36
Theme Rheme
The thematic progression is:
Figure 3. An example of the hierarchical pattern
12. An Example of Thematic progression
Here is the example of thematic progression analysis on a descriptive text. The text is taken from
http:www.shvoong.comwriting-and-speakingspeech .
My Best Friend
I am going to tell you about my best friend. She is Liza. Liza is fourteen years old and she comes from Sidney, the same home town as
mine. Liza is slim and very tall
– about 175cm. She is the tallest of all my friends I think. She has got black straight hair down to her waist and
pretty brown eyes. She is very pretty, in fact and I believe that many boys like her. She has fair skin that makes her looks shiny and photogenic. She
always looks good in the camera.
Liza has an open personality and is a lot of fun. She is caring and kind and loves animals. She also enjoys talking to people and sharing
good moments with them. Well, I think that’s a little description about Liza.
The thematic progression of the first paragraph is presented below. Theme1
Rheme1
I am going to tell you about my best friend.
Theme2 Rheme2
She is Liza
Theme3 Rheme3
Liza is fourteen years old
37 Thematic progression of the second paragraph.
Theme1
Rheme2
Liza is slim and very tall
– about 175cm.
Theme2 Rheme2
She is the tallest of all my friends I think.
Theme3 Rheme3
She has got black straight hair down to….
Theme4 Rheme4
She is very pretty …
Theme 5 Rheme5
She has fair skin that makes her looks shiny …
Theme6 Rheme6
She always looks good in the camera.
Thematic progression for the third paragraph.
Theme1 Rheme1
Liza has an open personality and is a lot of fun
Theme2 Rheme2
She is caring and kind and loves animals
Theme3 Rheme3
She also enjoys talking to people and sharing…
38 Theme4
Rheme4
Well, I think that’s a little description about Liza
13. The role of thematic progression in teaching writing
Wang 2007: 173 finds out that controlling the information flow through thematic progression enables students to state their idea effectively. Thematic
progression also enhances the connectivity among ideas within the text. This makes the audience understand the text easily. Therefore, the knowledge of
thematic progression can be applied in joint construction of the text where the students are practicing their writing. The teacher guides the students in developing
their idea using the patterns so that the students can enhance the connectivity among idea within their writing.
B. Conceptual Framework
Writing skill is regarded as the most difficult skill to learn, especially for foreign language learners. Writing requires students to translate their native
language to the target language, inventing idea, and organizing the idea coherently and cohesively. Based on the classroom observation, the main problem which the
students in SMP N 3 Tempel faced is about how to state their idea effectively. The students have already had the idea in their mind, but they find difficulties in
articulating the idea into good writing. Therefore, the English teacher and I agreed to improve the students’ writing ability.
Based on the literature review, thematic progression is assumed to be an alternative solution to the problem. Thematic progression is understood as the
