國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
73
CHAPTER FIVE
PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS
This section describes pedagogical implications drawn from the study and proposes procedures for teaching the concept of theme. The first section provides suggestions for teaching the notion of theme-rheme structure and its functional use. The second section gives emphasis on teaching the establishment of theme in narrative.
Identification of Theme-Rheme Structure
To begin, the language teachers may introduce to the students the notion of
theme-rheme structure and elucidates on its communicative function of helping to relate the sentence to both its preceding and subsequent texts. The teacher may explain to the students that the theme of a sentence represents the writers’ choice or “the point of departure” for the subsequent development of the discourse. The students are instructed that “the point of departure” of a sentence may be an unmarked theme, which usually depicts the same participants involved in different situations or it may be a marked theme, which in addition to introducing the participants, signals a transition or provides
background information for the sentence. Since different choices of theme types will give different impressions to the readers, the students are informed that the correct establishment of theme is crucial to the construction of a coherent text.
In addition to the definition of theme, the organization of theme-rheme as a functional structure should be clearly expounded so that the students understand the discourse function of the grammatical construction: subject-predicate. The teachers may explain to the students that theme is the “starting point” of a sentence and it includes elements in the sentence initial position prior to the main verb in the main sentence. To familiarize the students with the theme part in the sentence, the teachers may demonstrate
‧
some common thematic structures found in narrative. The following are some examples.
(56) To strengthen his knees, he often exercised. (Non-fi C + NP)
(adapted from Halliday, 1994, p.44) Besides being taught the various theme types, the students should learn the distinction between the unmarked and the marked structure of theme. They are taught that when the initial element is the subject of the sentence, it represents an unmarked choice of theme. Using the above examples, the teacher may point out that example 49 represents an unmarked theme (U); whereas the rest are marked themes (M), which include elements other than the subject in the sentence initial position.
To illustrate how a sentence may be expressed by either an unmarked or a marked theme, the teachers may use the following activity called the “corresponding pairs” to help the students understand that a sentence can be constructed differently to achieve different purposes (Bardovi-Harlig, 1990). Using the above examples, we produce the following “corresponding pairs.”
(57) a. A wise old owl lived in an oak. (U)
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
(62) a. To strengthen his knees, he often exercised. (M) b. He often exercised to strengthen his knees. (U)
The students are then guided to understand that in narrative the unmarked theme which is realized by the subject noun phrase usually describes the major characters involved in a series of actions; whereas the marked theme usually serves the function of indicating a transition or providing background information for the sentence. Following the
instruction, the students may be given more similar exercises to practice with so that they are acquainted with the different choices involved in the construction of theme and become more aware of the change in meaning associated with the different choices.
Finally, to gain a complete mastery, the students may practice constructing the
“corresponding pairs” using their own texts.
Theme Use on the Discourse Level
In this stage of instruction, the students are led to look beyond the individual
sentence and into the context where the theme occurs: the discourse level. The students are taught the functions of theme as a link with what has gone before in the text, as a signal for a transition, or a background provider to a new development in the text. They are shown how the different arrangements of elements in the sentence may affect the way the discourse is interpreted. To highlight the function of theme on the discourse level, the following activity called the “identification of pragmatic mismatch” may be
introduced (Bardovi-Harlig, 1990). The exercise requires the students to identify
sentences that do not fit well into its context: that is, sentences with ill functioning themes.
For the reader’s convenience, we have marked the mismatches with the crosshatch (#) sign. When in practice, the sign, however, should not appear in the students’ version.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
(63) 1Last Saturday Bill and Jane helped their parents clean out the garage. 2The garage was such a mess that there was no room for the car! 3Bill and Jane collected their bicycles, balls and skateboards and returned them to their places. (#)4Next, the leaves were swept out. 5They also bundled up the old newspapers for recycling and put them in the trunk of the car. 6Their mother organized and cleaned the garden tools and (#)7the electric tools were put away by their dad.
(Bardovi-Harlig, 1990, p.58-59) After the students have identified the mismatches, they may discuss why the selected sentences seem ill fitting. For instance, sentence 4 and sentence 7 in the above example may be seen as mismatches because the themes do not link to their immediate discourse, nor do they provide a signal or background information for the interpretation of the sentences. Following the discussion, the students may reconstruct the thematic structure of the sentences so that they fit better with their context. Sentence 4 may be rewritten as
“next, they swept the leaves out” and sentence 7 may be revised as “their dad put away his electric tools.” The students should provide justifications for their revisions so that the teacher may evaluate their current understanding of theme or identify potential problems which may require further clarification. To consolidate the students’ concept of theme, the teachers may incorporate similar activities into the regular English class.
The reading passages from the students’ textbooks may serve as ideal materials for practice. Prior to the reading of the passages, some of thematic structures may be purposefully reconstructed so that they represent improper use of theme. The students are then encouraged to look for the mismatches or ill fitting sentences in the texts. In the subsequent activity, the students are invited to revise the thematic structures of the ill fitting sentences so that they fit in nicely with their contexts.
Following the exercise of the “identification of pragmatic mismatch,” an activity called the “sentence unscrambling” may be introduced to allow the students to put their knowledge of theme into active use. The students are presented with an array of
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
sentences which originally form a coherent text but have been rearranged and lettered.
The students are required to sort the sentences into their correct order. This task places a great demand on the students’ ability to discern the thematic structure of the text and is an invaluable exercise in both assessing and reinforcing the students’ knowledge of theme development. The following short passage from an English textbook demonstrates the application of such an activity. In this activity, the students are asked to identify the thematic structure of the individual sentence, reflect on its meaning, establish
inter-sentential relationship between the sentences and unscramble them in order to complete a text that shows clear organization and satisfactory coherence. The following excerpt is taken from the ninth lesson of volume 2 in the students’ textbook by Sanmin Book Co. The story is about a scientist and the monster he created. For ease of reference, the task is shown in the following along with its original text.
(64) The Task
Frankenstein abandoned the monster, running away in horror.
(A) It kept him sick in bed for a long time.
(B)When Frankenstein finally felt better, he found out that the monster had murdered his young brother, William.
(C)The thought that he had created a monster tortured Frankenstein day and night.
(D)However, the monster found Frankenstein first and poured out his heart.
(E) Frankenstein’s heart was filled with anger, and he decided to find and kill the monster with his own hands.
He said that since Frankenstein abandoned him, he had wandered the world in loneliness and had been hated for his terrible appearance.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
To complete the task, the students must utilize their discourse knowledge of the thematic system. In search of an ideal sentence that is connected to the first sentence, the students may first read through all the possible choices and try to identify their thematic structure and discern the function that each theme realizes in relation to its context. Since both items (A) and (C) are composed of unmarked themes, which are often associated with continuity, they may be considered possible choices for the second sentence. Detailed examination reveals that (C) is a better choice since its theme “The thought that he had created a monster” refers to the previous event and its rheme also echoes the agony that the protagonist suffers from the thought of his creation. In comparison, the theme “it” in item (A) does not have a clear referent in the previous sentence; it is therefore a less ideal candidate for the second sentence. Nevertheless, item (A) may be placed after item (C) since its theme “it” clearly refers to the theme “The thought that he had created a monster” in item (C). Together with the first sentence, items (C) and (A) form a coherent textual unit in which not only the theme is repeated in the adjacent sentences but the rheme contributes new information to the development of the event.
Among the other choices, item (B) is a better option for the slot following item (A).
Since marked theme is often used to signal an episodic change or shift in the progression of the event, the marked theme “When Frankenstein finally felt better, he” in item (B)
The Original Text
1Frankenstein abandoned the monster, running away in horror. 2The thought that he had created a monster tortured Frankenstein day and night. 3It kept him sick in bed for a long time. 4When Frankenstein finally felt better, he found out that the monster had murdered his young brother, William. 5Frankenstein’s heart was filled with anger, and 6he decided to find and kill the monster with his own hands.
7However, the monster found Frankenstein first and poured out his heart. 8He said that since Frankenstein abandoned him, he had wandered the world in loneliness and had been hated for his terrible appearance.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
serves to provide necessary background information for the interpretation of the rest of the message. Furthermore, the information contained in the theme of item (B) is linked up to the rheme in item (A). The two sentences therefore form a simple linear TP pattern, which successfully switches the focus from “Frankenstein’s fear” to
“Frankenstein”― the main character, and paves the way for the elaboration of this character’s actions in this part of the discourse. In the following selection, item (E) appears to be a better choice following item (B). Since there are two sentences in item (E) and both of them repeat the same theme as that in item (B), the three sentences therefore form a coherent textual unit in which the protagonist “Frankenstein” and his actions are the focus of this part of the discourse. Following item (E), the marked theme
“however” in item (D) signals a transition in the development of the event and gives prominence to the rest of the message. The introduction of a recurring character “the monster” in the theme suggests that this is a beginning of a new episode and the Pron theme “he” in the following sentence confirms that the focus of attention now is “the monster” and the account of events involving this character.
The above three examples demonstrate useful procedures that the teachers may adopt in classroom practice to raise the students’ awareness of thematic structure in the texts. Moreover, these exercises provide our students concrete tools for text
organization when they construct their narratives.
Theme in Narrative
Our study confirms that the students’ theme responds to genre constraint in which the key participants, temporal sequence and place markers are often found at the sentence initial position. Moreover, we also find attitudinal markers to be common in our
students’ theme. Because of their high occurrences, a full knowledge and correct application of these themes will greatly help our students improve their English writing.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
To this end, we propose the following teaching suggestions on the proper use of these themes in facilitating coherence in our students’ narratives.
Suggestions for the Establishment of Unmarked Theme
The result from our study reveals that the HI group tends to use NP theme more successfully in distinguishing the different characters in the story. In particular, we find the group’s employment of Proper N theme to be one important factor contributing to the coherence of the text. Take the above cloze test as an example, the establishment of Proper N theme “Whitney” in the narrative helps distinguish the major participant from other female characters in the story and thus avoids potential problem in identification in the subsequent text. We therefore suggest that our students use Proper N theme to distinguish different characters involving the same gender in the narrative. As for the MID and LOW groups, we find their NP theme less effective in identifying the various individuals in the discourse. Much of the difficulty seems to be associated with the tendency to introduce at the start of a new textual unit a Com-N theme unrelated to the preceding discourse or a Pron theme without a clear referent. The problem with the Com-N theme might be solved by either introducing the referent in the rheme in the preceding sentence or by providing background information in the current theme to signal the change of perspective. The solution is demonstrated in the following example taken from the previous excerpt.
1I was so curious that mom and I opened up it and found that there were lots of cash in. 2We called the police and went back to our stand. 3The man thought of his bag while he was going to buy the ticket at Shin-chi train station.
In this example, the Com-N theme in the third sentence disrupts the coherence of the discourse because it is not related to the theme or rheme in the preceding sentences. By supplying background information at the sentence onset, the text may be made more coherent as in “Meanwhile, the man had arrived at the train station. When he was going to
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
buy the ticket , he thought of his bag.” In the revision, the appearance of a recurring character “the man” is prefaced by a time adv to indicate a new development in the event, so the readers are prepared for the reintroduction of the old character. Moreover, in the following sentence, not only topic continuity is maintained but necessary background information is provided in the theme to inform the readers the circumstance for the discovery of the missing bag.
As for the problem of the ambiguous Pron theme such as “we” in sentence 3 in the following example, we advise that our students replace it with a Com-N theme “my mother and I” so that the sentence may be linked to the preceding text.
1I found the man rushed out of the door so quickly when a police went into the door. 2I opened the bag and found there was a number of money in it. 3We talked the police about the strange man and gave it to him.
Alternatively, the students may repeat in sentence 3 the same Pron theme “I” to establish a TP with a continuous theme pattern in which “I” may cohere with the previous
discourse. Because of its clear reference and connection with the immediate context, the revised texts may avoid ambiguity and read more coherently.
Suggestions for the Establishment of Marked Theme
In our analysis of marked theme, we find that the HI group is more skillful in using the marked theme to maintain the flow of the discourse because their marked theme tend to provide relevant background information for the continuation or introduction of recurring characters. On the other hand, the MID and the LOW groups tend to include in the marked theme irrelevant information that fails to establish a textual unit smoothly and unambiguously. To solve the problem, we suggest that in classroom practice the writing teacher may highlight the thematic structure of a textual unit or even an entire paragraph to make the form of marked theme visible to the students. Then, the teacher
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
may elucidate on the function of marked theme and invite the students to evaluate the usefulness of a certain theme in its textual environment. In the following, we cite an earlier example to demonstrate the procedures.
1At the same time, the man had gone to the train station. 2Soon after he noticed that he had forgot the money, he went back to the restaurant as fast as he could.
3When Tom returned the money to the man, the man said that he had just won tockets.
In addition to the highlight made on the theme, subject NP in the main clause is bold faced to show the major character involved in the action. The teacher may point out to the students that the major participant is “the man,” and the first marked theme sets the stage or provides background information for the development of the story. The students are then led to notice the buildup of more marked themes in the following sentences, which add more background information to the event. This establishment of theme as indicated in the previous discussion may hinder the advancement of the major occurrence and disrupt the coherence of the discourse. Therefore, the potential problem caused by this use of marked theme should be clearly pointed out to the students. In fact, the students’ own compositions may be used as classroom practice for identifying the malfunctioning themes. The result from the class discussion may in turn help clarify the conditions for correct theme use and provide guidelines for subsequent efforts on
revision.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
CHAPTER SIX