本研究主要分析台灣政治人物訪談以及台灣立法院質詢兩種正式場合語境的中文問句使用情況，並提供其語境中問句的形式與功能的分佈及形式與功能之間的關係。另外，藉由探討兩種語境的情境特徵來解釋問句功能使用的分佈。就功能部分，本文採納Freed (1994)以及Chang (1997)的問句功能來分析訪談及質詢中的問句。
在語料方面，本文蒐集了八個台灣政治人物專訪節目以及八場台灣立法院質詢，其中專訪節目總共有511個問句，而立法院質詢中有420個問句，加總共有971個問句。並藉由正規化頻率(normalized frequency)的統計來呈現問句形式及功能分佈情形。研究結果發現，在政治人物專訪中，偏好的問句形式包括語氣詞問句(SFP questions)、直述句問句(declarative questions)以及疑問詞問句(question-word questions)。在立法院質詢中，出現較多的問句形式包括語氣詞問句(SFP questions)、正反問句(A-not-A questions)以及疑問詞問句(question-word questions)。就功能分佈結果發現，外在事實範疇(external category)的功能在兩個語境中的出現頻率都是最高的，但是在政治人物專訪中，表達範疇(expressive category)的功能出現頻率有比較高的趨勢。以細部功能來說，在兩個語境中針對隱私、機密訊息的取得功能(elicitation of private information)同時佔最多數，其次多數為普遍存在事實的取得(elicitation of universal information)、釐清事實功能(clarification)、確認事實功能(confirmation)以及反問功能(rhetorical function)，其中佔多數的問句功能皆為標準問句(standard question)。此分佈結果也證實Ilie (1999)所指出的，標準問句越多，語境就越正式。
另外Biber及Conrad (2009)所提出的語境特徵(situational features)也充分解釋問句功能分佈情形。關鍵語境特徵包括背景(settings)、溝通目的(communicative purposes)、主題(topics)、對話參與者(participants)以及參與者之間的關係(relations among participants)。藉由上述結果可以推測，就以問句為主的語言特徵來說，政治人物專訪以及立法院質詢這兩種語境是類似的，但是也因為語境特徵的不同，導致分佈結果有些許不同，例如上述提到的，政治人物專訪中的表達範疇的問句功能(expressive category)略顯比立法院質詢多。另外也可以推測，情境的特徵也會影響問句功能的使用。

This study aims to investigate the Mandarin question forms and functions in Taiwanese political interviews and parliamentary question time sessions to see the distribution of question forms and functions, the form-function correlation through mapping, as well as the influence of situational features on question use. Freed’s (1994) and Chang’s (1997) functional taxonomies are adopted to create a modified taxonomy for question function, with a view to taking a closer look at how questions are used to fulfill certain functions.
Eight political interviews and eight parliamentary questioning sessions are collected as the current data sets. There are 971 question questions identified (551 questions in political interviews and 420 questions in parliamentary question time sessions). Their question forms and functions are also identified for the analysis. Several findings are found in the result of the statistics of normalized frequency. As to the distribution of question forms, SFP questions, declarative questions, and question-word questions are the most frequently used question forms in political interviews. For parliamentary question time sessions, SFP questions, A-not-A questions, and question-word questions are the most preferred question forms. Regarding the distribution of question functions, on the other hand, external functions are most frequent in the two registers, even though the expressive functions in political interviews are more common than those in parliamentary questioning sessions. More specifically, the function of seeking private information is most frequently used. Apart from private function, the function of seeking universal information, clarification, confirmation, and rhetorical questions are to some extent frequently used. Most of them are standard questions, which is corresponding to the assumption that the more standard questions are used, the more formal the context is (Ilie 1999).
Through investigation of situational features (Biber and Conrad 2009), it can be found that features, including settings, communicative purposes, topics, participants, and relations among participants, are the contributing factors of the distribution of question functions in the two registers. It can be concluded that the political interviews and parliamentary question time sessions are similar in terms of the question use and that how speakers use questions are decisively determined by these contextual factors.

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