This study comprehensively examines learners' of Japanese use of hedges by quantitatively examining interviews of learners at various proficiency levels. Thus, the present study focuses on proficiency level as a factor for second language students. There are three specific questions: 1) what kinds of hedges are used at each level, 2) what the functions of these hedges are, and 3) how the forms and functions relate to each other according to the proficiency.
The term 'hedges' means vague expressions. In Japanese, a large number of expressions can be considered as hedges including particles such as ne 'right?', adverbs such as tabun 'maybe', and interjections like kedo 'but'. Hedging plays an important role in discourse (e.g. Aoki, 1986; Brown & Levinson, 1982; Holmes, 1984a; Hyland, 1994; George Lakoff, 1972; Nittono, 2003). Hedging is one of the most important components of successful reserved communication. In fact, the understanding of implicit messages is highly valued in Japanese society and is sometimes called 'enryo-sasshi communication' (Ishii, 1984). Speakers avoid directly expressing their feelings and opinions, which is enryo 'modesty'; and receivers are expected to be sensitive to the message, which is sasshi 'consideration'. Therefore, in order for learners of Japanese to communicate appropriately, with Japanese people, they must master hedging. However, there has been few comprehensive studies examining hedging in Japanese, and there have been no such studies examining hedging used by learners of Japanese.
In this study, I selected 102 different hedges, in which vagueness is explicitly expressed in the spoken language. The analysis of the data found the strong correlation not only between forms and proficiency levels but also between the functions and proficiency levels. The learner's proficiency level is one of the factors which affect their hedging behavior.