A study of hedging devices in conversations in Gone with the wind by Margaret Mitchell Nghiên cứu các phương tiện rào đón trong các cuộc hội thoại của tác phẩm Cuốn theo chiều gió của nhà văn Margaret Mitchell Nguyễn Thị Thanh Huyền University of Languages and International Studies M.A. Thesis. Linguistics: 60 22 15 Supervisor : Assoc. Prof. Dr. Trần Xuân Điệp Năm bảo vệ: 2012 Abstract. The objectives of the research were to investigate the linguistic devices of hedges and major pragmatic functions of identified hedges in the conversations in the novel of Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. Two levels of linguistic descriptions – the quantitative and pragmatic analysis mainly based on taxonomy of hedging devices by Yu (2009) and polypragmatic paradigm of hedges by Hyland (1998) – revealed that there are four main hedging categories used in the conversations in the novel, namely, modal hedges, performative hedges, quantificational hedges and pragmatic-marker hedges, in which quantificational hedges (43.8%) are employed with the highest frequency, followed by modal hedges (34.8%), performative hedges (8.2%) and other minor types of tag questions, subjunctives, and depersonalization (5.7%). The research findings also pointed out that speaker-orientation, accuracy- orientation and hearer-orientation are three main functions that identified hedging devices fulfill. Among these types of function, speaker-oriented hedges (48.1%) emerge to be the most prominent, preceding accuracy-oriented hedges (45.7%) and hearer-oriented hedges (6.2%). Keywords. Tiếng Anh; Hội thoại; Ngôn ngữ Content. The study is designed to include three main parts. Part 1: Introduction, presenting the research rationale, aims of the study, research questions, implications of the research, study scope, methodology and the structure of the paper. Part 2: Development Chapter1: Theoretical Background, including definitions of hedge, hedging taxonomies, relationship between hedges and conversational maxims and politeness strategies, and general information on Gone with the Wind. Chapter 2: Findings and Discussions, describing major hedging devices, their linguistic realization and pragmatic functions in Gone with the Wind. Part 3: Conclusion, summarizing the major points, limitations, and suggestions for further studies. References. Adams-Smith, D. (1984). Medical discourse: Aspects of author's comment. English for Special Purposes, 3, 25-36. Bashanova, E.Y. (2012). Hedging in online news writing. National Taiwan University of Science and Technology. 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The objectives of the research were to investigate the linguistic devices of hedges and major pragmatic functions of identified hedges in the conversations in the novel of Gone with. paradigm of hedges by Hyland (1998) – revealed that there are four main hedging categories used in the conversations in the novel, namely, modal hedges, performative hedges, quantificational