“I guess I'll give it a 13”: Exploring the language of agile-oriented software engineering teams

While agile has become a go-to methodology for software engineers engaged in software development, little research has explored the specific language choices used by these engineers in their agile-oriented processes. This study examines the language used by a Scrum team during the meetings of a 5-week sprint. Specifically, this study explores how certainty is presented by the group members through their use of hedging language in their planning, kick-off, maintenance, and retrospective meetings and how those hedges vary based on member sex and role. This exploration finds that while sex affects certainty little, the team members' roles and the type of meeting can alter the use of certainty makers by the engineers.