An Adaptation Theory-based Study Of Questioning In TV Interview Programs

The present study focuses on the hosts' "questioning" in some successful TV interview programs of China. It mainly belongs to a qualitative study based on the data collected from recordings of the live broadcasting or TV interview programs, transcription of some programs on some websites and writing materials. The conceptual framework is constructed on the basis of Jef Verschueren's (1999) Linguistic Adaptation Theory. The present study aims to test whether the Adaptation Theory can well explain the linguistic phenomenon of "questioning" in interview programs and whether "questioning" is the outcomes of linguistic choices interadaptable with language users' physical world, social world and psychological world.Questioning, as a linguistic phenomenon, has attracted great attention of many scholars who conducted their research from different viewpoints like philosophy, psychology, sociology and pragmatics, among which the research from grammatical structure was the earliest one. Compared with Jef Verschueren's Linguistic Adaptation Theory, none of these disciplines have studied "questioning" in a full way. This study, on the basis of Linguistic Adaptation Theory, tries to build a model of "questioning" in TV interview programs by carefully scrutinizing the real data, which concerns the influence of language, society, culture, psychology and cognition, the purpose of which is to make some dynamic and comprehensive analysis on "questioning" in interview programs, arriving at "questioning" is actually the outcomes of linguistic choices interadaptable with language users' physical world, social world and psychological world. The present investigation finds out that the Adaptation Theory can well explain the linguistic phenomenon of "questioning" and the successful use of "questioning" strategy by the hosts is a key factor which enables the success of an interview program. Meanwhile, the research findings indicate that the nature of "questioning" in interview programs is to inspire and guide the guests into illustration, discussion, explanation and disputation of utterance. This research, at the same time,...