THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ EXPLANATORY TEXTS: A Systemic Functional Linguistics Perspective.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPROVAL SHEET ... Error! Bookmark not defined. DECLARATION ... Error! Bookmark not defined. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ... Error! Bookmark not defined. ABSTRACT ... Error! Bookmark not defined. TABLE OF CONTENTS ... 1 LIST OF PICTURES ... Error! Bookmark not defined. LIST OF TABLES ... Error! Bookmark not defined. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.1. Introduction ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.2. Scope of the Study ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.3. Purposes of the Study ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.4. Research Questions ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.5. Research Methods ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.6. Significance of the Study ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.7. Definitions of Key Terms ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.8. Organisation of the Thesis ... Error! Bookmark not defined. CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.1. Systemic Functional Grammar ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.2. Theme System ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.2.1. Definition of Theme ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.2.2. Types of Theme ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.2.3. Thematic Progression (TP) ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.2.4. TP Consistency in Explanatory Genre as scientific text Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.3. Conclusion ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.1. Research Design ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.2. Data Collection ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.3. Data Analysis ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.3.1.Identification and Classification of Theme ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.3.2.Identification of Thematic Progression ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.4. Conclusion ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

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4.1. Introduction ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.2. Theme Realisation ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.2.1.Theme Markedness ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.2.2.Topical Theme ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.2.3.Textual Theme ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.2.4.Interpersonal Theme ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4. 3. Realisation of Thematic Progression ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.3.1. Simple Linear Progression ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.3.2. Constant Theme Progression ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.3.3. Derived Theme Progression ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.3.4. Split Rheme Progression ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.3.5. Realisation of Thematic Progression Trends ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4. 4. Discussion ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.4.1. Realisation of Thematic Progression in Students’ Explanatory Texts Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.4.2. Thematic Progression Consistency ...75 CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION Error! Bookmark not defined. 5.1. Conclusion ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 5.2. Recommendation ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

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1 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1.Introduction

Writing in Indonesian pedagogical contexts is one of the four skills in the curriculum. Learning to write means learning ways of meaning or ways of organising experience, information, and ideas in distinctively different language patterns (Christie, 1986: 221). In writing, starting a sentence with Theme is especially useful in helping students to communicate their ideas successfully (Wang, 2007: 5). Theme is the element of clause structure which serves as the point of departure of the message; it is with which the clause is concerned (Halliday 1985a, as cited in Martin 1992). The Theme then becomes the prominent element because it provides the environment for the remainder of the message, which is known as the Rheme, in the Theme-Rheme organisation (Halliday, 1994: 70).

Theme-Rheme organisation or Thematic organisation of clauses is the most significant factor in the development of text (Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004: 105). Thematic organisation is termed by Danes as Thematic Progression because it is one of the organising principles in the ordering information in discourse beyond the clause level, though different scholars give different terms for such a referrent (1970, 1974 as cited in Nwogu and Bloor, 1991: 367). For pedagogical contexts of writing, Downing (2001:1) states that Danes’ model of thematic progression analysis can be applied within educational settings. The above explanations suggest the benefits of Theme and Thematic Progression as a resource for analysing texts in educational setting, particularly for students’ texts, as suggested by Downing (2001: 23). However, in Indonesian secondary school contexts, the awareness towards writing organisation based on thematic progression seems to attract less attention from both teachers and students for

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2 propable insufficient information, although it is essential for enhanching language skill development; particularly writing (Huda, 1999: 149).

Recent studies of Thematic Progression are generally related to Systemic Functional Linguistics developed by Halliday (1985, 1994), although they are previously related to the Prague school of linguistics. This is supported by Grabe and Kaplan (1996: 50) who state that Theme-rheme is now most commonly associated with the work of Halliday (1985, 1994) rather than with the Prague School directly. Studies of text, particularly the Thematic Progression associated to the Halliday’s works, have drawn an increasing attention for some linguists and educators. This is indicated by studies on Thematic Progression by Nwogu and Bloor (1991), Downing (2001), Li and Liu (2005), Wang (2007), Maruthai (2007), Yang (2008), and Li (2009). However, those studies seem to be on the Thematic Progression of various texts by which the ultimate stage of the study is commonly describing and explaining how and why certain Thematic Progression exists in texts. It appears that there has not been a thematic progression analysis on students’ explanatory texts particularly in Indonesia. Therefore, this study is encouraged to fill the gap; Thematic Progression analysis on students’ texts, with the specific focus; it is on students’ explanatory texts.

Thematic Progression (TP) is a concept as one of the organising principles in functional sentence perspective (Danes, 1970, 1974 as cited in Nwogu and Bloor, 1991: 369). It is also known as text’s method of development (see Halliday, 1994; Eggins, 2004) as text organisation (c.f. Martin, 1992). As one of lunguists discussing text organisation, Danes demonstrates the organization of information in texts which is determined by the progression in the ordering of utterance themes. He also elaborates some types of thematic progression with some detailed examples and discussion (Nwogu and Bloor, 1992: 171-2). Because of those facts, Danes’ model of Thematic Progression analysis becomes the model used in this study. Therefore, Thematic Progression is perceived as the choice and ordering of utterance themes in the whole text and the Danes’ model is used in the analysis.

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3 By applying Danes’ model of Thematic Progression analysis, this study aims to reveal how students realise Thematic Progression in their explanatory texts and to explore the extent to which the students’ texts are consistent with common language features of scientific texts in terms of thematic progression pattern. There are several reasons why Thematic Progression becomes reasonable to analyse. The first reason is that thematic progression is one of organising principles where new information is conveyed in the context (Hutchin, 1987). The second reason is that thematic progression represents the text development (Grabe and Kaplan, 1996). Thirdly, it is the progression of new themes, which has textual meanings of how experiential and interpersonal meanings are organized in a linear and coherent way (Butt et. al., 2000 cited in Yang, 2008).

Concerning the text type being investigated, students’ explanatory text becomes the main concern of this study because of several reasons. First, the text has significant position in educational contexts because it is the type of text which answers the questions of how and why things occur (Butt et al., 2000). Secondly, explantory text is also common in academic life, particularly in language class of writing; students generally use the process of explaining to talk and to write about personal experience and concrete knowledge (Knapp and Watkins, 2005). Thirdly, explanatory text is commonly used to evaluate students’ understanding of concepts and of why or how a phenomenon occurs. This is so common in some evaluations of students’ writing performance in Indonesia, especially in secondary education contexts (see Competence-based Curriculum or Kurikulum Berbasis Kompetensi, 2003; School-based Curriculum or Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan, KTSP 2006; Hyland, 2002). Finally, explanatory text seems to have less attention from the teachers in terms of their thematic progression and their language feature consistency in learning process and in evaluation.

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4 1.2.Scope of the Study

This study focuses on Thematic Progression, which is based on Systemic Functional Linguistics and on Danes’ model of analysis on thematic progression (see Halliday, 1985, 1994; Danes, 1974; Fries, 1981; Martin, 1992). By Thematic Progression, it is meant that a clause theme progresses along text to achieve its purpose in supporting the organisation of the text. The analysis of thematic progression focuses on explanatory texts written by grade 12 students in science program in a private school in Bandung. The analysis focuses on Theme selection, Thematic Progression, and Thematic Progression consistency regarding thematic progression in scientific texts.

1.3.Purposes of the Study

Based on the description in the Background, by applying the Thematic Progression analysis, this study aims to:

a. reveal the realisation of Thematic Progression (TP) in students’ explanatory texts, and

b. explore the extent to which the students’ explanatory texts are consistent with the scientific language features in terms of the Thematic Progression.

1.4.Research Questions

This study attempts to answer the research questions formulated as follows.

a. How do the students realise thematic progression in their explanatory texts?

b. In terms of thematic progression, to what extent are the students’ explanatory texts consistent with the scientific language features?

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5 1.5.Research Methods

This study employed a nonexperimental research design and applied textual analysis. It is considered nonexperimental because it does not attempt to control or manipulate variables in the students’ texts and it is based on naturalistic observation of originial students’ texts (see Bodens and Abbots, 2008: 228). This study also applied a text analysis which belongs to textlinguistic corpora research. This text analysis provides some insights by dividing clauses into theme-rheme structures and by stressing the discourse-functional basis of groups of surface structural features, i.e. the ones in the explanatory texts (see Grabe and Kaplan, 1996: 46). For such analysis, the data were students’ explanatory texts. They were collected especially for this study after the students had attended writing class about explanatory text. The analysis focuses on clause themes which have certain features such as identical wording, sysnonymous expression, reference, and semantic inference (Nwogu and Bloor, 1991: 274). These clause themes become the basis to identify thematic progression realisations, as presented by Christie and Derewianka (2008: 20-9). The realisations are then compared to the ones in scientific texts investigated by Nwogu and Bloor (1991), to see the extent of thematic progression consistency in the students’ explanatory texts.

1.6.Significance of the Study

This study is expected to offer some theoretical and practical contributions. In terms of theory, this study can verify previous findings in thematic progression analysis and it can also develop studies in Systemic Functional Grammar, particularly the one in Thematic Progression analysis.

For teaching and learning practices of writing explanatory text, the result of this study can give views on teaching explanatory genre, especially in applying theme choice and in developing paragraphs with various sub-types of explanatory genre as proposed by Downing (2001), who states that the exploration of Danes’ model can be applied in education settings. The result of this study can also

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6 exhibit the students’ text consistency in scientific writing in terms of the thematic progression.

For other researchers, the result of this study can support Thematic Progression analysis as one basis of text evaluation, so that the analysis of discourse becomes more objective and efficient, as suggested by Li (2009: 66).

1.7.Definitions of Key Terms

This section presents brief and technical definitions of concepts used in this study. It aims to avoid ambiguity, misunderstanding, and misinterpretation of the concepts employed. The terms include Systemic Functional Linguistics, Thematic Progression, and Students’ Texts.

Systemic Functional Linguistics is a language theory developed by M.A.K. Halliday (1985, 1994) which claims that grammar is functional in three senses: in its interpretation of texts, of the system, and of the elements of linguistic structures (c.f. Halliday, 1994: xiii). One of its discussion is about Theme, which becomes the basic concept in this study to identify thematic progression in students’ explanatory texts.

Thematic Progression refers to the sequence or patterns of unmarked topical Themes which are sometimes found in texts (Droga and Humphrey, 2002: 122). This is supported by Danes (1974 as cited in Nwogu and Bloor, 1991:367; Martin, 1992; Martin and Rose, 2007). Thematic Progression will be found if there are four possible relations between a clause Theme and another clause Theme or between a clause theme and a Rheme in another clause. The relations can be realised by certain features, such as identical wording, synonymous

expression, reference, or semantic inference.

Explanatory text is a factual text used to explain the process involved in the evolution of natural phenomena, why or how something happens. It is also commonly known as explanation genre (see Callaghan and Rhothery, 1988:70; Knapp and Watkins, 2005: 125-151). In this study, students’ explanatory text

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7 refers to the explanatory text written by Year 12 students in science program in a private secondary school in Bandung. There are twenty students’ explanatory texts. The texts were intentionally written for this study.

1.8.Organisation of the Thesis

This thesis is written in five chapters. Chapter I introduces the study by presenting introductory background in Introduction section, Scope of the Study, Purpose of

the Study, Research Questions, Research Method, Significance of the Study, Definition of Key Terms, and Organisation of the Thesis.

Chapter II provides a theoretical basis for the analysis of Thematic Progression in the students’ explanatory texts. This chapter thus presents two main sections: Systemic Functional Grammar (and hencefort SFG) and the Theme

System. The former section focuses on the features of SFG and its three

metafunctions. This section also argues the consideration of applying SFG. The latter section consists of several sections; Definition of Theme, Types of Theme,

Thematic Progression, Thematic Progression Consistency and Explanatory Genre. Definition of Theme discusses theme elaborations by some functionalists

and preferred definition for this study. Types of Theme section presents the themes based on its division into single and multiple themes, on theme markedness, and on its predications. The unmarked Topical Theme then becomes the basis for identification of thematic progression. Thematic Progression section discusses thematic progression identification and the four thematic progression patterns; Simple Linear Progression (SLP), Constant Thematic Progression (CTP), Derived Theme Progression (DTP), and Split Rheme Progression (SRP). Thematic

Progression Consistency section presents the parameter of scientific texts’

consistency in terms of their thematic progression patterns. Explantory Genre section provides the elaborations of explanatory text; the definition, the function and the features related to scientific texts in terms of thematic progression pattern.

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8 This chapter close the chapter with a Conclusion presenting what have been discussed and what comes later in the next chapter.

Chapter III elaborates a framework for the Thematic Progression analysis. The elaborations are subdivided into three sections; Research Design, Data

Collection, and Data Analysis. The first section presents some research designs

and argue the design for this study. The second section elaborates the data colletion technique, the data type, participants, and some consideration for the data collection. The third section discusses how thematic progression is identified and classified into the four patterns. The last section is the chapter Conclusion presenting what have been elaborated and the coming brief dicussion in the following chapter.

Chapter IV presents the data analysis, the findings and their discussion, which are organised into three primary sections; Theme Realisation, Realisation of

Thematic Progression and Discussion. The first section presents the analysis and

the findings; the theme realisations based on its markedness, types, and predication. The second section elaborates the four realisations of thematic progression and their trends. The realisations are the classified into Simple Linear Progression (SLP), Contant Thematic Progression (CTP), Derived Theme Progression (DTP), Split Rheme Progression (SRP). After being categorised, the thematic progression trends are compared to the ones in scientific texts previoulsy found by Nwogu and Bloor (1991) to see the thematic progression consistency.

Chapter V has two sections; the Conclusion and Recommendation. The

Conclusion elaborates a brief basis for the study, research problems, and some

findings from which the conclusions are drawn. The Recommendation section presents some proposals for readers, particularly for teachers and students in secondary education.

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47 CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHOD

The present chapter elaborates the method of the present study, covering Research

Design, Data Collection, and Data Analysis. The Research Design discusses the

paradigms and the characteristics of qualitative research. Data Collection section presents the data collection technique, the data types, the participants, and some related consideration of the data collection. Data Analysis section focuses the discussion of procedures in identifying and classifying theme, thematic progression patterns, and in determining the thematic progression trend to see the thematic progression consistency.

3.1.Research Design

Based on its design, the study belongs to non-experimental research, particularly the text analysis. It is non-experimental because the study only considers texts as products rather than as results of treated learning process of writing. It does not either attempt to control variables in the writing process (see Bordens and Abbott, 2008: 238). The primary concerns of this study is how to provide answers for the research questions addressed, although this study can also be classified into qualitative research because some features of qualitative approach which are adopted, as presented by Guba and Lincoln (1985, cited in Alwasilah, 2008: 78-9). Some primary features of qualitative approach are natural settings, the human as primary data gathering instruments, qualitative methods, purposive sampling, emergent design, idiographic interpretation, tentative application of the findings, case-study reporting modes, focus-determined boundaries, and special criteria for trustworthiness.

Regarding the objects of the analysis, this study focuses on students’ explanatory texts, particularly in terms of Theme and Thematic Progression in

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48 written text. Therefore, the analysis is on words, clauses, paragraphs and the larger extent of text. As presented by Grabe and Kaplan (1996: 38-40), the text analysis formerly derives from three traditions of research. The first tradition is hermeneutics (Eagleton, 1983; Ong, 1982), the second one is rhetorical tradition, which goes back to Aristotle and other classical Greek scholars, as conducted by Berlin (1984, 1987), Neel (1988), Phelps (1988), and Young (1987), and the third tradition is that of modern literary criticism and stylistics, as conducted by Comprone (1987), Crowley (1989), Eagleton (1983), and Fowler (1986). As Grabe and Kaplan explain, these three traditions, combined with the development in linguistics, form the historical basis for the rise of text analysis as a field of study whose good detailed summary of the development is provided by de Beaugrande and Dressler (1981 in Grabe and Kaplan 1996) and Tate (1987 in Grabe and Kaplan 1996). In line with this historical development in text analysis and in linguistics, functional linguists have focused considerable attentions on discourse analysis, both spoken and written (Brown and Yule, 1983; Grabe 1992). As Grabe and Kaplan further presents, the work of Coulthard (1994), Givon (1983), Halliday (1994), Halliday and Hasan (1976, 1989), Mann and Thompson (1988, 1992), van Dijk (1985) and others have explored aspects of discourse structure, and from this research has come both a better understanding of a text and a set of techniques for examining the nature of text.

Under such a historical development of text analysis, Theme and Thematic Progression analysis has a close relation with the work of Halliday (Grabe and Kaplan, 1996: 51). For Halliday, theme-rheme structure in texts is treated as an independent concept. It is further suggested that thematic structure represents the text’s development; that is, the sequences of clause themes across a text point to the development of the major ideas (or macro-theme) in the text (Fries 1994; Martin 1992; cited in Grabe and Kaplan 1996).

This study has primary data in the form of texts and applies a quantitative description of the data; the trends of the unmarked Topical Themes and of Thematic Progression patterns. The trend of unmarked Topical Theme becomes the basis for identification of thematico progression, while the trend of thematic

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49 progression patterns is to determine the consistency of the students’ texts in terms of thematic progression compared to English scientific texts, which commonly have Simple Linear Progression (SLP) and Constant Thematic Progression (CTP) as the dominant patterns (see Nwogu and Bloor, 1991: 379).

3.2.Data Collection

This section describes the data collection technique, the data type, the participants, and some related consideration for the data collection. Concerning the data collection techniques, several steps were taken. First, students in grade XII in a private school is purposefully preferred, as suggested in the features of qualitative research (c.f. Lincoln and Guba (1985) cited in Alwasilah, 2008: 78), because the students study explantory text, as suggested by the curriculum guideline. (c.f. KTSP 2006 for secondary school). They were then asked whether they had attended writing class discussing explanatory text to make sure that students understand what explanatory text is. Secondly, the students were asked to write an explanatory text based on their own interests for the data of this study. Thirdly, the students then submitted their texts to the English teacher in order to convince that the writing process in a natural setting without being manipulated. Fourthly, those texts were then arranged alphabetically based on students’ names because some texts have quite similar titles. Finally, the texts were identified and classified into explanatory and non-explanatory texts based on their social functions, their generic structures and their language features.

Regarding the data type in this study, the data are twenty students’ written texts. The twenty students’ texts are grouped into explanatory text although some of them lack certain generic structure, such as conclusion in the end of the text.

Nine texts discuss how a water boiler system works, six texts are about the

working system of technological instruments, such as facebook, dry-cells, computer, four strike engines, submarine, and television, four texts discuss how certain products are made, such as chocolate milk, japanese sushi, fried noodle,

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50 and green tea cupcakes. One text discusses a natural phenomenon; how the rain happens. These twenty students’ explanatory texts can be perceived as product recorded and studied for linguistic analysis (as stated by Halliday and Hasan, 1986: 10), particularly for thematic progression analysis in this study.

The participants are the grade 12 students in science program. The students are preffered because they generally study the explanatory genre to explain natural phenomena or technical instruments based on scientific themes. Concerning research setting, a private school in Bandung, West Java, was selected because it applies the standards of national curriculum which recommend the students to study explanatory genre (c.f. KBK 2004 and KTSP 2006 for secondary school).

3.3.Data Analysis

The students’ texts are ready for the analysis after being identified as explanatory text based on their features, such as the social function, generic structure, and language features. The analysis then involves the identification and classification of theme, of thematic progression and the identification of thematic progression consistency. Therefore, it goes through several steps with the final result as presented in Table 3.1. The first step of the analysis is constructing every clause in theme-rheme nexus. The second step is posting the theme and rheme in theme and rheme coloumns respectively. The third step is identifying the existence of textual theme, interpersonal theme and topical theme in the clause to be posted in coloumns of textual, interpersonal and topical theme. The fourth step is classifying the topical theme into unmarked and marked Topical Themes. Only the marked Topical Theme is indicated by notation (m), because its limited number, while the unmarked Topical Themedoes not have such notation. The fifth step is determining the relations of the unmarked topical Theme. This theme may have relations to the one in the following clause(s) and to the Rheme of the previous clause. The sixth step is identifying the thematic progression based on

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51 the relations of the unmarked themes whether to the ones in another clause or to the Rheme of another clause. The final step is determining thematic progression consistency based on the dominant occurence of both Simple Linear Progression (SLP) and Constant Thematic Progression (CTP) patterns.

! ""

Thematic progression analysis can also be presented in Picture 3.1. It is intended to present thematic progression in different way where linear progression the themes are clearly presented, although it is only applicable in limited number of clauses.

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! !

Picture 3.1. The Analysis of Thematic Progression

3.3.1. Identification and Classification of Theme

The identification of theme is intended to separate clearly between the Theme and Rheme in every clause. After the Theme is identified, it is classified into several kinds. The classification is based on Theme type, markedness, and predication. Regarding the its type, Theme can be classified into single and multiple Themes. Based on its markedness, Theme can be categorised into unmarked and marked Themes, while based on its predication, it can be grouped into predicated and non predicated Themes. Because thematic progression is the relation between unmarked topical themes, this study primarily focuses on the unrmarked Topical Theme.

A functional clause element is identified as Theme if the element is in the beginning of a clause (Halliday, 1994; Eggins, 2004). Based on its type in the Theme system, the theme can then be classified into topical, interpersonal, or textual. A theme is topical when a transitivity function can be assigned to the theme. A theme can be categorised as interpersonal when it expresses vocative,

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53 modal, or mood marking. A theme is grouped into textual theme when it presents continuative or conjunctive adjunct or conjunction.

Based on its markedness, Theme can be classified into unmarked and marked Theme. A theme is unmarked when it is commonly realised by certain functional label in a clause concerning mood type of the clause: declarative, interrogative, and imperative. In declarative, a theme is considered unmarked when it is a participant in the clause, such as actor, goal, or beneficiary, etc. When the theme does not belong to them, it is considered marked, i.e. circumstance. In polar interrogative, a theme is considered unmarked when it is realised by finite, and the others are considered marked. In wh-interrogative, a theme is considered unmarked if it is realised by wh-words, and the others are consequently marked. A theme in imperative is classified as unmarked when it is realised by process, and the others are then marked Themes.

In terms of predication, there are Predicated and Non Predicated Themes. Theme is considered predicated when a clause is introduced by ‘it is’, as in ‘It was

Diana who had donated blood for 36 times’. Predicated Theme in the clause is not

‘it is’ but ‘I am going to tell you about Diana that is news’. Theme is considered Non Predicated when it is in canonical clauses, without introductory ‘it is’, as in ‘Diana had donated blood for 36 times’ (Adopted from Halliday, 1994: 58-61).

3.3.2. Identification of Thematic Progression

Identification of thematic progression is based on the theme features, such as

references, identical wordings, synonymous expressions and semantic inferences

as presented by Danes (1974 cited in Nwogu and Bloor, 1991: 273). Two or more themes are considered having a pattern of progression when they have one of the above features. Simple Linear Progression (SLP) pattern has a theme which derives from an elemen in the rheme of the preceding clause. Constant Theme Progression (CTP) has an unmarked Topical Theme which has the relation to the one in the following clause. Derived Theme Progression (DTP) has an element or

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54 some elements in one unmarked Topical Theme of a clause which are then distributed in the themes of the following clauses. A thematic progression is classified into Split Rheme Progression (SRP) when an element or some elements in rheme of a clause is divided into several Themes in the following clauses.

The occurrence of the above thematic progression patterns can be calculated. The dominant occurence of Simple Linear Progression (SLP) and Constant Thematic Progression (CTP) patterns becomes the parameter of text consistency for English texts in general and especially for explanatory texts in this study. This is based on the common feature of scientific texts which mostly present greater percentage of Simple Linear Progression (SLP) and Constant Thematic Progression (CTP) (see Nwogu and Bloor, 1991: 379).

3.4.Conclusion

This chapter has elaborated the research method which includes research design, data collection technique, and the data analysis with their specific foci. These sections provide the frameworks and guidelines for the data analysis in the Chapter IV. This chapter then presents the application of data analysis and is organised into data analysis, the findings, and the discussion.

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87 CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

This chapter presents Conclusion and Recommendation. The Conclusion section begins with a brief description of the background, the research problems, the main findings, and the conclusion. Two recommendations are presented at the end of the chapter, the Recommedation section. They are intended for the improvement of future research particularly on similar topics, for the teachers and the students and for other researchers.

5.1.Conclusion

Due to the conclusion is based on the previous elements of this study, they are revisited for the sake of a clear discussion. The first element is the two reasons of thematic progression analysis, i.e. the importance of knowledge about starting a sentence with a theme in communicating and the one of thematic organisation in text development, particularly in scientific texts. The second element is the two research problems, i.e. how students realise thematic progression in their explanatory texts and in terms of thematic progression to what extent the students’ texts are consistent with the features of scientific texts. The third element is primary findings of the analysis. This study found that the students employ four Thematic Progression patterns, i.e. Simple Linear Progression (SLP), Contant Thematic Progression (CTP), Derived Theme Progression (DTP), and Split Rheme Progression (SRP). It is also found that most students commonly applied CTP and SLP patterns. These two patterns are dominant in their texts and therefore their texts are considered consistent with the general English scientific texts in terms of thematic progression.

Based on the findings above, there are two conclusions which can be drawn. Regarding the first finding, the students have four skills of organising texts

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88 which are realised in the four types of thematic progression. The students seem to be able to make a cummulative sense of text development by applying Simple Linear Progression (SLP) pattern. They also seem to be capable of making the discussion focus on certin issues in the clause theme when they apply Contant Thematic Progression (CTP) pattern. Some of them are able to organise all issues of their texts in the first clause theme when they apply Derive Theme Progression (DTP) pattern. Some other students are able to make the first clause rheme become the starting point of the discussion when they apply Split Rheme Progression (SRP) pattern. This may be caused be a clear presentation of expalantory models in the writing process.

Concerning the second finding, the thematic progression is consistent with text organisation which is commonly used in general English scientific texts. This kind of text organisation promote comprehension, because the information is well organised in an understandable way to follow. For such reason, the students are considered having achieved a certain level of ability in writing particularly in organising messages based on the thematic progression patterns. This achievement may be due to the learning process that the student had undergone. This may be a topic of interest for further research, particularly in pedagogical settings.

5.2.Recommendation

There are two recommendations, particularly regarding the teaching of writing and the research applying Thematic Progression analysis. Concerning the teaching of writing, it is recommended that the teachers and students should develop the text organisation. This can be done through the application of the four thematic progression patterns or of the combinations of them. The teachers are also recommended to enrich the students’ awareness of text organisation towards the thematic progression patterns. The students are suggested to better manage their

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89 information particularly in writing to achieve the communicative goal effectively through the thematic organisation.

Regarding the research applying Thematic Progression analysis, it is recommended that other researchers should provide a large theoretical basis and more data. The researchers should also be open for a new type of thematic development pattern. There are also possibilities of applying thematic progression analysis on different types of texts, such as exposition, narrative, or even spoken texts.

This study also has some points to develop, it is therefore recommended that the research process should be conducted in the classroom where the writing process can be directly observed. The thematic progression analysis is only single parameter in students’ texts evaluation, therefore it should be accompanied by other parameters of writing evaluation, such as the one based on the cohesion and coherence of texts.

Finally, it is hoped that this study becomes a new application of analysis on Theme and Thematic Progression, particularly in educational context of teaching writing in secondary education in Indonesia. Further and deeper analysis on the same object will scientifically enrich the perspectives of Theme and of Thematic Progression studies in various genres and in different contexts and occasions. However, in another application of the research, the transferability aspect and some other related ones should be carefully considered.

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89 information particularly in writing to achieve the communicative goal effectively

through the thematic organisation.

Regarding the research applying Thematic Progression analysis, it is

recommended that other researchers should provide a large theoretical basis and

more data. The researchers should also be open for a new type of thematic

development pattern. There are also possibilities of applying thematic progression

analysis on different types of texts, such as exposition, narrative, or even spoken

texts.

This study also has some points to develop, it is therefore recommended

that the research process should be conducted in the classroom where the writing

process can be directly observed. The thematic progression analysis is only single

parameter in students’ texts evaluation, therefore it should be accompanied by

other parameters of writing evaluation, such as the one based on the cohesion and

coherence of texts.

Finally, it is hoped that this study becomes a new application of analysis

on Theme and Thematic Progression, particularly in educational context of

teaching writing in secondary education in Indonesia. Further and deeper analysis

on the same object will scientifically enrich the perspectives of Theme and of

Thematic Progression studies in various genres and in different contexts and

occasions. However, in another application of the research, the transferability

aspect and some other related ones should be carefully considered.