Communicative Value Of Thematic Structure In English Text

The paper is mainly based on Halliday's thematic structure theory of Functional Grammar in carrying out a thematic study from the syntactic and textual perspectives. It analyses the influences of different thematic structural distribution on communicative value in a sentence and text. Thematic structure, an important device of textual construction, is closed related with the information structure. In textual analysis, the feature of linear arrangement of language makes it an obligatory factor in the consideration of sequential order of constituents when speakers deliver a message. Therefore, appropriate arrangement of constituents in a clause and adjustment of information are of great importance to the proper understanding of the information being delivered. The purpose of studying information distribution of the thematic structure lies in the fact that it offers a way to analyze the communicative values carried by different constituents of a clause within a text, and it will facilitate readers to get the textual structure and meanings. Therefore, the thematic structure will help learners improve their abilities in construction and comprehension of a text.The paper is composed of five parts:Chapter 1 makes a brief introduction to the background of the thematic structure, the research situation of Functional Grammar and the relation between the thematic structure and pragmatics as well as the purpose and significance of carrying out this research.Chapter 2 is the literature review, which introduces some important concepts, including the classification of themes, the marked and unmarked theme and thematic progression patterns. It also makes a comparison and contrast between the thematic structure and the information structure.Chapter 3 is the main body, which studies thematic structure and its communicative value at the syntactic level through the analyses of marked clauses; especially clauses of the experiential, evaluative and existential enhanced thematic structures, inversion as well sentences of passive voice. Their syntactic features, information distributions as well as discourse functions are explored in this part. It also makes an analysis of the communicative value and the pragmatic intentions of the writer for different forms of structure. It is clear that most of the marked clauses are the consequence of movement of the corresponding unmarked ones out of textual construction and pragmatic purposes.Chapter 4 carries out a research of the thematic structure at the textual level. It introduces textual strategy, textual-strategic continuity and their relevant theories in text linguistics and makes a helpful exploration into the relationships between certain strategic continuity and text type. In text comprehension, the thematic structure may help students grasp the point of the text. In textual construction, it will make a great contribution to a logical, cohesive and coherent piece of writing. Therefore, it will give inspirations for foreign language reading and writing classes.Chapter 5 makes a conclusion about the contents of the paper. It also points out the deficiencies of the study and the fields which need to be further explored.