HEDGES AND BOOSTERS IN EFL STUDENTS’ THESES AT ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF NAHDLATUL ULAMA UNIVERSITY LAMPUNG

This study aims to explore the types based on Bal-Gezegin & Baş (2020) theory and problems of hedges and booster devices used in the EFL students’ theses. This research applied a qualitative approach, specifically a case study, and the data analysis employed by Miles and colleagues (2014). The researcher used purposive sampling to determine the research subjects related to the students’ theses. At the same time, the researcher used a snowball sampling technique to determine the research subjects regarding the interviewee. The participants were six theses and six students who studied in the academic year of 2018 and graduated in 2022. Furthermore, the researcher used a document checklist and interview to gather the data. The research found four types of hedges: modal auxiliaries, lexical verbs, hedging adverbs, and hedging phrases. There were six types of boosters, namely lexical verbs, boosting adverbs, modal auxiliaries, boosting adjectives, boosting nouns, and boosting phrases. Moreover, the problems faced by the students are the learner’s limited knowledge, improper grammar, lack of confidence, difficulty constructing phrases, insufficient experience, overuse, inadequate vocabulary, and misplaced vocabulary. This study had several recommendations. First, it is recommended that students increase their awareness of the importance of using hedges and boosters in their writing. Second, lecturers hope to explain this strategy at the beginning of learning. Last, it was suggested that further researchers explore how hedging and boosting are addressed in other fields for future research because this study only focused on the students of the English Education Department at UNU Lampung.