| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS | 第5-6页 |
| ABSTRACT | 第6-7页 |
| 摘要 | 第8-12页 |
| LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS | 第12-15页 |
| CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION | 第15-22页 |
| 1.1 Research topic | 第15-17页 |
| 1.2 Rationale of the present study | 第17-19页 |
| 1.3 Significance of the present study | 第19-20页 |
| 1.4 Research questions | 第20-21页 |
| 1.5 Organization of the thesis | 第21-22页 |
| CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW | 第22-38页 |
| 2.1 Previous studies on hedges | 第22-29页 |
| 2.1.1 Studies on the definitions of hedges | 第22-23页 |
| 2.1.2 Studies on the classifications of hedges | 第23-25页 |
| 2.1.3 Studies on the functions of hedges | 第25-27页 |
| 2.1.4 Contrastive studies on hedges | 第27-29页 |
| 2.2 Previous studies on chairmen’s statements | 第29-33页 |
| 2.2.1 Studies on the relationship between chairmen’s statements and the firms’ financial performance | 第29-30页 |
| 2.2.2 Studies on the readability of chairmen’s statements | 第30-31页 |
| 2.2.3 Studies on the content analysis of chairmen’s statements | 第31-32页 |
| 2.2.4 Studies on the lexical level of chairmen’s statements | 第32页 |
| 2.2.5 Studies on the interactional metadiscourse used in chairmen’s statements | 第32-33页 |
| 2.3 Previous studies on cooperative principle | 第33-36页 |
| 2.3.1 Studies on the development of cooperative principle | 第33-34页 |
| 2.3.2 Studies on the application of cooperative principle to specific materials | 第34-35页 |
| 2.3.3 Studies on language teaching and cooperative principle | 第35-36页 |
| 2.4 Previous studies on hedges in chairmen’s statements | 第36页 |
| 2.5 Summary | 第36-38页 |
| CHAPTER THREE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND RESEARCH METHODS | 第38-51页 |
| 3.1 Definition and classification of hedges | 第38-40页 |
| 3.2 Grice’s cooperative principle | 第40-48页 |
| 3.2.1 Observance of the four maxims of cooperative principle | 第41-44页 |
| 3.2.2 Violation of the four maxims and conversational implicature | 第44-48页 |
| 3.3 Theoretical framework of the present research | 第48页 |
| 3.4 Research methods | 第48-51页 |
| 3.4.1 Data collection | 第48-49页 |
| 3.4.2 Analytical procedures | 第49-51页 |
| CHAPTER FOUR ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION | 第51-77页 |
| 4.1 Frequency and distribution of hedges in CCS | 第51-53页 |
| 4.1.1 Overall frequency of hedges in CCS | 第51页 |
| 4.1.2 Frequency and distribution of four types of hedges in CCS | 第51-52页 |
| 4.1.3 Frequency of four types of hedges of every company in CCS | 第52-53页 |
| 4.2 Linguistic forms of hedges in CCS | 第53-54页 |
| 4.3 Analysis of hedges in CCS based on cooperative principle | 第54-70页 |
| 4.3.1 Analysis of adaptors in CCS based on cooperative principle | 第54-60页 |
| 4.3.2 Analysis of rounders in CCS based on cooperative principle | 第60-64页 |
| 4.3.3 Analysis of plausibility shields in CCS based on cooperative principle | 第64-68页 |
| 4.3.4 Analysis of attribution shields in CCS based on cooperative principle | 第68-70页 |
| 4.4 Communicative purposes of hedges in CCS | 第70-77页 |
| 4.4.1 Maintaining companies’ credibility | 第72-73页 |
| 4.4.2 Making the chairmen less responsible for their statements | 第73-75页 |
| 4.4.3 Strengthening the persuasiveness of the chairmen’s statements | 第75-77页 |
| CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION | 第77-80页 |
| 5.1 Major findings of the present research | 第77-78页 |
| 5.2 Implications of the present research | 第78-79页 |
| 5.3 Limitations of the present research | 第79-80页 |
| REFERENCES | 第80-87页 |
| APPENDICES | 第87-93页 |
| Appendix A | 第87-90页 |
| Appendix B | 第90-93页 |
