Assertions in students’ academic essays : a comparison of English NS and NNS student writers

Writers’ judgements about the truth of statements and their possible effects on interlocutors have traditionally fallen within the realm of epi-stemic modality (Lyons 1977:797; Coates 1987:121). The epistemic system represents a continuum of ‘commitment’ ranging from uncertain possibil-ity to confident assurance, and is central to the process of weighing fact and evaluation, which is at the heart of academic writing. In published research articles, authors are expected to take positions and express points of view in acceptable ways. Similarly, student essays and term pa-pers are presumably set, at least partially, to test the writer’s propositions, and interpretive statements are therefore of obvious importance. All scholarly writing is concerned with cognition; this inevitably requires assessments of truth which either ‘boost’ or ‘hedge’ the certainty one attributes to one’s propositions. In sum, writers must acknowledge the strengths and limitations of a case, the possibilities of another explanation, and the necessity of negotiating with readers.