The Patterns Of Thematic Progression A Comparative Study Of Its Features In Chinese And American College Students' Compositions

Much discourse analysis has been carried out from a macro point of view in China in recent years, but the study of a text from a micro point of view—the way of cohesion among sentences, has not been carried out much. Based on the theories of researchers both at home and abroad, this study will apply the patterns of thematic progression to compare the English compositions written by Chinese college students majoring in English and American college students in order to find out the differences in their arrangement of thematic variation and logical connection between themes within sentences.The frequency of the different patterns of thematic progression in Chinese and American students'compositions were investigated. Apart from the patterns of thematic progression, the kind of theme, the markedness of theme and the degree of association among themes in the compositions have also been investigated. The purpose of this study was to find a way to help Chinese students construct the structure of sentences.According to this study, Chinese students preferred to use more patterns of constant theme than American students. They preferred to associate the sentences by connecting them only through theme. From the angle of information status, the way of associating the sentences was too direct. Since theme usually carries the known information, readers may feel bored in reading this kind of compositions. While in American students'compositions, sentences were associated through different patterns of thematic progression. This variety in the patterns of thematic progression makes the composition more readable.The degree of association in Chinese and American students'compositions was also different. The closely related themes appeared more in the Chinese students'compositions, while the themes with less degree of association appeared more in American students'compositions. In a composition where themes are less closely related, readers have to use his knowledge to find the clue of association, but they do not have to do that in a composition where themes are closely related. Therefore, the compositions written by the American students'were more interesting to read than those of the Chinese students.This study is helpful in our teaching of writing. First, since the four patterns of thematic progression were not as evenly distributed among the Chinese students'compositions as they were in American students'compositions, Chinese students can be directed to follow the example of American students and avoid using too many patterns of...