| Acknowledgements | 第1-4页 |
| 摘要 | 第4-5页 |
| Abstract | 第5-10页 |
| 1. Introduction | 第10-12页 |
| ·Research background | 第10-11页 |
| ·Thesis organization | 第11-12页 |
| 2. Prosody: a preliminary view | 第12-26页 |
| ·Phonetics and phonology | 第12页 |
| ·Segmental and suprasegmental | 第12-14页 |
| ·Prosodic features | 第14-26页 |
| ·Pitch | 第15-19页 |
| ·The nature of pitch | 第15-16页 |
| ·Pitch, tone, and intonation | 第16-19页 |
| ·Loudness | 第19-21页 |
| ·The nature of loudness | 第19-20页 |
| ·Loudness, stress and prominence | 第20-21页 |
| ·Tempo | 第21-23页 |
| ·The nature of tempo | 第21-22页 |
| ·Tempo, length, and duration | 第22-23页 |
| ·Rhythm | 第23-26页 |
| ·The nature of rhythm | 第23-24页 |
| ·English: Stress-timed or not? | 第24-26页 |
| 3. A survey of the functions of language | 第26-35页 |
| ·Theories of language functions | 第26-28页 |
| ·Basic language functions | 第28-30页 |
| ·Functions of language according to Leech | 第30-33页 |
| ·Informational function | 第30-31页 |
| ·Expressive function | 第31-32页 |
| ·Directive function | 第32页 |
| ·Phatic function | 第32-33页 |
| ·Aesthetic function | 第33页 |
| ·Summary | 第33-35页 |
| 4. A functional analysis of prosodic features | 第35-60页 |
| ·Informational function of prosodic features | 第35-40页 |
| ·Informational function realized by pitch variation | 第35-38页 |
| ·Informational function realized by loudness | 第38-39页 |
| ·Informational function realized by tempo | 第39-40页 |
| ·Expressive function of prosodic features | 第40-48页 |
| ·Expressive function realized by pitch variation | 第40-43页 |
| ·Expressive function realized by loudness | 第43-45页 |
| ·Expressive function realized by tempo and rhythm | 第45-48页 |
| ·Directive function of prosodic features | 第48-50页 |
| ·Directive function realized by pitch variation | 第48-49页 |
| ·Directive function realized by loudness, tempo and rhythm | 第49-50页 |
| ·Phatic function of prosodic features | 第50-53页 |
| ·Phatic function realized by pitch variation | 第51-52页 |
| ·Phatic function realized by loudness, tempo, and rhythm | 第52-53页 |
| ·Aesthetic function of prosodic features | 第53-57页 |
| ·Aesthetic function realized by pitch, loudness and tempo | 第53-55页 |
| ·Aesthetic function realized by rhythm | 第55-57页 |
| ·Language functions realized jointly by prosodic features | 第57页 |
| ·Summary | 第57-60页 |
| 5. Implications in language teaching and communication | 第60-70页 |
| ·The investigation conducted | 第60-65页 |
| ·The purpose of the investigation | 第60-61页 |
| ·The participants of the investigation | 第61页 |
| ·A brief analysis of the investigation results | 第61-65页 |
| ·Implications in language teaching | 第65-68页 |
| ·Current pronunciation teaching situation | 第65-66页 |
| ·Integrating prosodic features into pronunciation teaching | 第66-68页 |
| ·Implications in language communication | 第68-70页 |
| 6. Conclusion | 第70-72页 |
| ·Summary of the study | 第70-71页 |
| ·Limitations and suggestions | 第71-72页 |
| Bibliography | 第72-76页 |
| Appendix Questionnaire(调研问卷) | 第76-77页 |
| 攻读学位期间的研究成果 | 第77-79页 |
