A Study On Theme And Thematic Progression In English Travel Blog

Theme and thematic progression are major aspects of how people express their messages in a way which fits smoothly into the unfolding text.The present study is a discourse analysis of the thematic structure and thematic progression in travel blogs,with 72 English travel blogs from the National Geographic website collected during 2015 as the data.The theoretical framework of this study is based on Halliday's classifications of thematic structure,which is further elaborated by Thompson(2004)and Fries(1995a).Both specific characteristics and functions of thematic structures and features of thematic progression are discussed from a descriptive perspective.It is found that there are distinct features in the collected data after the analysis of thematic structures and thematic progression.For thematic structures,time and space are the most critical leading elements.In terms of time,temporal conjunctive Adjuncts,temporal Adjuncts,and temporal clauses play an important role.As for space,Adjuncts of space and existential Theme account for a certain proportion.When it comes to thematic progression,information indicating time predominates during the course of thematic progression.In addition,two main purposes of English travel blog are to share and to promote.Information indicating time and space contribute to sharing while proper nouns in experiential Theme and existential Theme contribute to promotion.The alternate thematic progression in time and space plays a significant role in English travel blog.The significance of the present study lies in both theoretical and practical aspects.From the theoretical perspective,both Theme and thematic progression need further discussion combining with the contextual variations of a specific genre so that it can reflect the textual features of one specific genre accurately and thoroughly.From the practical perspective,English learners can get a better understanding of English travel blogs with the knowledge of these features and functions of thematic structures and thematic progression.