13 Usually
8 Often
2 Somehow
1 Majority
1
Approximators used in the students’ writing were mostly used by the students to
show that they were not sure with the precision of the data they have. The table shows that most used approximators are many and some. Approximators function to show that
the “proposition is correct or it is partially correct” Hua, 2011, p. 563. I found most of the approximators in the introduction of the writing when they were trying to bring
out the issue by stating people’s opinion and or thoughts.
Examples: Student 1
: “
Many people use and learn English as their communication tools
since it is used as a lingua franca.”
Student 9
: “
Nowadays, many people around the world, especially academic
communities, …”
Graff Birkenstein suggested that to enter a conversation students can use what others say “or might say” as a launching pad or sounding board for their ideas 2006.
However, since they had only journals and articles as their source of research, they probably had no chance but to hedge the number of subject stated in their writing. The
topic they were discussing involves some opinions of other people and they need to state it in order to start their arguments. It is probably the reason why some, many, most,
a few, a lot of and majority were found, because they were not sure about the preciseness of the number of subject they are talking about. Approximators of frequency
14 and time were also found, such as often, usually and somehow but not as many as
approximators of quantity.
1.2 Modal Auxiliary Verb
Table 3. Distribution of Modal Auxiliary Verb
Modal Auxiliary Verb Total Occurrence
May 31
Might 22
Would 22
Could 21
Should 18
All of the students also used modals as their hedging, such as may, might, could, would and should, to express lack of certainty in making arguments. This is probably
because they have learned about modal in grammar courses. Hyland 1994 also addressed that “modals are the most easily identified and widely used means of hedging
in academic writing” p.247. The table shows that may is used the most as a modal. The students used modal mostly when they made comments toward the topic. After
proposing their claims, students usually add their own comments and conclusion towards their own claims.
Examples: Student 1
:
“It might be the reason why some people underestimate non-native
teachers over native teachers, …”
Student 18: “Whereas, for NESTs unconsciously they may not be sensitive to
the culture of students ,…”
15 According to Lock 1996 these modals
function as the “speaker’s judgment of the likelihood of the information in the clauses being true” p.194. It also range from the
high, mid to low level of certainty they express Lock, 1996. Aside from its’ function
to show likelihood, modals function as hedging practically help students anticipating possible negative effects of being proven wrong. Hidayati, Muhammad, Dallyono,
2008. Thus rather than claiming X is Y, most if not all students used X maycouldmightshould, etc be Y. It is good to see that most of the students have made
use of modal to escape from crisis being proven wrong. I said most because although modal auxiliary verbs appear in all of the students writing, some students still missed
to hedge some of their statements.
1.3 Modal Lexical Verb
Table 4. Distribution of Approximators of Modal Lexical Verb
Modal Lexical Verb Total Occurrence
Think 37
Believe 18
Assume 10
Seem 5
Suggest 3
Tend 3
Argue 3
Appear 2
Claim 2
I believe the existence of modal lexical verbs play crucial role in the reliability of students’ proposition. It is because when stating a proposition, it is important to make
use of these tentative language was merely a suggestion or claim of someone. Oxford
