| Acknowledgements | 第1-5页 |
| Abstract | 第5-8页 |
| 中文摘要 | 第8-14页 |
| Chapter One Introduction | 第14-21页 |
| ·Rationale and objectives | 第14-18页 |
| ·Research scope and methodology | 第18-19页 |
| ·Data collection | 第19-20页 |
| ·Organization of the thesis | 第20-21页 |
| Chapter Two Literature Review | 第21-40页 |
| ·Introduction | 第21页 |
| ·Definition of misunderstanding | 第21-28页 |
| ·Previous definitions of misunderstanding | 第21-22页 |
| ·Comments on previous definitions | 第22-23页 |
| ·Misunderstanding and its “family” | 第23-27页 |
| ·Misunderstanding vs pragmatic failure | 第24页 |
| ·Misunderstanding vs miscommunication | 第24-25页 |
| ·Misunderstanding vs non-understanding | 第25页 |
| ·Misunderstanding vs misleading | 第25-26页 |
| ·Misunderstanding vs deliberate misinterpretation | 第26-27页 |
| ·Summary | 第27页 |
| ·Various aspects of defining misunderstanding | 第27-28页 |
| ·Various approaches to misunderstanding | 第28-38页 |
| ·Related studies of misunderstanding abroad | 第28-36页 |
| ·Intercultural approach | 第29-30页 |
| ·Pragmatic approach | 第30-32页 |
| ·Cognitive approach | 第32-34页 |
| ·Conversation-analytic approach | 第34-36页 |
| ·Related studies at home | 第36-38页 |
| ·Comments on previous study | 第38-40页 |
| Chapter Three Theoretical Foundation | 第40-50页 |
| ·Introduction | 第40页 |
| ·Communication, code model and inferential model | 第40-42页 |
| ·Ostensive-inferential communication | 第42-43页 |
| ·The principle of relevance | 第43-45页 |
| ·Context | 第45-46页 |
| ·The Relevance-theoretic comprehension procedure | 第46-47页 |
| ·Hypotheses of misunderstanding in Relevance-theoretic perspective | 第47-48页 |
| ·Summary | 第48-50页 |
| Chapter Four Triggers and Generative mechanism of Misunderstanding | 第50-74页 |
| ·Introduction | 第50页 |
| ·Ostension problems on the part of speakers | 第50-59页 |
| ·Lack of ostention | 第51-52页 |
| ·Overinformativeness | 第52-53页 |
| ·Underinformativeness | 第53-56页 |
| ·Incompleteness in form | 第54-55页 |
| ·Implicitness in content | 第55-56页 |
| ·Ambiguous ostension | 第56-58页 |
| ·Improper ostension | 第58-59页 |
| ·Inference indeterminacies on the part of hearers | 第59-65页 |
| ·Stereotypical mentality | 第62-64页 |
| ·Closeness option mentality | 第64-65页 |
| ·Generative mechanism of misunderstanding | 第65-70页 |
| ·Consistency of searching for the optimal relevance | 第65-67页 |
| ·Conflict between the speaker’s intended context and the hearer’s actually-used context | 第67-70页 |
| ·Avoidance of misunderstanding | 第70-72页 |
| ·Summary | 第72-74页 |
| Chapter Five Conclusion | 第74-78页 |
| ·Findings and implications of the present study | 第74-76页 |
| ·Limitations and suggestions for further study | 第76-78页 |
| Bibliography | 第78-83页 |
