Epistemic stance in written L2 English: The role of task type, L2 proficiency, and authorial style

Abstract

The present study examines the relationship between the use of epistemic stance expressions (i.e., hedges and boosters) and task type, L2 proficiency, and individual authorial style in 1,773 essays representing three different kinds of tasks (complaint, letter, and opinion) written by 591 Finnish L2 English speakers on four different levels of proficiency (CEFR levels B1-C2). The results of the study show that the frequency of both hedges and boosters is mainly governed by task type, as the opinion tex contained a higher number of both hedges and boosters than the other tasks examined. Proficiency-related patterns were, nevertheless, also observed, as it was shown that in the complaint and opinion tasks, the frequency of both hedges and boosters tends to increase with proficiency, while in the letter task, the frequency of both ED types shows signs of decrease. Individual authorial style was shown to play a very limited role in the frequency of EDs in the data, but the results also suggest that the influence of authorial style may be greater with respect to boosters than it is with hedges.