Theme as an Index of Genre in Discourse Analysis

A Functional Approach

The main focus of this book is on Theme-Rheme analysis. In English the Theme is realized as the initial constituent of the clause or sentence. The information that is contained within the themes of the various sentences of a passage correlates with the method of development of the passage. The meaning of Theme and its realization in English explains the general correlation of given information with the initial position in the sentence.

The findings and analysis of Theme-Rheme in this book will immensely aid both researchers and students who seek to understand and unfold language structures and analyze written discourse. It also provides teachers with efficient tools to analyze their students academic writing and find ways to leverage it. This book also sheds lights on the semantic and structure of the language based on the four analytical approaches implemented in this study. The findings in this book suggest that control of the Theme-Rheme system is part of what the successful writer (native or non-native) uses to achieve such coherence. In this regard, students can be aware of a variety of linguistics choices to help them write more effectively.

This book suggests that control of the Theme-Rheme system in academic writing is part of what the successful writer uses to achieve coherence. This book offers a new perspective on the way written discourse is organized and structured that is of some relevance to language teachers and applied linguists, as well as to theoretical and descriptive linguists. I have tried to offer in this book new insights into analyzing texts and investigating the thematic organization of the grammatical properties of Theme at clause level, and that, I hope, will be found sufficient reason for reading it.