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This quasi-experimental longitudinal study examines whether reading journal articles improves students’ use of language hedges and explores students’ perceptions of that intervention. Participants were 32 first-year undergraduates in Sri Lanka. 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Buddhima Karunarathna*\u003Cbr>Department of Language Studies, University of Vocational Technology, Sri Lanka No. 100, Kandawala, Ratmalana, Sri Lanka Corresponding Author: J.A.M. Buddhima Karunarathna, E-mail: [contactbuddhima@gmail.com](contactbuddhima@gmail.com) |  |\n| --- | --- |\n| ARTICLE INFO | ABSTRACT\u003Cbr>In the arena of English for academic purposes, many nonnative speakers of English in different contexts find it difficult to perform well, because academic genre is alien to them. Current study was based on improving writing skills with a special focus on writing of language hedges in argumentative essays through reading journal articles. The study focused on the two research questions; 1.) Is there a significant improvement in using language hedges in academic writing through reading journal articles? 2.) What are the perceptions of students in reading journal articles to improve academic writing? Methodology of the study was based on quasi experimental and longitudinal design. Mixed method was utilized in collection of data. Participants of the study were 32 first year undergraduates of an English Language Teaching degree programme of a vocational technological university in Sri Lanka. Quantitative data was collected through a questionnaire and intervention through reading journal articles. Qualitative data was collected by interviewing 12 selected participants of the study. Two subject expertise evaluators and AntConc (2019), SPSS (23), MS Excel (Office 365) and thematic analysis were used to analyse data. Findings of the study reveal that there is a significant improvement in using language hedges by reading journal articles in the five categories of language hedges concerned; epistemic hedges, lexical hedges, lexical verbs, modal verbs and possibility hedges according to the descending order of the usage and the rate of improvement. Further, it can be concluded that pleasure and conscious reading of journal articles provide both cognitive and affective insights for novice academic writers of English. Two major implications for further research were drawn; to study the effect of language hedges in the culture of first language affects the usage of language hedges among undergraduates, and to study on the other stance features and engagement features in academic writing among the undergraduates in the Sri Lankan context. |\n| Article history\u003Cbr>Received: March 19, 2020\u003Cbr>Accepted: May 08, 2020\u003Cbr>Published: June 30, 2020\u003Cbr>Volume: 11 Issue: 3\u003Cbr>Advance access: June 2020 |  |\n| Conflicts of interest: None\u003Cbr>Funding: None |  |\n| Key words:\u003Cbr>Academic Reading, Academic Writing, Argumentative Essays, Journal Articles,\u003Cbr>Language Hedges,\u003Cbr>English as Second Language, Undergraduates |  |\n\nINTRODUCTION  \nSecond language (L2) writing is considered different from first language (L1) writing. L2 writing researchers claim that L2 writing is strategically, rhetorically and linguistically different in important ways from L1 writing. Learners have different writing experiences, different aptitudes and different motivational levels in L2 writing. They have varying metacognitive knowledge of their L1 and different experience ofusing L1, and especially writing is based on different individual characteristics. According to the constitution of Sri Lanka, at present, in the Sri Lankan context, English is considered as the link language. However, in the Sri Lankan education system, English is considered the L2 . Thus, in Sri Lanka, English can be considered as a language which plays a dual role as a L2 as well as a link language.  \nIn Sri Lankan government universities, the undergraduate degree programmes based on science, technology, medicine, management and finances are offered in the medium of English. This includes the mediu","cbCaikSkQNUpYAMC","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaikSkQNUpYAMC","pdf",168155,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n## Second language writing context\n## Research problem\n## Aim of the study\n# Methodology\n## Participants\n## Data collection and analysis\n# Findings and implications","[{\"question\":\"What is the study mainly trying to improve?\",\"answer\":\"The study targets improvement in academic writing, with a specific focus on using language hedges in argumentative essays through reading journal articles.\"},{\"question\":\"How was the study designed and what data were collected?\",\"answer\":\"The research used a quasi experimental longitudinal design and mixed methods. Quantitative data came from a questionnaire and the reading intervention, while qualitative data came from interviews with selected participants.\"},{\"question\":\"What did the study find about language hedges?\",\"answer\":\"Reading journal articles led to a significant improvement in the use of language hedges across categories including epistemic hedges, lexical hedges, lexical verbs, modal verbs, and possibility hedges.\"},{\"question\":\"What future research directions were proposed?\",\"answer\":\"The study suggested examining how first language culture affects hedge usage among undergraduates, and studying other stance and engagement features in academic writing in the Sri Lankan context.\"}]","Advances in Language and Literary Studies - Issue 3 - Research article | PDF",1792068609,18]