This book focuses on how instruction affects English learners' use of Theme and thematic progression (thematic organization). While thematic organization in learner English has been extensively studied, little research has been done to investigate the effects of instruction on the use of Theme and thematic progression. Adopting a Systemic Functional Grammar approach, this study explores how a ten-week instruction on thematic organization affects Chinese college students' use of Theme and thematic progression by comparing their English essays before and after the instruction, with native-speaker essays as the research baseline. Second-language acquisition researchers, curriculum developers and foreign language teachers will find this book useful as it not only presents a clear and detailed report of how Chinese college students learn to make better thematic choices, but also provides a well-developed instructional package on Theme and thematic progression.

Autorentext
Jing Wei is an associate professor in College of International Studies at Southwest University, China. She holds a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics. She has been teaching English as a foreign language for 17 years. Her research interests include second language acquisition, English for specific purposes and foreign language teacher development.

Inhalt

Foreword.- List of abbreviations.- Chapter 1 Introduction.- Chapter 2 Literature review.- Chapter 3 Theoretical background.- Chapter 4 Research Design.- Chapter 5 Results and analysis of pre-essays.- Chapter 6 Results and analysis of post-essays.- Chapter 7 Results and analysis of pre- and post- essays.- Chapter 8 Results and analysis of the questionnaire.- Chapter 9 Discussion.- Chapter 10 Conclusion.- Appendix 1 Plan for the interventional procedures.- Appendix 2:  Questionnaire.- Appendix 3:  Instructional package.- Appendix 4:  Teachers' guide to the instruction.- Appendix 5:  Consent form for the experimental group.- Appendix 6:  Consent form for the control group.- Appendix 7:  Consent form for the native speaker group.