| List of Abbreviations | 第1-7页 |
| List of Tables | 第7-8页 |
| Acknowledgements | 第8-9页 |
| 中文摘要 | 第9-10页 |
| Abstract | 第10-11页 |
| Chapter One Introduction | 第11-14页 |
| ·Background | 第11-12页 |
| ·Purpose of the study | 第12页 |
| ·Significance of the study | 第12-13页 |
| ·Organization of the thesis | 第13-14页 |
| Chapter Two Review of the Related Literature | 第14-21页 |
| ·Important concepts about the speech act of indirect refusal | 第14-16页 |
| ·Face, face work and linguistic politeness | 第14-15页 |
| ·Semantic formulas and refusal strategies | 第15-16页 |
| ·Previous studies on refusal | 第16-21页 |
| ·Pragmatic approach | 第16-17页 |
| ·Sociolinguistic approach | 第17-18页 |
| ·Second language acquisition approach | 第18-21页 |
| Chapter Three Understanding Indirectness | 第21-24页 |
| ·Speech act and indirect speech act | 第21-22页 |
| ·Austin and the Speech Act Theory | 第21-22页 |
| ·Searle and the Indirect Speech Act Theory | 第22页 |
| ·The speech act of contemporary Chinese indirect refusal | 第22-24页 |
| Chapter Four The Method | 第24-27页 |
| ·Subjects | 第24页 |
| ·Instrument | 第24-25页 |
| ·Remarks on the method of the study | 第25-27页 |
| ·On the instrument design | 第25页 |
| ·On contextual variables | 第25-27页 |
| Chapter Five Results and Discussions | 第27-46页 |
| ·Chinese refusal strategies | 第27-32页 |
| ·Direct refusal | 第27-28页 |
| ·Indirect refusal | 第28-31页 |
| ·Adjuncts to refusals | 第31-32页 |
| ·Major findings in data | 第32-42页 |
| ·Strategies between the two groups: Overall results | 第32-35页 |
| ·Distribution of refusal strategies in response to type of initiating act | 第35-37页 |
| ·Directness of refusals with social status and social distance | 第37-40页 |
| ·Difficulty level of making a refusal and some retrospective comments | 第40-42页 |
| ·Discussions about the findings | 第42-46页 |
| ·The issue of pragmatic competence and pragmatic failure | 第42-44页 |
| ·Discussion from the perspective of culture | 第44-46页 |
| Chapter Six Findings and Conclusions | 第46-51页 |
| ·Findings | 第46-48页 |
| ·Implications | 第48-49页 |
| ·Limitation | 第49-51页 |
| Quotations: | 第51-52页 |
| Bibliography | 第52-56页 |
| Appendix A | 第56-60页 |
| Appendix B | 第60-64页 |
| Some Published Articles by the Author | 第64-65页 |
