| Abstract | 第1-8页 |
| 摘要 | 第8-16页 |
| Chapter One Introduction | 第16-20页 |
| ·Rationale of the study | 第16-17页 |
| ·Purposes and significances of the study | 第17-18页 |
| ·Outline of the present thesis | 第18-20页 |
| Chapter Two Literature Review | 第20-34页 |
| ·Definition and classification of vagueness from linguistic point of view | 第20-26页 |
| ·Definition of vagueness | 第20-22页 |
| ·Classification of vagueness | 第22-26页 |
| ·Semantic vagueness | 第22-24页 |
| ·Pragmatic vagueness | 第24-26页 |
| ·Previous studies of vagueness | 第26-31页 |
| ·Previous studies of vagueness abroad | 第26-29页 |
| ·Previous studies of vagueness at home | 第29-31页 |
| ·Relevant research on vagueness in spokesmen‘s remarks | 第31-32页 |
| ·Critical evaluation on the past research | 第32-34页 |
| Chapter Three Methodology | 第34-43页 |
| ·Theoretical Bases | 第34-40页 |
| ·Grice‘s Conversational Implicature and Cooperative Principle | 第34-37页 |
| ·Leech‘s Politeness Principle | 第37-39页 |
| ·Brown and Levinson‘s Face Theory | 第39-40页 |
| ·Research questions | 第40页 |
| ·Data collection | 第40-41页 |
| ·Research methods | 第41页 |
| ·Research process | 第41-43页 |
| Chapter Four Comparative Study of Pragmatic Vagueness in Chinese and American Spokesmen’s Remarks in Press Conferences | 第43-88页 |
| ·Realization of vagueness in Chinese andAmerican spokesmen‘s remarks | 第43-59页 |
| ·Lexical vagueness | 第43-53页 |
| ·Nouns | 第43-45页 |
| ·Numerals and Numerical Expressions | 第45-47页 |
| ·Verbs | 第47-48页 |
| ·Adjectives | 第48-51页 |
| ·Adverbs | 第51-53页 |
| ·Syntactic vagueness | 第53-56页 |
| ·Discourse vagueness | 第56-58页 |
| ·Quantitative analysis | 第58-59页 |
| ·Application of pragmatic principles in Chinese and American spokesmen‘s remarks | 第59-82页 |
| ·Analysis of vagueness from the perspective of Cooperative Principle | 第59-66页 |
| ·Violation of Quality Maxim | 第60-62页 |
| ·Violation of Quantity Maxim | 第62-63页 |
| ·Violation of Relevance Maxim | 第63-65页 |
| ·Violation of Manner Maxim | 第65-66页 |
| ·Analysis of vagueness from the perspective of Politeness Principle | 第66-74页 |
| ·Observance of Tact Maxim and Generosity Maxim | 第67-69页 |
| ·Observance of Approbation Maxim and Modesty Maxim | 第69-71页 |
| ·Observance of Agreement Maxim | 第71-73页 |
| ·Observance of Sympathy Maxim | 第73-74页 |
| ·Analysis of vagueness from the perspective of Face Theory | 第74-79页 |
| ·Considering the journalist‘s face | 第75-77页 |
| ·Considering foreign country‘s face | 第77-79页 |
| ·Quantitative analysis | 第79-82页 |
| ·Research results | 第82-88页 |
| ·Similarities and possible explanations | 第82-83页 |
| ·Differences and possible explanations | 第83-86页 |
| ·Pragmatic functions of vagueness in spokesmen‘s remarks | 第86-88页 |
| ·Intentionally withholding information | 第86页 |
| ·Self-protecting | 第86-87页 |
| ·Achieving politeness | 第87页 |
| ·Creating harmonious international atmosphere | 第87-88页 |
| Chapter Five Conclusion | 第88-91页 |
| ·Major findings of the study | 第88-89页 |
| ·Limitations and suggestions for further exploration | 第89-91页 |
| References | 第91-94页 |
| Acknowledgements | 第94-95页 |
| Publications | 第95-96页 |
