AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING.

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NenengWahyu, 2015

AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu

AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC

PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING

A Research Paper

Submitted to the English Education Department of Faculty of Language and Literature Education of Indonesia University of Education

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Sarjana Pendidikan Degree

By:

NenengWahyu

1000474

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE EDUCATION

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Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu 2015

Oleh:

Neneng Wahyu

1000474

Sebuah skripsi yang diajukan untuk memenuhi salah satu syarat untuk

memperoleh gelar Sarjana Pendidikan pada Fakultas Bahasa dan Sastra

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia

Januari 2015

Hak Cipta dilindungi undang-undang.

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Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu PAGE OF APPROVAL

NENENG WAHYU

Approved by:

Supervisor

Prof. Emi Emilia, M.Ed., Ph.D. NIP. 196609161990012001

Head of English Education Department Faculty of Language and Literature Education

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Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu Prof. Dr. H. Didi Suherdi, M.Ed.

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Neneng Wahyu, 2015

AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING

ABSTRACT

An Analysis of the Application of Theme and Thematic Progression in Students’ Commentary Writing

Prof. Emi Emilia, M.Ed., Ph.D. NIP. 196609161990012001

This study aims at discovering how the students of English Education study program organize their writing in term of Theme choice and thematic progressions within the framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). In addition, the problems encountered in students’ writing also become the concern of this study. The participants of the study are 24 students of English Education study program who have learned Systemic Functional Linguistics. To meet the purposes, the research employs a descriptive-qualitative research design embracing the characteristics of a case study approach. The data were obtained from students’ Commentary writing texts and the interview with the students regarding their difficulties during writing process. For the framework of text analysis, this research is grounded by the theory of Systemic Functional Linguistics, especially Theme system proposed by Halliday (1994), Gerot & Wignell (1994), Emilia (2014) Eggins (2004), Bloor and Bloor (1995), Lock (1996) as a tool for analyzing students’ text. Twenty four texts were analyzed and four texts were discussed in detail in terms of Theme choice and thematic progression using Systemic Functional Linguistics. The findings reveal that the students employed various types of Theme to make their text coherent, such as unmarked and marked topical Theme, interpersonal Theme, textual Theme, longer unit Theme and predicated Theme. In addition, all types of thematic progression are also found in students’ text. Even though the students were quite aware at applying Theme and thematic progression, the researcher still found a problem related to the misuse of Theme and thematic progression; it is the problem of brand new Theme. The problem is influenced either by students’ inability to understand the Theme system or teacher’ unclear explanation related to the Theme system. The findings of the research suggest that the teachers should provide the explicit and detail teaching of Theme system including Theme and thematic progression. Moreover, the teachers also should apply drafting strategy to eliminate students’ errors.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE OF APPROVAL………...…i

STATEMENT OF AUTHORIZATION………...ii

PREFACE………..……iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENT………..…iv

ABSTRACT……….….vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS………....viii

LIST OF FIGURES……….xii

LIST OF TABLES………...…xiii

CHAPTER I………....1

INTRODUCTION………..1

1.1. Background………...1

1.2. Statement of Problems ... 4

1.3.Purpose of the Study ... 4

1.4. Significance of the Study ... 4

1.5. Clarification of Key Terms ... 5

1.6. Organization of the Paper ... 5

1.7. Concluding Remark ... 6

CHAPTER II ... 7

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ... 7

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2.1.1. Basic Principles of SFL... 9

2.1.2. Metafunction ... 10

2.2. Theme System……….11

2.2.1. Boundary of Theme………..13

2.2.1.1. Topical Theme………...……14

2.2.1.1.1. Simple Theme……….14

2.2.1.1.2. Multiple Theme………...15

2.2.1.2. Interpersonal Theme………..16

2.2.1.3. Textual Theme………...……18

2.2.2 Theme in Different Clause Types………..……19

2.2.2.1. Theme in Declarative Clauses………...……19

2.2.2.2. Theme in Interrogative Clauses……….19

2.2.2.3. Theme in Imperative Clauses………....19

2.2.2.4. Theme in Exclamative Clauses ... 20

2.2.3. Longer Unit Theme ... 20

2.3. Thematic Progression ... 21

2.3.1. The Re-iteration Pattern ... 21

2.3.2. The Zig-Zag or Linear Thematic Progression ... 22

2.3.3. The Multiple Theme Pattern………23

2.4. Higher Level Theme: Macro- and Hyper -Theme………...23

2.5. Problems Related to the Application of Theme and Rheme in Writing…..25

2.6. Commentary Writing………...26

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CHAPTER III………..28

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY………...29

3.1. Research Design……….….29

3.2. Research Site ... 30

3.2.1. Setting ... 30

3.2.2. Participants ... 30

3.3 Data Collection ... 30

3.3.1. Collecting Students’ Writing………....31

3.3.2. Interview………..31

3.4. Data Analysis………..31

3.4.1. Identification of Theme Choice………...…32

3.4.2. Identification of Theme Progression Pattern………...32

3.4.3. Identification of the Problems……….33

3.4.4. Transcribing and Condensing Interview Data……….33

3.5. Concluding Remark………33

CHAPTER IV ... 34

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ... 34

4.1. Theme Choice and Thematic Progression Analysis ... 34

4.1.1. Analysis and Discussion of Text 4.1 (Middle Achiever Student) ... 34

4.1.2. Theme and Thematic Progression Analysis of Text 4.1 ... 38

4.1.2.1. Introduction ... 38

4.1.2.2. Body/Content ... 39

4.1.2.3. Conclusion ... 41

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4.1.3. Discussion of Other Texts ... 42

4.1.3.1. Discussion of Text 4.2 (Middle Achiever Student) ... 42

4.1.3.2. Discussion of Text 4.3 (Middle Achiever Student) ... 44

4.1.3.3. Discussion of Text 4.4 (High Achiever Student) ... 46

4.2. Problems Encountered in Students’ Writing ... 49

4.2.1. The Problem of Brand New Theme ... 50

4.3. Concluding Remark ... 51

CHAPTER V………52

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS……….52

5.1 Conclusions………..52

5.2 Recommendations………....53

REFERENCES………54 APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1 STUDENTS' COMMENTARY WRITING APPENDIX 2 STUDENTS' TEXT ANALYSIS

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LIST OF FIGURES

Fig. 2.1. Example of Theme-Rheme structure in the clause.……… 12

Fig. 2.2. Theme network.……….………..…... 13

Fig. 2.3. The Re-iteration Pattern...………...………… 22

Fig. 2.4. The Zig Zag Pattern.………...……… 22

Fig. 2.5. The Multiple Theme Pattern.………... 23

Fig. 2.6. Solidarity across level of Theme.……….………..…… 24

Fig. 4.1. An example of the Theme Reiteration Pattern of Text 4.1.……...….… 39

Fig. 4.2. An example of the Zig-Zag Patterns of Text 4.1.………..………….… 40

Fig. 4.3. An Example of Multiple/Derived Theme Patterns of Text 4.1....…... 41

Fig. 4.4. An Example of Theme Reiteration Patterns of Text 4.2....………... 44

Fig. 4.5. An Example of Zig-zag Pattern of Text 4.2....…... 44

Fig. 4.6. An Example of Zig-zag Patterns of Text 4.3 ...……...………... 45

Fig. 4.7. An Example of Theme Reiteration Patterns of Text 4.3....……... 46

Fig. 4.8. An Example of Multiple Theme Patterns of Text 4.3....…... 46

Fig. 4.9 An Example of Theme Reiteration Patterns of Text 4.4....…………... 48

Fig. 4.10. An Example of Zig-zag Patterns of Text 4.4....…... 48

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Fig. 4.12. An Example of Problem of Brand New Themes....………... 50

LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1. Examples of Simple Topical Theme……… 15

Table 2.2. Examples of Multiple Themes ……… 16

Table 2.3. Examples of Interpersonal Theme ..……… 17

Table 2.4. Modal Adjunct ……… 17

Table 2.5. Examples of Textual Theme ………... 18

Table 2.6. Conjunctive Adjuncts ……….……… 18

Table 2.7. Examples of Longer Unit Themes ……..……… 20

Table 2.8. Examples of Longer Unit Marked Theme ………..……… 21

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AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’

COMMENTARY WRITING

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This study focuses on the analysis of the application of thematic progression in students’ academic writing. The thematic progression analysis draws on Systemic Functional Linguistics Approach. This chapter introduces the underlying

principles toward this study including background, statement of problems,

purpose of the study, scope of study, significance of the study, clarification of key

terms and the organization of the paper.

1.1. Background

Writing is one of the basic skills necessary for English learners. Writing is

necessary to be mastered since it represents the comprehensive abilities of English

learners (Jingxia & Li, 2013). Unfortunately, writing is considered as the most

difficult skill to learn among students. According to Sadeghi and Farzizadeh

(2012) writing is challenging because it involves the process of transferring the

idea into a code and still needs high concentration because the writer must check

the formation of letter visually. Moreover, it is mentioned in the article that

writing is more challenging because it needs lots of knowledge about language to

make the product (text) well-qualified.

In addition, the use of English as foreign language in Indonesia, where the

use of English is only for specific purposes not as a daily language, might also be

a reason why students are having difficulty in writing English text. This notion is

echoed by Arunsirot (2013) who states that in Thailand where the students are

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language learning is writing skills. A sample analysis conducted by Jingxia and Li

(2013) found out that many students were able to create a text which

grammatically correct, but overall the writing is incoherent. It is also found that students’ writing proficiency is closely related to their textual coherence. A coherent text largely depends on the semantic relation between sentences, such as

thematic structure. According to Longman Dictionary (2000), coherence is natural

or reasonable connection, especially in thought or words. Halliday (1976; as cited

in Jingxia and Li, 2013) points out that words cannot be formed by jumping from

one point to another point disorderly. The words must be developed regularly

following the coherence of a Theme. Moreover, Halliday (1976) defines

coherence as the probability of connecting what has been mentioned before. So

that it is considered important to pay attention to the development of words in

writing to create the cohesion of the text. Cohesion contributes to coherence; and

the application of Theme and thematic progression can help to reach the cohesion

in the text (Halliday, 1976). In addition, Theme system (Theme and thematic

progression) analysis under the framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics

(SFL henceforth) can be used as a tool to value students’ writing in term of coherence.

Reflecting the analysis above, nowadays the students are taught to write

English text even since the primary school. By doing this, it is hoped that the

students can have good writing proficiency. Besides, the students are also hoped

to be able to overcome the problem of incoherence in writing. As for the

university level, the students are not only required to create a good text but they

are also highly expected to be able to convey information through written page

(Schlepegrell, 2004). In the academic area, expressing arguments are the ways for

creating belief, changing mind, and altering perception which is commonly found

in academic discourse (Fulwiler, 2002). In academic area, students are demanded

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of the academic discourses that is usually made by university students is a

response to a literary work such as commentary writing.

A commentary is an exercise in the close reading of a text or literary works. It requires detail analysis, critical thinking, logical responses, own opinion and supported theory. The purpose of Commentary Writing is to assist the development of writing skills and/or understanding of specific

subject (retrieved from:

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/french/current/undergrad/infoyr1students/comme ntary.pdf).

This study is intended to analyze students’ commentary writing focusing on one of language metafunctions; that is Theme system (Theme and thematic

progression). According to Halliday (1974; as cited in Eggins, 2004), Theme

system contributes to the cohesion and coherence of a text. Gerot (1994) adds that

textual meaning, which is realized in Theme system, makes language contextually

and co-textually relevant. Moreover, Jingxia and Li (2013) state that a coherent

text depends on the semantic relations between sentences such as thematic

structure. The same article noted that a good text is one which has relations

between grammatical subject and the topic of the sentence.

In addition to that, it is considered to be important to do the analysis on the

text made by students. The purposes of this analysis are to know how the text is

organized textually and also to find out the problems resulting from the misuse of

Theme and Rheme encountered in students’ writing. This analysis is considered having many benefits especially for those who are involved in language teaching

field. It will provide the students a better understanding about thematic

progression and problems in writing so that they can improve their writing

performance. Besides, the analysis can also help the teachers in developing their

literacy and professional capacity.

Some studies had been conducted related to the analysis of students’ academic writing using Theme-Rheme system and thematic progression analysis

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exposition text. Bangga (2013) who investigated Theme-Rheme system and Theme progression of students’ exposition text found out that the students were able to make a coherent text seen from Theme choices and all types of Theme progression are present in the students’ text. However, there are pattern differences at global and clause level. Multiple Theme pattern is used at global

level, while at the clause level, the students mostly used the reiteration pattern.

Another research also conducted by Arunsirot (2013) who investigated the

problems resulting from the misuse of Theme and Rheme proved that there are

five problems found from the data. Those problems happened because of many

factors such as mother tongue interference, fossilization and writer’s lack organizational skill in the writing.

Based on the reasons above, this study aims at analyzing students’ commentary writing in terms of Theme choice and thematic progression and also

finds out the problems resulting from the misuse of Theme and Rheme encountered in students’ writing.

1.2. Statement of Problems

Related to the previous explanation, this study attempts to answer the following

questions:

1. How do the students organize their writing in term of Theme choice and

thematic progression?

2. What problems are found in students’ writing?

1.3. Purpose of the Study

Reflecting on curiosity to answer the problems, this study was conducted to gain

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1. To find out how the students of English Education study program organize

their writing in term of Theme choice and thematic progressions.

2. To find out the problems resulting from the misuse of Theme and Rheme

encountered in students’ writing.

1.4. Significance of the Study

Since this study is aimed at analyzing the Theme choice, thematic

progression and problems resulting from the misuse of Theme and Rheme

encountered in students’ writing, it hopefully gives the significance in some areas, such as theory and practice.

Firstly, from theoretical perspective, the result of this study is expected to

have a significant impact to the enrichment of SFL theory especially which related

to the Theme system including Theme and Rheme, thematic progression and

problems resulting from the misuse of Theme and Rheme in writing.

Secondly, from practical perspective, this study is expected to provide an

in-depth analysis of Theme-Rheme system and thematic progression by applying

SFL analysis in both language studies and language teaching studies. It is hoped

that the teachers can gain information of this study to broaden their knowledge of

schematic structures and problems related resulting from the misuse of Theme and

Rheme in writing.

1.5. Clarification of Key Terms

a. Theme system is the organization of information within individual clauses

with the organization of a larger text (Martin, 1992; Martin, Matthiessen, &

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b. Theme progression is the use of Theme and Rheme which helps give

cohesion and coherence to a text, guiding the readers through the text in a

logical and rational course (Arunsirot, 2013).

c. Commentary writing is a text which purpose is to assist the development of

writing skills and/or understanding of specific subject. It gives opinion which

requires thinking, logical responses, own opinion and supported theory

(Merriam Webster Dictionary).

1.6. Organization of the Paper

This paper organized into five chapters. Each chapter is provided with

some subtopics to give broader explanation into the topic.

The first chapter is introduction. This section gives the readers an

overview to the study by providing background of the study, statement of

problems, purpose of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study,

clarification of key terms used in the study, and organization of the paper.

The second chapter is literature review. This chapter elaborates the

literature relevant to this study: SFL including Basic Principles of SFL,

Metafunction, Theme System including Boundary of Theme, Theme in Different

Clause Types and Longer Unit Theme, Thematic Progression and Problems

Related to the Application of Theme and Rheme in Writing.

The third chapter is research methodology. This chapter focuses on the

methodological aspects of this study. It covers four main aspects: research design,

research site and participants, data collection and data analysis.

The fourth chapter is findings and discussions. This section presents and

discusses the result of the study. Furthermore, the interpretation of findings is also

found in this chapter.

The last chapter is conclusion. This chapter presents the conclusion and

recommendation of this study. This chapter is divided into two: conclusion and

recommendation. The conclusion section begins with a brief description of

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Meanwhile the recommendation section provides the suggestion for further

research, generally in Text Analysis using SFL, particularly in analyzing the

application of thematic progression either for experts, teachers, students or other

researchers.

1.7. Concluding Remark

This chapter has presented the underlying principles of this study

including background, statement of problem, purpose of the study, scope of the

study, significance of the study, clarification of key terms and organization of the

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AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The previous chapter has elaborated the theories relevant to this study: Systemic

Functional Linguistics (SFL) including Basic Principles of SFL, Metafunction,

Theme System including Boundary of Theme, Theme in Different Clause Types

and Longer Unit Theme, Thematic Progression and Problems Resulting from the

Misuse of Theme and Rheme in Writing. This chapter focuses on the

methodological aspects of this study. It covers four main aspects: Research

design, elaborates the method employed in this study includes its principles and

characteristics. The research site and participants emphasize on the place where

the study takes place and the participants involved. The data collection section

presents the data types and data collections technique. The data analysis

elaborates the procedure of analyzing the data.

3.1. Research Design

In an attempt to answer the research question, this study employed a

descriptive-qualitative method. This method had been taken into account since it

provided the holistic description of complex phenomena (Fraenkel, et al, 2012).

Since this study is intended to analyze, describe, categorize and interpret the data

to find the Theme and thematic progressions of the text and the problem

encountered in students’ academic writing, descriptive-qualitative method is

considered as the ideal method. According to Fraenkel, et al (2012) qualitative

research is research study that investigates the quality of relationship, activities,

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AN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ COMMENTARY WRITING

Furthermore, since this study used text analysis, so that it can be

considered as case study approach, which is another method of qualitative case

study (Travers, 2001). A case study is an in-depth exploration of a bounded

system (Creswell, 2012). The text analyzed in this study was commentary writing

written by English Education study program students at English Education

Department of state university located in north Bandung.

3.2. Research Site

3.2.1. Settings

The study was conducted at English Education study program of a state

university located in north Bandung. The institution was chosen for two reasons.

Firstly, the situation and context of the study were familiar to the researcher since

the researcher was one of students in that department. However, this familiarity

gives the researcher easy access to conduct the study. Secondly, this study is

about thematic system. It means that the participants are required to have had

learned about thematic system which is one of the topics in SFL and the subject is

taught in English Education Department.

3.2.2. Participants

The participants of this study were 24 students of English Education

Department who had learned Systemic Functional Grammar. The participants

were chosen because they had learned about thematic progression. Moreover, it is

hoped that the students could develop in-depth understanding related to the topic,

and also could apply what they have learned in their writing.

3.3. Data Collection

Referring to Creswell (2012), a case study uses multiple techniques to

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mention that qualitative data must be detailed, thick description and inquiry in

depth. So that the data collection techniques used in this study were collecting

students’ commentary writing and interview.

3.3.1. Collecting Students’ Writing

The first data collection was collecting students’ writing. Twenty four

texts of students’ commentary writing were collected to be analyzed using Theme

and Theme progression analysis of SFL to find out its textual organization and the

problems resulting from the misuse of Theme and Rheme encountered in

students’ writing.

3.3.2. Interview

The second data collection was interview. This technique was chosen for

two reasons. The first reason is to find out students’ awareness in applying Theme

and Rheme and thematic system while writing the commentary writing. The

second, interview was conducted to know whether or not the students have

difficulties in the process of writing. Type of interview used for this study was

one-on-one interview. According to Creswell (2012) in one-on-one interview,

investigators conduct an interview with an individual in the sample and record the

responses. The same source also noted this technique is useful for asking sensitive

questions and enabling interviewees to ask questions or provide comments that go

beyond the initial questions. This technique was chosen because it was considered

appropriate since the interviewer could gain the necessary information related to

the study.

As what had been mentioned before, the questions asked in the interview

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commentary writing. Besides that, the researcher also asked the problems that the students’ found in the process of writing.

3.4. Data Analysis

The data analysis in this study will be divided into four steps:

identification of Theme choice, identification of Thematic progression,

identification of the problems and transcribing interview data.

3.4.1. Identification of Theme Choice

The commentary writing texts collected from the students were broken

down into numbered clauses. Besides that, the texts were also classified according

to the stages of commentary writing: introduction, body/content and conclusion.

After that, the researcher identified the Theme choice based on Halliday (1994),

Halliday and Matthiessen (2004) and Eggins (2004) in terms of textual,

interpersonal and topical theme. Furthermore, in terms of topical Theme, the

researcher analyzed whether it was marked and unmarked. The marked Theme

subcategorized into three types: circumstantial adjunct, subordinating clause and

attributive clause. While unmarked Theme are grammatical sentence subjects in

declarative clauses, and can be realized as simple and complex nominal group.

3.4.2. Identification of Theme Progression Pattern

After identifying the clauses in terms of thematic choice, the researcher

identified the thematic progression pattern of students’ text. The identification of

thematic progression is aimed at finding out how the students develop the ideas

(Fries, 1995; Eggins 2004; as cited in Emilia, 2014).

Moreover, the same source mentioned that thematic progression can be

classified into three patterns: the reiteration pattern, the zig-zag pattern and the

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thematic progression into four patterns: Constant Thematic Progression (CTP),

Simple Linear thematic Progression (SLP), Derived Theme Progression (DTP)

and Split Rheme Progression (SRP). However, the three first pattern concept of

thematic progression proposed by Danes (1974) is the same as what Fries (1995)

and Eggins (2004) mentioned, those are reiteration pattern or CTP, zig-zag pattern

or SLP and multiple Theme pattern or DTP. In analyzing the thematic

progression, the researcher paid attention to the occurrence of each pattern in the

text and finally calculated which pattern mostly occurs in the text.

3.4.3. Identification of the Problems

While the researcher identified the thematic progression in students’ writing, the researcher also identified the problems occurred there. According to

Arunsirot (2013), the problems in students’ writing is caused by the failure to

control the flow of information from Theme to Rheme causing difficulties for the

readers to follow the progression of ideas or arguments in the text. So that it can be concluded that the problems are encountered in students’ writing when the text no longer cohesive and coherent and also when the readers are having difficulties

in understanding the progression of the ideas in the text.

3.4.4. Transcribing and Condensing Interview Data

The interview recording were transcribed, categorized and interpreted to find out students’ awareness of using Theme choice and thematic progression. Besides that, the researcher was also curious on whether the students having

difficulties in applying Theme choice and theme progression on their text. Finally,

the researcher identified whether the difficulties affect the quality of their writing

or not.

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This chapter has presented the methodological aspects applied in this study

covering the research design, research site and participants, data collection and

data analysis.

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Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu CHAPTER V

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The previous chapter has presented the analysis and discussion towards the findings of Theme choice, thematic progression in students’ Commentary Writing and problems encountered in students’ writing. This chapter presents the conclusion and recommendation of this study. This chapter is divided into two

sections: conclusion and recommendation. The conclusion section begins with a

brief description of aspects underlying this study: background, purpose, findings

and conclusion. Meanwhile, the recommendation section provides the suggestion

for further research,

5.1. Conclusions

This study focused on the analysis of the application of thematic progression in students’ academic writing. This study aimed at analyzing how the students organized their ideas textually seen from the Theme choice and thematic

progression. Besides, this study also intended to find the problems encountered in students’ writing.

This study has confirmed the findings from the previous research that

Theme and thematic progression plays a significant role in organizing the ideas

textually and improving students’ writing coherence and overall writing

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said that the Theme system (Theme and thematic progression) analysis can be used as a tool to value students’ writing.

This study found out that the students were able to create a good text seen

from Theme choice and thematic progression applied in the text. The unmarked

topical Themes were used to highlight the topic under discussion. Meanwhile the

marked topical Themes were used when the students want to change the focus of

the clause into significant ways. In addition, the students rarely used interpersonal

Theme in their texts, but some students applied it in their text. The use of this Theme is to indicate writer’s personal judgment on the meaning or to foreground the writer’s view point. Moreover, the students used textual Theme to build arguments, give opinion, oppose argument and build connectedness between steps

in the discussion. In other words, it is used to relate the clause to its context.

However, the use of this Theme contributes to the coherency of the text.

Furthermore, macro- Theme and hyper- Theme were also found in this text. The

use of this Theme makes the text and each stage of longer text develop globally.

The presence of this Theme helped to enhance the cohesion and coherence of the

text. Furthermore, it indicated writer’s development in writing skills and critical

thinking. As for the readers, they can predict what is going to be discussed.

In terms of thematic progression, all types of thematic progression could

be found in the text. Firstly is Theme reiteration pattern. In this pattern, the writer

used the same element as Theme to keep the focus of the text. The use of this

pattern is aimed at giving the reader clear information in the text. Secondly is

Zig-zag pattern. This pattern helped the text in reaching its cohesion by introducing

new information. Besides, by using this pattern, the writer tried to make a sense of

cumulative development of the text. Finally is derived/multiple Theme. The use of

this pattern indicated writer’s ability to employ textual strategies at global level. It

also indicated that the text is a well-written and well-planned text.

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Relevant to the findings, discussions and conclusions of this study, the

researcher would like to give some suggestions for teachers and further study

related to the application of Theme and thematic progression analysis of text.

Firstly, for teachers, it is recommended to guide the students on how to

write a good text. The teachers should give the example so that the students can

get the idea of how a good text is. The teachers can give the design of schematic

structure or the text made by other writers. Besides, the teachers are also

recommended to apply drafting strategy in teaching writing. Drafting strategy is a

strategy in which the students are asked to write the same topic on a particular text

for several times, appropriately 5-6 times. During the process of drafting, the teachers give feedback on students’ writing. By applying this strategy, the students can learn from the mistakes they made and they try to correct the

mistakes by themselves. It is hoped that the students have critical thinking so that

they do not repeat the same mistakes. In addition, in giving feedback, the teachers

should give the students understanding to the students about the importance of

applying Theme system and thematic progression which affect the cohesion of

their writing.

Secondly, it is recommended for other researchers to investigate the

Theme choice and thematic progression in different types of text or literary works,

such as narrative, descriptive, discussion, exposition, explanation, or literary

report. Moreover, the analysis of Theme choice and thematic progression in

spoken form also will be interesting to be explored. Since the participants of this

study are university students who have learned SFL and know exactly about

Theme and thematic progression, the researcher suggests conducting other

research whose participants are students who have not learned SFL. After that,

finding the differences on how the students organize their ideas textually by

comparing the result of those two different groups of participants is also suggested

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