| Acknowledgements | 第1-5页 |
| Abstract(Chinesee) | 第5-6页 |
| Abstract(English) | 第6-10页 |
| Chapter 1 Introduction | 第10-14页 |
| ·The definition of indirect use of language | 第10页 |
| ·The rationale of the study | 第10-11页 |
| ·The objectives of the study | 第11页 |
| ·Data collection and methodology | 第11-12页 |
| ·Outline of the thesis | 第12-14页 |
| Chapter 2 Literature Review | 第14-24页 |
| ·Austin's contribution to speech act theory | 第14-16页 |
| ·Searle's contribution to indirect speech acts | 第16-19页 |
| ·Grice's contribution to conversational implicature | 第19-22页 |
| ·Achievements and limitations of the past researches | 第22-24页 |
| Chapter 3 Theoretical Background | 第24-36页 |
| ·Rhetoric and Pragmatics | 第24-29页 |
| ·What is rhetoric | 第24-26页 |
| ·What is pragmatics | 第26-27页 |
| ·Similarity between rhetoric and pragmatics | 第27-28页 |
| ·What can rhetoric do to understand pragmatics? | 第28-29页 |
| ·Halliday's functional grammar | 第29-31页 |
| ·Leech's rhetoric principle | 第31-36页 |
| Chapter 4 Classification of Indirect Use of Language | 第36-43页 |
| ·Convention | 第36-39页 |
| ·Figure of speech | 第39-41页 |
| ·Conversational implicature | 第41-43页 |
| Chapter 5 Motivations of Indirect Use of Language | 第43-59页 |
| ·Textual rhetorical motivation of indirect use of language | 第43-52页 |
| ·Economy motivation | 第43-47页 |
| ·Aesthetic motivation | 第47-50页 |
| ·Variability-oriented motivation | 第50-52页 |
| ·Interpersonal rhetorical motivation of indirect use of language | 第52-59页 |
| ·Politeness motivation | 第52-55页 |
| ·Irony motivation | 第55-57页 |
| ·Understatement motivation | 第57-59页 |
| Chapter 6 Conclusion | 第59-61页 |
| ·Major findings and discussions | 第59-60页 |
| ·Limitations of the study and suggestions for further research | 第60-61页 |
| Bibliography | 第61-64页 |
