The Analysis Of Lingustic Features Between English Law Text And Counsel's Statement Of Defense Based On The Thematic Theory

This thesis applies the Thematic Theory of Hallidian Systemic Functional Grammar to the analysis of the three kinds of themes, including experiential themes, interpersonal themes and the textual themes in English law text and counsel's statement of defense.The data used in the analysis come from the record of the oral argument in the Supreme Court of the United States and several English law texts. Through the analyses, the author has arrived at the following conclusions:Firstly, concerning the realization of the theme, the author has found that: the three kinds of themes are used in English law text and in the counsel's statement of defense. According their percentages, the sequence is that the experiential theme is the highest, then is the textual theme, and the interpersonal theme is the lowest. But there are more interpersonal themes in counsel's statement than in English law text.Secondly, concerning the realization of the experiential theme, the author has found that: (1) Every sentence has an experiential theme in both texts. (2) Experiential theme is the largest percentage in English law text; people-theme is the largest percentage in counsel's statement of defense. (3) Behaviour-theme and verbal-theme are used in counsel's statement of defense more frequently than in English law text.Thirdly, concerning the realization of the interpersonal theme, the author has found that: (1) there are more interpersonal themes in counsel's statement of defense than in English law text. (2) English law text has no vocative-theme, and counsel's statement of defense has some vocative-themes.Finally, concerning the realization of the textual theme, the author has found that: (1) Adjunct-themes are used in the English law text more than in counsel's statement of defense. (2) Conjunction-theme's percentage in English law text is similar with the percentage in counsel's statement of defense, but there are some differences in two texts. (3) Continuative-theme is hardly found in English law text, but many continuative-themes are seen in counsel's statement of defense discourse.Through the analysis of the theme's characteristics, the author summarizes the linguistic features of the theme's choice of the two texts. The implication of the research work may serve as the guidelines in the work for those English majors who are engaged in foreign legal service and international business trade; on the other hand, it may serve as the practical assistance in teaching legal English for English teachers and in legal writing for law workers.