| 摘要 | 第1-6页 |
| Abstract | 第6-11页 |
| Chapter One General Introduction | 第11-15页 |
| ·The significance of the study | 第11-12页 |
| ·The objective of the thesis | 第12-13页 |
| ·The organization of the thesis | 第13-15页 |
| Chapter Two Literature Review | 第15-32页 |
| ·Humor | 第15-19页 |
| ·Definition of humor | 第15-18页 |
| ·Classification of humor | 第18-19页 |
| ·Situation comedy | 第19-23页 |
| ·Short summary of situation comedy | 第19-21页 |
| ·Introduction of the sitcom The Big Bang Theory | 第21-23页 |
| ·General review of the study on verbal humor | 第23-29页 |
| ·Conventional theories | 第23-26页 |
| ·The incongruity theory | 第24页 |
| ·The hostility theory | 第24-25页 |
| ·The release theory | 第25-26页 |
| ·Modern linguistic theories | 第26-29页 |
| ·Semantic approaches to humor research | 第26页 |
| ·Pragmatics-based studies of humor | 第26-29页 |
| ·Theoretical framework for the present study | 第29-32页 |
| ·Speech act theory | 第30-32页 |
| Chapter Three Research Methodology | 第32-34页 |
| ·Data collection from The Big Bang Theory | 第32-33页 |
| ·Research procedure | 第33-34页 |
| Chapter Four The Pragmatic Analysis on Humorous Utterance from the Perspective of Speech Act Theory | 第34-47页 |
| ·Introduction of speech act theory | 第34-37页 |
| ·Performatives and constatives | 第34-35页 |
| ·Indirect speech act | 第35-36页 |
| ·Theories of speech act | 第36-37页 |
| ·Generation of humor | 第37-38页 |
| ·Understanding of verbal humor in The Big Bang Theory | 第38-45页 |
| ·Summary | 第45-47页 |
| Chapter Five Implications of the Study | 第47-53页 |
| ·Ability in humor as part of communicative competence | 第48-49页 |
| ·Amusing people and adorning life | 第48页 |
| ·Enhancing affection and improving personal relationship | 第48-49页 |
| ·Defending oneself and criticizing evils | 第49页 |
| ·The role of humor in language teaching | 第49-52页 |
| ·Effects of humor on creativity | 第50页 |
| ·Effects of humor on comprehension | 第50-51页 |
| ·Effects of humor as a teaching tool in the English classroom | 第51-52页 |
| ·Summary | 第52-53页 |
| Chapter Six Conclusion | 第53-55页 |
| ·Major findings | 第53页 |
| ·Limitation of the study | 第53-54页 |
| ·Suggestions | 第54-55页 |
| Bibliography | 第55-58页 |
| 导师简介 | 第58-59页 |
| 作者简介 | 第59-60页 |
| Acknowledgements | 第60-61页 |
