| ABSTRACT | 第3-4页 |
| 摘要 | 第5-6页 |
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS | 第6-8页 |
| LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS | 第8-11页 |
| CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION | 第11-17页 |
| 1.1 Background of the study | 第12-13页 |
| 1.2 Significance of the study | 第13-14页 |
| 1.3 Objectives of the study | 第14-15页 |
| 1.4 Overall structure of the study | 第15-17页 |
| CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW | 第17-36页 |
| 2.1 Definitions of refusal speech act | 第17-18页 |
| 2.2 International and domestic studies of refusal speech act | 第18-27页 |
| 2.2.1 Second and foreign language acquisition perspective | 第18-21页 |
| 2.2.2 Sociolinguistic perspective | 第21-23页 |
| 2.2.3 Cross-cultural perspective | 第23-26页 |
| 2.2.4 Pragmatic perspective | 第26-27页 |
| 2.3 Theoretical foundations | 第27-36页 |
| 2.3.1 Politeness theory | 第28-32页 |
| 2.3.2 Beebe’s classification of refusal strategies | 第32-36页 |
| CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY | 第36-40页 |
| 3.1 Research questions | 第36页 |
| 3.2 Participants | 第36-37页 |
| 3.3 Instruments | 第37页 |
| 3.4 Procedures | 第37-40页 |
| CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS AND DISCUSSION | 第40-66页 |
| 4.1 Types and frequencies of refusal strategies used by males and females | 第40-44页 |
| 4.2 The similarities and differences in refusal formulae and refusal strategies used by the two groups under different situations | 第44-60页 |
| 4.2.1 Refusal speech acts to invitations | 第45-50页 |
| 4.2.2 Refusal speech acts to requests | 第50-54页 |
| 4.2.3 Refusal speech acts to offers | 第54-57页 |
| 4.2.4 Refusal speech acts to suggestions | 第57-60页 |
| 4.3 Underlying reasons for the differences between the two groups | 第60-66页 |
| 4.3.1 Different psychological features | 第61-62页 |
| 4.3.2 Different semantic perceptions | 第62-63页 |
| 4.3.3 Different social roles and expectations | 第63-66页 |
| CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION | 第66-72页 |
| 5.1 Major findings | 第66-70页 |
| 5.1.1 Statistical findings | 第67-69页 |
| 5.1.2 Theoretical findings | 第69-70页 |
| 5.2 Implications of the present study | 第70-71页 |
| 5.3 Limitations and suggestions for further studies | 第71-72页 |
| REFERENCES | 第72-77页 |
| APPENDIX | 第77-79页 |
