| As a new development of interpersonal meaning within the framework ofSystematic Functional Linguistics (SFL), Appraisal Theory was put forward by J. R.Martin in the1920s. Generally, the application of Appraisal Theory is alwaysconfined to the field of discourse analysis, translation analysis and so on. The study ofinterpersonal meaning is always confined to the field of SFL. To compare withHalliday’s metafunctions, Appraisal Theory focuses more on the semantic evaluationof discourse. In other words, Appraisal Theory explores the ways people useevaluative resources to realize interpersonal meaning.International business negotiation is regarded as the central part of trade andbusiness. Business negotiation provides the link for goods or services trading. It isimportant for negotiators to establish a good relationship and achieve business goal ofgaining benefit through business negotiation. Therefore, interpersonal meanings areembodied in the conversation between negotiators.In this thesis, the realization of interpersonal meaning in international businessnegotiation is analyzed within the framework of Appraisal Theory. Someconversations selected from business negotiation will be analyzed in detail. Thepresent study aims to provide a new perspective of the application of AppraisalTheory and the way of exploring interpersonal meaning. Through the analysis ofappraisal resources in these conversations, the thesis aims to solve three researchquestions: the distribution features of appraisal resources; how interpersonal meaning is realized through appraisal resources in international business negotiation; howvarious appraisal resources are applied to realize various interpersonal meanings.The present thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter One is a generalintroduction of the thesis. In this chapter, the research background, the significance ofthe present research and thesis structure will be introduced. Chapter Two is going tohave a literature review of present study and some key definitions. In addition, it alsoprovides previous study on interpersonal meaning in both China and abroad, someother linguistics study on business negotiation. Chapter Three aims to present thetheoretical framework which will serve for the analysis in Chapter Four. In thischapter, Appraisal Theory will be explained in detail, and the relation betweeninterpersonal meaning and appraisal resources will also be explained. Moreover,research questions and data collections will also be included. Chapter Four is the corepart of the thesis. In this chapter, a detailed analysis of the realization of interpersonalmeaning in international business negotiation will be presented. The frequency andpercentage of appraisal resources which are employed to realize interpersonalmeaning will also be provided and explained, which can give the answer to theresearch questions. Chapter Five is a conclusive chapter. In this part, the author tendsto illustrate some major findings which are based on the analysis in Chapter Four.Furthermore, there are also some implications, limitations and suggestions which willalso be presented in this chapter. |
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