| Acknowledgements | 第3-5页 |
| Curriculum Vitae | 第5-7页 |
| Abstract | 第7页 |
| Chapter 1 Introduction | 第11-22页 |
| 1．1 Orientation of the present study | 第11-13页 |
| 1．2 Rationale | 第13-18页 |
| 1．3 The research question for the present project | 第18-20页 |
| 1．4 Remarks on the conventions and data used in the study | 第20-21页 |
| 1．5 Organization of the thesis | 第21页 |
| Notes | 第21-22页 |
| Chapter 2 Review of Related Literature | 第22-50页 |
| 2．1 Key terms used in previous studies | 第22-30页 |
| 2．1．1 Refusal, refusal strategy and semantic formula | 第23-26页 |
| 2．1．2 Face, facework and linguistic politeness | 第26-30页 |
| 2．2 Previous studies on refusal | 第30-43页 |
| 2．2．1 Traditional rhetorical （prescriptive） approach | 第31-34页 |
| 2．2．2 Second Language Acquisition （SLA） approach | 第34-37页 |
| 2．2．3 Sociolinguistic approach | 第37-40页 |
| 2．2．4 Pragmatic approaches | 第40-43页 |
| 2．3 The objectives of the present study | 第43-48页 |
| 2．3．1 Questions unanswered in previous studies and the objectives of the present study | 第44-46页 |
| 2．3．2 The need for a more comprehensive theory on language use | 第46-48页 |
| Notes | 第48-50页 |
| Chapter 3 Description of the Conceptual Framework | 第50-92页 |
| 3．1 Theoretical Backgrounds to the Present Study | 第50-69页 |
| 3．1．1 Speech act theory | 第50-56页 |
| 3．1．2 Politeness Theory | 第56-59页 |
| 3．1．3 Pragmatics as functional perspective on language and Adaptation Theory | 第59-69页 |
| 3．1．3．1 The pragmatic perspective | 第59-60页 |
| 3．1．3．2 Adaptation Theory | 第60-69页 |
| 3．2 The characterization of refusal | 第69-78页 |
| 3．2．1 The nature of refusal | 第69-71页 |
| 3．2．2 Defining refusal | 第71-74页 |
| 3．2．3 Refusal as a response and as a strong FTA | 第74-76页 |
| 3．2．4 Refusing as realization of adaptation | 第76-78页 |
| 3．3 Description of the conceptual framework | 第78-88页 |
| 3．3．1 Initiating acts | 第79-81页 |
| 3．3．2 Communicative needs | 第81-83页 |
| 3．3．3 Contextual correlates | 第83-88页 |
| 3．4 Summary: An adaptation model explaining the use of refusal in context | 第88-90页 |
| Notes | 第90-92页 |
| Chapter 4 The Variability of Chinese Refusals | 第92-144页 |
| 4．1 Defining the notions of variability and semantic formula | 第93-99页 |
| 4．1．1 The notion of variability | 第93-95页 |
| 4．1．2 The notion of semantic formula | 第95-99页 |
| 4．2 The classification of semantic formulae in Chinese refusals | 第99-108页 |
| 4．2．1 Head acts | 第100-106页 |
| 4．2．2 Supportive moves | 第106-108页 |
| 4．3 The variability in the semantic formulae of Chinese refusals | 第108-123页 |
| 4．3．1 The variability of head acts | 第109-121页 |
| 4．3．2 The variability of supportive moves | 第121-123页 |
| 4．4 The variability in the syntactic formulae of Chinese refusals | 第123-126页 |
| 4．5 The variability in information sequence | 第126-131页 |
| 4．6 The variability in conversational organization | 第131-141页 |
| 4．7 Summary | 第141-142页 |
| Notes | 第142页 |
| Appendix | 第142-144页 |
| Chapter 5 Negotiability in Chinese refusals | 第144-166页 |
| 5．1 Defining negotiability | 第144-146页 |
| 5．2 Contextual dependence of Chinese refusals | 第146-154页 |
| 5．3 The Strategic orientation of refusals | 第154-159页 |
| 5．4 Pragmatic effects of refusal negotiations | 第159-165页 |
| 5．4．1 Indeterminacy | 第159-163页 |
| 5．4．2 Optionality | 第163-165页 |
| 5．5 Summary | 第165-166页 |
| Chapter 6 Conclusion | 第166-173页 |
| 6．1 Overview | 第166-167页 |
| 6．2 Major findings | 第167-170页 |
| 6．3 Implications | 第170-171页 |
| 6．4 Limitations and suggestions for further research | 第171-173页 |
| Bibliography | 第173-185页 |
