1. Mapping theme in student writing
Daniel Kies
Professor Emeritus
College of DuPage
Mapping theme in student writing
Daniel Kies
Professor Emeritus
College of DuPage
CCCC 2018 / Kansas City /16

2. Theme/rheme: definitions
Theme comprises all the words in a clause or sentence before the finite verb. Rheme is the rest of the clause/sentence.
Functionally, point of departure of clause as message, and focuses the reader’s attention.
Theme/rheme and given/new:
Theme generally conveys old, given, known, less important information. Rheme conveys the new, unknown, more important information.
Halliday (1967)
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3. Theme/rheme: Fenton example
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4. Theme/rheme: Twain example
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5. František Daneš & FSP
František Daneš (1974) hypothesized that (three main types of) thematic progression created the ordering of information in discourse. Thematic progression gave Functional Sentence Perspective (FSP) – a major development of the Prague School of linguistics – its first functional explanation of how theme and rheme contributed to coherence in language.
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6. Thematic progression
Totalitarianism: Total Control of a Society through Manipulation of Language and Thought
In George Orwell’s book 1984, he demonstrates an example of total control of a
society through fear, media, and manipulation of language and thought, all of which is
monitored by an entity referred to as Big Brother. In this paper, I am going to relate this to
current day North Korea, and the lifestyle imposed on its people by its current ruler Kim
Jong-Un. My thesis is as follows; The People of North Korea are able to be controlled
physically, mentally, and emotionally through manipulation of language and limitations on
global communication. In a nutshell, I am proposing that North Korea’s current form
of government in control has completely manipulated its society to believe whatever it
wants through tactically implanted cultural ethics and restrictions.
An apposition-al rephras-ing of the thesis.
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7. Theme, genre, and stance
“The literacy practices of a disciplinary community embody different orientations to knowledge constructions. … The initial constituent of a clause appears to have particular significance in the way it reflects the writer’s beliefs and values, and thus provides an indicator of disciplinary differences in professional academic writing.” (North, 2005, p. 435)
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8. Earlier studies: theme | modality
Earlier theme studies explored FY writers’ attempts to interact with the audience (or the material) interpersonally by shaping the patterns of their themes (Ebeling and Wickens, 2012; Hewings, 2004; North, 2005).
Aull and Lancaster (2014) examined FYW’s use of hedges and boosters (modality and the language of certitude) as well as adversative/contrast connectors and code glosses (e.g., markers of exemplifying).
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9. Thematic use of certainty
Whereas Aull and Lancaster (2014) demonstrate the different uses of hedges (modality) and boosters (the language of certitude) in the work of FYW and academic writers, they do not consider the semantic or pragmatic intersection of those features.
This presentation posits that features of modality and the language of certitude interact in FYW, creating a semantic space largely occupied by the FY writers.
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10. Theme and modality 1/2
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11. Theme and modality 2/2
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12. Theme and evidence 1/2
Consider the following sentence using the marker of evidentiality obviously.
Rex is upset because obviously Don doesn’t care about anything.
This evidential marker is ambiguous: is it obvious to Rex? to Don? to the writer of the sentence? to all? or just to some?
Readers/listeners disambiguate such markers through context, and in SFL such words are known as markers of evidential projection, since the marker logically entails the existence of some evidence.
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13. Theme and evidence 2/2
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14. Intersection of markers of modality and of evidence in FYW and COCA/A
Conclusion
Intersection of markers of modality and
of evidence in FYW and COCA/A
more evidential projection
but less evidence
language of certitude
FYW
modality
requirement
~~~~~~~~~~~
volition
COCA/A
likelihood
less evidential projection and more evidence
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15. Discussion What seems to be the origins of these patterns?
Confusing hedging with uncertainty, a discursive weakness
The desire (perhaps the need) to sound authoritative
As teachers, what can we do?
Exercises on COCA
Teaching students to use the “Find” function while drafting
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16. References
Aull, L., and Lancaster, Z. (2014). Linguistic markers of stance in early and advanced academic writing: A corpus-based comparison. Written Communication, 31(2),
Daneš, F. (1974). Functional sentence perspective and the organization of the text. In F. Daneš, ed. Papers on Functional Sentence Perspective ( ). Prague: Academia /The Hague: Mouton.
Ebeling, S. O., and Wickens, P. (2012). Interpersonal themes and author stance in student writing. Language and Computers, 74(1),
Halliday, M. A. K. (1967–68). "Notes on transitivity and theme in English" (Part 1–3). Journal of Linguistics, 3(1), 37–81; 3(2), 199–244; 4(2),
Hewings, A. (2004). Developing discipline-specific writing: An analysis of undergraduate geography essays. In L. J. Ravelli & R. A. Ellis (Eds.), Analysing Academic Writing: Contextualized Frameworks (pp ): Continuum.
North, S. (2005). Disciplinary variation in the use of theme in undergraduate essays. Applied Linguistics, 26,
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