Pragmatic Analysis Of TV Talk Show Openings From The Perspective Of Linguistic Adaptation

The present research focuses on the verification of Linguistic Adaptation Theory, by investigating linguistic strategies adopted by the host in TV talk show openings. The thesis aims to give a further explanation for linguistic choice-making adapting to different contexts in talk show openings. This paper is composed of seven chapters.Chapter I gives a brief introduction to the whole thesis. It states the objective and rationale of the present study. And finally it gives the outline of the whole thesis.Chapter II firstly gives a brief introduction to TV talk show program with its definition and history. Then a review on previous studies on talk show programs, speech openings and Linguistic Adaptation Theory both at home and abroad is made. The research achievements and shortcomings of the previous studies have also been stated in this part.Chapter III firstly conducts a close examination on the details of the Linguistic Adaptation Theory proposed by Jef Verschueren. And then, a theoretical framework for the present study based on this is put forward, which provides a background and support to the research.Chapter IV firstly makes a classification of TV talk shows based on achievements of previous studies, and then states the methods of data collection adopted in this study.Chapter V firstly presents a composing structure of talk show openings. The opening part of a talk show program can be divided into three parts which can be subdivided into six steps. These structural components appear in different shows with various kinds of forms and in diversified orders. This indicates the strategic use of language for the host to make adaptation to communicative purposes. It gives a good explanation for the variability and negotiability of talk show openings. Then the author conducts a closer examination on it by setting the linguistic strategies adopted in the use of address forms by hosts as examples.Chapter VI analyzes the talk show openings from physical, social and mental aspects respectively in order to examine the adaptability of talk show openings to various related factors. Based on a careful analysis of the corpus, some main factors that will influence linguistic choices in talk show openings, i.e. that the host of talk show programs usually makes adaptation to in the opening part, are picked out. Explanations on how the adaptation is conducted are made with detailed illustration on examples.Chapter VII is the conclusion of the thesis with a brief statement of the major findings and limitations of this study. Meanwhile, suggestions for further research are also given in this part.