| Acknowledgements | 第1-5页 |
| Abstract in Chinese | 第5-6页 |
| Abstract in English | 第6-10页 |
| 1. Introduction | 第10-13页 |
| 2. Literature Review | 第13-29页 |
| ·The definition of humor | 第13-15页 |
| ·The classification of humor | 第15页 |
| ·The functions of linguistic humor | 第15-17页 |
| ·General review of the study on humor | 第17-20页 |
| ·Three basic conventional humor theories | 第17-18页 |
| ·Modern linguistic theories on verbal humor | 第18-20页 |
| ·A pragmatic approach on humor study | 第20-29页 |
| ·The cooperative principle | 第21-22页 |
| ·The Politeness Principle | 第22-24页 |
| ·Speech Act Theory | 第24-26页 |
| ·Relevance Theory | 第26-29页 |
| 3. Research Methodology | 第29-32页 |
| ·Research procedure | 第29页 |
| ·Data description and data collection | 第29-32页 |
| 4. Pragmatic Study on Verbal Humor in Sitcom Growing Pains | 第32-45页 |
| ·The Cooperative Principle and humor | 第32-38页 |
| ·Humor produced by violating maxim of quantity | 第32-34页 |
| ·Humor produced by violating maxim of quality | 第34-35页 |
| ·Humor produced by violating maxim of relation | 第35-36页 |
| ·Humor produced by violating maxim of manner | 第36-38页 |
| ·The Politeness Principle and humor | 第38-39页 |
| ·Speech Act Theory and humor | 第39-41页 |
| ·Relevance Theory and humor | 第41-45页 |
| 5. Enlightenment of Humor Study to the Cultivation of English Pragmatic Competence | 第45-54页 |
| ·Reasons leading to obstacles in comprehending humor in English sitcoms | 第46-52页 |
| ·Solutions to these obstacles | 第52-54页 |
| 6. Conclusion | 第54-55页 |
| Bibliography | 第55-57页 |
