Hedging, referring to the use of various lexical and syntactic features modifying and mitigating propositions and claims, is extensively employed in effective academic writing. However, the use of hedges seems to be quite problematic for lots of Chinese ESL leers. In view of the situation, this study explores the use of hedges in academic abstracts by a group of undergraduate English majors in a university in Hainan Province. After analyzing data from a corpus and interviews, several problems have been found in the use of hedging devices of these students, and relevant implications have been drawn to the teaching of hedging in the context, which can help the students produce more effective academic writing and to achieve greater university success.