Functional English Grammar: An Introduction for Second Language Teachers

Functional English Grammar An Introduction for Second Language Teachers Functional English Grammar An Introduction for Second Language Teachers TRUONG VAN ANH Sai Gon Univerity Unit 8 Textual function[.]

Functional English Grammar:

An Introduction for Second

Language Teachers

TRUONG VAN ANH Sai Gon Univerity

Unit 8 Textual function: Theme and rheme

Experiential meaning is represented by processes, participants and circumstances Interpersonal meaning is expressed by many resources.

A system of realizing textual meaning organizes

these two kinds of meaning to produce clauses and sentences.

In a paragraph, all mistakes have been corrected; however, the text still seems muddled There are many ways to rearrange

clauses or sentences without changing the meanings.

The cat ate the rat

The rat was eaten by the cat

It was the cat that ate the rat

It was the rat that the cat ate

What the cat did was ate the rat

Ate the rat, the cat did

The cat, it ate the rat

It was the rat that was eaten by the cat

 It was the cat that the rat was eaten by

 The cat did eat the rat

The ten versions differ from each other and from the original clause in the textual meaning

in the way where the same experiential and interpersonal meanings have been organized

as a message

Marked and unmarked word order

The differences in textual meaning among the versions are in that the word order is the most usual or less usual

The word order which is used as a kind of default word order for declarative clauses are

is called unmarked word order The contrary

is called marked word order.

Ex: Thomas stood in the room (unmarked)

In the room stood Thomas (Marked)

Theme and Rheme

Theme is the point of departure/jumping-off point of the message in the clause The remaining is called the rheme

The cat ate the rat in the kitchen

The rat was eaten by the cat in the kitchen

In the kitchen the cat ate the rat

Marked and unmarked Themes

When theme is the Subject, it is unmarked Any Themes other than the subject, they are referred to as marked Themes

In yes-no interrogative mood the Finite is the unmarked Theme In wh- interrogative mood the wh word is the unmarked Theme

Ex: Do you need anything?

Where will you go?

In imperative mood, the unmarked Theme is the Predicator

Ex: Close the door

unless it is preceded by a Subject.

Ex: You close the door

Selections of marked Themes

A marked Theme is moved to the front of the clause It is thematized

Ex: In 1890 Uncle Ho was born

The Circumstantial Adjunct in 1890 is

thematized

Ex: This clause I wrote

The Object of the clause is thematized.

Thematized Objects and Complements

In contrast or in emphasis, Objects or Complements are thematized when they are put in the front

Ex: Most of the clauses are extracted from the

novels, but this clause I wrote (contrast)

Coffee I drank (emphasis)

A teacher I am and a teacher I will always be Strange was the man

Note: They are called highly marked

Thematized Circumstantial Adjuncts

In English, thematized Circumstantial Adjuncts are more common than thematized Objects and Complements

Ex: In this chapter, we study Theme In the following chapter, we study complex sentences (Textual meaning) [time]

In 1911, Uncle Ho left Vietnam for the way of national salvation In 1941, he returned to the country (the method of development) [time]

In the living-room there are …In the kitchen there are… (the method of development) [place]

There are three kinds of themes:

+ Topical theme: the subject

Ex: Jack is handsome

They often help us

+ Interpersonal theme: showing attitude or feeling

Ex: Wow, you have such a nice dress

In my opinion, you should study hard

+ Textual theme: linking the sentences in a text.Ex: Finally, the toad became a nice prince

Absolute Themes

Absolute Themes stand outside the clauses in order to provide the framework for interpreting the whole clause

Ex: The list he thinks he wants to mention the items bought in the supermarket

Phrases such as as for or concerning begin

absolute Themes

Ex: The car has a nice color and an elegant shape As for the engine, it can run very smoothly and fast

Absolute Themes mark a transition to a topic

of the next part of the text (From color and shape to engine)

Themes which may be repeated are called picked-up

Ex: Those students who I have mentioned have great ability, I will introduce one to you and

you will find him excellent

They always get excellent marks Concerning their behavior, they are always very good

Absolute and picked-up Themes are used to

reintroduced previous topics

Learning and teaching Theme-Rheme structures

Thematic organization makes languages different

In Vietnamese, marked Themes are used commonly.

Ex: Ở trường tôi gặp em (Emphasis)

Rarely is the Theme the Object.

Ex: Độc lập chúng ta phải giành lấy.

It is noted that if only unmarked themes are used, the text seems flat, monotonous and

sometimes rather childish.

Ex: He stood up He came to the window He looked outside He saw her on the street

Nonexperiential Themes

When Conjunctive Adjuncts are in the beginning, they may be thematic (textual themes) or nonthematic (they are ignored)

When modal Adjuncts are in the beginning, they are called interpersonal Themes

Ex: Therefore, they stayed at home and watched TV

Not surprisingly, he won the match

A text with too many thematized Conjunctive Adjuncts can seem pedantic and ponderous.

Ex: He learns very well However, he is ugly Thus, nobody loves him In addition, he is poor

Exercise: Analyze the theme and rheme:

1 Ouch, you step on my foot

2 The bamboo survived the storm

3 On the chest the baby sucks milk

4 Today it is nice

5 A bee bites her cheek

Theme

Subject Before subject

Feeling, attitude Linking others

Topical Interpersonal Textual

Exercise: Are the underlined themes marked or unmarked?

1 Ouch, you step on my foot

2 The bamboo survived the storm

3 On the chest the baby sucks milk

Exercise: What kinds of Themes are the underlined units? Circle the correct choice.

1 Poor Jim, he must be out of his mind.

a Absolute Theme b Picked up Theme c

Unmarked Theme

2 Jane, I’m truly sorry it didn’t work out.

a Textual Theme b Interpersonal Theme

c Experiential Theme

3 Few are those who live to be seventy.

a Unmarked Theme b Marked Theme c

Non-experiential Theme

4 As for dessert, we have ice-cream, fruit, and cake.

a Absolute Theme b Picked up Theme

Information focus

The Focus is the culmination of the new information It is the tonics (tonic syllables) Other information is called given information.

TONE GROUP 1 TONE GROUP 2

Ex: Jack took some f Tablets // and felt FINE

The tonics may be different according to the speaker’s intention

Ex: We take Jack to the REStaurant

We take JACK to the restaurant

WE take Jack to the restaurant

Other ways of organizing the message

Theme and the Focus are two important parts

of organizing the message of a clause However, voice selection, existential clauses, and clefting are other options for organizing the message

Voice selection

ACTOR DIRECT OBJECT

Ex: Jack bought the pen

GOAL PREP OBJECT

The pen was bought by Jack

In the selection of active voice the Focus of information is the Actor

In the selection of passive voice, the speaker or writer thematizes participants such as Goals, Recipients, and Phenomena The new information is the Theme

In the selection of passive voice, the Theme may not be switched

Ex: He stood in front of me and was hit by her

We use the passive when the person or thing that performs the action is unimportant The clauses become Agentless, Actorless, Senserless, etc

Learning and teaching passive voice

Some languages thematize constituents more freely than English

Ex: Nước nấu rồi

*Water boils already

“The water has already been boiled.”

The Subject/Actor may be present

Ex: Nước mẹ nấu rồi

*Water mother boils already

“The water mother has already boiled.”

In Russian the Actor may be shifted to the end

of the clause without any change in the voice

Ex: Kathy waters the flowers

The flowers are watered by Kathy

Existential clauses

In the structures “there is/are”, the Theme is

there or a Circumstantial Adjunct, while the

Existent appears in the Rheme and is the unmarked Focus of information

EXISTENT/FOCUS

Ex: There are many books in the library

The Existent may be the Theme

Ex: Many books are in the library

Clefting

There are two types of clefting: it cleft and wh- cleft.

It Clefts

Noncleft: We saw Jack in the market

Cleft: It is in the market that we saw Jack

The focus is after the linking verb In the above clause the Circumstantial Adjunct is focused

on However, other constituents are the Focus Cleft: It is Jack that we saw in the market

Wh- Clefts

Wh- clefts are realized by wh-clauses

Noncleft: We saw Jack in the market

Cleft: Where we saw Jack is in the market

Commonly, the Identified/wh- clause comes first (the Theme); however, the order can be reversed Noncleft: I will tell you the story of Lan and Diep

Cleft: What I will tell you is the story of Lan and Diep.Cleft: The story of Lan and Diep is what I will tell you Like it- clefts, wh- clefts often involve contrast

Ex: What the beggar wants is not food but money.

Learning and teaching Clefts

There are many ways to emphasize the constituents in the clauses Clefts are one of them

In writing or speaking, clefts help focus on the important information

Unit 8 Textual function: Theme and rheme

Experiential meaning is represented by processes, participants and circumstances Interpersonal meaning is expressed by many resources.

A system of realizing textual meaning organizes

these two kinds of meaning to produce clauses and sentences.

In a paragraph, all mistakes have been corrected; however, the text still seems muddled There are many ways to rearrange

Adv Adv NP + VP

Subject

Theme Theme Theme Rheme

Interpersonal Textual Topical

Interpersonal: attitude, feeling, mood

Textual: Linking the current sentence with the previous or following sentences

clauses or sentences without changing the meanings.

The cat ate the rat

The rat was eaten by the cat

It was the cat that ate the rat

It was the rat that the cat ate

What the cat did was ate the rat

Ate the rat, the cat did

The cat, it ate the rat

It was the rat that was eaten by the cat

 It was the cat that the rat was eaten by

 The cat did eat the rat

The ten versions differ from each other and from the original clause in the textual meaning

in the way where the same experiential and interpersonal meanings have been organized

as a message

Marked and unmarked word order

The differences in textual meaning among the versions are in that the word order is the most usual or less usual

The word order which is used as a kind of default word order for declarative clauses are

is called unmarked word order The contrary

is called marked word order.

Ex: Thomas stood in the room (unmarked)

In the room stood Thomas (Marked)

Theme and Rheme

Theme is the point of departure/jumping-off point of the message in the clause The remaining is called the rheme

The cat ate the rat in the kitchen

The rat was eaten by the cat in the kitchen

In the kitchen the cat ate the rat

Marked and unmarked Themes

When theme is the Subject, it is unmarked Any Themes other than the subject, they are referred to as marked Themes

In yes-no interrogative mood the Finite is the unmarked Theme In wh- interrogative mood the wh word is the unmarked Theme

Ex: Do you need anything?

Where will you go?

In imperative mood, the unmarked Theme is the Predicator

Ex: Close the door

unless it is preceded by a Subject.

Ex: You close the door

Selections of marked Themes

A marked Theme is moved to the front of the clause It is thematized

Ex: In 1890 Uncle Ho was born

The Circumstantial Adjunct in 1890 is

thematized

Ex: This clause I wrote

The Object of the clause is thematized.

Thematized Objects and Complements

In contrast or in emphasis, Objects or Complements are thematized when they are put in the front

Ex: Most of the clauses are extracted from the

novels, but this clause I wrote (contrast)

Coffee I drank (emphasis)

A teacher I am and a teacher I will always be Strange was the man

Note: They are called highly marked

Thematized Circumstantial Adjuncts

In English, thematized Circumstantial Adjuncts are more common than thematized Objects and Complements

Ex: In this chapter, we study Theme In the following chapter, we study complex sentences (Textual meaning) [time]

In 1911, Uncle Ho left Vietnam for the way of national salvation In 1941, he returned to the country (the method of development) [time]

In the living-room there are …In the kitchen there are… (the method of development) [place]

There are three kinds of themes:

+ Topical theme: the subject

Ex: Jack is handsome

They often help us

+ Interpersonal theme: showing attitude or feeling

Ex: Wow, you have such a nice dress

In my opinion, you should study hard

+ Textual theme: linking the sentences in a text.Ex: Finally, the toad became a nice prince

Absolute Themes

Absolute Themes stand outside the clauses in order to provide the framework for interpreting the whole clause

Ex: The list he thinks he wants to mention the items bought in the supermarket

Phrases such as as for or concerning begin

absolute Themes

Ex: The car has a nice color and an elegant shape As for the engine, it can run very smoothly and fast

Absolute Themes mark a transition to a topic

of the next part of the text (From color and shape to engine)

Themes which may be repeated are called picked-up

Ex: Those students who I have mentioned have great ability, I will introduce one to you and

you will find him excellent

They always get excellent marks Concerning their behavior, they are always very good

Absolute and picked-up Themes are used to

reintroduced previous topics

Learning and teaching Theme-Rheme structures

Thematic organization makes languages different

In Vietnamese, marked Themes are used commonly.

Ex: Ở trường tôi gặp em (Emphasis)

Rarely is the Theme the Object.

Ex: Độc lập chúng ta phải giành lấy.

It is noted that if only unmarked themes are used, the text seems flat, monotonous and