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Qualitative study begins with assumption, a worldview, the possible use of theories, and the study of research problem inquiring into the meaning individual
or group ascribe to a social or human problem. In studying this problem, the researcher employ a qualitative approach to inquiry, the collection of data under
the study, and data analysis that is inductive and establishes patterns. In the end, Creswell 2007: 10 divides the qualitative study into five kinds
of research mostly used which consists of narrative research, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, and case study. There are characteristic common to
all forms of qualitative research, and the different characteristics will receive different emphases depending on the qualitative project.
2.3 Theoretical Framework
According to the theories that have been presented above, I am going to investigate the Thematic structures and Thematic progressions displayed in the 3
rd
semester students‟ speeches in the final test of Speaking for General Purposes course. Since the data are one of the text kinds
– spoken text in the form of speech, so the discourse analysis is employed.
In analyzing the data, I firstly transcribe the speech videos into written form and divide the text into clauses in order to enable me to do analysis clause by
clause. Afterwards, I investigate the Thematic structures and Thematic progressions based on the theories suggested by Eggins 1994: 271 and Halliday
1994: 37. In addition, I also adopt the theory of Thematic progression from Bloor and Bloor 2004: 88 as an additional reference.
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According to those experts, there are several types of Thematic structures that can be used to figure out how we structure information in a text. The
information structure is defined by looking at what comes first in each clauses or what the clause is going to be about Theme, and how the Theme is explained as
the remainder of the clause Rheme. Furthermore, there are also Thematic progressions patterns which indicate the flow of the information presented in the
text. By investigating the Thematic structures and Thematic progressions of the
text, I can examine how EFL students organize and develop the texts in order to produce cohesive and coherence text. Later, I will be able to draw conclusion
about the pedagogical implications of this study. Below is the framework of this study:
Figure 2.5 Framework of the Study
Text Discourse Analysis
Functional Grammar
Textual Meaning Thematic
Structures Thematic
Progressions
Realization of Thematic Structures
Realization of Thematic Progressions
Pedagogical Implications
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CHAPTER III METHODS OF INVESTIGATION
This chapter discusses the research approach, object of the study, roles of the researcher, procedures of collecting the data, unit of analysis, and procedures of
analysing the data.
3.1 The Research Approach
The study aimed to investigate the Thematic structures and Thematic progressions displayed on the 3
rd
semester s tudents‟ speeches by analysing the Theme and
Rheme. Therefore, the qualitative approach was used to figure out the realization of the meaning.
According to Creswell 1994: 145, qualitative research is descriptive in that the researcher is interested in process, meaning, and understanding gained through
word or picture. In unfolding meaning, data analysis is considered to be a systematic search. Hatch 2002: 148 describes that it is a way to process
qualitative data so that what has been learned can be communicated to others. Analysis means organizing and interrogating data in ways that allow researchers
to see patterns, identify themes, discover relationship, develop explanations, make interpretations, mount critiques, or generate theories.
The object of the study was speech which is a kind of text, so discourse analysis was used. Schiffrin 1994: 416 in Lazaraton 2002: 26 states that
