Effect Of Using Theme-Rheme Analysis Approach On Teaching University Students English Reading Comprehension In China

After the publication of Halliday's Introduction to functional grammar, the term function becomes the focus of attention among linguists. Many theories are formed to study it from different perspectives.This thesis reports on how English teachers in China used "Theme—Rheme" Structure Analysis approach of reading comprehension teaching in their English reading classrooms. Based on the Systemic Functional Grammar theory in the teaching of reading comprehension, the "Theme and Rheme" Structure Analysis approach has been introduced into the traditional English classroom in China. Comparing the effect of using the traditional "bottom-up" strategy with that of using the "Theme and Rheme " structure analysis approach in the reading course for English majors of a Chinese university, the researcher believes that some reading strategies popular in English-speaking countries did work well in Chinese setting as long as the teachers can take into account their students' learning style. This thesis puts forward that the Theme-Rheme Mode of Textual Analysis is an ideal one in English reading, and elaborates the application of the "Theme and Rheme" Structure Analysis approach to English course in China. After the experiment, the researcher found that the students have greatly improved their reading speed and achieved more effective reading comprehension.This thesis consists of six chapters. Chapter 1 is about some researches on the Theme and Rheme analysis in foreign countries as well as some in China. Firstly, definitions of text, texture. Theme, and Rheme are introduced; then some information about Functional Grammar is concerned. And then some opinions of Reading (include interactive reading and effective reading) are mentioned. And the last part of Chapter 1 deals with the differences between traditional analysis approaches and textual analysis approaches, which is also the focus of this thesis. The reason for doing this research is trying to find a more effective way to help university students improve their English reading comprehension in classrooms.Chapter 2 centers on the theoretical background on the Theme and Rheme analysis approach. First, the Schema theory is introduced to prove that this theory has done rather a lot to help in challenging the traditional teaching methods for English readingcomprehension. After that, the researcher offers the reader information about information processing: bottom-up processing and top-down processing, which is followed by introducing the basis of the Theme and Rheme analysis theory.Chapter 3 focuses on the specific examples of analysis on a passage as well as a long text in details. It is proved that this kind of analysis approach can do the students a great help in grasping the global meaning within the least time.Chapter 4 is about the data collection. In the first part, while-reading activities are mentioned, and followed by post-reading activities. The statistics of this thesis originates from the evaluation of the reading activities in classrooms.Chapter 5 focuses on the procedures of the experiment. First, we can know what the subjects are; second, we can get the result of the pre-test about the students' reading speed and their reading accuracy; third, we get the information about the teaching material and the reasons for choosing it; fourth, we can have a detailed image of the details of how the reading activities are performed in the classrooms; fifth, we achieve the results of the post-test and that of an attitudinal questionnaire, both of which show the students' positive attitude towards the Theme and Rheme analysis approach introduced in their reading comprehension classrooms; sixth, we have a discussion about the effect of using Theme and Rheme analysis approach on the experimental class; the seventh part is about the conclusion of this experiment, that is: using the Theme and Rheme analysis approach on university students' reading comprehension has really improved the students reading accuracy as well as their reading speed.Chapter 6 deals with the implications of this Theme and Rheme analysis approach to Chinese reading comprehension teaching. The researcher argues that this Theme and Rheme analysis approach is a more effective way to help improve students' reading comprehension, but it doesn't mean that other approaches can be abandoned completely. Teachers should take advantage of the more effective way without ignoring some other approaches. More research is needed in the future.