Chapter One Introduction 1.1 Background of the study 1.2 Significance of the study 1.3 Organization of the study Chapter Two Literature Review 2.1 Studies of vocabulary 2.2 Studies of evaluation 2.3 Studies of evaluation in students' writing 2.4 Summary Chapter Three The Theoretical Framework 3.1 The development of Appraisal Theory 3.2 Key aspects of Appraisal Theory 3.3 Intertextuality 3.4 The theoretical framework Chapter Four Methodology 4.1 Research questions 4.2 Research instruments 4.3 Participants 4.4 Procedures for data collection 4.5 Procedures for data analysis 4.6 Annotating and statistical tools Chapter Five The Development of Attitudinal Lexis in Argumentative Writing 5.1 General description of attitudinal lexis 5.2 The analysis of attitudinal lexis from multiple perspectives 5.3 Graduation of attitudinal lexis 5.4 Intertextual connection between task prompts and writing scripts 5.5 Discussions on the developmental patterns Chapter Six The Development of Attitudinal Lexis in Controlled Tasks 6.1 Results from Task I 6.2 Results from Task II 6.3 Summary Chapter Seven Conclusion 7.1 Major findings 7.2 Implications 7.3 Limitations of the present study and suggestions for future studies Appendices Appendix I Task I Appendix II Task II Appendix III Attitudinal lexis produced by Chinese English majors in Controlled Task I References