Contents
ChapterOneIntroduction
1.1ResearchBackground
1.2SignificanceofThisStudy
1.3OrganizationofThisStudy
ChapterTwoLiteratureReview
2.1ReviewofVagueLanguage
2.1.1DefinitionofVagueLanguage
2.1.2SomeRelatedTerms
2.1.3PreviousResearchonVagueLanguage
2.2ReviewofEnglishBusinessCorrespondence
2.2.1DefinitionandClassificaitonofEnglishBusinessCorrespondence
2.2.2PrinciplesofEnglishBusinessCorrespondence
2.3PreviousStudiesonVagueLanguageinEnglishBusinessCorrespondence
ChapterThreeTheoreticalFramework
3.1AdaptationTheory
3.2CooperativePrincipleandPolitenessPrinciple
3.3ConstructionofTheoreticalFrameworkinThisStudy
ChapterFourMethodology
4.1DataCollection
4.2ResearchQuestions
4.3AnalyticalMethods
ChapterFivePragmaticAnalysisofVagueLanguageinEnglishBusinessCorrespondence
5.1RealizationFormsandFrequencyofVagueLanguage
5.1.1DistributionofVaguenessinContentandMood
5.1.2LinguisticandPragmaticRealizationFormsandFrequencyofVague
Lanaguage
5.2SituationstoUseVagueLanguageinEnglishBusinessCorrespondence
5.2.1UnabletoGetSufficientInformation
5.2.2UnwillingtoGiveCertainInformation
5.3PragmaticInterpretationofVagueLanguageinEnglishBusinessCorrespondence
5.3.1InterpretationofVagueLanguageBasedonAdaptationTheory
5.3.1.1AdaptationtoPhysicalWorld
5.3.1.2AdaptationtoSocialWorld
5.3.1.3AdaptationtoMentalWorld
5.3.2InterpretationofVagueLanguageBasedonCooperativePrincipleandPolitenessPrinciple
5.3.2.1ViolatingCooperativePrinciple
5.3.2.2AbidingbyPolitenessPrinciple
5.4PragmaticFunctionsofVagueLanguageinEnglishBusinessCorrespondence
5.4.1MakingLanguageMorePersuasive
5.4.2MakingCorrespondenceMorePolite
5.4.3IncreasingSelf-protection
ChapterSixConclusion
6.1MajorFindings
6.2Limitations
6.3SuggestionsforFutureStudyReferences
Appendix
Acknowledgements