| Abstract | 第1-9页 |
| 摘要 | 第9-11页 |
| List of Tables | 第11-12页 |
| Transcription symbols | 第12-13页 |
| Chapter One Introduction | 第13-17页 |
| ·The Rationale of the Study | 第13-14页 |
| ·Significance of the Study | 第14页 |
| ·Research Methodology | 第14-15页 |
| ·The Organization of the Study | 第15-17页 |
| Chapter Two Literature Review | 第17-33页 |
| ·The Semantic Study of Verbal Irony | 第17-20页 |
| ·The Pragmatic Study of Verbal Irony | 第20-28页 |
| ·Verbal Irony as Violation of Quality:the Grice Theory | 第20-23页 |
| ·Verbal Irony as an Insincere Speech Act | 第23-25页 |
| ·The Echoic Mention Theory of Verbal Irony | 第25-27页 |
| ·The Pretense Theory of Verbal Irony | 第27-28页 |
| ·The Psycholinguistic Study of Verbal Irony | 第28-31页 |
| ·Gibbs Direct Access View of Verbal Irony | 第28-30页 |
| ·Giora's Graded Salience Hypothesis | 第30-31页 |
| ·Limitations of Previous Studies | 第31-33页 |
| Chapter Three Theoretical Framework | 第33-44页 |
| ·A Brief Introduction of Conversational Analysis | 第33-35页 |
| ·Basic Theories of Conversational Analysis | 第35-44页 |
| ·Turn-Taking System | 第36-38页 |
| ·Adjacency Pajrs | 第38-40页 |
| ·Sequences in Conversation | 第40-44页 |
| Chapter Four Research Methodology and Data Collection | 第44-49页 |
| ·Research Methodology | 第44-45页 |
| ·The Data Description | 第45-48页 |
| ·American Presidential Election and TV Debates in the Campaign | 第45-46页 |
| ·Data Identification and Collection | 第46-48页 |
| ·The Data Transcription | 第48-49页 |
| Chapter Five Data Analysis | 第49-62页 |
| ·Quantitative Analysis of the Data | 第49-52页 |
| ·Conversational Analysis of the Data | 第52-62页 |
| ·Verbal Irony as a Defense Strategy | 第52-57页 |
| ·Verbal Irony Occurring after a Critical Comment | 第52-54页 |
| ·Verbal Irony Occurring after a Question | 第54-57页 |
| ·Verbal Irony as an Attack Strategy | 第57-62页 |
| ·Verbal Irony Occurring at the Beginning of Disputant's Turn | 第57-59页 |
| ·Verbal Irony Occurring in the Middle of the Turn | 第59-62页 |
| Chapter Six Pragmatic Interpretation of Verbal Irony | 第62-71页 |
| ·The Interpretation of Verbal Irony by Adaptation Theory | 第62-66页 |
| ·Verschueren's Adaptation Theory | 第62-63页 |
| ·Verbal Irony as a Product of Adaptation | 第63-66页 |
| ·The Interpretation of Verbal Irony by Face Theory | 第66-70页 |
| ·Brown and Levinson's Face Theory and the Ambiguity of Irony | 第66-68页 |
| ·The Ambiguity of irony as a Resource of Saving the Positive Face | 第68-70页 |
| ·Summary | 第70-71页 |
| Chapter Seven Conclusion | 第71-75页 |
| ·Major Findings of the Present Study | 第71-73页 |
| ·Implications of the Present Study | 第73页 |
| ·Limitations of the Study and Suggestions for Further Research | 第73-75页 |
| References | 第75-81页 |
| Acknowledgements | 第81-82页 |
| 学位论文评阅及答辩情况表 | 第82页 |
