AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING.
NenengWahyu, 2015
AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING
A Research Paper
Submitted to the English Education Department of Faculty of Language and Literature Education of Indonesia University of Education
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
By: NenengWahyu
1000474
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE EDUCATION INDONESIA UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION
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NenengWahyu, 2015
AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu 2015
AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING
Oleh: Neneng Wahyu
1000474
Sebuah skripsi yang diajukan untuk memenuhi salah satu syarat untuk memperoleh gelar Sarjana Pendidikan pada Fakultas Bahasa dan Sastra
© Neneng Wahyu 2015 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
Januari 2015
Hak Cipta dilindungi undang-undang.
Skripsi ini tidak boleh diperbanyak seluruhnya atau sebagian, dengan dicetak ulang, difoto kopi, atau cara lainnya tanpa ijin dari penulis.
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NenengWahyu, 2015
AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu PAGE OF APPROVAL
NENENG WAHYU
AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC
PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING
Approved by:
Supervisor
Prof. Emi Emilia, M.Ed., Ph.D. NIP. 196609161990012001
Head of English Education Department Faculty of Language and Literature Education
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NenengWahyu, 2015
AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu Prof. Dr. H. Didi Suherdi, M.Ed.
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Neneng Wahyu, 2015
AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
ABSTRACT
An Analysis of the Application of Theme and Thematic Progression in Students’ Commentary Writing
Prof. Emi Emilia, M.Ed., Ph.D. NIP. 196609161990012001
This study aims at discovering how the students of English Education study program organize their writing in term of Theme choice and thematic progressions within the framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). In addition, the problems encountered in students’ writing also become the concern of this study. The participants of the study are 24 students of English Education study program who have learned Systemic Functional Linguistics. To meet the purposes, the research employs a descriptive-qualitative research design embracing the characteristics of a case study approach. The data were obtained from students’ Commentary writing texts and the interview with the students regarding their difficulties during writing process. For the framework of text analysis, this research is grounded by the theory of Systemic Functional Linguistics, especially Theme system proposed by Halliday (1994), Gerot & Wignell (1994), Emilia (2014) Eggins (2004), Bloor and Bloor (1995), Lock (1996) as a tool for analyzing students’ text. Twenty four texts were analyzed and four texts were discussed in detail in terms of Theme choice and thematic progression using Systemic Functional Linguistics. The findings reveal that the students employed various types of Theme to make their text coherent, such as unmarked and marked topical Theme, interpersonal Theme, textual Theme, longer unit Theme and predicated Theme. In addition, all types of thematic progression are also found in students’ text. Even though the students were quite aware at applying Theme and thematic progression, the researcher still found a problem related to the misuse of Theme and thematic progression; it is the problem of brand new Theme. The problem is influenced either by students’ inability to understand the Theme system or teacher’ unclear explanation related to the Theme system. The findings of the research suggest that the teachers should provide the explicit and detail teaching of Theme system including Theme and thematic progression. Moreover, the teachers also should apply drafting strategy to eliminate students’ errors.
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Neneng Wahyu, 2015
AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE OF APPROVAL………...…i
STATEMENT OF AUTHORIZATION………...ii
PREFACE………..……iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENT………..…iv
ABSTRACT……….….vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS………....viii
LIST OF FIGURES……….xii
LIST OF TABLES………...…xiii
CHAPTER I………....1
INTRODUCTION………..1
1.1. Background………...1
1.2. Statement of Problems ... 4
1.3.Purpose of the Study ... 4
1.4. Significance of the Study ... 4
1.5. Clarification of Key Terms ... 5
1.6. Organization of the Paper ... 5
1.7. Concluding Remark ... 6
CHAPTER II ... 7
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ... 7
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AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING
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2.1.1. Basic Principles of SFL... 9
2.1.2. Metafunction ... 10
2.2. Theme System……….11
2.2.1. Boundary of Theme………..13
2.2.1.1. Topical Theme………...……14
2.2.1.1.1. Simple Theme……….14
2.2.1.1.2. Multiple Theme………...15
2.2.1.2. Interpersonal Theme………..16
2.2.1.3. Textual Theme………...……18
2.2.2 Theme in Different Clause Types………..……19
2.2.2.1. Theme in Declarative Clauses………...……19
2.2.2.2. Theme in Interrogative Clauses……….19
2.2.2.3. Theme in Imperative Clauses………....19
2.2.2.4. Theme in Exclamative Clauses ... 20
2.2.3. Longer Unit Theme ... 20
2.3. Thematic Progression ... 21
2.3.1. The Re-iteration Pattern ... 21
2.3.2. The Zig-Zag or Linear Thematic Progression ... 22
2.3.3. The Multiple Theme Pattern………23
2.4. Higher Level Theme: Macro- and Hyper -Theme………...23
2.5. Problems Related to the Application of Theme and Rheme in Writing…..25
2.6. Commentary Writing………...26
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Neneng Wahyu, 2015
AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING
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CHAPTER III………..28
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY………...29
3.1. Research Design……….….29
3.2. Research Site ... 30
3.2.1. Setting ... 30
3.2.2. Participants ... 30
3.3 Data Collection ... 30
3.3.1. Collecting Students’ Writing………....31
3.3.2. Interview………..31
3.4. Data Analysis………..31
3.4.1. Identification of Theme Choice………...…32
3.4.2. Identification of Theme Progression Pattern………...32
3.4.3. Identification of the Problems……….33
3.4.4. Transcribing and Condensing Interview Data……….33
3.5. Concluding Remark………33
CHAPTER IV ... 34
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ... 34
4.1. Theme Choice and Thematic Progression Analysis ... 34
4.1.1. Analysis and Discussion of Text 4.1 (Middle Achiever Student) ... 34
4.1.2. Theme and Thematic Progression Analysis of Text 4.1 ... 38
4.1.2.1. Introduction ... 38
4.1.2.2. Body/Content ... 39
4.1.2.3. Conclusion ... 41
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Neneng Wahyu, 2015
AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING
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4.1.3. Discussion of Other Texts ... 42
4.1.3.1. Discussion of Text 4.2 (Middle Achiever Student) ... 42
4.1.3.2. Discussion of Text 4.3 (Middle Achiever Student) ... 44
4.1.3.3. Discussion of Text 4.4 (High Achiever Student) ... 46
4.2. Problems Encountered in Students’ Writing ... 49
4.2.1. The Problem of Brand New Theme ... 50
4.3. Concluding Remark ... 51
CHAPTER V………52
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS……….52
5.1 Conclusions………..52
5.2 Recommendations………....53
REFERENCES………54 APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1 STUDENTS' COMMENTARY WRITING APPENDIX 2 STUDENTS' TEXT ANALYSIS
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AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING
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LIST OF FIGURES
Fig. 2.1. Example of Theme-Rheme structure in the clause.……… 12
Fig. 2.2. Theme network.……….………..…... 13
Fig. 2.3. The Re-iteration Pattern...………...………… 22
Fig. 2.4. The Zig Zag Pattern.………...……… 22
Fig. 2.5. The Multiple Theme Pattern.………... 23
Fig. 2.6. Solidarity across level of Theme.……….………..…… 24
Fig. 4.1. An example of the Theme Reiteration Pattern of Text 4.1.……...….… 39
Fig. 4.2. An example of the Zig-Zag Patterns of Text 4.1.………..………….… 40
Fig. 4.3. An Example of Multiple/Derived Theme Patterns of Text 4.1....…... 41
Fig. 4.4. An Example of Theme Reiteration Patterns of Text 4.2....………... 44
Fig. 4.5. An Example of Zig-zag Pattern of Text 4.2....…... 44
Fig. 4.6. An Example of Zig-zag Patterns of Text 4.3 ...……...………... 45
Fig. 4.7. An Example of Theme Reiteration Patterns of Text 4.3....……... 46
Fig. 4.8. An Example of Multiple Theme Patterns of Text 4.3....…... 46
Fig. 4.9 An Example of Theme Reiteration Patterns of Text 4.4....…………... 48
Fig. 4.10. An Example of Zig-zag Patterns of Text 4.4....…... 48
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AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
Fig. 4.12. An Example of Problem of Brand New Themes....………... 50
LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1. Examples of Simple Topical Theme……… 15
Table 2.2. Examples of Multiple Themes ……… 16
Table 2.3. Examples of Interpersonal Theme ..……… 17
Table 2.4. Modal Adjunct ……… 17
Table 2.5. Examples of Textual Theme ………... 18
Table 2.6. Conjunctive Adjuncts ……….……… 18
Table 2.7. Examples of Longer Unit Themes ……..……… 20
Table 2.8. Examples of Longer Unit Marked Theme ………..……… 21
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Neneng Wahyu, 2015
AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’
COMMENTARY WRITING
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This study focuses on the analysis of the application of thematic progression in students’ academic writing. The thematic progression analysis draws on Systemic Functional Linguistics Approach. This chapter introduces the underlying principles toward this study including background, statement of problems, purpose of the study, scope of study, significance of the study, clarification of key terms and the organization of the paper.
1.1. Background
Writing is one of the basic skills necessary for English learners. Writing is necessary to be mastered since it represents the comprehensive abilities of English learners (Jingxia & Li, 2013). Unfortunately, writing is considered as the most difficult skill to learn among students. According to Sadeghi and Farzizadeh (2012) writing is challenging because it involves the process of transferring the idea into a code and still needs high concentration because the writer must check the formation of letter visually. Moreover, it is mentioned in the article that writing is more challenging because it needs lots of knowledge about language to make the product (text) well-qualified.
In addition, the use of English as foreign language in Indonesia, where the use of English is only for specific purposes not as a daily language, might also be a reason why students are having difficulty in writing English text. This notion is echoed by Arunsirot (2013) who states that in Thailand where the students are identified as English Foreign Learners, at the most serious problem in English
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AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’
COMMENTARY WRITING
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language learning is writing skills. A sample analysis conducted by Jingxia and Li (2013) found out that many students were able to create a text which grammatically correct, but overall the writing is incoherent. It is also found that students’ writing proficiency is closely related to their textual coherence. A coherent text largely depends on the semantic relation between sentences, such as thematic structure. According to Longman Dictionary (2000), coherence is natural or reasonable connection, especially in thought or words. Halliday (1976; as cited in Jingxia and Li, 2013) points out that words cannot be formed by jumping from one point to another point disorderly. The words must be developed regularly following the coherence of a Theme. Moreover, Halliday (1976) defines coherence as the probability of connecting what has been mentioned before. So that it is considered important to pay attention to the development of words in writing to create the cohesion of the text. Cohesion contributes to coherence; and the application of Theme and thematic progression can help to reach the cohesion in the text (Halliday, 1976). In addition, Theme system (Theme and thematic progression) analysis under the framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL henceforth) can be used as a tool to value students’ writing in term of coherence.
Reflecting the analysis above, nowadays the students are taught to write English text even since the primary school. By doing this, it is hoped that the students can have good writing proficiency. Besides, the students are also hoped to be able to overcome the problem of incoherence in writing. As for the university level, the students are not only required to create a good text but they are also highly expected to be able to convey information through written page (Schlepegrell, 2004). In the academic area, expressing arguments are the ways for creating belief, changing mind, and altering perception which is commonly found in academic discourse (Fulwiler, 2002). In academic area, students are demanded to express arguments, give the comment and response on academic discourse. One
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AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’
COMMENTARY WRITING
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of the academic discourses that is usually made by university students is a response to a literary work such as commentary writing.
A commentary is an exercise in the close reading of a text or literary works. It requires detail analysis, critical thinking, logical responses, own opinion and supported theory. The purpose of Commentary Writing is to assist the development of writing skills and/or understanding of specific
subject (retrieved from:
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/french/current/undergrad/infoyr1students/comme ntary.pdf).
This study is intended to analyze students’ commentary writing focusing on one of language metafunctions; that is Theme system (Theme and thematic progression). According to Halliday (1974; as cited in Eggins, 2004), Theme system contributes to the cohesion and coherence of a text. Gerot (1994) adds that textual meaning, which is realized in Theme system, makes language contextually and co-textually relevant. Moreover, Jingxia and Li (2013) state that a coherent text depends on the semantic relations between sentences such as thematic structure. The same article noted that a good text is one which has relations between grammatical subject and the topic of the sentence.
In addition to that, it is considered to be important to do the analysis on the text made by students. The purposes of this analysis are to know how the text is organized textually and also to find out the problems resulting from the misuse of Theme and Rheme encountered in students’ writing. This analysis is considered having many benefits especially for those who are involved in language teaching field. It will provide the students a better understanding about thematic progression and problems in writing so that they can improve their writing performance. Besides, the analysis can also help the teachers in developing their literacy and professional capacity.
Some studies had been conducted related to the analysis of students’ academic writing using Theme-Rheme system and thematic progression analysis of SFL. The previous studies are mainly concerned to the analysis of students’
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AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’
COMMENTARY WRITING
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exposition text. Bangga (2013) who investigated Theme-Rheme system and Theme progression of students’ exposition text found out that the students were able to make a coherent text seen from Theme choices and all types of Theme progression are present in the students’ text. However, there are pattern differences at global and clause level. Multiple Theme pattern is used at global level, while at the clause level, the students mostly used the reiteration pattern. Another research also conducted by Arunsirot (2013) who investigated the problems resulting from the misuse of Theme and Rheme proved that there are five problems found from the data. Those problems happened because of many factors such as mother tongue interference, fossilization and writer’s lack organizational skill in the writing.
Based on the reasons above, this study aims at analyzing students’ commentary writing in terms of Theme choice and thematic progression and also finds out the problems resulting from the misuse of Theme and Rheme encountered in students’ writing.
1.2. Statement of Problems
Related to the previous explanation, this study attempts to answer the following questions:
1. How do the students organize their writing in term of Theme choice and thematic progression?
2. What problems are found in students’ writing?
1.3. Purpose of the Study
Reflecting on curiosity to answer the problems, this study was conducted to gain information related to the research questions. The aims of this study are:
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AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’
COMMENTARY WRITING
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1. To find out how the students of English Education study program organize their writing in term of Theme choice and thematic progressions.
2. To find out the problems resulting from the misuse of Theme and Rheme encountered in students’ writing.
1.4. Significance of the Study
Since this study is aimed at analyzing the Theme choice, thematic progression and problems resulting from the misuse of Theme and Rheme encountered in students’ writing, it hopefully gives the significance in some areas, such as theory and practice.
Firstly, from theoretical perspective, the result of this study is expected to have a significant impact to the enrichment of SFL theory especially which related to the Theme system including Theme and Rheme, thematic progression and problems resulting from the misuse of Theme and Rheme in writing.
Secondly, from practical perspective, this study is expected to provide an in-depth analysis of Theme-Rheme system and thematic progression by applying SFL analysis in both language studies and language teaching studies. It is hoped that the teachers can gain information of this study to broaden their knowledge of schematic structures and problems related resulting from the misuse of Theme and Rheme in writing.
1.5. Clarification of Key Terms
a. Theme system is the organization of information within individual clauses
with the organization of a larger text (Martin, 1992; Martin, Matthiessen, & Painter, 1997; as cited in Emilia, 2014).
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AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’
COMMENTARY WRITING
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b. Theme progression is the use of Theme and Rheme which helps give
cohesion and coherence to a text, guiding the readers through the text in a logical and rational course (Arunsirot, 2013).
c. Commentary writing is a text which purpose is to assist the development of
writing skills and/or understanding of specific subject. It gives opinion which requires thinking, logical responses, own opinion and supported theory (Merriam Webster Dictionary).
1.6. Organization of the Paper
This paper organized into five chapters. Each chapter is provided with some subtopics to give broader explanation into the topic.
The first chapter is introduction. This section gives the readers an overview to the study by providing background of the study, statement of problems, purpose of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study, clarification of key terms used in the study, and organization of the paper.
The second chapter is literature review. This chapter elaborates the literature relevant to this study: SFL including Basic Principles of SFL, Metafunction, Theme System including Boundary of Theme, Theme in Different Clause Types and Longer Unit Theme, Thematic Progression and Problems Related to the Application of Theme and Rheme in Writing.
The third chapter is research methodology. This chapter focuses on the methodological aspects of this study. It covers four main aspects: research design, research site and participants, data collection and data analysis.
The fourth chapter is findings and discussions. This section presents and discusses the result of the study. Furthermore, the interpretation of findings is also found in this chapter.
The last chapter is conclusion. This chapter presents the conclusion and recommendation of this study. This chapter is divided into two: conclusion and recommendation. The conclusion section begins with a brief description of aspects underlying this study: background, purpose, findings and conclusion.
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AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’
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Meanwhile the recommendation section provides the suggestion for further research, generally in Text Analysis using SFL, particularly in analyzing the application of thematic progression either for experts, teachers, students or other researchers.
1.7. Concluding Remark
This chapter has presented the underlying principles of this study including background, statement of problem, purpose of the study, scope of the study, significance of the study, clarification of key terms and organization of the paper. In the next chapter, the literatures relevant to this study will be elaborated.
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AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The previous chapter has elaborated the theories relevant to this study: Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) including Basic Principles of SFL, Metafunction, Theme System including Boundary of Theme, Theme in Different Clause Types and Longer Unit Theme, Thematic Progression and Problems Resulting from the Misuse of Theme and Rheme in Writing. This chapter focuses on the methodological aspects of this study. It covers four main aspects: Research design, elaborates the method employed in this study includes its principles and characteristics. The research site and participants emphasize on the place where the study takes place and the participants involved. The data collection section presents the data types and data collections technique. The data analysis elaborates the procedure of analyzing the data.
3.1. Research Design
In an attempt to answer the research question, this study employed a descriptive-qualitative method. This method had been taken into account since it provided the holistic description of complex phenomena (Fraenkel, et al, 2012). Since this study is intended to analyze, describe, categorize and interpret the data to find the Theme and thematic progressions of the text and the problem
encountered in students’ academic writing, descriptive-qualitative method is
considered as the ideal method. According to Fraenkel, et al (2012) qualitative research is research study that investigates the quality of relationship, activities, situations, or materials.
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Furthermore, since this study used text analysis, so that it can be considered as case study approach, which is another method of qualitative case study (Travers, 2001). A case study is an in-depth exploration of a bounded system (Creswell, 2012). The text analyzed in this study was commentary writing written by English Education study program students at English Education Department of state university located in north Bandung.
3.2. Research Site 3.2.1. Settings
The study was conducted at English Education study program of a state university located in north Bandung. The institution was chosen for two reasons. Firstly, the situation and context of the study were familiar to the researcher since the researcher was one of students in that department. However, this familiarity gives the researcher easy access to conduct the study. Secondly, this study is about thematic system. It means that the participants are required to have had learned about thematic system which is one of the topics in SFL and the subject is taught in English Education Department.
3.2.2. Participants
The participants of this study were 24 students of English Education Department who had learned Systemic Functional Grammar. The participants were chosen because they had learned about thematic progression. Moreover, it is hoped that the students could develop in-depth understanding related to the topic, and also could apply what they have learned in their writing.
3.3. Data Collection
Referring to Creswell (2012), a case study uses multiple techniques to collect the data. However, the statement supports what Fraenkel et al (2012)
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AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING
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mention that qualitative data must be detailed, thick description and inquiry in depth. So that the data collection techniques used in this study were collecting
students’ commentary writing and interview.
3.3.1. Collecting Students’ Writing
The first data collection was collecting students’ writing. Twenty four texts of students’ commentary writing were collected to be analyzed using Theme and Theme progression analysis of SFL to find out its textual organization and the problems resulting from the misuse of Theme and Rheme encountered in
students’ writing.
3.3.2. Interview
The second data collection was interview. This technique was chosen for two reasons. The first reason is to find out students’ awareness in applying Theme and Rheme and thematic system while writing the commentary writing. The second, interview was conducted to know whether or not the students have difficulties in the process of writing. Type of interview used for this study was one-on-one interview. According to Creswell (2012) in one-on-one interview, investigators conduct an interview with an individual in the sample and record the responses. The same source also noted this technique is useful for asking sensitive questions and enabling interviewees to ask questions or provide comments that go beyond the initial questions. This technique was chosen because it was considered appropriate since the interviewer could gain the necessary information related to the study.
As what had been mentioned before, the questions asked in the interview were related to students’ awareness of applying thematic system while writing the
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AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING
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commentary writing. Besides that, the researcher also asked the problems that the students’ found in the process of writing.
3.4. Data Analysis
The data analysis in this study will be divided into four steps: identification of Theme choice, identification of Thematic progression, identification of the problems and transcribing interview data.
3.4.1. Identification of Theme Choice
The commentary writing texts collected from the students were broken down into numbered clauses. Besides that, the texts were also classified according to the stages of commentary writing: introduction, body/content and conclusion. After that, the researcher identified the Theme choice based on Halliday (1994), Halliday and Matthiessen (2004) and Eggins (2004) in terms of textual, interpersonal and topical theme. Furthermore, in terms of topical Theme, the researcher analyzed whether it was marked and unmarked. The marked Theme subcategorized into three types: circumstantial adjunct, subordinating clause and attributive clause. While unmarked Theme are grammatical sentence subjects in declarative clauses, and can be realized as simple and complex nominal group.
3.4.2. Identification of Theme Progression Pattern
After identifying the clauses in terms of thematic choice, the researcher
identified the thematic progression pattern of students’ text. The identification of
thematic progression is aimed at finding out how the students develop the ideas (Fries, 1995; Eggins 2004; as cited in Emilia, 2014).
Moreover, the same source mentioned that thematic progression can be classified into three patterns: the reiteration pattern, the zig-zag pattern and the multiple Theme pattern. Danes (1974; as cited in Rakhman, 2012) categorized
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AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING
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thematic progression into four patterns: Constant Thematic Progression (CTP),
Simple Linear thematic Progression (SLP), Derived Theme Progression (DTP)
and Split Rheme Progression (SRP). However, the three first pattern concept of thematic progression proposed by Danes (1974) is the same as what Fries (1995) and Eggins (2004) mentioned, those are reiteration pattern or CTP, zig-zag pattern or SLP and multiple Theme pattern or DTP. In analyzing the thematic progression, the researcher paid attention to the occurrence of each pattern in the text and finally calculated which pattern mostly occurs in the text.
3.4.3. Identification of the Problems
While the researcher identified the thematic progression in students’ writing, the researcher also identified the problems occurred there. According to
Arunsirot (2013), the problems in students’ writing is caused by the failure to
control the flow of information from Theme to Rheme causing difficulties for the readers to follow the progression of ideas or arguments in the text. So that it can be concluded that the problems are encountered in students’ writing when the text no longer cohesive and coherent and also when the readers are having difficulties in understanding the progression of the ideas in the text.
3.4.4. Transcribing and Condensing Interview Data
The interview recording were transcribed, categorized and interpreted to find out students’ awareness of using Theme choice and thematic progression. Besides that, the researcher was also curious on whether the students having difficulties in applying Theme choice and theme progression on their text. Finally, the researcher identified whether the difficulties affect the quality of their writing or not.
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AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING
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This chapter has presented the methodological aspects applied in this study covering the research design, research site and participants, data collection and data analysis.
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Neneng Wahyu, 2015
AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’
COMMENTARY WRITING
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The previous chapter has presented the analysis and discussion towards the findings of Theme choice, thematic progression in students’ Commentary Writing and problems encountered in students’ writing. This chapter presents the conclusion and recommendation of this study. This chapter is divided into two sections: conclusion and recommendation. The conclusion section begins with a brief description of aspects underlying this study: background, purpose, findings and conclusion. Meanwhile, the recommendation section provides the suggestion for further research,
5.1. Conclusions
This study focused on the analysis of the application of thematic progression in students’ academic writing. This study aimed at analyzing how the students organized their ideas textually seen from the Theme choice and thematic progression. Besides, this study also intended to find the problems encountered in students’ writing.
This study has confirmed the findings from the previous research that Theme and thematic progression plays a significant role in organizing the ideas textually and improving students’ writing coherence and overall writing proficiency. Moreover, this study confirmed that there are some problems occurred in students’ writing resulting from the misuse of Theme and Rheme (see Arunsirot, 2013; Bangga, 2013; Jingxia & Li, 2013; Rakhman, 2012). It can be
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AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’
COMMENTARY WRITING
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
said that the Theme system (Theme and thematic progression) analysis can be used as a tool to value students’ writing.
This study found out that the students were able to create a good text seen from Theme choice and thematic progression applied in the text. The unmarked topical Themes were used to highlight the topic under discussion. Meanwhile the marked topical Themes were used when the students want to change the focus of the clause into significant ways. In addition, the students rarely used interpersonal Theme in their texts, but some students applied it in their text. The use of this Theme is to indicate writer’s personal judgment on the meaning or to foreground the writer’s view point. Moreover, the students used textual Theme to build arguments, give opinion, oppose argument and build connectedness between steps in the discussion. In other words, it is used to relate the clause to its context. However, the use of this Theme contributes to the coherency of the text. Furthermore, macro- Theme and hyper- Theme were also found in this text. The use of this Theme makes the text and each stage of longer text develop globally. The presence of this Theme helped to enhance the cohesion and coherence of the text. Furthermore, it indicated writer’s development in writing skills and critical thinking. As for the readers, they can predict what is going to be discussed.
In terms of thematic progression, all types of thematic progression could be found in the text. Firstly is Theme reiteration pattern. In this pattern, the writer used the same element as Theme to keep the focus of the text. The use of this pattern is aimed at giving the reader clear information in the text. Secondly is Zig-zag pattern. This pattern helped the text in reaching its cohesion by introducing new information. Besides, by using this pattern, the writer tried to make a sense of cumulative development of the text. Finally is derived/multiple Theme. The use of this pattern indicated writer’s ability to employ textual strategies at global level. It also indicated that the text is a well-written and well-planned text.
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Neneng Wahyu, 2015
AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’
COMMENTARY WRITING
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
Relevant to the findings, discussions and conclusions of this study, the researcher would like to give some suggestions for teachers and further study related to the application of Theme and thematic progression analysis of text.
Firstly, for teachers, it is recommended to guide the students on how to write a good text. The teachers should give the example so that the students can get the idea of how a good text is. The teachers can give the design of schematic structure or the text made by other writers. Besides, the teachers are also recommended to apply drafting strategy in teaching writing. Drafting strategy is a strategy in which the students are asked to write the same topic on a particular text for several times, appropriately 5-6 times. During the process of drafting, the teachers give feedback on students’ writing. By applying this strategy, the students can learn from the mistakes they made and they try to correct the mistakes by themselves. It is hoped that the students have critical thinking so that they do not repeat the same mistakes. In addition, in giving feedback, the teachers should give the students understanding to the students about the importance of applying Theme system and thematic progression which affect the cohesion of their writing.
Secondly, it is recommended for other researchers to investigate the Theme choice and thematic progression in different types of text or literary works, such as narrative, descriptive, discussion, exposition, explanation, or literary report. Moreover, the analysis of Theme choice and thematic progression in spoken form also will be interesting to be explored. Since the participants of this study are university students who have learned SFL and know exactly about Theme and thematic progression, the researcher suggests conducting other research whose participants are students who have not learned SFL. After that, finding the differences on how the students organize their ideas textually by comparing the result of those two different groups of participants is also suggested to be done.
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AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’
COMMENTARY WRITING
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
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AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’
COMMENTARY WRITING
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu REFERENCES
Altenberg, E. P., & Vago, R. M. (2010). English Grammar Understanding the
Basics. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Arunsirot. (2013). An Analysis of Textual Metafunction in Thai EFL Students’ Writing. Research on Yout and Language. 7 (2) pp. 160-174
Alwasilah, A.C. (2002). Pokoknya Kualitatif: Dasar-dasar Merancang dan
Melakukan Penelitian Kualitatif. Bandung: Pustaka Jaya.
Bangga, L. A. (2013). An Investigation of Theme and Theme Progression of
Students’ Exposition Text. Unpublished S, Pd. Thesis. Indonesia University of Education.
Belmonte, I. A., & Hidalgo, A. M. (1998). Theme-Rheme patterns in L2 writing.
XXV TESOL congress (pp. 13-31). Madrid: Servicio de Publicaciones
UCM.
Bloor, T., & Bloor, M. (2004). The Functional Analysis of English: A Hallidayan
Approach 2nd Edition. London: Arnold.
Coffin, C., et al. (2009). Exploring English Grammar from Formal to Functional. New York: Routledge.
Cresswell, J.W. (2012). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting and
Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research 4th Edition. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
Downing, A., & Locke, P. (2006). English Grammar: A University Course 2nd
(30)
55
Neneng Wahyu, 2015
AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’
COMMENTARY WRITING
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
Droga, L., & Humphrey, S. (2005). Grammar and Meaning : An Introduction for
Primary Teachers. Australia: Southwood Press.
Eggins, S. (2004). An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics 2nd Edition.
London: Continuum.
Emilia, E. (2005). A Critical Genre-based Approach to Teaching Academic
Writing in a Tertiary EFL Context in Indonesia. Unpublished Ph. D.
Dissertation. The University of Melbourne.
Emilia, E. (2008). Menulis Tesis dan Disertasi. Bandung: Alfabeta.
Emilia, E. (2010). Teaching Writing: Developing Critical Learners. Bandung: Rizqi Press.
Emilia, E. (2014). Introducing Functional Grammar. Bandung: Pustaka Jaya. Fontaine, L. (2013). Analysing English Grammar A Systemic Functional
Introduction . New York: Cambridge University Press.
Fraenkel, J.R, et al. (2012). How to Design and Evaluate Research in Education. New York: McGraw-Hill companies, Inc.
Fries, P. (1995). Themes, Methods of Development, and Texts. Hasan, R. and Fries, P.H. (Eds) (1995). On Subject and Theme: A Discourse Functional
Perspective. Amsterdam: John Benjamin B.V.
Gerot, L., & Wignell, P. (1995). Making Sense of Functional Grammar. Sydney: Gerd Stabler.
Halliday, M.A.K. (1994). An Introduction to Functional Grammar 2nd Edition.
London: Arnold.
Halliday, M.A.K. and Matthiessen, C.M.I.M. (1999). Construing Experience
through Meaning: A Language-based Approach to Cognition. London:
(31)
56
Neneng Wahyu, 2015
AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’
COMMENTARY WRITING
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
Halliday, M.A.K., & Matthiessen, C.M.I.M. (2004). An Introduction to
Functional Grammar 3rd Edition. London: Arnold.
Howard, R., & McGrath, I. (1995). Distance Education for Language Teachers. Britain: Cromwell Press.
Jingxia, L., & Li, L. (2013). An Empirical Study on the Applicationof Theme Theory in the Field of Writing Pedagogy. English Language Teaching. 6 (5) pp. 117-128.
Knapp, P., & Watkins, M. (2005). Genre, Text and Grammar: Technologies for
Teaching and Assessing Writing. Sydney: UNSW Press.
Lock, G. (1996). Functional English Grammar: An Introduction for Second
Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Martin, J.R. (1992). English Text: Systems and Structures. Amsterdam: John Benjamin Publishing.
Martin, J.R. (2001d). ‘A Context for Genre: Modelling Social Processes in Functional Linguistics’. Communication in Linguistics. Toronto: GREF
(Collection Theory) p. 1-4.
Merriam, S.B. (1988). Case Study Research in Education: A Qualitative
Approach. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Nwogu, K., & Bloor, T. (1991). Thematic Progression in Professional and Popular Medical Text. Eija Ventola (Ed). Trends in Linguistics:
Functional and Systemic Linguistics: Approaches and Uses. Mouton de
Gruyter. New York.
Rakhman, A. N. (2012). An Analysis of Thematic Progression in HighSchool
Students’ Exposition Text. Unpublished S, Pd. Thesis. Indonesia
(32)
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Neneng Wahyu, 2015
AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’
COMMENTARY WRITING
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
Sadeghi, K., & Farzizadeh, B. (2010). The Relationship between Multiple Intelligences and Writing Ability of Iranian EFL Learners. English
Language Teaching. 5 (11), pp. 136-142.
Schleppegrell, M.J. (2004). The Language of Schooling: A Functional Linguistics
Perspective. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publisher.
Travers, M. (2001). Qualilative through Case Study. London: SAGE Publication. Yang, X. (2008). Thematic Progression Analysis in Teaching Explanation
(1)
Relevant to the findings, discussions and conclusions of this study, the researcher would like to give some suggestions for teachers and further study related to the application of Theme and thematic progression analysis of text.
Firstly, for teachers, it is recommended to guide the students on how to write a good text. The teachers should give the example so that the students can get the idea of how a good text is. The teachers can give the design of schematic structure or the text made by other writers. Besides, the teachers are also recommended to apply drafting strategy in teaching writing. Drafting strategy is a strategy in which the students are asked to write the same topic on a particular text for several times, appropriately 5-6 times. During the process of drafting, the teachers give feedback on students’ writing. By applying this strategy, the students can learn from the mistakes they made and they try to correct the mistakes by themselves. It is hoped that the students have critical thinking so that they do not repeat the same mistakes. In addition, in giving feedback, the teachers should give the students understanding to the students about the importance of applying Theme system and thematic progression which affect the cohesion of their writing.
Secondly, it is recommended for other researchers to investigate the Theme choice and thematic progression in different types of text or literary works, such as narrative, descriptive, discussion, exposition, explanation, or literary report. Moreover, the analysis of Theme choice and thematic progression in spoken form also will be interesting to be explored. Since the participants of this study are university students who have learned SFL and know exactly about Theme and thematic progression, the researcher suggests conducting other research whose participants are students who have not learned SFL. After that, finding the differences on how the students organize their ideas textually by comparing the result of those two different groups of participants is also suggested to be done.
(2)
55
Neneng Wahyu, 2015
AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
(3)
Neneng Wahyu, 2015
REFERENCES
Altenberg, E. P., & Vago, R. M. (2010). English Grammar Understanding the
Basics. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Arunsirot. (2013). An Analysis of Textual Metafunction in Thai EFL Students’ Writing. Research on Yout and Language. 7 (2) pp. 160-174
Alwasilah, A.C. (2002). Pokoknya Kualitatif: Dasar-dasar Merancang dan
Melakukan Penelitian Kualitatif. Bandung: Pustaka Jaya.
Bangga, L. A. (2013). An Investigation of Theme and Theme Progression of
Students’ Exposition Text. Unpublished S, Pd. Thesis. Indonesia University of Education.
Belmonte, I. A., & Hidalgo, A. M. (1998). Theme-Rheme patterns in L2 writing.
XXV TESOL congress (pp. 13-31). Madrid: Servicio de Publicaciones
UCM.
Bloor, T., & Bloor, M. (2004). The Functional Analysis of English: A Hallidayan
Approach 2nd Edition. London: Arnold.
Coffin, C., et al. (2009). Exploring English Grammar from Formal to Functional. New York: Routledge.
Cresswell, J.W. (2012). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting and
Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research 4th Edition. Boston:
Pearson Education, Inc.
Downing, A., & Locke, P. (2006). English Grammar: A University Course 2nd
(4)
55
Neneng Wahyu, 2015
AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
Droga, L., & Humphrey, S. (2005). Grammar and Meaning : An Introduction for
Primary Teachers. Australia: Southwood Press.
Eggins, S. (2004). An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics 2nd Edition.
London: Continuum.
Emilia, E. (2005). A Critical Genre-based Approach to Teaching Academic
Writing in a Tertiary EFL Context in Indonesia. Unpublished Ph. D.
Dissertation. The University of Melbourne.
Emilia, E. (2008). Menulis Tesis dan Disertasi. Bandung: Alfabeta.
Emilia, E. (2010). Teaching Writing: Developing Critical Learners. Bandung: Rizqi Press.
Emilia, E. (2014). Introducing Functional Grammar. Bandung: Pustaka Jaya. Fontaine, L. (2013). Analysing English Grammar A Systemic Functional
Introduction . New York: Cambridge University Press.
Fraenkel, J.R, et al. (2012). How to Design and Evaluate Research in Education. New York: McGraw-Hill companies, Inc.
Fries, P. (1995). Themes, Methods of Development, and Texts. Hasan, R. and Fries, P.H. (Eds) (1995). On Subject and Theme: A Discourse Functional
Perspective. Amsterdam: John Benjamin B.V.
Gerot, L., & Wignell, P. (1995). Making Sense of Functional Grammar. Sydney: Gerd Stabler.
Halliday, M.A.K. (1994). An Introduction to Functional Grammar 2nd Edition.
London: Arnold.
Halliday, M.A.K. and Matthiessen, C.M.I.M. (1999). Construing Experience
through Meaning: A Language-based Approach to Cognition. London:
(5)
Halliday, M.A.K., & Matthiessen, C.M.I.M. (2004). An Introduction to
Functional Grammar 3rd Edition. London: Arnold.
Howard, R., & McGrath, I. (1995). Distance Education for Language Teachers. Britain: Cromwell Press.
Jingxia, L., & Li, L. (2013). An Empirical Study on the Applicationof Theme Theory in the Field of Writing Pedagogy. English Language Teaching. 6 (5) pp. 117-128.
Knapp, P., & Watkins, M. (2005). Genre, Text and Grammar: Technologies for
Teaching and Assessing Writing. Sydney: UNSW Press.
Lock, G. (1996). Functional English Grammar: An Introduction for Second
Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Martin, J.R. (1992). English Text: Systems and Structures. Amsterdam: John Benjamin Publishing.
Martin, J.R. (2001d). ‘A Context for Genre: Modelling Social Processes in Functional Linguistics’. Communication in Linguistics. Toronto: GREF
(Collection Theory) p. 1-4.
Merriam, S.B. (1988). Case Study Research in Education: A Qualitative
Approach. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Nwogu, K., & Bloor, T. (1991). Thematic Progression in Professional and Popular Medical Text. Eija Ventola (Ed). Trends in Linguistics:
Functional and Systemic Linguistics: Approaches and Uses. Mouton de
Gruyter. New York.
Rakhman, A. N. (2012). An Analysis of Thematic Progression in HighSchool
Students’ Exposition Text. Unpublished S, Pd. Thesis. Indonesia
(6)
57
Neneng Wahyu, 2015
AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu
Sadeghi, K., & Farzizadeh, B. (2010). The Relationship between Multiple Intelligences and Writing Ability of Iranian EFL Learners. English
Language Teaching. 5 (11), pp. 136-142.
Schleppegrell, M.J. (2004). The Language of Schooling: A Functional Linguistics
Perspective. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publisher.
Travers, M. (2001). Qualilative through Case Study. London: SAGE Publication. Yang, X. (2008). Thematic Progression Analysis in Teaching Explanation