| Descriptive Chinese Abstract | 第1-6页 |
| English Abstract | 第6-10页 |
| 1 Introduction | 第10-19页 |
| 2 Theoretical Foundations for Studying Compliments and Compliment Responses | 第19-30页 |
| ·Definition of Compliment and Compliment Response | 第19-21页 |
| ·Theoretical Background | 第21-30页 |
| ·Speech Act Theory | 第21-25页 |
| ·Politeness Theory | 第25-30页 |
| ·Brown and Levinson's Face Theory | 第25-26页 |
| ·Grice's Cooperative Principle and Leech's Politeness Principle | 第26-28页 |
| ·The Overview of Chinese Politeness and Gu's Politeness Principle | 第28-30页 |
| 3 The Design of the Research | 第30-33页 |
| ·Research questions | 第30-31页 |
| ·subjects | 第31页 |
| ·Instrument and Data Processing | 第31-33页 |
| 4 Social Variables and the Distribution of CR Strategies | 第33-51页 |
| ·Category of Compliment Response Strategies | 第33-35页 |
| ·The Overall Different Distributions of CR Strategies | 第35-36页 |
| ·Gender and CR Strategies across Cultures | 第36-41页 |
| ·The Results of the Study of Variable of Gender | 第36-37页 |
| ·CR Strategies of Gender within Age Groups | 第37-39页 |
| ·Analysis of the Results of the Variable of Gender | 第39-41页 |
| ·Age and CR Strategies across Cultures | 第41-44页 |
| ·The Results of the Study of Variable of Age | 第41-42页 |
| ·Analysis of the Results of the Variable of Age | 第42-44页 |
| ·Educational Level and CR Strategies across Cultures | 第44-46页 |
| ·The Results of the Study of Variable of Educational Level | 第44-45页 |
| ·Analysis of the Results of the Variable of Educational Level | 第45-46页 |
| ·Social Status and CR Strategies across Cultures | 第46-48页 |
| ·The Results of the Study of Variable of Social Status | 第46-47页 |
| ·Analysis of the Results of the Variable of Social Status | 第47-48页 |
| ·Implications of the Research | 第48-51页 |
| ·Theoretical Implications | 第48-49页 |
| ·Pedagogical Implications | 第49-51页 |
| Conclusion | 第51-54页 |
| References | 第54-58页 |
| Acknowledgements | 第58-59页 |
| Appendix A: Publications during the Program | 第59-60页 |
| Appendix B: Questionnaire | 第60-62页 |
| Appendix C: Questionnaire | 第62-64页 |
| Appendix D: Informative Chinese Abstract | 第64-67页 |
