3 Research Methodology 8

3。1 Research Questions 8

3。2 Research Methods 8

3。3 Data Analysis 8

3。3。1 Identity Types 8

3。3。1。1 Entrepreneur Identity 8

3。3。1。2 Family Identity 14

3。3。1。3 Friend Identity 14

3。3。2 Distribution of Identities 15

4 Results and Discussion 。。17

4。1 The Strategies Used in Constructing Identities in the Interview 。。17

4。1。1 Intensifiers …。。17

4。1。2 The use of Theme Words …。。17

4。1。3 Rhetoric Devices 。。18

4。2 The Motivation of Identities Construction …。。18

Conclusion 20

Acknowledgements 21

References 22

Appendix A 24

Appendix B 30

2

1 Introduction

1。1 Research Background

An ordinary person always has multiple identities, such as parent, son, citizen, manager and so on, but not all identities will be simultaneously reflected in conversations。 Only those that are communicatively motivated and manipulated can be regarded as pragmatic resources。 (Chen, 2013)From+优|尔-论_文W网wWw.YouErw.com 加QQ752018.766

Identity theories have undergone evolutions after their integration with other disciplines。 At the beginning, identity belongs to the concept of sociology。 For example, identity describes a person’s age, sex or social status。 However, with the development of linguistics and pragmatics, scholars tend to do a research of identities in a specific situation。 Thus, it can not only reflect the change of identities but also explore  “how its construction and use is related to context and subservient to the communicators’ illocutionary or/and relational purpose”  (Chen, 2014)。

Through reviewing literatures related to identity, we can find that many researches focus on identity construction in workplaces and cross-cultural communications (De Fina, 2006; Yang, 2008), but few research pay close attention to television interview, especially the interview of Chinese entrepreneurs。 Therefore, in this research, I employ the corpus that the famous entrepreneur-Jack Ma was interviewed by American CBS and do the research from the perspectives of pragmatics。 

1。2 Significance of the Study

There are two points which illustrate the significance of this study。 For one thing, due to the fact that the application research of identity in the form of interview is rare, this study can enrich the research of identity in this field, particularly identity construction for Chinese entrepreneurs in the international stage。 For another thing, as we all know, Jack Ma is one of the most famous entrepreneurs in China and has a great influence in the international business world。 Especially, when Alibaba was listed in New York Stock Exchange, not only Alibaba but also Jack Ma attracted a lot of attentions from foreign media and foreign listed companies。 It is a time when Chinese entrepreneurs show their identities and personal enchantment in the international stage。 This paper endeavors to analyze how Jack Ma talked with interviewer, which identities he constructed in this context, what strategies he adopted and why he wanted to construct different identities in different situations。 Moreover, through this research, we can not only enrich identity research, especially in oral communication, but also provide some helpful references and suggestions to those entrepreneurs who attempt to march on the road of internationalization。 论文网