TY - JOUR N2 - While the existing literature focuses on analyzing individual hedges and comparing their use by native and non-native speakers, little attention has been paid to the teaching of conversational hedges. Research reveals that despite their pervasive nature in spoken discourse, hedges are regarded by teachers as ‘verbal garbage’ (Schiffrin 1987), not worthy of teaching. The aim of this study is to investigate college teachers’ perceptions of hedging devices in spoken discourse as well as their attitudes to the teaching of hedges. A questionnaire was administered to elicit the teachers’ responses. The results indicate that college teachers are aware of the significance and usefulness of hedges in spoken discourse; nevertheless, they have doubts about the value of teaching them. The paper will conclude with a discussion of the pedagogical implications of these findings. L1 - http://www.czasopisma.pan.pl/Content/89156/mainfile.pdf L2 - http://www.czasopisma.pan.pl/Content/89156 PY - 2013 EP - 192 A1 - Kot, Aneta PB - Polska Akademia Nauk • Oddział w Katowicach VL - vol. 34 DA - 2013 T1 - To teach or not to teach conversational hedges? SP - 167 UR - http://www.czasopisma.pan.pl/dlibra/publication/edition/89156 T2 - LINGUISTICA SILESIANA ER -