| Acknowledgements | 第1-4页 |
| Abstract (English) | 第4-6页 |
| Abstract (Chinese) | 第6-9页 |
| 1 Introduction | 第9-13页 |
| ·Rationale | 第9-11页 |
| ·The purpose of the study | 第11页 |
| ·Data collection | 第11-12页 |
| ·Organization | 第12-13页 |
| 2 Theories | 第13-27页 |
| ·Terminology | 第14-16页 |
| ·Speech Act Theory---A Functional Approach to Politeness | 第16-18页 |
| ·Theories of politeness | 第18-24页 |
| ·The Politeness Principle (PP) | 第19-20页 |
| ·Face Theory | 第20-23页 |
| ·The Concept of Face | 第20-21页 |
| ·Chinese 'Face' | 第21-23页 |
| ·Politeness Strategies | 第23-24页 |
| ·Scollon and Scollon's deference politeness system | 第24-25页 |
| ·Scollon and Scollon's research on the introduction of topic | 第25-27页 |
| 3 Types of invitations | 第27-38页 |
| ·Oral and written invitation | 第27-32页 |
| ·Formal and Informal Invitation Letters | 第32-38页 |
| 4 The Choice of Politeness Strategies in Invitation Letters | 第38-52页 |
| ·Sub-strategies of Positive Politeness in English and Chinese invitation letters | 第38-45页 |
| 1 ) Noticing invitee's condition | 第39-40页 |
| 2 ) Intensifying interest to Invitee in Inviter's contribution | 第40-41页 |
| 3 ) Using in-group identity markers | 第41-42页 |
| 4 ) Seeking agreement in safe topics and repetition | 第42-43页 |
| 5 ) Asserting knowledge of Invitee's Wants and Indicating that Inviter is taking account | 第43-44页 |
| 6 ) Offering and promising | 第44-45页 |
| 7 ) Including both Inviter and Invitee in the activity | 第45页 |
| ·Sub-strategies of Negative Politeness in English and Chinese invitation letters | 第45-52页 |
| 1 ) Minimizing the Imposition | 第45-47页 |
| 2 ) Giving options | 第47-50页 |
| 3 ) Honorifics used in Chinese Invitation | 第50-52页 |
| 5 Comparative Analysis of Invitation letters in Chinese and English | 第52-59页 |
| ·The Similarities in Formats and Functions | 第52页 |
| ·The Differences Between Chinese and English Invitation letters | 第52-59页 |
| ·The difference in the use of request for response | 第53-54页 |
| ·The difference in the use of address forms | 第54-55页 |
| ·The difference in the introduction of the Topic: topic-first or topic-delayed | 第55-59页 |
| 6 Conclusion | 第59-61页 |
| Bibliography | 第61-63页 |
