CHAPTER ONEINTRODUCTION
1.1 Operational Definitions of Two Key Terms
In the following section, the operational definitions of two key terms are offered.These two key terms are adjective and corpus-based method.
(1)Adjective
As for the definitions of adjective, different dictionaries do offer different definitions.Definitions from some authoritative English dictionaries are demonstrated as follows.
Adjectives refer to any of a class of words used to modify a noun or other substantiveby limiting, qualifying, or specifying and distinguished in English morphologically byone of several suffixes, such as -able, -ous, -er, and -est, or syntactically by positiondirectly preceding a noun or nominal phrase, such as white in a white house.(TheAmerican Heritage Dictionary, 4th Edition, 2001)
An adjective is a word that indicates a quality of the person or thing referred to by anoun, eg. old, rotten, foreign in an old house, rotten apples, foreign names.
(OxfordAdvanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English, 6th Edition, 2004)
An adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun.(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, 2nd Edition, 2005)
Though definitions of adjective vary from dictionary to dictionary, they do sharesome similarities. That is, the definitions mentioned above indicate that an adjective isused to describe or modify nouns or pronouns.
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1.2 Research Rationale
The research rationale of the present study can be illustrated from two aspects, namely,necessity of studying letters to shareholders and necessity of studying the adjectives inletters to shareholders.
1.2.1 Necessity of Studying Letters to Shareholders
It is necessary to study letters to shareholders and the reasons are as follows.
Firstly, a letter to shareholders is a statement delivered by the chairperson of abusiness corporation and it usually appears in the beginning of an annual report. It is aparticularly important element in an annual report since it usually provides anin-depth review of performance of the previous year and it usually offers a vision fora prospective future. According to the study conducted by Bartlett and Chandler(1997), it is found that the letter to shareholders is the most widely read portion of anannual report and 48% of surveyed readers claim to have read the letters thoroughly.Additionally, based on Lee and Tweedie’s (1981) study, the letter to shareholders doesboast an undeniable impact on the investment decision of investors since it is one ofthe most critical documents that is used by existing and potential investors to carry out studies and thus to make investment decisions afterwards. As a consequence, it isnecessary to specifically study letters to shareholders.
Secondly, nowadays numerous studies have been conducted on letters toshareholders and some studies suggest that the letter to shareholders is utilized as amarketing tool to shape the corporate image in the public mind. Anderson and Imperia(1992) claimed that letters to shareholders should be studied as a promotional genrewhose main role is building and presenting the corporate image. Hyland (1998)conducted research on letters to shareholders and he found numerous rhetoricaldevices are employed to transmit the message that sound strategies are pursued by thecompany to existing and potential investors. Hence, a large sum of money has beeninvested in the composition of letters to shareholders. Based on Poe’s (1994)investigation, in the United States alone approximately $5 billion is spent on thecomposition of letters to shareholders. In consequence, it would be necessary andinteresting to carry out studies on letters to shareholders due to their promotionalattribute.
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CHAPTER TWOLITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Previous Studies of Letters to Shareholders
The letter to shareholders usually appears in the beginning of an annual report and itis the most important part for investors. Owing to its undeniable impact on theinvestment decisions of existing
