A Study On TP Patterns In Reading Comprehension Of Entrance Examination Of CoC

With the increasing speed of the global economic integration, the world shipping trade has been obtaining the unprecedented development. China is a great shipping country with a long history of navigation, and is also a great country exporting the labor services, which determines the needs for a large number of seafarers.The Entrance Examination for Seafarers'Certificates of Competency (CoC) is organized by the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China in accordance with the requirements of the STCW78/95 Convention. It is stipulated in the Maritime Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China that seafarers should complete seafarer education and training and pass the specified national examinations and assessments in order to obtain valid certificates for them to serve on board vessels.The English examination is divided into the Nautical English (NE) and Marine Engineering English (MEE) in response to their majors. At present MSA China (The Maritime Safety Administration of the People's Republic of China) tests the seafarers from the two aspects:evaluation and written examination. The former concludes the assessment of the listening and speaking of the seafarers and the latter reading ability and professional English application ability.This thesis mainly discusses the written part of English Reading Comprehension. It randomly selects 100 articles from issue 32 to 40 in the examination tests as the study subjects. Based on the theme and rheme division in Halliday's systemic-function grammar and the thematic progression of the Prague School Frantisek Danes, this thesis studies the textual organization in the NE and MEE which are viewed as English for Special Purpose. The linguist Halliday has proposed that language has three metafunctions, i.e. ideational function, interpersonal function and textual function. Every article has its textual construction, and it is determined by the textual function, while the Thematic Progression (TP) is one of the important methods.This thesis studies the TP Patterns of Reading Comprehension of Entrance Examination of CoC, and draws some conclusions that TP with a Constant Theme and Simple Linear Pattern are frequently used in CoC examination English and the TP patterns have a close connection with the genre. In addition, the textual construction of the NE and MEE has a great affinity. Thus, it can give a guide to the seafarers and help them master the skill and pass the examination; on the other hand, it provides a set of feasible teaching methods for the teachers.