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Theme, Subject, and Actor do not occur in isolation. Each occurs in association with other functions from the same strand of meaning. Each of the structures will be further dealt with
in the following subsections.
2.4.1 Clause as Message
Clause as message is related to the way we structure information in English. It concerns with what we put where and why. In a clause, there are two points of prominence,
the beginning and the end. The position of any piece of information in a clause; i.e., in the beginning or at the end, will reflect its importance on the meaning of the clause as a unit.
This means that what is put in the beginning is considered more important than what in the rest. Following Halliday 1994 and Gerot and Wignell 1994 the information that comes
first in a clause is considered as Theme, and the rest of the clause is called the Rheme. The Theme is the point of departure for the message based on the message from the
previous clause . It is the element the speaker or writer selects for grounding what he is going to say. The information put as the Theme is typically retrieved from the new
information in the preceding clause. As soon as the information is introduced in a clause it becomes old. Therefore, the Theme typically contains old information and the Rheme the
new one. It means that in terms of looking at a clause as a message, the Theme looks backwards, relating the current message to what has gone before, while the Rheme points
both backwards and forwards by picking up on information which is already available and adding to it by presenting information which was not there before. By looking at the
interaction of Theme and Rheme we can identify how information or message is developed in a text.
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2.4.2 Clause as Exchange
Simultaneously with its meaning as a message, a clause also has meaning as an exchange; a transaction or negotiation of meanings between speaker writer and listener
reader. For the sake of the discussion in this thesis, let us use the term ‘speaker’ to cover both speaker and writer, and ‘audience’ for listener and reader. A clause as an exchange
realises interpersonal meanings. These are the meanings that express a speaker’s attitudes and judgements to be negotiated with his audience.
Halliday 1994 : 68 states that in the act of speaking, the speaker adopts for himself a particular speech role, and in so doing assigns to the audience a complementary role which
he wishes him to adopt in his turn. For example, in asking a question, a speaker is taking on the role of seeker of information and requiring the audience to take on the role of supplier
of the information demanded. Following Gerot and Wignell 1994 : 23 there are actually two most fundamental
types of speech role: a giving, and b demanding. If a speaker gives you some information, for example, he is inherently inviting you to receive that information. If he
offers you some goods or services, he is inherently inviting you to receive those goods or services. Or, if he demands information from you, inherently you are invited to give that
information. And if he demands some goods or services from you, you are thereby invited to render that service or provide the goods. In other words, those two basic roles involve
complex notions: giving also means ‘inviting to receive’, and demanding also means ‘inviting to give’. With respect to the audience, there are some possible discretion. In an
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interaction you may accept or reject the goods or services; you may acknowledge or contradict the information; you may undertake or refuse a command; or you may answer or
disclaim a question. This transaction between the speaker and audience is realized in the lexicogrammar through selections from the system of Mood in a clause.
2.4.3 Clause as Representation
