摘 要

英语写作是英语学习者需要掌握的一项基本技能，但在大多数中国大学生的英语作文中常常出现句意不连贯，内容缺乏逻辑，句式单一等问题。以往的研究表明，有效使用主位推进模式能加强语篇的连贯性和逻辑性。本文基于主位推进模式理论，分析40篇英语专业本科二年级学生的议论文中的四种主位推进模式：平行模式、延续模式、集中型模式和交叉型模式。本研究表明，英语专业学生议论文中较多使用前两种模式，较少使用后两者。高分组学生和低分组学生在主位推进模式的选择上也存在一定差异，高分论文中集中型和交叉型模式明显使用较多，而低分论文则偏向使用延续模式。本研究结果对于英语专业学生提高二语写作水平有一定启示，学生应正确有效加强平行模式，延续模式，集中型和交叉型四种主位推进模式在二语写作中的应用。

关键词：二语写作；英语议论文；英语专业学生；主位推进模式

Abstract

EFL writing is a basic skill for English learners to master. However in China, university students often have problems in their writing, such as poor coherence, illogical content and monotonous sentence patterns. Previous studies have shown that the effective application of Thematic progression is a key to a coherent and logical discourse. Based on the theory of thematic progression, this paper analyzed 40 argumentative essays written by second-year English majors. Four thematic progression patterns in these argumentative essays were analyzed. It was found that English majors employ more parallel patterns and continuous patterns but less concentrated patterns and alternative patterns in their essays. Moreover, students in high-score group differ from those in low-score group in the choices of thematic progression. More concentrated and alternative patterns were found in High-score essays while continuous patterns were more common in low-score essays. The findings of the study provide some implications on how to improve EFL writing for English majors. The appropriate and effective application of the parallel pattern, the continuous pattern, the concentrated pattern and alternative pattern should be emphasized in EFL writing.

Key words: EFL writing; English argumentative essay; English majors; thematic progression pattern

Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Background and purpose of the study 1

1.2 Organization of the paper 2

2 Literature Review 4

2.1 Thematic structure 4

2.2 Thematic progression 4

2.2.1 Danes’ thematic progression patterns 5

2.2.2 Zhu Yongsheng’s thematic progression patterns 7

3 Methodology 10

3.1 Research questions 10

3.2 Data collection 10

3.3 Data coding 11

4 Results 13

4.1 Frequencies of thematic progression patterns 13

4.2 Comparison of thematic progression patterns in two groups 13

4.3 Correlation analysis of writing performance and thematic progression patterns 14

5 Discussion 18

5.1 Thematic progression patterns in English majors’ writing 18

5.2 Similarities of thematic progression patterns in two groups 18

5.3 Differences of thematic progression patterns in two groups 19

6 Conclusion 21

References 23

Appendix 1 25

Appendix 2 26

Appendix 3 28

Acknowledgements 30

An Empirical Study of Thematic Progression Patterns in English Majors’ EFL writing

1 Introduction

This chapter is the introductory part of the paper. Section 1.1 presents the background of the study. Section 1.2 expounds the purpose of the study. Section 1.3 gives the organization of the whole paper.

1.1Background and purpose of the study

Writing, listening, speaking as well as reading are four basic language skills for English learners. Nowadays, listening and speaking, as two fundamental skills of English learning, have gained more attention from both teachers and students in China than other skills. Actually, writing is the important competence which indicates a person’s ability to use a foreign language and express one’s ideas and feelings. Thus, it is natural that writing should be attached more importance to in English learning.

According to the grading standard of Test for English Majors (TEM-4), the description of an effective communication with accuracy is as follows: the writing effectively addresses the writing task. A well-developed and logical structure with clearly stated ideas and supporting details is required. Almost no errors of vocabulary, spelling, punctuation and syntax are expected. The appropriate use of language is vital. Obviously there are two requirements for students. On the one hand, the accuracy of the essay is emphasized. Correctness involves the pertinence of the writing and the grammatical accuracy. On the other hand, the focus is the logic of the essay. According to Halliday (2000), cohesion and coherence are two features of effective writing. Therefore, more skills are required to concern not only with correctness but also coherence in writing.

However, a lot of university students, even English majors nowadays have difficulty in English writing. Students’ English writing lacks cohesion and coherence due to their failure to use thematic progression patterns effectively (Cheng, 2002). Meanwhile, the notion of genre has attracted increasing attention in writing studies, particularly in second language writing (Qin amp; Uccelli, 2016). There are usually two genres of writing in students’ essays: argumentative essays and narratives. Argumentative essay aims to prove the validity of viewpoints by presenting persuasive facts and examples and plays a prominent role in our daily life, especially in academic writing. Given that the argumentative essays are logical and convincing, this paper will investigate thematic progression patterns used in English majors’ argumentative writing.

The purpose of this study is to explore features of thematic progression Patterns used in English majors’ argumentative writing and find similarities and differences in the choices of thematic progression patterns between high-score and low-score essays, thus provide some implications on how to improve EFL writing for students.

1.2 Organization of the paper

The whole paper includes six chapters.

Chapter one introduces the background information and the significance of the study as well as the organization of the whole thesis.

Chapter two provides the literature review. It mainly introduces the Thematic Structure and thematic progression patterns. Apart from the review of previous studies, Halliday’s theme theory, as well as Danes’s and Zhu Yongsheng’s classification of thematic progression patterns is introduced, which lays the foundation for the data coding of the essays.

Chapter three describes the methodology. Research questions are presented in this chapter. The data of this study includes forty argumentative essays written by sophomore English majors. Moreover, research procedures are given and the way of data coding is explained in detail with examples.