In this context, the present research aims at testing the LIH
on non-native speakers (NNS) of English—Lithuanian
students majoring in English and writing their graduation
papers in linguistics or language-related areas. More
specifically, for the present investigation I have formulated
the following objectives: to identify whether the L2 proficiency
level contributes to raising the learners’ awareness of
hedging when producing their own academic texts; to
identify most frequent hedges and account for their usage;
also to discuss the impact of L1 on the acquisition of
hedges.