An Application Of Thematic Progression Theory In English Writing Training

This thesis is an empirical study, which is designed to examine what hinders Chinese students from producing an acceptable composition from the perspective of thematic progression, and explore how to apply the TP theory to English writing training.For many Chinese EFL learners, English writing is one of the most complicated and difficult skills to acquire. A lot of teachers find their students'compositions, although not seriously mistaken in grammar or diction, are still unreadable due to the disordered statement or loose logic. Therefore, it is imperative to find an effective method to improve the unity and coherence of Chinese students'English writing. Thematic progression, as an important aspect of textual meta-function of language, provides us with a new perspective of writing training. The theme of a clause, as the starting point of message, plays a special role in information delivery, and the connection or change between successive Themes and Rhemes establish a logic chain that reflects the writer's flow of thought. Besides, the selection of Theme-Rheme configuration and the ordering of Given and New information, plus cohesion, work together to make a text have texture. In fact, the theory of thematic progression could be employed as a valid method to unfold a text.This paper consists of five chapters. In the first chapter, the author briefly introduces the related thematic study conducted by scholars both at home and abroad, among which are the Theme-Rheme structure presented by Halliday, Martin's Thematic Hierarchy theory and the TP theory developed by Danes and other scholars which form the theoretical foundation of this thesis. This chapter also devotes a plenty of space to illustrate the six TP patterns that are adopted in this research as the criteria for data analysis.Chapter Two describes the procedure of the experiment which deals with forty expository compositions selected randomly from College students'classroom writing. The experiment is an attempted to investigate the preference or the problems of Chinese English learners in selecting thematic elements, structuring text and propelling information.In Chapter Three the author elaborates three major findings of this research. First, an appropriate and explicit thematic hierarchy can guarantee clarity and unity of a text. The predictive thematic hierarchy, with the assistance of the information structure, establishes the framework of a text or a paragraph, and the agreement of macro-theme, hyper theme and clause theme prevents digression and eliminates the illogical or disordered arrangements of ideas. Second, the TP theory can be used as an effective method to unfold a text. Writing appears to be a dynamic process of selecting themes or rhemes to highlight the information and propel the thought, and the progression of theme or rheme will naturally build a semantic chain, because the thematic configuration selected should serve either as a response to the previous T-unit or a prediction of the following T-unit. Besides, the themes and rhemes progress in various TP patterns, which interact with each other to achieve a continual effect of a text. Moreover, the distribution of TP patterns is sensitive to genre. Further more, it is the interaction of TP system with information system that creates the best way of unfolding a text; therefore, information system is another crucial factor that should not be ignored in textual construction. Third, thematisation, especially markedness, could be an adaptation to textual, rhetorical or communicative purposes, and the change of thematic element is also a valid strategy to lend variety to the text.In Chapter Four the author further explores the main factors responsible for Chinese students'error in textual construction and coherence, which includes negative language transfer, different modes of thought, insufficient language competence, the lack of writing practice, or the incompetence or neglect of the teacher, etc..Finally, the writer puts forward two approaches to the improvement of student's writing ability: one is to develop a"Top-down"writing approach so as to form a comprehensive approach of text construction; the other is to breed the consciousness of thematic progression. Besides, the author also presents some feasible strategies of how to apply the TP theory in writing teaching.Frankly speaking, the TP theory shouldn't be expected to be a panacea for any kind of writing problems. Anyhow, only when we have a good command of thematic theory and know how to arrange thematic hierarchy and thematic structure properly and orderly, could we produce a well-developed English composition in a unified and coherent form.