LAN 1220 -Lecture 11

Thematic Progression
 Previous lecture on coherence
• We spoke about how a text can ‘hang’
together as one e.g. through the use of
cohesive devices; thesis statement; topic
sentences,…
• In this lecture we move on to consider
theme/rheme relationship in enhancing the
comprehensibility of a text.
• We discuss this under a broader notion of
thematic progression in a text.
 Thematic Progression

• A coherent text can be seen from how the information in the

clauses is organised; that is the progression from theme to
rheme in a clause.
• Thematic Progression refers to “the choice and ordering of
utterance themes, their mutual concatenation and hierarchy,
as well as their relation to the hyper themes of the superior
text unit (such as paragraph, chapter) and to the whole text
(Danes, 1974,p.114).
• In other words, Thematic Progression refers to the way
themes continually pick up information which is already in the
text and repeat it in some way so that the reader is always
aware of it.
 cont
• This, promotes logical interrelationship
between theme and rheme and enhances
discourse coherence and maintains continuity.
• Themes maintain continuity of ideas by
reminding the reader of important concepts
mentioned previously in the text.
• This is achieved by repeating the themes.
 cont
Themes can be repeated in different ways. For
example, through:
• repeated use of the same wording.
• repeated use of synonyms or near synonyms.
• assumed or understood rather than explicitly
repeated forms.
• repeated use of pronouns.
 cont
• By constantly recycling’ information in the
preceding sentences as Themes of subsequent
sentences, writers are able to create very strong
links between one sentence and the next, and one
paragraph and the next.
• Thematic Progression gives significant contribution
to keep the text coherent.
• It enables the reader to trace the ‘global’ flow of
information throughout a lengthy portion of a text
(Danes,1974).
 cont
• However, it is not enough for the writer to simply
understand the links and connections (theme and
rheme), they must be fully visible to the reader.
• If they are not, the reader will experience high
levels of frustration and the likelihood of stopping
to read is high.
• Therefore, Thematic Progression gives significant
contribution to keeping the text coherent.
 Theme/Rheme
• Theme/Rheme construct has been widely studied in English
over the last few years and has proved to be a very
important cohesive element at discourse level.
• The notion of theme can be defined under two concepts:
• (1)‘the starting-point of the utterance, that which is known
or at least obvious in the given situation, and from which
the speaker proceeds,’
• (2) ‘the foundation of the utterance, as ‘something that is
being spoken about in the sentence.’
• Rheme will be ‘what the speaker says about, or in regard to
the starting point of the utterance.’
 Cont
• Theme then is ‘something that can be gathered from the
previous context, while Rheme expresses something new,
something unknown from the previous context (Firbas
1976,p.11).
• Wang (2002) defines Theme as “given information serving as
the point of departure for a message in a clause.” (p.2).
• It is the element with which the clause is concerned. The
given information is information that has already been
mentioned somewhere in the text.
• The Theme usually conveys ‘familiar,’ ‘given,’ ‘old’ or ‘shared
information’ between the speaker/writer and the reader.
 cont
• In the context of writing, ‘Theme’ is concerned
with following threads through a text. It is all
the words in a sentence or clause that come
before the (finite verb or) the main verb.
• The Theme tells readers what the sentence is
about and focuses their attention on that.
• It sets up an expectation that the rest of the
information in the sentence will be related to
the Theme in some meaningful way.
 cont
• According to Wang (2007) theme can be presented in
form of nominal group, adverbial group, prepositional
phrase or a dependent phrase or clause, as illustrated
below:
• Theme Rheme
• The children are playing hide and seek in the garden.
• In the garden the children are playing hide and
seek.
• Very carefully the man took his son to the hospital.
• How he did it is his own secret.
 cont
• From the above, the first part of the clause
shows that the subject (nominal group)
functions as a theme;
• However, the last three clauses suggest that
theme can also be constructed by
prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or a
dependent clause. The sentences also reveal
that the rheme may be in various forms.
 Rheme

• Firbas (1976)defines Rheme as “what the speaker

says about, or in regard to the starting point of the
utterance” (p.11) (Theme).
• Lock (1996) defines rheme as “part of the message
that is presented as most important, newsworthy.”
(p.222).
• The rheme of a sentence generally introduces new
information about the Theme. It tells the reader
something that was not in the text at that point.
 cont
• Fries (1994), states that Themes are the “main
constructing elements of the text,” while Rhemes
“push the message forward.” (p.234).
• Thus, Theme and Rheme are important in writing
cohesively because the information they contain is
picked up and repeated throughout the text.
• Once Theme and Rheme are understood, a writer
can use these components to create continuity and
smoothen the flow of their writing, thereby writing
coherently.
 Thematic Progression Patterns
• Thematic Progression Patterns enhance
discourse comprehensibility or
coherence.
• Types of thematic progression patterns:
• Simple Linear Progression Pattern,
• Constant Thematic Progression Pattern,
• Derived Hyper-Thematic Progression
Pattern
 Simple Linear Progression Pattern

• This type of progression develops where an item

from the Rheme of the first clause becomes the
Theme of the subsequent clause.
• In other words, the rheme or part of the rheme of
one sentence becomes the theme in the second
sentence;
• The rheme of the second sentence becomes the
theme of the third sentence. Eggins, (1994) called
this pattern zig-zag pattern. Below is an illustration
of this pattern in diagrammatic form:
Figure 1: Diagrammatic Presentation of Simple Linear
Progression Pattern (Belmonte, 1998)

• Th1 + Rh1;
↓
Th2 (= Rh1) + Rh2;
↓
Th3 (= Rh 2) + Rh 3;
 Example
• Below is an example of how the above pattern
works in a text. The words in italics are themes
of the clauses while the rhemes are in bold.
• Vernacular languages come with values and
morals that show that we are Zambians. As
Zambians we stand out and are easily
identified by other people around us. They in
turn appreciate our vernacular languages and
begin to learn them.
 cont
• From the above example, in the first clause the
‘theme,’‘Vernacular languages’ is “the point of
departure” or “the starting point of an utterance”
(Firbas 1976,p.11), whereas ‘Zambians’ is the rheme.
• From the rheme of the first clause, the noun
‘Zambians’ has been picked up as the theme of the
second clause, and the rheme of the second clause
provides the theme for the third sentence ‘They’ a
pronoun replacing the noun phrase ‘other people.´
Below, is an illustration of the above example in
diagrammatic form.
 Figure 2: Simple Linear Progression Illustration (or Zig-zag
Pattern (Eggins, 1994)

Th1 (Vernacular…) + Rh1 (…Zambians)

↓
Th2(…Zambians)+ Rh2(other people …)

↓
Th3 (They...) + Rh3;
• The above diagram clearly shows that the
rheme of one clause becomes the theme of the
following clause.
 Constant Thematic Progression

• The pattern of Constant (continuous) Thematic

Progression shows up when the theme of the first clause
becomes the theme of the clauses that follow.
• This type of progression maintains the focus on a single
common idea in that, the same theme appears in a
series of propositions.
• Although the wording is not necessarily identical, the
elements of given information (theme) remain the same
over a series of propositions. The ensuing progression
pattern is therefore, that of Constant Thematic
Progression.
 Figure 3: Diagrammatic Presentation of Constant Thematic
Progression Pattern

Th1 + Rh1
↓
Th2 = Th1 + Rh2;
↓
Th3 = Th2 = Th1) + Rh3
 cont
• The example below drawn from an ESL Learner’s
script, is an example of the use of Constant
Thematic Progression in a text. The words in italics
are themes of the clauses.
• Mr. Sembe was born in 1921 in Gwembe. He
started school in 1930 at Gwembe Primary School.
He gained a keen interest in farming. He started
reading farming pamphlets which obviously
contributed to some of the knowledge he
obtained.
 Cont
• In the above example, the same element ‘Mr. Sembe’ is
taken by the pattern as ‘the ‘theme,’ point of departure’
or ‘the starting point of an utterance’ for all subsequent
clauses while the rheme of each clause provides
additional information and explanation about the theme.
• The use of the pronoun ‘he’ does not change the theme,
instead, it is used to avoid repetition and to make a piece
of discourse easy to follow.
• Although this pattern is easy to follow, when overused,
can possibly make the text boring. This pattern can be
seen in figure 4 below.
 Figure 4: Constant Thematic Progression
Illustration
Th1 (Mr. Sembe) + Rh1 (was born…)
↓
Th2 (He) (= Th1) + Rh2 (started school…);
↓
Th3 (He) (= Th2 = Th1) + Rh 3(gained a keen…)
The above figure illustrates the dependence of
the theme in the successive clauses on the
theme in the first clause
To be continued in lecture 12