| Acknowledgments | 第1-6页 |
| 摘要 | 第6-7页 |
| Abstract | 第7-11页 |
| List of Tables | 第11-13页 |
| List of Figures | 第13-14页 |
| List of Abbreviations | 第14-15页 |
| Chapter One Introduction | 第15-18页 |
| ·General opening | 第15页 |
| ·Purpose and significance of the study | 第15-16页 |
| ·Layout of this thesis | 第16-18页 |
| Chapter Two Literature Review | 第18-31页 |
| ·On previous studies of public speech | 第18-21页 |
| ·Previous studies on public speeches addressed by renowned people | 第19-20页 |
| ·Previous studies on Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ’s Christmas speeches | 第20-21页 |
| ·On English grammar | 第21-27页 |
| ·The framework of English grammar | 第21-24页 |
| ·The classification of sentence, clause and noun phrase | 第24-25页 |
| ·Functions of sentences, clauses and noun phrases | 第25-27页 |
| ·Function as the performance of tasks in discourse | 第26页 |
| ·Function as a reflection of processing constraints | 第26-27页 |
| ·Function as social or situational indexing | 第27页 |
| ·On some sociolinguistic factors of linguistic choice | 第27-30页 |
| ·Gender | 第28页 |
| ·Age | 第28-29页 |
| ·Social class | 第29-30页 |
| ·Summary | 第30-31页 |
| Chapter Three Research Methodology | 第31-36页 |
| ·Research questions | 第31页 |
| ·Sources of corpus | 第31-32页 |
| ·Research methods | 第32页 |
| ·Research procedures | 第32-35页 |
| ·Summary | 第35-36页 |
| Chapter Four Data Analysis and Discussion | 第36-67页 |
| ·Sentence quantity | 第36-37页 |
| ·Sentence length | 第37-40页 |
| ·Sentence types | 第40-56页 |
| ·Functional classification | 第40-45页 |
| ·The distribution of imperative sentences | 第43-44页 |
| ·The distribution of exclamatory sentences | 第44-45页 |
| ·Structural classification | 第45-49页 |
| ·Specific sentence structure | 第49-56页 |
| ·Existential sentences | 第49-51页 |
| ·Irregular sentences and non-sentences | 第51-54页 |
| ·Special use of it | 第54-56页 |
| ·Clause types | 第56-63页 |
| ·The distribution of various clauses | 第56-59页 |
| ·The distribution of various adverbial clauses | 第59页 |
| ·Positional pattern of adverbial clauses | 第59-63页 |
| ·Positional pattern of temporal adverbial clauses | 第61-62页 |
| ·Positional pattern of conditional adverbial clauses | 第62-63页 |
| ·Phrase types | 第63-66页 |
| ·Summary | 第66-67页 |
| Chapter Five Comparative Reconsideration | 第67-77页 |
| ·Sentence quantity and sentence length in six stages | 第67-69页 |
| ·Sentence types | 第69-72页 |
| ·Functional classification | 第69-71页 |
| ·Structural classification | 第71-72页 |
| ·Clause Types | 第72-75页 |
| ·The distribution of various clauses in the six stages | 第72-74页 |
| ·The distribution of various adverbial clauses in the six stages | 第74-75页 |
| ·Phrase types | 第75-76页 |
| ·Summary | 第76-77页 |
| Chapter Six Conclusion | 第77-81页 |
| ·Major findings | 第77-79页 |
| ·Implications for English teachers and English learners | 第79页 |
| ·Limitations of this study and suggestions for further studies | 第79-81页 |
| Acknowledgments | 第81-82页 |
| Bibliography | 第82-86页 |
| Appendix | 第86-87页 |
