Task and Gender on Korean EFL Learners’ Hedging Strategies

Hedges are utilized in various discourse genres for distinct purposes, influenced by factors such as task, gender, power dynamics, and social distance. While hedging strategies have been extensively studied, there has been limited research comparing their use in argumentative writing versus request speech acts, particularly concerning gender differences and their interaction with power relations and social distance. This study analyzed the argumentative writing and discourse completion tasks (DCTs) of 22 Korean EFL undergraduate students to examine their use of hedges. The results showed no significant differences in the overall frequency or types of hedges between the tasks. However, notable gender differences were observed, with females using a greater number and variety of hedges than males. Furthermore, females exhibited higher hedge usage than males in both high- and low-power scenarios, as well as in familiar and unfamiliar contexts. These findings enhance our understanding of hedging strategies used by Korean EFL learners across different tasks and gender groups, providing valuable insights for writing and speaking instruction.