Theme-Rhemepatterns in L2 writing'

Theme-Rheme patterns in L2 writing’
Isabel ALONSO BELMONTE
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Anne MCCABE-1-I1DALGO
Sairit Louis University
Resumen
En los últimos años, se han publicado en lengua inglesa un gran número de
estudios funcionales sobre los conceptos Tema y Rema y su papel como elemento
de cohesión textual (Fries, 1981; Martin, 1992, 1995, entre otros). Sin embargo,
se ha dedicado mucha menos atención al estudio de su utilidad en la enseñanza de
segundas lenguas. Nuestro principal objetivo en este artículo es demostrar la con-
veniencia de aplicar las nociones de Tema y Rema a la enseñanza de una lengua
extranjera, especialmente como herramienta para evaluar de una forma sistemáti-
ca, y no de manera meramente intuitiva, el nivel de dominio de la producción
escrita de un alumno. Para ello, hemos estudiado la selección y la progresión
temática en una muestra de 25 composiciones escritas por estudiantes españoles
de inglés como segunda lengua. Este análisis nos ha permitido descubrir algunos
problemas recurrentes relacionados con la falta de coherencia y cohesión textual
en la expresión escrita en L2.
PAL4BRAS CLAVE: Análisis del discurso. Cohesión textual. Didáctica del
Inglés como segunda lengua (ESL).
This article it based on the panel paper tirled Theme-Rherne in L2 Writing presented by the
authors in dic XXV TESOL congress at the University Complutense of Madrid on the 2lth April
1997.
Didáctica, 10, 13-3 1. Servicio de Piklicaciones UCM. Madrid, 1998

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14
Isabel Alonso Belmonte y Anne McCabe-Hidalgo
Abstraet
The Theme/Rheme construct has been widely studied in English over the last
few years proving to be a very important cohesive element at discourse level
(Fries, 1981, 1992, 1994, 1995; Martin, 1992, 1995, inter alia). However,
researchers have paid much less attention to this construct and its possible
usefulness in second language teaching. This paper’s main aim is to prove that the
notion of Theme/Rheme can be very helpful as a tool of instruction for the
teacher to evaluate L2 writing at the level of the discourse. To address this issue,
we have analyzed a sample of 25 student compositions written by Spanish native
speakers learning English as a second language in terms of their Thematic
selection and progression. This empirical analysis has enabled us to uncover
several common problems for textual cohesion and coherence in L2 writing.
KEY WORDS: Discourse analysis. Textual cohesion. English as a Second
Language (ESL).
Résumé
Dans les derniéres années, de nombreuses études théoriques ont été publides
en anglais sur le concept de Théme/Rhéme et son influence comme facteur de
cohésion du discours (Enes 1981; Martin 1992, 1995, etc.). Cepandant, sa
possible utilité dans l’ensignement des secondes langues a été t¡ts étudiée.
La but principal de cet article est de démontrer la convenance d’incorporer la
notion de ThémelRhéme dans l’enseignement des langues étrangéres, et surtout
comme outil du professeur pour lui permettre d’évaluer d’une maniére
systématique, et non pas seulement par intuition, le niveau de production ¿crite
des éléves. Peur ce faire, noas avons analysé la sélection et la progression
thématique dans un ¿chantillon de compositions écrites produites par des éléves
espagnols étudiant l’anglais comme langue ¿trangére. Cette analyse nous a permis
de découvnir des problémes communs ayant trait an manque de cohérence et de
cohésion textuelle dans l’expression écrite des secondes langues.
MOTS CLÉS: Analyse du Discours. Cohésion textuelle. Enseignement de
1 anglais comme langue ¿trangére (¡¿SL).

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Theme-Rheme patterns in L2 writing
15
1.
Introduetion
Over the last few years, Theme has been widely studied and proved to be a
very important cohesive element at the level of discourse (Eñes, 1981, in press,
1992, 1994, 1995a, 1995b; Martin, 1992, 1995; inter alia). Por M.A.K. Halliday,
whose contribution to linguistics in the form of systemic-functional grammar 15
having a profound effect on how language is looked al, and whose insights in ihis
area form a very important pan of this paper, “the textualfunction of the clause is
that of constructing a message” and the Theme/Rheme structure is the “basic
form of the organization of the clause as message’ (Halliday, 1985: 53). Also, for
Halliday the “basic unit of language in use is not a word or a sentence, but a
ctext>” (Halliday, 1970: 160).
However, many ESL writing teachers, upon receiving their students’
compositions, still focus their feedback to learners on errors which occur below
the clause level, such as lack of subject-verb agreement, incorrecí use of verb
tenses, and so on. While this focus has recently broadened somewhat to the
discourse level through areas of inquiry in ESP (Swales, 1982, 1990; Johns, 1986;
Canseco & Byrd, 1989) and in Contrastive Rhetoric (Kaplan, 1966; Connor and
Kaplan, 1987), many writing instructors still feel the lack of tools necessary to
analyze their students texts at the discourse level.
In this paper we will attempt al proving that the notion of Theme/Rheme is
highly useful in the comprehension and production of texts and, therefore, it can
be very helpful as a tool of instruction for the teacher to evaluate L2 writing at the
level of the discourse. To test this hypothesis, we have analyzed a sample of 25
student compositions written by Spanish native speakers learning English as a
second language in terms of their Thematic selection and progression. As this is a
preliminary study, we are welI aware of the limitations of the corpus size.
However, it has enabled us to uncover several common problems for textual
cohesion and coherence in L2 writing.
2.
Towards a discourse definition of Tlie¡ne
In any act of communication, organization is a major problem which must be
solved if the communication is to be successful. One of the constraints on
speakers/writers when producing their message is that they can produce only one
word at a time. Therefore, they have to choose a beginning point for their
utterance. The initial place has an enormous importance in the clause and also in
discourse. Whatever is chosen to be in first place will influence the hearer/reader’s

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16
Isabel Alonso Belmonte y Anne McCabe-Hidalgo
interpretation of everything that comes next in the discourse since it will
constitute the initial textual contexí for everything that follows.
It is in initial position of the clause in SVO languages where formal
categories such as Theme, Topic, Grammatical Subject and Given (recoverable)
information usually come together. A review of Ihe relevant literature on the
subject proves that there is a great deal of confusion among alí these terms: it is
very common to read research papers about these linguistic phenomena in which
different terminology is used. Let us try then to clarify the notion of Theme and
provide a definition of it from a functional perspective.
In this investigation, Theme is considered to be a structural category realized
by clause initial position in English and different from Topic and Given
information (Halliday, 1970; Fries, 1981; Downing, 1991; inter oua), although
they may be conflated and thus represented by the same element in the clause.
Accordingly, Topic is a non-structural discourse category which describes what a
text is about (Brown and Yule, 1983; van Oosten, 1986) and Given/New
information is a structural category realized in English by focus placemení in tone
units (Halliday, 1967, 1985; Downing & Locke, 1992). We will provide an
example to illustrate this:
(1)
CHESTER PAST
(1) c’hesrer’s history stretches over 2000 years and (2) alt dic dramatio evenrs that
shaped tite destíny of Brírain are etched immortally into the vary fabric of its
heritage.
(3) In 79 AD. the Roman Empire buiR Fortress Deva as a frontier outpost to
suppress Welsh tribes.
(4) Titree centuries later, dic legions were recalled to protect Ronie. (5) Britain
plunged into dic Dark Ages and (it) was plundered by invaders froni across the
North Sea. (6) Refore long, Vikings landed qn the shores of Chester...
(7) lo tite bu century, Aethelfaeda, daughter of King Alfred the Great, established
Chester as a fortified town, strengthening and extending the City Walls to defend the
citizeos against Viking hordes...
The example (1) aboye is a fragment of a narrative text in which Temporal
Themes are predominant. Wc can see how the constituents selected as Themes in
each clause —signaled in the examples by numbers and highlighted by italics—
do not coincide either with the discourse Topic of the text (Chester’s history) or
with the grammatical Subject (the Roman Empire; tite legions; Aethelfaeda...) and
do not contain recoverable inforination for the reader.
Over the last few years, the traditional sentential characterization of Theme as
“tite point of departure of tite clause” (Halliday 1967, 1970, 1985) has been
extended and completed by a cognitive discourse-oriented one which considers

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Theme-R heme patterns in L2 writing
17
Theme’s main function to signal tite relationship between tite titought in tite
speaker~v mmd and its expression in discourse (Vasconeellos, 1992:147), that is,
speakers/writers choose one element ar another for thematic position based on the
thought they wish to express and on how they wish to connect that thought to the
surrounding text. This same conception is shared by Bloor and Bloor when they
state that Theme in English is tite idea represented by tite constituent at tite
starting of tite clause (1995:72).
l-lowever, from the poiní of view of L2 writing instruction, we are not so
interested in the actual individual choices of Ihemes, but rather in the sequences
of thematic aud rhematic choices which create certain kinds of thematic
patterning. Therefore, our approach to the notion of Theme will be discourse-
oriented, that is, we are most concerned with the role Theme fulfilís in the
structuring and development in discourse, as opposed to just sentences. In this
line, Frantisek Danes and later on, Peter H. Fries have claimed that the way in
which lexical strings and reference chains interact with Iheme is not random;
rather the pattems of interaction realizes what they refer to as a text’s THEMATIC
PROGRESSION (Danes, 1974) or METHOD OF DEVELOPMENT (Fries, 1981). By
thematic progression, Danes means “tite choice and ordering of utterance
Titemes, titeir mutual concateno tion and hierarch1y, as well as titeir relationship to
tite itypertitemes of tite superior text units (sucit as paragraph, citapter...). to tite
witole of text, and to tite situation” (Danes, 1974: 114). He proposes the
following major patterns of thematic progression:
A) simple linear progression, where an item from the Rheme of the first
clause becomes the ‘fleme of the subsequent clause:
Thl +Rhl;
4’
Th2 (= Rbi) + Rh2;
4’
Th3 (= Rh2) + Rh3;
Example (2)
(1) Faigley (¡986) identifies iwo groups within dic process carne, thc exprcssivists
and the cognitivists. (2) Expressivism reached its zenith ¡o she late 1960s and early
1970s, when dic individual expression of honest and personal thnught becarne a
popular treod in tcaching wridng. (3) Writing was considered “an art, a creative act
iii which the process —-the discovery of the true self— is as irnportant as the product

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18
Isabel Alonso Belmonte y Anne McCabe-Uidalgo
Thl + Rhl (tite expressivists);
4’
Th2 (Expressivism) + Rh2 (writing);
4’
Th3 (Writing) + Rh3;
We can see in Éhis example Éhat rbe writer introduces Éhe idea of Expressivistn
through te use of te related word expressivist in te Rheme of Clause 1. Then
sIte uses this idea as the Theme of Clause 2. In Clause 2, the Rheme includes the
idea of writing. This then becomes the Theme of Clause 3.
B) constant progression, where the item in the Theme of the first clause is
also selected as tIte Iheme of the following clause:
Thl +RItI;
4’
Th2 (= Thl) + Rh2;
4’
Th3 (= Th2) + Rh3;
Example (3)
(1) TIte Themes chosen by dic spcaker rnay, for example, refer to place (iii this
country) or time (in the last century); (2) rhey may indicare whcn the speakcr is
about to express ml attitudc (in my opinion) or give an example (for examplc): (3)a
Therne may even begin a rherorical question (What are wc going lo do abo,ar the
lack of values?).
Thl =TIt2=Th3
In this case, the authors take as the Theme of each sentence the same or
similar idea, that of Tiseme.
C) derived hypertheniatic progression, where the particular Themes in
subsequent clauses are derived from a hyperrheme or froin the same overriding
Theme:
Thl +Rhl;
1
[Hypertheme]
—4 Th2 + Rh2;
4’
Tb3 + Rh3...

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Titeme-Riteme patterns in L2 writing
19
Example (4)
(1) Spack (/984) andZamel (1983), studying ESL writcrs, con-oborated Haycs and
Flower’s findings about the writing process for their populations. (2) Rañnes (1987:
459-460) compared ESL studenss cornposing processes with osher rescarchers
findíngs on L2 basic writers, and concluded that the two groups of studcnts had
rnuch iii corurnon. (3) Borh Krapels (this volume) aud Friediander (this volume)
continne dic discussion of ESL wñting proccss research.
Th 1 (Spack and Zamel) + Rh 1;
[Researc hers on writing] —~ Th2 (Raimes) + Rh2;
4’
Th3 (Both Krapels and Friedíander) + Rh3;...
In this example, we can see that each individual clause TIteme is different;
they eacb refer to a different person. However, they are al] related under tbe
hypertheme of researciterv on writing.
Danes’ theory of Thematic Progression has been applied in several
descriptive studies to different text types (Dubois, 1987; Giora, 1983; Weissberg,
1984; Maynard, 1986; Curzon, 1984; inter alia). Tu Danes’ three types of
progression has been added a fourth:
D) spl¡t progress¡on, where the Rheme of tbe first clause is split into two
items, each in turn being then taken as a Theme element in tIte subsequent clause:
Th2 (= Ri) + Rh2;
1
TI-ii + RbI (= Rl + Ru +Riii); —~ Th3 (= Ru) + Rh3;
4’
Tb4 (= Riii) + Rh4;...
Example (5):
(1) TIte textual fleme is any combination of (i) continuasive, (Ii) structural and (iii)
conjuncsive, in that order. (2) A consinuative is one of a sma]l set of discourse
signalers, yes, no, well, oh, OOW, which signal Ihar a new move is bcginning: a
response jo dialogne, or a nove to Ihe next point if the sane speaker is continuing.
(3) A strucrural TIente is any of the obligatorily thematic elements...

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20
Isabel Alonso Belmonte y Anne McCabe-Hidalgo
Th2 (A continuative) + R2;
‘1~
Thl + Rhl (= Ri [continuativeJ + Ru [structural] + Riii [conjunctive]);
4’
Th3 (A structural Tit eme) + R3;
In this example, the author introduces three ideas in te Rheme of Clause 1.
In Clause 2, he chooses as a ‘fleme one of the ideas from the previous Rheme,
that of continuative. In Clause 3, the Theme is a second idea from Rheme 1, that
of structural. And we can imagine that in a subsequent clause, he will pick up on
the third idea mentioned in Rheme 1, that of conjunctive. So we can see here how
ideas introduced in a Rheme of one clause can be split up and developed by
becoming the Themes of different subsequent clauses.
Summarizing, after a review of te most relevant functional literature on the
ThemelRheme construct, we have centered our research on a cognitive-oriented
discourse characterization of Theme. We believe Theme is the point where the
thought in íhe speaker’s mmd meets with the preceding discourse and initiates
“tite semanticjourney” (Davies, 1997) throughout the discourse. In addition, we
have shown in this section that Theme plays a very important role in the
structuring of discourse and should be taken into account by teachers of L2
writing. In the next section we will demonstrate the usefulness of the
Theme/Rheme construct for teachers through analysis of a sample of student
compositions in English.
3.
The corpus
We analyzed 25 student compositions written for a rnock T.W.E. (Test of
Written English) exam in terms of Thematic selection and progression. The
T.W.E. exam is a 30 minute written essay in response to a prompt. which involves
students in giving their opinion on an issue. It is scored holistically, and
development of ideas, organization, and language are given equal weighting; if a
writer is strong in one area, that can mise his/her overalí score, thus making up
for weaknesses in another area. The T.W.E. prompt asks the students to take a
position on a given issue; our corpus consists of answers written in response to
the following prompts:
1) Is itigiter education a rigitt or a privilege?
2) Agree or disagree witit (he following statement: Teaciters sitould inake
learning enjoyablefor titeir students.

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Theme-Rheme paflerns iii U writing
21
AII the essays were written by students at an American University in Madrid;
0w majority were written by native speakers of Spanish.
4.
The analys¡s
The first part of the analysis consisted of carrying out a study of Iheme
selection and Theme progression en 40 professional texts of a similar nature to
our corpus; that is to say. tIte texts involved the writers in defending a position on
a given issue. This sItowed us that professional writers tend to thematize either
Discourse Themes, as illustrated in the following example:
(Example 6)
Clearly, rIte argument tItar .narijuana —or Iteroin, methadone, or rnorphine— is
prohibíted because it is addicrive or dangerous cannot be supported by facts. Lar
one thine, diere are rnany drugs, frorn insulin to penicillin, than are neither addicíive
nor dangerous Sur are ncvertheless rflso prohibitcd: íhey can he ohtained on]y
through a physician’s prescription. Earwwlher, there are many thing~, from poisons
lo guns. that are much more dangerous than narcotics (especially to others) but are
nol prohibited. (...)
or Topical Themes, as illustrated below:
(Example 7)
TIte history of tIte present King of Grear Brirain is a histoiy of repeated injuries and
usurpations, alí having in direct object Ihe establishment of an absolute Tyranny
over diese States. To prove this, leí facts be submitted Co a candid world:
He has refused his Asgení to Laws, ihe mosí wholesome and necessary for ihe
public good.
1k has forhidden his Govemors to pass Laws of irnmediate and pressing importance
He has refused lo pass olter Laws for dic accommodaíion of Jarge distuicís of people
As to Thematic Progression, argumentative texts are characterized by high
proportions of cress references from the Rheme of ene sentence to the Theme of
the next and, in fact, the texts analyzed show a tendency to intertwine different
Thematic patterns, in order to develop the topic in fulí.
The second part consisted of analyzing the students’ compositions,
comparing them with the professional texts. Through our analysis, we discovered
a number of problerns related Co either Thematic selection, Thematic progression,
or both. TItese problems are explained and illustrated belew,

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Isabel Alonso Belmonte y Anne McCabe -Hidalgo
4.1.
Over-use ofconstant progression
One problem we found was the over-use of tIte constant Theme pattern,
where many clauses of tIte text sItare the same Theme. In these cases, the text
eften reads like a list, and, as tItere is a laek of simple linear andlor spht Rheme
development, the writer tends not to go into depth on tIte ideas introduced in the
text by not expanding on information introduced in tIte Rhemes. Pointing this out
to students can help them discover how they can generate more ideas to write
about. A fragment below of a student composition (Text #2) is a clear example of
this. TIte tepic is not developed at aH through tIte Rhemes, as there is a Itxck of
further development of Rhemes:
(Text #2)
(1) Higher education is both a righr and a privilege. (2) Ir makes people be more
busy avoiding dic boredom of slay al home without working. (3) Hoteever, ir orders
you to worlc overtime. (4) Furthermore, ir provides you Ihe chance of having a more
imporíant job although it is difficult lo f,nish college having enough knowledge co
begin ío work. (5) You have to pay a lot of money (6 ) but you will be able lo obtain
more money when yow are workirig. (7) la addiñon, ir brings you ihe opportunity of
nieeting people;...
4.2.
Confusing selection of Discoursal and Topical Titemes
A second problem was a confusing selection of both Discoursal aud Topical
Themes. If tIte Discoursal Themes chosen are nol clear, readers can easily lose
tIteir way througIt tIte text; tItes, tIte writer is not effective in guid¡ng tIte reader
with adequate signals. If tIte choice of Topical Thenies is confusing, the reader
may not know what the discourse referent is. Or it may mean that the writer is
jumping from one idea to another, again without making clear connections
between tIte Themes chosen, making the text Itard to follow. We can see this in
Text #7 below, especially in the choices of Discourse Themes. There is a Firgt of
dl in Clause 1 wiíh no corresponding Secoad, yet there is a First in Clause 7,
which is followed by two Seconds, one in Clause 8 and tIte other in Clause II.
The confusion for tIte reader is that it is natural to want to consider the Second of
Clause 11 as following from tIte First of alí of Clause 1. It takcs sorne concentration
and deciphering on the pan of the reader to determine that this is not the case. (As
an example of how tIte student could have betier utilized tIte Theme positiort of
tIte clauses, see Appendix 1 for a rewrite.)

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