| Acknowledgements | 第1-6页 |
| Abstract | 第6-9页 |
| Contents | 第9-12页 |
| Chapter One Introduction | 第12-18页 |
| ·Setting the scene | 第12-13页 |
| ·Research questions and hypotheses | 第13-16页 |
| ·Significance of the study | 第16-18页 |
| Chapter Two Literature Review | 第18-32页 |
| ·Contemporary research on Politeness | 第18-19页 |
| ·Previous proposals of universal politeness rules | 第19-27页 |
| ·Grice's co-operative principal | 第19-20页 |
| ·Critique of Grice's CP and CI | 第20页 |
| ·Universal theories of politeness: post-Gfice | 第20-27页 |
| ·R.Lakoff's rules of politeness | 第20-21页 |
| ·Critique of R.Lakoff's politeness rules | 第21-22页 |
| ·Leech's Maxims of Politeness | 第22-23页 |
| ·Critique of Leech's maxims | 第23-24页 |
| ·Brown & Levinson's Politeness Strategies | 第24-26页 |
| ·Concluding remarks | 第26-27页 |
| ·Culture-Specific view on politeness | 第27-32页 |
| ·The modem proposal of politeness by Gu Yueguo | 第27-32页 |
| ·The Self-denigration Maxim and 'modesty' | 第28-29页 |
| ·The Address Maxim and 'respectful' | 第29-30页 |
| ·The Generosity and Tact maxim with 'attitudinal warmth' | 第30-31页 |
| ·Conclusion | 第31-32页 |
| Chapter Three Methodology | 第32-36页 |
| ·Overview of the design of the study | 第32-33页 |
| ·Procedures | 第33-36页 |
| ·Selection of subjects | 第33页 |
| ·Apparatus | 第33-34页 |
| ·Remarks on the data collection | 第34-36页 |
| Chapter Four Data analysis | 第36-49页 |
| ·Introduction | 第36页 |
| ·Statistical results | 第36-39页 |
| ·Correlation analysis | 第39-45页 |
| ·A comparison of different correlations between polite and the nine adjectives in Chinese and American study | 第39-41页 |
| ·A comparison of discernment-oriented or volition-oriented politeness in Chinese and American study | 第41-45页 |
| ·In the case of American English and Japanese contexts | 第41-44页 |
| ·In the case of Chinese context | 第44-45页 |
| ·A description of Chinese concept of politeness based on the study | 第45-47页 |
| ·An empirically tested support of Gu's four notions of Chinese politeness | 第46页 |
| ·A tentative model of Chinese politeness | 第46-47页 |
| ·Summary of the findings of the study | 第47-49页 |
| Chapter Five Summary and Conclusion | 第49-62页 |
| ·Politeness: a heterogeneous construction | 第49-50页 |
| ·Implications for language teaching and learning | 第50-55页 |
| ·The significance of pragmatic competence for foreign language learners | 第50-51页 |
| ·Tentative suggestions for the cultivation of pragmatic competence | 第51-55页 |
| ·Summary remarks | 第55-56页 |
| ·Suggestions for further research | 第56-58页 |
| ·Limitations of the research | 第58-59页 |
| ·Conclusion | 第59-62页 |
| Bibliography | 第62-65页 |
| Appendix Ⅰ | 第65-67页 |
| Appendix Ⅱ | 第67-69页 |
| Appendix Ⅲ | 第69-70页 |
| Appendix Ⅳ | 第70-71页 |
