A Study On Metadiscourse In Chinese Legislative Discourse

Metadiscourse in the legislative discourse is different from those of other types of discourse in application, distribution and formation mechanism. It has its features in the use of the types of metadiscourse, the quantity of metadiscourse and the length of the linguistic form of metadiscourse. In order to describe these features and explain the formation mechanism, we construct a "goal-oriented and dialogic metadiscourse theory", on the basis of which we put forward a "dialogic metadiscourse analysis framework". The corpus of this study is the legislative discourse composed of the most representative Chinese laws——the Constitution, the Criminal Law and the General Principles of the Civil Law.The main research questions of the dissertation include:how should the basic theoretical questions such as the definition, the scope, the classification be redescribed when facing the dispute of them? What kind of metadiscourse analysis framework should be presented in face of the single metadiscourse application pattern? What are the distribution features of the various kinds of metadiscourse in the legislative discourse? How should we explain the formation mechanism of them? What are the implications of our conclusions to linguistic theories? And what constructive suggestions can we make for the legislative practice?The dissertation is divided into eight chapters.The first chapter is a preface. It first gives a review of metadiscourse research both at home and abroad, and then it points out the innovative points, the research objects, methods and corpus of the research. It also gives a brief introduction to the original purpose, the research intention and the significance of the research.The second chapter is the theoretical basis of the dissertation. Based on Bakhtin’s philosophy of language, intentionality theory of the philosophy of the mind and the principle of goal-direction, we put forward a "goal-oriented and dialogic metadiscourse theory".The third chapter is an application framework of the metadiscourse theory proposed by us. In order to change the present single pattern of metadiscourse analysis, having discussed the scope of metadiscourse,we raised a "dialogic metadiscourse analysis framework".The fourth chapter is the study of grammatical metadiscourse in legislative discourse. It first gives an introduction to grammatical metadiscourse which has not been studied by scholars at home and abroad, and then it points out the application features of grammatical metadiscourse in legislative discourse. It also explains the formation mechanism of these features.The fifth chapter is the study of textual metadiscourse markers in legislative discourse. It first describes the distribution features of textual metadiscourse markers in legislative discourse, and then it explains the fromation mechanism in "dialogic metadiscourse analysis framework".The sixth chapter is the study of interpersonal metadiscourse markers in legislative discourse. It first gives an introduction to the application features of interpersonal metadiscourse markers in legislative discourse, and then it explains the formation mechanism from the perspectives of intentionality, textual coherence, ideology, etc.The seventh chapter is the study of textual/interpersonal multi-functional metadiscourse markers in legislative discourse. It first explains the term "textual/interpersonal multi-functional metadiscourse", and then it describes the application features of textual/interpersonal metadiscourse markers in legislative discourse. It also explains the formation mechanism from the perspectives of textual/interpersonal multi-function, textual coherence, dialogism,subjectivity, intersubjectivity, intentionality, goal-direction, ideology.The eighth chapter is the concluding part of the dissertation. It first lists7conclusions of the above chapters, on the basis of which it summarizes the application features of legislative discourse as the less use of metadiscourse in both types and quantity and the shorter form of metadiscourse length. Metadiscourse is a variable of passive rhetoric in legislative discourse, and it is the result of goal-direction and dialogism. This chapter also points out the implications to both linguistic theories and legislative practice. It finally points out the limitations and further study of the dissertation.