An Analysis Of Thematic Progression Patterns In Non-English Majors' English Essays

Based on the thematic theory proposed by Halliday and thematic progression theory by Danes, this study proposes a hypothesis that there is correlation between thematic progression theory and coherence, organization, unity and fullness of a text. This research intends to verify this hypothesis by analyzing the application condition of thematic progression theory in English essays composed by non-English major sophomore students in Harbin Institute of Technology. During the research, three questions will be answered——if thematic progression patterns are employed in college English writing; if used, how thematic progression patterns distribute in essays; if there is relationship between the thematic progression and the quality of English essays.The significance of this research lies in verifying the correlation between thematic progression theory and coherence, unity and organization of a text. It is expected that the research can provide a better understanding of the thematic progression, and enrich its applications. It is also hoped that this research will have some significant implications for the teaching of college English writing in China.This research was carried out by collecting 200 sample essays randomly from the final exam essays written by non-English major sophomore students in HIT. These two hundred subjects are from two groups, one hundred taking intermediate English reading course, the other taking advanced English reading course. Quantitative research method will be used to analyze these samples from two perspectives: one is analyzing the applications of the four different thematic progression patterns----parallel pattern, continuous pattern, derived pattern and concentrated pattern in the selected sample essays; the other is the application condition of thematic progression patterns in essays of different scores. The results will be further compared.The findings reveal that the four different thematic progression patterns are all used in all the sample essays. Each sample employs at least two different patterns. Of these thematic progression patterns, parallel pattern has the highest percentage, followed by continuous pattern, derived pattern and concentrated pattern. In the process of analysis, it is also found that subjects with higher essay scores employ thematic progression more effectively to achieve coherence, unity, fullness and good structure.From the results we have got, we come to the conclusion that if we apply thematic progression to the discourse production, it will be helpful for us to clarify our thread of thought, produce the text around the central idea and develop each paragraph around each sub-topic, arrange all the information, enhance the coherence, organization and unity of the discourse, thus improving the quality of the discourse. Therefore, the hypothesis that there is correlation between thematic progression theory and coherence, organization, unity is verified.