Abstract：Request speech act and request strategies have been the most important topics in the field of pragmatics research. Request speech act is a kind of act that uses language to make a request then hope be satisfied. It is commonly used in daily communication and it plays an important role in research significance.

This paper takes the theory of request speech act as the basic theoretical framework. It takes the Chinese and English TV series The Qiao’s Family Compound and DownTon Abbey as an example. Through the analysis of date from two sitcoms, request speech act has been analyzed from the perspectives of alter, head act, modifications,then find the reasons for the differences in linguistic, social and cultural factors. It is aimed at proposing some relevant suggestions.

It is found that Chinese and English request speech act varies according to social culture and language. In terms of alerter, Chinese requests use more addressing names and more expressive expressions. As to head act, Chinese people use the direct request strategies most frequently , while the English tend to use more indirect request strategies. As to modification, both Chinese and English tend to use modification to enhance politeness. People should Learn more about the differences of request speech acts between Chinese and Western so that to reduce unnecessary misunderstanding in the future communication and then to achieve the purpose of exchange.

The first part of the article introduces the purpose of the study, the significance of the study and the overall structure of the article. The second part is literature review, which lays a theoretical foundation for this article. The third part makes a contrast between Downton Abbey and The Qiao’s Family Compound from the perspectives of alter, head act, modifications and summarizes the main causes of the differences. The fourth part is the summary of this thesis, it includes the main findings and some limitations of the paper.

Keywords： request speech act  comparison   affecting actors

中文摘要：请求言语行为和请求策略就一直是语用学领域研究的重要课题之一。请求言语行为是指用语言提出要求，并希望得到满足的一种行为，在日常交际中十分普遍，且具有重要的研究意义。

本文以请求言语行为理论为基本理论框架，以中英电视剧《乔家大院》和《唐顿庄园》为例，对中英文化中请求言语行为从起始行为语，中心行为语和修正语三方面进行系统分析，发现中西方请求言语行为的异同，并提出相关建议。

研究发现，中英请求言语行为因社会文化和语言的不同而不同。在请求起始行为语方面，汉语请求更多的使用称呼语，表达也更丰富。在请求中心语方面，中国人使用最多的是直接请求策略，而英国人使用更多的间接请求策略。在请求修饰语方面，中英双方都会采用修饰语来增强礼貌性。所以人们应该了解中西方文化差异和请求言语行为的异同，以便在今后的交流中减少不必要的误解，更有效的使用请求言语行为以达到交流的目的。

文章的第一部分介绍了本文的研究目的，研究意义和文章总体结构。第二部分是文献综述，奠定了本文的理论基础。第三部分从起始语，中心语和修饰语三个部分对《唐顿庄园》和《乔家大院》。进行对比分析，并总结造成差异的原因。第四部分是本文的总结，包括了主要发现和研究的不足。

关键词：请求言语行为；对比分析；影响因素

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

Chapter One Introduction-1

1.1 Significance of the Study-1

1.2 Purpose of the Study-1

1.2Structure of the Thesis-2

Chapter Two Literature Review-3

2.1 Cross-culture-3

2.2 Speech Act Theory-3

2.3 Request Speech Act -3

2.4 Politeness Theory-4

2.4.1 Brown and Levinson’s Face-saving Theory-4

2.4.2 Leech’s Politeness Principle-4

2.4.3 Gu Yueguo’s Chinese Politeness Theory-4

2.5Previous Studies in China and Abroad-5

2.5.1 Related Research in China-5

2.5.2 Related Research Abroad-5

Chapter Three Comparison and Discussion-6

3.1 Comparison of Alerter-6

3.1.1 Alerters in Downton Abbey-7

3.1.2 Alerters in Qiao’s Family Compound-8

3.1.3 Factor For theDifference-9

3.2Comparison of Head Act-10

3.2.1 Request strategies in Downton Abbey-11

3.2.2 Request strategies in Qiao’s Family Compound-10

3.2.3 Factor For the Difference-12

3.3 Comparison of Modification-12

3.3.1 Comparison of Internal Modification-12

3.3.2 Comparison of Enternal Modification-13

3.3.3 Factor For the Difference-13

Chapter Four Conclusion-15

4.1 Findings of the Study-15

4.2 Limations and Suggestions For Future Study-16

References-17