| Acknowledgements | 第1-5页 |
| Abstract | 第5-6页 |
| 摘要 | 第6-7页 |
| Contents | 第7-9页 |
| CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION | 第9-12页 |
| ·Rationale for the study | 第9-10页 |
| ·Statement of the problems | 第10页 |
| ·Significance of the study | 第10-12页 |
| CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW | 第12-29页 |
| ·Previous studies of the theory of context | 第12-26页 |
| ·The ingredients of context | 第16-23页 |
| ·Micro-context | 第19-21页 |
| ·Macro-context | 第21-23页 |
| ·The functions of context | 第23-26页 |
| ·The semantic function | 第23-24页 |
| ·The cultural function | 第24-26页 |
| ·Previous study of vagueness related to legal language | 第26-29页 |
| ·Overseas researches about legal vagueness | 第26-27页 |
| ·The researches about legal vagueness in China | 第27-29页 |
| CHAPTER THREE VAGUENESS IN LAW | 第29-35页 |
| ·Definition of vagueness in law | 第29-31页 |
| ·The difference between vagueness and ambiguity | 第31-33页 |
| ·The difference between vagueness and fuzziness | 第33-35页 |
| CHAPTER FOUR CLARIFYING VAGUENESS IN LEGAL LANGUAGE BY USING THE THEORY OF CONTEXT: THE CASE STUDY OF AMERICAN CASE | 第35-53页 |
| ·The ways of clarifying vagueness in legal language in previous research | 第35-37页 |
| ·Hans Kelsen: the principle of completeness | 第35-36页 |
| ·Donald Dworkin: the right answer thesis | 第36-37页 |
| ·The author’s proposal: the theory of context to clarify the vagueness in American case | 第37-43页 |
| ·The analysis of vagueness in the opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States about the case: the vagueness in Plessy v. Ferguson | 第38-42页 |
| ·The vagueness of the opinion of the U. S. Supreme Court causing the misunderstanding of the law | 第42-43页 |
| ·The exterior context of the case of Plessy v. Ferguson | 第43-45页 |
| ·The functions of context clarifying the vagueness in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson | 第45-50页 |
| ·Perspectives of the semantic function of the context | 第45-47页 |
| ·Perspectives of the cultural function of the context | 第47-50页 |
| ·Social significance of the abolition of the doctrine of “separate but equal”in the United States | 第50-53页 |
| CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION | 第53-55页 |
| Bibliography | 第55-58页 |
