THE USE OF REPORTING VERBS, HEDGES, AND BOOSTERS IN AN EXPANDED LITERATURE REVIEW: A REFLECTION ON ACADEMIC WRITING PRACTICES

INTERNATIONALSCIENCES, EDUCATION AND NEW LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 10 | 2025 https://internationalsciences.org/ | Social Sciences and Humanities | December, 2025 155 DOI: https://10.5281/zenodo.17968291 THE USE OF REPORTING VERBS, HEDGES, AND BOOSTERS IN AN EXPANDED LITERATURE REVIEW: A REFLECTION ON ACADEMIC WRITING PRACTICES Pulatova Maftuna Nodirovna The teacher at Ma’mun University, Khorezm, Uzbekistan Email: maftunaapola[email protected]om ABSTRACT This paper examines the use of reporting verbs, hedges, and boosters in an expanded literature review on foreign language anxiety. It highlights how specific linguistic choices help writers appropriately represent the strength of claims, distinguish between degrees of certainty, and accurately reflect the intentions of original authors. Through reflective analysis, this study shows how reporting verbs such as argue, suggest, imply, and propose perform different rhetorical functions and how hedges and boosters shape the tone of academic writing. The discussion demonstrates that these linguistic tools play an essential role in maintaining precision, caution, and academic integrity when summarizing research. The paper also emphasizes that understanding the strategic use of hedges and boosters can help writers meet disciplinary expectations and produce more credible academic texts. Keywords: Reporting verbs, hedges, boosters, academic writing, rhetorical stance, literature review, reflection. INTRODUCTION Academic writing relies heavily on linguistic features that allow the writer to represent research findings accurately and responsibly. Among these features, reporting verbs, hedges, and boosters play a crucial role in shaping how information is interpreted by readers. Reporting verbs help indicate the nature and strength of claims being cited, while hedges and boosters help writers express degrees of certainty or confidence toward the statements they present. In academic contexts, it is rarely appropriate to present information as absolute or universally true. Instead, scholars must balance caution and conviction, depending on the evidence and the claims they summarize. Hedges signal tentativeness, possibility, and openness to alternative interpretations. Boosters, on the other hand, are used when a writer wants to emphasize confidence or highlight strong evidence. INTERNATIONALSCIENCES, EDUCATION AND NEW LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 10 | 2025 https://internationalsciences.org/ | Social Sciences and Humanities | December, 2025 156 When writing an expanded literature review on foreign language anxiety, the careful use of reporting verbs, hedges, and boosters helps ensure clarity, accuracy, and an appropriate academic tone. By reflecting on the linguistic choices used in this review, it becomes possible to better understand how academic writers construct arguments, evaluate evidence, and present nuanced interpretations of scholarly work. This paper therefore explores the specific verbs and modifiers used in the literature review and discusses how they contribute to meaning, stance, and credibility. METHODS. The goal of the method was to examine how reporting verbs, hedges, and boosters were selected and applied to represent the ideas of researchers accurately and appropriately within an academic context. The following steps outline the process used to conduct this analysis: 1. Collection of Linguistic Data The first stage involved re-reading the entire expanded literature review and identifying all instances where reporting verbs, hedges, or boosters were used. These linguistic items were collected systematically by highlighting every relevant verb or phrase that contributed to expressing stance, certainty, or evaluation. Only verbs and modifiers directly used in the literature review were included, ensuring that the analysis remained grounded in actual writing practice rather than hypothetical examples. 2. Categorization of Reporting Verbs After identifying the verbs, each reporting verb was categorized based on its rhetorical strength. Two categories were created: • Strong reporting verbs (e.g., argue, support, highlight), which communicate confidence, assertiveness, or evidence-based claims. • Weak or tentative reporting verbs (e.g., suggest, imply, propose, indicate), which convey uncertainty, possibility, or caution. This categorization helped determine how different verbs contribute to shaping the tone of academic writing. 3. Identification of Hedges and Boosters The next step involved isolating words and phrases that function either as hedges (e.g., may be advisable, possible, likely) or boosters (e.g., strongly, clearly). Each item was analyzed to determine whether it modified a reporting verb, a claim, or a general statement within the literature review. Particular attention was given to cases where the reporting verb itself functioned as a hedge or booster without requiring additional modifiers, such as propose (hedge) or argue (booster). 4. Functional Analysis of Linguistic Choices The verbs, hedges, and boosters were then examined in relation to the context in which INTERNATIONALSCIENCES, EDUCATION AND NEW LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 10 | 2025 https://internationalsciences.org/ | Social Sciences and Humanities | December, 2025 157 they were used. This step focused on understanding why certain choices were made and how they align with academic writing conventions. The analysis considered: • The strength of the claim being summarized • The degree of certainty presented by the original researchers • The writer’s intention to remain accurate, cautious, or assertive • The relationship between evidence and rhetorical stance This functional analysis helped clarify how each linguistic choice served a specific rhetorical purpose in representing the ideas of researchers. 5. Reflection on Rationale and Application The final step of the method involved reflecting on the reasons behind selecting certain reporting verbs and modifiers. This reflection considered factors such as precision, clarity, meaning, and appropriateness. Through this step, connections were made between linguistic theory (e.g., hedging, boosting, stance-taking) and actual writing practice. The reflection also highlighted how the strategic use of these linguistic tools contributes to a more credible and academically appropriate literature review. DISCUSSION During the process of writing this expanded literature review, I used a wide range of reporting verbs, hedges, and boosters to clearly summarize and present the ideas and findings of researchers. The role of reporting verbs is significant in academic writing since they allow readers to know the nature of the arguments by differentiating strong and weak claims. In my literature review, I made use of seven different reporting verbs such as suggest, argue, support, highlight, indicate, propose, and imply. I chose each of them according to several factors like their meaning, accuracy, and the nature of claims. For instance, I decided to choose reporting verbs like argue, support, and highlight to express certain arguments. However, for statements that express a possibility and uncertainty, I made use of weaker reporting verbs such as suggest, indicate, propose, and imply. Reporting verbs: Suggest: The reporting verb ‘suggest’ is used in proposing ideas and recommendations. In academic writing, it refers to possible hypotheses when the author offers to think about something without forcefully insisting on it, such as in Liu and Jackson’s (2008) study where they give reasons why students may be unwilling to communicate and express their thoughts in front of the class. The reason why I used it more than once is that some claims made by researchers are still uncertain and require further investigation. Argue: I used this reporting verb in Eiffong‘s (2015) research where the author mentions “dress code, age, tone of voice, and gender of teachers” as key factors that influence FLA in the classroom. The reporting verb ‘argue’ is used when the author is INTERNATIONALSCIENCES, EDUCATION AND NEW LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 10 | 2025 https://internationalsciences.org/ | Social Sciences and Humanities | December, 2025 158 sure that their viewpoint is certain and has clear reasoning to support it. In this statement, Eiffong (2015) is not just stating an opinion, but presenting a strong argument based on thorough observation and research. Imply: I used the reporting verb ‘imply’ to present Liu and Jackson’s (2008) findings, where they recommend that teachers need to give opportunities to students to boost their confidence and exposure to English. The reporting verb ‘imply’ is used when someone suggests or mentions something indirectly, leaving it to the reader or listener to form their opinion. In this statement, authors are not forcefully insisting on their viewpoint as a rule, but suggesting and advising a positive classroom environment as one more way to solve the recent issue, leaving room for discussion and further consideration. Hedges and boosters in reporting verbs In my literature review, I used several reporting verbs that serve as hedges and boosters alone, without the support of other words. One of them is the verb ‘propose’ which refers to putting forward an idea or opinion as a subject for further discussion. I used this hedge in the introduction section to indicate that Liu and Jackson (2008), Effiong (2015), and Zarei et al. (2024) are suggesting possible reasons and ways to solve the issue of classroom FLA, but not insisting on them as proven methods or final solutions. The verb ‘propose’ functions as a hedge on its own and does not need additional modifiers like modal verbs, adverbs, or phrases to convey its meaning. One more reporting verb that can function as a booster without any modifiers is the verb “argue” which is used for strong positions that are based on evidence. I used this verb in pointing out the finding by Effiong (2015), where the author mentions dress code as one of the key factors why learners experience foreign language anxiety in the classroom. Using “argue” in this statement makes it clear for readers to understand that the author is not simply stating an opinion, but expressing it with confidence. There is no need to add any additional words or phrases to “argues” since it alone already shows certainty. Hedges and boosters in words and phrases This literature review contains many different words and phrases as hedges and boosters to the reporting verbs. In discussing Liu and Jackson’s (2008) findings, I used the phrase ‘may be advisable’, which serves as a suggestion rather than a strict rule for everyone to follow. By using this hedge, I indicate that this statement is not a final solution, but a subject for further consideration and discussion. Those who want to implement it in their teaching process can share insights and experiences with other teachers to decide on coming to the conclusion and adapting it in the classroom. Another word that I used in writing the literature review as a booster is the adverb ‘strongly’. In the statement “Effiong (2015) strongly argues that dress code, age, tone INTERNATIONALSCIENCES, EDUCATION AND NEW LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 10 | 2025 https://internationalsciences.org/ | Social Sciences and Humanities | December, 2025 159 of voice, and gender of teachers are key factors that influence FLA in the classroom” it is clear that the author presents his findings with a high level of confidence. The adverb here clearly shows that the arguments made by the author are not just minor details, but key factors that must be taken into account to help students who experience FLA in the learning process. One more statement that can serve as an example for the usage of words and phrases as hedges and boosters is the argument made about the uniform. Effiong‘s (2015) argument clearly indicates that students do not want their teachers to dress formally since it creates a sense of distance between them. Here, the adverb “clearly” is used as a booster to point out that the findings of Effiong on the negative impact of formal clothes are evident and it encourages readers to agree with the statement. CONCLUSION This reflection demonstrates that reporting verbs, hedges, and boosters serve essential functions in academic writing. They allow writers to accurately convey the strength of claims, express levels of certainty, and represent researchers’ intentions with precision. By choosing verbs such as suggest, argue, imply, and propose, writers can differentiate between strong arguments and tentative possibilities. Hedges help maintain caution and openness to further interpretation, while boosters convey confidence when evidence is strong. Understanding these rhetorical tools contributes to more effective academic communication. It enables writers to present information responsibly, avoid overstating findings, and maintain a professional scholarly tone. As shown in the reflection, mastering the use of hedges and boosters allows writers to craft literature reviews that are nuanced, balanced, and aligned with academic expectations. REFERENCES: 1. Liu, M., & Jackson, J. (2008). An exploration of Chinese EFL learners’ unwillingness to communicate and foreign language anxiety. Modern Language Journal, 92(1), 71–86. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2008.00687.x 2. Effiong, O. (2015). Getting them speaking: classroom social factors and foreign language anxiety. TESOL Journal, 7(1), 132–161. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.194 3. Zarei, M. A., Alibakhshi, G., & Nezakatgoo, B. (2024). Strategies employed by EFL teachers to cope with language learners’ classroom anxiety. TESOL Journal, 8(1), pp. 123-145. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.843