Gender Differences in The Use of Hedges by Writers in Selected Pakistani Newspapers: A Corpus-Based Study of The Express Tribune and The Dawn

Abstract

This paper investigates the uses of hedges by Pakistani writers in The Express Tribune and The Dawn Newspaper. Hedges are words that speakers or writers use to express uncertainty and tentativeness in their language. A corpus of 28 articles was compiled for the study. The raw data were then cleaned and converted into text files. To find out hedges, each text file was uploaded to Metapak that produced a list of hedges used in each article. This list was further refined by removing undesired words. The study reveals that the writers of both newspapers used a total of forty-eight hedges.  It uncovers that the male contributors use more hedges than the female contributors and that The Dawn Newspaper employs more hedges than The Express Tribune.  Both writer-oriented and reader-oriented hedges were observed across the two newspapers.  The study concludes that Pakistani English newspapers employ hedging practices in the writing. The study is limited by its small sample size and focus on only two newspapers, suggesting the need for broader research across larger datasets and diverse media outlets.