英文商务投诉信中语类结构与情态意义的功能分析

论文摘要

本文从功能语法视角来分析英文商务投诉信这一语类结构中的情态意义。作为一种传达坏消息的信函，英文商务投诉信有着独特的语言特征，为达到特殊的交际目的和人际功能它对作者的语言表达能力有着更高的要求。本文就以这种商务投诉信作为研究对象。通过情态词人们表达自己的态度。在Halliday的功能语法中，情态是语气系统的一个部分，通过多种不同的语言形式实现语言的人际意义。情态的特性使得其事实上大量地应用于商务投诉信中。本文就把投诉信这一体裁同情态和语类结构结合起来进行一项探讨性研究。本文目的在于发掘情态与投诉信这一语类之间的关系，试图分析在投诉信这一语类中情态是怎样被用来实现交际目的和人际意义的，进而讨论它在这种信函中所起的作用。本文的研究步骤如下：1)分析这一体裁的语旨、交际目的和语类结构；2)识别并列出语料中的所有情态表达语句，试图找出应用频率最高的那些；3)进行情态分析，包括情态类别，情态价值和情态取向三方面的分析；4)在前面分析结果的基础上，分析情态表达在信函语类结构中的分布情况，于此本文的主要问题将得到回答；4)本文进一步讨论情态在此类信函中所起的作用。

论文目录

• Acknowledgements
• Abstract （English）
• Abstract （Chinese）
• List of Figures and Tables
• Chapter 1 Introduction
• 1.1 General statement
• 1.2 Rationale for the present research
• 1.2.1 The motivation of the present research
• 1.2.2 The reason for adopting the perspective of functional grammar
• 1.2.3 The significance of the present research
• 1.3 Data collection and approaches to data analysis
• 1.4 Research questions
• 1.5 Organization of the thesis
• Chapter 2 Literature Review
• 2.1 Overview
• 2.2 Studies on modality
• 2.2.1 Different approaches to modality in linguistics
• 2.2.2 Studies on modality at home
• 2.2.3 Recent development of studies on modality
• 2.2.4 Comments
• 2.3 Studies on the genre of business letters
• 2.3.1 Linguistic studies on business letters
• 2.3.2 Comments
• 2.4 Summary
• Chapter 3 Theoretical Framework
• 3.1 Overview
• 3.2 Three metafunctions in functional grammar
• 3.3 Genre
• 3.3.1 The concept of genre
• 3.3.2 Generic structure: move
• 3.3.3 Summary
• 3.4 Modality in functional grammar
• 3.4.1 Introduction
• 3.4.2 Modality and polarity
• 3.4.3 Modality type
• 3.4.4 Modal value
• 3.4.5 Modal orientation
• 3.4.6 Linguistic realization of modality
• 3.4.7 Summary
• 3.5 Summary
• Chapter 4 Data Collection and Analysis
• 4.1 Overview
• 4.2 Data collection and description
• 4.3 Data analysis
• 4.3.1 Genre analysis of English business complaint letters
• 4.3.1.1 Tenor and communicative purpose analysis
• 4.3.1.2 Move analysis: generic structure
• 4.3.1.3 Summary
• 4.3.2 Modality analysis English of business complaint letters
• 4.3.2.1 Overview
• 4.3.2.2 Identification of modal expressions
• 4.3.2.3 Modality type analysis
• 4.3.2.4 Modal value analysis
• 4.3.2.5 Modal orientation analysis
• 4.3.2.6 Distribution of modal expressions in the generic structure
• 4.3.2.7 Summary
• 4.3.3 Discussion of the role of modality in English business complaint letters
• 4.3.3.1 Role as interactional strategy
• 4.3.3.2 Role as politeness strategy
• 4.3.3.3 Role as metadiscoursal strategy
• 4.3.3.4 Summary
• Chapter 5 Conclusion and Implications
• 5.1 Overview
• 5.2 Implications of the present research
• 5.3 Limitations of the present study and suggestions for future research
• Bibliography
• Appendix