DISCOURSE AND GRAMMAR

(Paper)

Submitted to fulfill Course Assignment Discourse Analysis

Lecturer: Mrs. Dewi Kurniawati, M.Pd

By:
Group 6

ANISA LAILA RAHMADANI 1911040265

BINTA QISTHIA 1911040290

Class: 6E

ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

TARBIYAH AND TEACHER TRAINING FACULTY
STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY RADEN INTAN LAMPUNG
2022
 DISCUSSION

A. GRAMMAR FROM A DISCOURSE PERSPECTIVE

Different linguistic items such as ‘it’, ‘this’ and ‘that’ show different interpretation
from a discourse analysis point of view. For example, the use of the word ‘it’ would
mean a reference to a non-living thing already mentioned before in a discourse. This
grammatical term will be very different and would mean something else compared
to the use of the word ‘he’ later in the chapter.
 Grammar and Discourse from a Contextual Perspective
Hilles (2005) describes the process of examining grammar and discourse
from a contextual perspective. The first stage in this process is to make a
decision as to what aspect of language to investigate, in next stage, to look
at as many sources as possible from reference grammar and the final stage
is to test the hypotheses that have been formed by the native speakers if
they would make the same choices that the research suggests they would
make.
 Comparing Discourse and Sentence-Based Grammars
Huges and McCarthy (1998) make a helpful comparison between Discourse
and sentence-based grammars. A discourse-based Grammar, makes a strong
connection between form, function and context and also aims to place
appropriateness.

B. THE TEXTURE OF A TEXT

Hasan (1989) discusses two crucial attributes of texts and which are important for
the analysis of discourse. These are unity of structure and unity of texture. Unity of
structure refers to patterns which combine together to create information structure,
focus and flow in a text, including the schematic structure of the text.
Unity of texture

Unity of texture refers to the way in which resources such as patterns of cohesion
create both cohesive and coherent texts. Texture results where there are language
items that tie meanings together in the text as well as tie meanings in the text to the
social context in which the text occurs. An example of this is where the meaning
of items that refer outside of the text, such as ‘it’ and ‘that’, can be derived from
the social context in which the text is located.

Texture, then, is a result of the interaction of these kinds of features (Halliday 2

009b). In her chapter ‘The texture of a text’, Hasan (1989b: 71) describes texture
as being ‘a matter of meaning relations’. A crucial notion in this discussion is that
of a tie which connects the meanings of words to each other as well as to the world
outside the text. The basis for cohesion, and in turn texture, thus, is semantic. It is
both explicit and implicit and is based in the ways in which the meanings of items
are tied in a semantic relationship to each other. The interpretation of these items
is found by reference to some other item, or source, within or outside the text. In
the following sentence, for example, I use my knowledge of the text and the context
in which it is located to work out what ‘it’ (in this case, gravy) is referring to in the
text:

Waiter: Where would you like it sir?

Customer: Just a little on the meat thanks.

C. COHESION

An area of language in which grammar and discourse are highly integrated is in

patterns of cohesion in texts. Cohesion refers to the relationship between items in
a text such as words, phrases, and clauses and other items such as pronouns, nouns,
and conjunctions. This includes the relationship between words and pronouns that
refer to that word (reference items). It also includes words that commonly co-occur
in texts (collocation) and the relationship between words with similar, related, and
different meanings (lexical cohesion). Cohesion also considers semantic
relationships between clauses and the ways this is expressed through the use of
conjunctions. As Halliday and Hasan state that is Cohesion is the semantic relation
between one element and another in a text (Halliday & Hasan, 1976). A text is
cohesive when the elements are tied together and considered meaningful to the
reader. Cohesion occurs when the interpretation of one item depends on the other,
i.e. one item presupposes the other (Halliday & Hasan, 1976). A further aspect of
cohesion is the way in which words such as ‘one’ and ‘do’ are used to substitute
for other words in a text (substitution) and the ways in which words or phrases are
left out, or ellipsis, from a text (ellipsis). All of this contributes to the unity of
texture of a text and helps to make the text cohesive.

For instance in the following text:

 Amy went to the party. She sat with Sara.

The interpretation of the item she depends on the lexical item Amy. Therefore,
the text is considered cohesive because we cannot understand the meaning of she
unless Amy exists in the text.

Cohesion is not only concerned with grammar, but also with vocabulary. Hence, it
is divided into grammatical and lexical cohesion.

1. Grammatical Cohesion

According to Halliday and Hasan (1976: 4), cohesion occurs when the
interpretation of some elements in the discourse is dependent on that of another. It
concludes that one element presupposes the other. The element cannot be
effectively decoded except by recourse to it. Moreover, its basic concept of it is a
semantic one. It refers to relations of meaning that exist within the text. So, when
this happens, a relation of cohesion is set up, and the two elements, the presupposing
and the presupposed, are thereby integrated into a text. Halliday and Hasan (1976:
39) classify grammatical cohesion into reference, substitution, ellipsis, and
conjunction.

a. reference

Reference can be identified as the situation in which one element cannot be

semantically interpreted unless it is referred to another element in the text.
Pronouns, articles, demonstratives, and comparatives are used as referring devices
to refer to items in linguistic or situational texts. Reference may either be exophoric
or endophoric (M. Bloor & T. Bloor, 2013).

Exophoric reference

This type of reference looks outside for the things it refers to. David Crystal’s
Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics defines it as “A term used by some
linguists to refer to the process of a linguistic Unit referring directly to the
EXTRALINGUISTIC SITUATION accompanying an utterance”. Exophoric
reference occurs when a word or phrase refers to something outside the discourse.
Here are some examples of exophoric reference:

“They‘re late again, can you believe it?”

“I know! Well, they’d better get here soon or it‘ll get cold.”

They refers to some people outside the discourse known to both speakers. It also
refers to something that both speakers know about (perhaps the dinner).

The use of exophoric reference requires some shared knowledge between two
speakers, or between writer and reader(s). Exophoric reference requires the reader
to infer the interpreted referent by looking beyond the text in the immediate
environment shared by the reader and writer. For example in the sentence:

That is a wonderful idea!

To retrieve the meaning of that, the reader must look outside the situation.
On the other hand, endophoric reference lies within the text itself. It is classified
into two classes: anaphoric and cataphoric. According to Paltridge (2012),
“Anaphoric reference is where a word or phrase refers back to another word or
phrase used earlier in the text” (p. 115). In the previous example:

Amy went to the party. She sat with Sara.

She refers back to Amy; therefore, she is an anaphoric reference. Cataphoric

reference looks forward to another word or phrase mentioned later in the text. For
instance in the following sentence, he is a cataphoric reference that looks forward
to Mike.

As soon as he arrived, Mike visited his parents.

b. Substitution

Substitution is a relation between linguistic items, such as words or phrases, in other

words, it is a relation on the lexico-grammatical level, the level of grammar and
vocabulary, or linguistic form. It is also usually related to the wording rather than
to the meaning. The criterion is the grammar function of the substitution item. In
English, the substitution may function as a noun, as a verb, or as a clause. Then,
Halliday and Hasan divide the three types of substitution namely nominal, verbal,
and clausal (1976: 90). The table below is a summary of substitution forms.

1) Nominal Substitution One/Ones

The elements of nominal substitution are one, ones, and same. The substitution one/
ones always function as the head of a nominal group and can substitute only for an
item that is itself the head of the nominal group. Look at the example below:

a) My pen is too blunt. I must get a sharper one (1).

The word one is the substitution for pen.

 b) I shoot the hippopotamus with bullets made of platinum because, if I use
leaden ones, his hide is sure to flatten ‘em (2). (Halliday and Hasan, 1976:
91).

In sentence (1) one is the substitution for pen. Hence the full form of the sentence
is "my pen is too blunt. I must get a sharper pen". Whereas in example (2) bullets
are the head of the nominal group of leaden ones. The full form of the nominal
group is leaden bullets.

2) Verbal Substitution

The verbal substitution in English is do. This operates as the head of a verbal group,
in the place that is occupied by the lexical verb; and it is always in the final position
in the group. Here are the examples:

a) Does Jean sing? – No, but Mary does (Halliday and Hasan, 1979: 118)
b) ‘I don’t know the meaning of half those long words, and, what’s more, I
don’t believe you do either!’ (Halliday and Hasan, 1976: 112).

In the example a) do substitutes sing; in b) do substitutes know the meaning of half

those long words.

The substitution does is almost always anaphoric; it may presuppose an element

within the same sentence as itself so that there is already a structural relation linking
the presupposed to the presupposing clause, but it frequently substitutes an element
in a preceding sentence, and therefore it is a primary source of cohesion within a
text. Only occasionally, it is cataphoric, which is within the sentence and does not
contribute to cohesion.
3) Clausal Substitution

The words used as substitutes are so and not. There are three environments in which
clausal substitution takes place: report, condition and modality. In each of these
environments it may take either of two forms, positive or negative; the positive is
expressed by so, the negative by not.

a) Substitution of Reported Clauses

Look at the example below:

‘...if you’ve seen them so often, of course you know what they like’.

‘I believe so,’ Alice replied thoroughly. (Halliday and Hasan, 1976: 131).

Here, so substitutes I know what they like.

The reported clause that is substituted by so or not is always declarative, whatever

the mood of the presupposed clauses. There is no substitution for interrogative or
imperative indirect questions or commands), and therefore the clauses substitution
do not follow verbs such as wonder, order or ask.

b) Substitution of Conditional Clauses

A second context for clausal substitution is that of conditional structure. Conditional

clauses are frequently substituted by so and not, especially following if but also in
other forms such as assuming so, suppose not:

(1) Everyone seems to think he’s guilty. If so, no doubt he’ll offer to resign.

(2) We should recognize the place when we come to it.

Yes, but supposing not: then what do we do? (Halliday and Hasan, 1976: 134).
In sentence (1) so substitutes he is guilty, whereas not in sentence (2) substitutes we
don’t recognize the place when we come to it.

c) Substitution of Modalized Clauses

Finally, so and do not occur as substitutes for clauses expressing modality. Look at
the example below:

‘Oh, I beg your pardon!’ cried Alice hastily, afraid that she had hurt the poor
animal’s feelings. ‘I quite forgot you didn’t like cats’.

Not like cats!’ cried the mouse, in a shrill, passionate voice,

‘Would you like cats if you were me?’

‘Well, perhaps not, said Alice in a shooting tone: … (Halliday and Hasan, 1976:
134).

Modality is the speaker’s assessment of the probabilities inherent in the situation,

as in the example above. These may be expressed either by modal forms of the verb
(will, would, can, could, may, must, should, is, to and ought to), or by modal
adverbs such as perhaps, possibly, probably, certainly, surely; the latter are
frequently followed by a clausal substitute, with the proviso already noted, that
those expressing certainly do not accept substitution in the positive, though they do
in the negative.

c. Ellipsis

The essential characteristic of ellipsis is something that is present in the selection

of underlying (systematic) option that omitted in the structure. According to
Halliday and Hasan (1976: 143), ellipsis can be regarded as substitution by zero. It
is divided into three kinds, namely nominal ellipsis, verbal ellipsis, and clausal
ellipsis.
1) Nominal Ellipsis
Nominal ellipsis means the ellipsis within the nominal group or the common noun
that may be omitted and the function of head taken on by one of other elements
(deictic, numeral, epithet or classifier). The deictic is normally a determiner, the
numeral is a numeral or other quantifier, the epithet is an adjective and the classifier
is a noun. According to Hassan and Halliday, this is more frequently a deictic or a
numeral than epithet or classifier. The most characteristic instances of ellipsis,
therefore are those with deictic or numeral as head.

a) Deictic as head
(1) Specific Deictic
The specific deictic are demonstrative, possessive and pronoun. The demonstratives
are this, that, these, those, and which. Possessives include both noun (Smith’s, my
father’s, etc.) and pronoun (my, your, etc.). The latter have a special form when
functioning as head: mine, ours, yours, his, hers, theirs, whose, and (rarely) its. For
example:
Take these pills three times daily and you’d better have some more of those too
(Halliday and Hasan, 1976: 157).

Pills, functioning as head, is omitted and is replaced by demonstrative modifier

those. The full form of the sentence is Take these pills three times daily. And you’d
better have some more of those pills too.

(2) Non-specific deictic

The non-specific deictics are each, every, any, either, no, neither, a and some as
well as both. For example:
(a) Smith and Jones are on Holiday. I wonder if either has left an address.
(b) These apples are delicious. Let’s by some. (Halliday and Hasan, 1976: 158).
In the second sentence of example (a), the word Smith and Jones are omitted and
replaced by either. Hence in the second sentence of example (b), the phrase these
apples is omitted and replaced by the word some. Hence, the full forms of those
sentence are (a) Smith and Jones are on holiday. I wonder if either Smith or Jones
has left an address. (b) These apples are delicious. Let’s buy some apples.

(3) Post-deictic
The word functioning as post-deictic elements in the nominal group are adjectives.
There are thirty or forty adjectives used commonly in deictic function and a number
of others used occasionally in this way; the frequent ones include other, same,
different, identical, usual, regular, certain, odd, famous, well-known, typical,
obvious. They combine with the, a or other determiner (the combination of a + other
written and pronounced as one word another); and they may be followed by a
numeral, unlike adjectives in their normal function as epithet which must follow
any numeral element, for example “I’ve used up these three yellow folders you gave
me. Can I use the other?” (Halliday and Hasan, 1976: 160). The elliptical nominal
group is signed by combination post-deictic other and specific deictic “the”. The
full form of the sentence is “I’ve used up these three yellow folder you gave me.
Can I use the other three yellow folder?”

b) Numeral as Head
Of the element occuring after the deictic in the nominal group, only the numeral
and certain types of epithet function at all regularly as the head in ellipsis. The
numerative element in the nominal group is expressed by numerals or other
quantifying words, which form three subcategories: ordinals, cardinals, and
indefinite quantifiers (Halliday and Hasan, 1976: 161).
(1) Ordinal Numeral
The ordinal numerals are first, next, last, second, third, fourth, etc. They are often
used elliptically, generally with the or a possessive as deictic, for example Have
another chocolate. – No, thanks; that was my third (Halliday and Hassan, 1976:
161). The nominal elliptical group my third is specific deictic of possessive pronoun
my and ordinal third. The full form of the sentence becomes Have another
chocolate. – No, thanks; that was my third chocolate.
(2) Cardinal Numeral
Cardinal numerals are also frequent in ellipsis, and may be preceded by any deictic
and also by post deictic adjectives such as the usual three, the same three. For
example Have another chocolate. – No, thanks; I’ve had may three. The nominal
elliptical group my three is specific deictic possessive my and cardinal numeral
three. The full form of the sentence is Have another chocolate. – No, thanks; I’ve
had my three chocolate.
(3) Indefinite Quantifiers
The indefinite quantifiers are items such as much, many, most, few, several, a little,
lots, a bit, hundreds, etc. In the utterance Can all cats climb trees? – they all can;
and most do, the indefinite quantifier, most, presupposes cats.

c) Epithet as Head
The function of epithet is typically fulfilled by an adjective that is superlative and
comparative form.
1. Superlative Adjectives
The superlative adjective precedes other epithet and is usually accompanied by the
or a possessive deictic. For example:
 Apple are the cheapest in autumn.
 Apple are cheapest in autumn. (Halliday and Hasan, 1976: 164).
In example (a) the cheapest is an elliptical group presupposing fruit. Example (b) is
not elliptical. Fruit ellipted is as head and replaced by the cheapest.

2. Comparative Adjective
Comparative adjective are inherently presupposing by reference, for examples, (a)
Mary is the cleverer; (b) Mary is cleverer (Halliday and Hasan, 1976: 165).
Example (a) is comparative ellipsis since it is presupposing by reference whereas
(b) is not elliptical comparative.
 2) Verbal Ellipsis
An elliptical verbal group presupposes one or more words from a previous verbal
group. Technically, it is defined as a verbal group whose structure does not fully
express its systematic feature. Example:
a) Have you been swimming? – Yes, I have.
b) What have you been doing? – Swimming (Halliday and Hasan, 1976: 167)

The two verbal groups in the answers have (in yes I have) in (a) and swimming in
(b), are both the instances of verbal ellipsis. Both stand for ‘have been swimming’,
and there is no possibility of ‘filling out’ with any other items. The example (b)
could be interpreted only as I have been swimming and it could, furthermore, be
replaced by I have been swimming, since as in all types of ellipsis, the full form and
the elliptical one are both possible. There are two types of verbal ellipsis namely
lexical and operator ellipsis.

3) Lexical Ellipsis
Lexical ellipsis is the type of ellipsis in which the lexical verb is missing from the
verbal group. All the modal operators (can, could, will, would, shall, should, may,
might, must, ought to, and is to) are alike in that one of them can function as a
lexical verb. For example: Is John going to come? – He might. He was to. – He
should, if he wants his name to be considered (Halliday and Hasan, 1976: 170).
Here might, was to, may not and should are all elliptical verbal groups consisting
of modal operator. Each one of them could be filled out by the lexical verb come.
Question tag form is also example of lexical ellipsis. For example is John couldn’t
been going to be consulted, could he?
b) Operator Ellipsis
Operator ellipsis is the type of ellipsis which involves only the omission of
operators: the lexical verb always remain intact. In operator ellipsis the subject is
always omitted from the clause. Look at the examples below:
(1) They might or might not have objected.
(2) Has she been crying? – No, laughing.
(3) What have you been doing? – Being chased by a bull. (Halliday and Hasan,
1976: 175).

The full forms of these sentences are (1) They might or they might not have
objected. (2) Has she been crying? – No, she has not been crying, but she has been
laughing. (3) What have you been doing? – I have been being chased by a bull.

4) Clausal Ellipsis
Clause in English, considered as the expression of the the various speech functions,
such as statement, question, response and so on, has a two-part structure consisting
of modal element plus propositional element. For example:
The Duke was going to plant a row of poplars in the park.
(Modal element) (Prepositional element)
(Halliday and Hasan, 1976: 197)

Halliday and Hasan also say that the principle of clausal ellipsis is general to all
types of questions (1976: 211).
a) Modal Ellipsis
The modal element consist of the subject plus the finite element in the verbal group,
for example, What was the Duke going to do? – Plant a row of poplars in the park
(Halliday and Hasan, 1976: 197). In the answer, the modal element (the subject and
the finite operator was) is omitted, hence there is operator ellipsis. The sentence
should be What was the Duke going to do? – The Duke was going to plant a row of
poplars in the park.
b) Propositional Ellipsis
The propositional element consist of the residu: the remainder of the verbal group,
and any complements or adjuncts that may be present, for example, Who was going
to plant a row of poplars in the park? – The Duke was (Halliday and Hasan, 1976:
198). Here there is omission of the complement and the adjunct, and, within the
verbal group, of the lexical verb plant: so we have lexical ellipsis in the verbal
group. Hence the sentence should be Who was going to plant a row of poplars in
the park? – The Duke was going to plant a row of poplar in the park.
c) Yes/ no Question Ellipsis
Answer to yes/ no questions or polar questions are very simply dealt with the
instruction to answer yes or no. They do not mean ‘you are right’ and ‘you are
wrong’. But, they mean the answer is positive and the answer is negative.

Table 2.8 Yes/ No Question Ellipsis

Question Answer, Positive Answer,
negative
a. Are you coming? Yes (I am) No (I am not)
b. Aren’t you coming? Yes (I am) No (I am not)
(Halliday and Hasan, 1979: 209)

d) WH – Ellipsis
(1) What did I hit? – A root.
(2) Who killed Cock Robin? – The dparrow.
(3) How’s the patient? – Comfortable. (Halliday and Hasan, 1976: 210)

e) Conjunction

Conjunction words are linking devices between sentences or clauses in a text.

Unlike the other grammatical devices, conjunctions express the ‘logical-semantic’
relation between sentences rather than between words and structures (Halliday &
Hasan, 1976). In other words, they structure the text in a certain logical order that
is meaningful to the reader or listener. Conjunctions are divided into four types,
namely additive, adversative, causal, and temporal.

 Additive conjunctions connect units that share semantic similarity.

Examples of additive conjunctions are, and, likewise, furthermore, in
addition, etc.
  Adversative conjunctions are used to express contrasting results or
opinions. This type of conjunction is expressed by words such as, but,
however, in contrast, whereas, etc.
 Causal conjunctions introduce results, reasons, or purposes. They are
characterized by the use of items such as, so, thus, therefore, because, etc.
 Temporal conjunctions express the time order of events such as, finally,
then, soon, at the same time, etc.

Martin (1992) and Martin and Rose (2007) discuss conjunctions under the
categories of additive, comparative, temporal and consequential conjunctions,
extending Halliday and Hasan’s work in this area.

 Additive conjunctions include ‘and’, ‘or’, ‘moreover’, ‘in addition’ and

‘alternatively’. That is, they draw on the notion of ‘addition’ in both a
positive and a contrastive sense.
 Comparative conjunctions include ‘whereas’, ‘but’, ‘on the other hand’,
‘likewise’ and ‘equally’, drawing on the notion of comparison in both a
positive and negative sense.
 Temporal conjunctions include items such as ‘while’, ‘when’, ‘after’,
‘meanwhile’, then’, ‘finally’ and ‘at the same time’.
 Consequential conjunctions include items such as ‘so that’, ‘because’,
‘since’, ‘thus’, ‘if’, ‘therefore’, ‘in conclusion’ and ‘in this way’.

2. Lexical Cohesion

Lexical cohesion involves the choice of vocabulary. It is concerned with the

relationship that exists between lexical items in a text such as words and phrases.
Lexical cohesion includes two types, reiteration and collocation.
 a. Reiteration

Halliday and Hasan (1976) define reiteration as two items that share the same
referent and could either be repeated or have similar meanings in a text. The forms
of reiteration are repetition, synonymy, antonymy, and superordination (hyponymy
and meronymy).

 Repetition is the restatement of the same lexical item. This is illustrated by

the following:

Anna ate the apple. The apple was fresh.

 Synonymy is used to refer to items of similar meaning just as, attractive and
beautiful.
 Antonymy is the relation between items of opposite meanings such as, hot
and cold.
 Hyponymy refers to items of ‘general-specific’ or ‘an example of’
relationship (Paltridge, 2012: 119). For example, vehicle is the co-hyponym
of car.
 Meronymy is a ‘whole-part’ relationship between items. For instance, cover
and page are co-meronyms of the item book. In other words, book is the
super-ordinate item of cover and page.

b. Collocation

Collocation is a combination of vocabulary items that co-occur together. It includes

combinations of adjectives and nouns such as, ‘fast food’, verbs and nouns such as,
‘run out of money’, ‘give opinion’, ‘make sense’ and other items such as, ‘men’
and ‘women’ (Platridge, 2012).
D. THEME AND RHEME

Theme is ‘the element which serves as the point of departure of the message’
(Halliday 1 985: 38). It also introduces ‘information prominence’ into the clause.
For example, in the sentence in Table 6.2 from A Dictionary of Sociolinguistics
(Swann et al. 2 004: 123), ‘genre’ is the theme of the clause and the rest of the
sentence is its rheme. The rheme is what the clause has to say about the theme –
what it has to say about genre. The theme in this sentence is a topical theme , in
contrast with a structural element such as a conjunction (such as ‘and’ or ‘but’),
which is a textual theme .

Table 6.2 Theme and rheme

Theme Rheme

Genre is a term in widespread use to indicate an

approach to communication which
emphasizes social function and purpose.
An example of a textual theme can be seen in the final sentence of the text, shown
in Table 6.3, where ‘but’ joins two clauses together. The rest of the themes in this
extract are topical themes.

Table 6.3 Examples of theme and rheme

Topical Textual Topical Rheme

theme theme theme

Genre is a term in widespread use to indicate an

approach to communication which
emphasizes social function and purpose.

Signifi surrounds the definition of genre,

cant particularly the extent to which it refers to
debate texts or activities in which texts are
embedded.

It is often vaguely defined

 But several can be identified which are illustrated in
uses of different types of genre analysis.
the term

 Interpersonal theme

Interpersonal theme refers to an item that comes before the rheme which indicates
the relationship between participants in the text, or the position or point of view
that is being taken in the clause. The example in Table 6.4 from a student essay
(North 2005) shows an example of a textual theme, an interpersonal theme and a
topical theme. Here the interpersonal theme expresses uncertainty about the
proposition that follows:

Table 6.4 Examples of textual theme

Textual Interpersonal Topical Rheme

theme theme theme

However it seems Descartes would deliberately

… unlikely that challenge the
church
An interpersonal theme can express probability (e.g. perhaps), usuality (e.g.
sometimes), typicality (e.g. generally) or obviousness (e.g. surely). It can also
express opinion (e.g. to my mind), admission (e.g. frankly), persuasion (e.g. believe
me), entreaty (e.g. kindly), presumption (e.g. no doubt), desirability (e.g. hopefully)
or prediction (e.g. as expected) (Halliday and Matthiessen 2004 ).

 Multiple theme

The extract in Table 6.5 from the review of He’s Just Not That Into You shows a
further example of textual, interpersonal and topical themes. It is an example of
multiple theme. That is, there is more than a single thematic element in the Theme
component of the clause.
 Table 6.5 Multiple themes

Textual Interpersonal Topical Rheme

theme theme theme

Because, of course, the is a clumsy dance of blunders

dating and misunderstandings.
game

E. THEMATIC PROGRESSION

The notions of theme and rheme are also employed in the examination of thematic
progression (Eggins 2 004) , or method of development of texts (Fries 2 002) .
Thematic progression refers to the way in which the theme of a clause may pick
up, or repeat, a meaning from a preceding theme or rheme. This is a key way in
which information flow is created in a text. There a number of ways in which this
may be done. These are discussed below.

 Constant theme

One example of thematic progression is theme reiteration or constant theme. In this

pattern, ‘Theme 1’ is picked up and repeated at the beginning of the next clause,
signaling that each clause will have something to say about the theme. In Table 6.6,
there are two sets of constant themes. The thematic progression of this text is shown
in Figure 6.8.

Table 6.6 Theme reiteration/constant theme (based on Cornbleet and Carter

2001: 3)

Theme Rheme

Text can be used for both spoken and written

language.

It usually refers to a stretch, an extract or complete

piece of writing or speech
 Discourse is a much wider term.

It can be used to refer to language in action, such

as legal discourse, which has characteristic
patterns of language.

 Linear Theme

Another common pattern of thematic progression is when the subject matter in the
rheme of one clause is taken up in the theme of a following clause. The text
analyzed in Table 6.7 shows an example of this kind of progression. This is referred
to as a zigzag or linear pattern theme. This pattern is illustrated in Figure 6.9.

Table 6.7 Theme and rheme: A zigzag/linear theme pattern (based on Knapp and
Watkins 2005: 55)

Theme Rheme

The term describes a range of grammatical resources used to express

‘modality’ probability or obligation

Generally, is used in speech, speech, especially when wanting to get

obligation things done such as ‘You should keep your room tidy’.

 Multiple Theme/Split Rheme

Texts may, equally, include other kinds of progression such as a ‘multiple-theme’

or ‘split rheme’ patterns. In ‘multiple-theme’/‘split rheme’ progression, a rheme
may include a number of different pieces of information, each of which may be
taken up as the theme in a number of subsequent clauses.

The analysis of the text in Table 6.8 and the illustration of its thematic progression
in Figure 6.10 include an example of ‘multiple theme’/’split rheme’ progression.
In this text, the two pieces of information in Rheme 2 (‘two alphabets’ and ‘Chinese
ideograms’) are picked up in Themes 3 and 4 respectively. Also ‘Hiragana’ and
‘Katakana’ in Rheme 3 are picked up in Themes 5 (Hiragana), 6 and 7 (Katakana)
respectively (although in the case of Theme 7 ‘Katakana’ is ellipsed). This text also
incudes examples of ‘theme reiteration’/‘constant theme’ between the first two
clauses and the sixth and seventh clauses and a zigzag/linear theme pattern between
a number of rhemes and subsequent rhemes.

Table 6.8 Theme and rheme: A multiple theme/split rheme pattern (based on
Nesbitt, Nesbitt and Uchimaru 1990: 21)

Theme Rheme

When Japanese write their language

people

They use a combination of two separate alphabets as well as

ideograms borrowed from Chinese

The two are called hiragana and katakana.

alphabets

The Chinese are called Kanji.

ideograms

Hiragana represents the 46 basic sounds that are made in the Japanese
language

Katakana represents the same sounds as hiragana

but (Katakana) is used mainly for words borrowed from foreign languages
and for sound effects.

Kanji are used to communicate an idea rather than a sound.

E. FOCUSING ON COHESION IN STUDENT TEXTS

The work of Halliday and Hasan (1976) influenced scholars and researchers by the
early 1980s. The two terms were distinguished then. Before their work, both the
words were used interchangeably. Cohesion is now understood to be a textual
quality, attained through the use of grammatical and lexical elements that enable
readers to perceive semantic relationships within and between
sentences. Coherence refers to the overall consistency of a discourse, its purpose,
voice, content, style, form, and so on--and is in part determined by readers'
perceptions of texts, dependent not only on linguistic and contextual information in
the texts but also on readers' abilities to draw upon other kinds of knowledge, such
as cultural and intertextual knowledge.
 CONCLUSION

This chapter has discussed grammar from a discourse perspective. It has shown how
individual linguistic features work together in whole texts. This includes how
interpersonal factors result in the use of certain grammatical choices as well as ways
in which the use of particular items provide texture to texts. The repetition and
collocation of lexical items has been discussed, as has patterns of progression in
texts. The ways in which attitude is expressed through grammar has been given
particular attention, as have grammatical differences between spoken and written
discourse. The chapter has argued that there is no simple, one-dimensional
difference between spoken and written discourse but, rather, these differences are
most usefully seen as being on a scale, or continuum.
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