themeindiscoursethematicprogressionandmethodof.docVIP

Theme in discourse: thematic progression and method of development re-evaluated Abstract Fries (1981) hypothesises that the textual phenomena of thematic progression (TP) (Dane? 1974) and method of development (MOD) provide discourse evidence for the function proposed by Halliday (1967) for Theme, in particular that initial position in the sentence, or sentence-level Theme, means point of departure of the sentence as message. This paper discusses the theoretical basis for this hypothesis, in particular the relation between TP and MOD, and reviews previous empirical research. Further research conducted by the author is described, into global proportions of TP, TP patterning, and the relation between TP and rhematic progression (RP) in a small corpus of 80 short argumentative texts. It was found that only small proportions of either argumentative text, or high-quality argumentative text could be considered as having a MOD. It was also found that texts had comparable levels of TP and RP. It is concluded that MOD is not a universal feature of discourse organisation, and therefore not conclusive evidence for Friess original hypothesis. Theme in discourse: thematic progression and method of development re-evaluated* Introduction In this article I review the theoretical and empirical basis for two closely-related concepts which have been posited as being of use in discourse analysis, Thematic Progression (hereafter TP) and Method of Development (hereafter MOD). I also report some research of my own into the empirical basis for these concepts (part of a larger enquiry into Theme described in Crompton 2003). TP and MOD are associated with claims made for the function of Hallidayan Theme, a concept which bridges the syntax and discourse levels of linguistic description. There are perhaps three groups of people to whom TP/MOD may be of interest: syntacticians interested in the claim that there is evidence from discourse to justify Theme as a unit of syntactic analysis; di