Chapter 3:

Definition and Identification of Theme

This chapter outlines the theoretical assumptions underlying the notion of Theme in the
present study. Halliday (1994) hypothesises that the basic organising principle of language
is ‘functional’, and he proposes three ‘metafunctions’ to account for its organisation: an
ideational, a textual and an interpersonal metafunction. Halliday further contends that
looking at actual texts as the instantiation of language through the prism of the meta-
functions will help us understand the way in which meaning is made through language. The
focus of this study is the textual metafunction, and the way in which certain interpersonal
meanings, i.e. meanings that belong to the interpersonal metafunction, are embedded
within the choice of Theme in a clause complex (the ‘sentence’ of traditional grammar).
The study aims to discover whether selected Themes in memos, letters and reports reveal
both textual and interpersonal features which writers select to convey the intended meaning
of a text.

In particular the study is concerned with the following questions relating to the definition,
identification, constituent features and multiple functions performed by Theme. The
general question is:

1) What function does Theme perform in written workplace texts?

Before attempting to answer this general question, it is clear that more specific questions
need to be addressed, including:

2) Where should the boundary between Theme and Rheme be drawn?

3) What, if any, are the major issues related to establishing this boundary?
4) How can different Theme choices be labelled?
5) What are the constituent elements of Theme and what function does each perform?

As the chapter develops it becomes clear that even more specific questions require answers
such as:

6) How does extended Theme function in the texts?

7) What evidence is there that the choice of Theme is genre-related?
8) What linguistic resources are used to realise and construe interpersonal realisations
through choice of Theme?
 ASPECTS OF THEME AND THEIR ROLE IN WORKPLACE TEXTS

Research by Davies (1988, 1994, 1997), Martin (1992b), Berry (1995, 1996), Thompson
(1994, 1996), Fries (1995a) and others are cited to support the view that the choice of
Theme in English workplace texts influences not only the structure of a text, but also
meanings of an interpersonal nature.

In Section 3.1, the theoretical framework is established by an exposition of the way in

which Theme is understood in this study. The concept of metafunction is outlined and the
major features of textual metafunction are introduced. The function of Theme in text,
especially its role as a device for structuring text, is then discussed. The various ways in
which scholars have defined and identified Theme is considered in Section 3.2. In this
section the position adopted in the present study, especially in relation to the decision to
consider everything up to and including the Subject of an independent clause as Theme, is
outlined. A description of the unit of analysis applied to the data in the present study is
provided in Section 3.3. The way in which the different elements constituting Theme are
treated, with special reference to the choice of textual, interpersonal and topical Theme, are
discussed in Section 3.4. In addition, factors related to the Subject, an obligatory part of
Theme, are reviewed. The arguments for including marked Theme as part of extended
Theme, and for believing that extended Theme occurs at important stages in the text, are
presented in Section 3.5. Finally, a brief summary of the key arguments and concerns
related to the definition and identification of Theme is provided in Section 3.6.

3.1 Overview of Theme

3.1.1 Three metafunctions

SFL views language “not as a set of structures but as a network of SYSTEMS, or inter-
related sets of options for making meaning” (Halliday, 1994:15, upper case in original). In
order to account for this meaning-making potential of language, as introduced in Section
2.7.2, Halliday (1994) proposes three metafunctions at a lexico-grammatical level:

ideational – “construing a model of experience”

interpersonal – “enacting social relationships”
textual – “creating relevance to context”
(Halliday, 1994:36)

These three metafunctions are drawn on simultaneously whenever language is realised. The
speaker/writer can be seen to have made lexico-grammatical choices to represent the world,

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 Chapter 3: Definition and Identification of Theme

both imaginary and real, abstract and concrete (ideational metafunction), to convey their
relationship to the listener/reader (interpersonal metafunction), and to organise the
presentation of their message (textual metafunction). These metafunctions, although
fundamental organising principles of language, may also be thought of as ‘tools’ which
enable the linguist to analyse, understand and talk about the linguistic choices made in a
given text. The analyst may employ them as tools to ‘deconstruct’ any message encoded
within text in relation to the linguistic realisations in each metafunction.

The present research focuses on the textual metafunction. Within the textual meta-
function, however, the choices are inextricably related to simultaneous choices in both the
ideational and interpersonal metafunctions. As a consequence, the other metafunctions
cannot be completely ignored. As Matthiessen (1995) points out, the textual metafunction
allows the ideational and interpersonal features of a text to be understood by the speaker
and listener: “it [the textual metafunction] has a distinctive part to play in the overall
creation of meaning – one that is oriented specifically towards the creation of meaning in
the realm of semiosis” (Matthiessen, 1995:20).

3.1.2 Textual metafunction: Theme and Rheme

Within the textual metafunction the two choices Theme and Rheme form the major system.
Theme, for Halliday, is the “point of departure; it is that with which the clause is
concerned” (Halliday, 1994:37). Theme is seen as a universal element; in every language
there is a means for identifying what the clause is about. Halliday defines Theme as a
function where a “special status [is] assigned to one part of it [the clause]” (Halliday,
1994:37). In English, Theme is realised by what is placed in initial position within the
clause and this initial position gives the Theme a ‘special status’ within the clause. For
example, the writer has chosen to give special status to the problem in Letter 12, clause 14
(wherever possible, examples have been taken from the present study’s corpus; in such
instances, the text and the clause/clause complex from which the example is drawn is
presented):

Example 3.1

The problem requires continued vigilance.

Theme Rheme

Letter 12, clause 14

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 ASPECTS OF THEME AND THEIR ROLE IN WORKPLACE TEXTS

The writer could have chosen a different starting point, but consciously or unconsciously
chooses to thematise the problem. The special status given to the initial position in English
is not a universal trait. Other languages have different ways of marking the Theme of a
clause. The Theme of a clause in Japanese, for example, is followed by the particle wa or
ga (Halliday, 1994:37), and in Tagalog the particle ang is used to identify the Theme of the
message (Martin, 1983).

In English the Theme, the ‘point of departure’ for the clause, is also one of the means by
which the clause is organised as a message. Theme is the ‘glue’ that structures and binds
the ideational and interpersonal meanings. In studies of Theme in children’s writing and in
writing in the workplace, the choice and representation of Theme is seen as a crucial
element related to the success of a text (Martin, 1985/89, 1992b, 1993b; Martin and
Rothery, 1993; Berry, 1995, 1996; Stainton, 1996, amongst others). The belief that an
understanding of the way in which Theme works can be usefully incorporated into
pedagogy is the motivation behind this and many other studies of Theme.

Theme, then, is seen to play a crucial role in focussing and organising the message and to
contribute to the coherence and success of the message. Martin (1992b) argues that the
choice of what comes first is “a textual resource systematically exploited” to effect
different patterns (Martin, 1992b:12). Martin adds that the different patterns and meanings
made by the choice of Theme can be manipulated and exploited, consciously or un-
consciously, by the writer in order to convey their ‘angle’ or viewpoint. In more recent
work, Martin (2000b) and Martin and Rose (forthcoming) suggest that Theme and many
other features in a text function to construe the writer’s viewpoint. In Example 3.1, the
writer has chosen the problem as the Theme of the clause in order to emphasise its
importance. In contrast the writer could have chosen a number of different options as the
starting point of the message. For example, the writer could have chosen:

Example 3.2

You are required to be vigilant with this problem.

Theme Rheme

Each choice of Theme represents a different starting point for the message conveyed in the
clause. In Example 3.2, the agent you has thematic status within the organisation of the
clause, and as the Theme of the clause it carries ‘a special status’.

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 Chapter 3: Definition and Identification of Theme

Rheme is everything that is not Theme: it is the part of the clause where the Theme is
developed (Halliday, 1994:37). A message structure in English is comprised of a Theme
plus a Rheme. There is an order to the structure: Theme comes first, followed by Rheme,
and whatever is placed in initial position is Theme (Halliday, 1994:37). In many instances
Rheme is related to New Information, while Theme is related to Given Information. Given
refers to what is already known or predictable, while New refers to what is unknown or un-
predictable. Halliday elaborates the distinction between Given and New as “information
that is presented by the speaker as recoverable (Given) or not recoverable (New) to the
listener” (Halliday, 1994:298). Martin (1992a) also points out that Theme is equated with
“what the speaker is on about” while New is the structure which is “listener-oriented”
(Martin, 1992a:448). Halliday adds that although the two pairs of clause functions, i.e.
Theme/Given and Rheme/New, are similar, they are not the same thing. Theme realises the
‘angle’ of the story and the New elaborates the field, developing it in experiential terms
(Martin, 1992a:452). Martin (1992a) also adds that Theme is generally restricted to
grounding the genre of the text, while the New is not restricted in this way and is far more
flexible. As interesting as the interaction between these two pairs of concepts is, an
investigation into Given and New is beyond the scope of the present study.

3.1.3 Function of Theme

Although there are some disagreements between scholars regarding the boundary between
the functional constituents Theme and Rheme, there is general agreement regarding both
the function of Theme and its importance. As noted above, Theme gives a special status to
a chosen part of the clause – it helps organise the message and plays a crucial role in the
success of a text from a reader’s perspective. It also helps construe the intended inter-
pretation of the clause and the text as a whole. In addition, it is commonly understood that
Theme is important since it extends the analysis of a text beyond the grammatical structure
of individual clauses or sentences to the unit of text. Theme incorporates, at a higher level,
the author’s aims in participating in discourse. Davies (1988) points out that Theme

may be seen at a level between the grammatical constraints on allowable

sentence patterns, and the high level, goal oriented discourse constraints.
(Davies, 1988:179)

This highlights not only the choices with which a writer or speaker is faced, but also the
constraints that they must observe. The grammatical constraints in question are those

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 ASPECTS OF THEME AND THEIR ROLE IN WORKPLACE TEXTS

which structure both written and spoken English in different genres. The discourse
constraints are more abstract than the grammatical constraints, and are related to the idea of
the social context in which the discourse is produced. Plum (1988), Martin (1992a:453)
and Fries (1995a) agree with this notion and believe that the thematic choices to some
extent are influenced by a genre. Plum (1988) and Fries (1995a) both point out that Theme
choices are not only influenced by the genre, but that particular stages within a genre
influence the choice of Theme. Thematic choice must take generic conventions into
consideration. For example, in the context of an English business letter written to an
influential client in a very formal organisation within the UK, USA or Australia, it would
appear very strange if the writer used Themes such as: as my friend said, yeah it would be
true to say, so sorry that I, etc. According to McCarthy (1998), such Themes are found
within the context of spoken informal English. They are not commonly expected Themes
in formal written workplace texts. As Davies (1988) and Fries (1995a) comment, the writer
must take into consideration the ‘real world’ situation in which the reader may receive the
information. Concerns related to the genre and the intended audience will influence the
choice of Theme.

Martin (1992b) notes that the choice of Theme “constructs a particular angle of inter-
pretation on the topic of each text which resonates with other aspects of discourse
organisation” (Martin, 1992b:12). Therefore, in the examples above, putting either the
problem or you in initial position, and thus making either an abstract nominal group or a
personal pronoun – both realising the Subject in their respective clauses – the starting point
of the message helps construct, in combination with other features in the text, the ‘angle’
with which the message will be interpreted by the intended reader. Depending on the
context, either of the Examples 3.1 or 3.2 may have more or less influence on the intended
reader’s decision whether to be vigilant or not.

There are many resources which help construct the angle of the intended meaning. The
choice of the Subject of the main clause, which in this study is analysed as part of Theme,
is one resource for organising the message. Who or what holds modal responsibility in the
main clause is made clear within the clause and plays a crucial role in the construction of
the meaning of the clause (Iedema, 1995, 1999, 2000). The notion of modal responsibility
is discussed further in Section 3.4.3. Textual and interpersonal Themes, discussed in detail
in Sections 3.4.1 to 3.4.3, also influence the reader’s interpretation of the text. A Theme

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 Chapter 3: Definition and Identification of Theme

can either be a simple Theme where only the Subject realises the Theme, or what Halliday
(1994:52-54) terms a ‘multiple Theme’, where a textual and/or interpersonal Theme is
placed before the topical Theme.

Another feature which affects the way in which the Theme is interpreted is ‘markedness’,
e.g. by choosing to place a(nother) Theme before the Subject of the main clause, this
Theme becomes a ‘marked’ Theme (since the clause Subject is always considered the
unmarked Theme; see Section 3.5 for examples). These marked Themes may be realised by
a variety of grammatical elements, namely Circumstantial Adjunct, hypotactic enhancing
clause, projecting clause and Complement. The Complement is a nominal group that is not
functioning as Subject, but could be the Subject if the order were changed (Halliday,
1994:44). Theme, then, is seen to contribute to the construal of a text’s meanings, to the
organisation of the ideas in a text, and to a reader’s interpretation of the message.

Theme enhances the understanding of language at various levels:

clause – Theme helps in understanding the starting point of the

message.

text – Theme helps us understand the way in which the message is

organised, and it is a major device that helps us understand a
text as coherent.

genre – Theme helps us understand some of the generic conventions

which exist in a given genre. For example, Coffin (1997:218-
9) cites hyper-Theme choices such as “One major effect of
World War II”, “Another effect of the war”, “A third
consequence of the war” as hyper-Themes of a history text.

Theme is valuable both as an analytical tool and a pedagogic resource. As Matthiessen

points out, Theme is “a resource enabling the ideational construction of ‘knowledge’
organized into instantial ideational systems” (Matthiessen, 1995:20). At the same time, the
textual metafunction acts as an ‘enabling’ resource so that it is possible for each clause to
be interpreted (Matthiessen, 1995:20). The analysis of the choice of Theme and, by default,
the choice of Rheme, allows the analyst to discuss linguistic choices which are crucial to
the organisation, interpretation and construal of meaning.

While Theme has been investigated in a range of genres, only limited research has been
carried out at a lexico-grammatical level into authentic workplace texts, the examples
being Davies (1994, 1997), Berry (1995, 1996), Iedema (1995, 1997) and Stainton (1996).

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 ASPECTS OF THEME AND THEIR ROLE IN WORKPLACE TEXTS

Workplace texts, as pointed out in Chapter Two, play a central role in the language taught
at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Training in workplace English, and the
production of texts of workplace English, is also an expanding market. In applied
linguistics, discussions of the language, communication patterns and discourse of work-
place occupy a prominent place. However, not much is known about the lexico-grammar of
workplace texts.

3.2 Theme and Rheme

3.2.1 Halliday’s definition of Theme

The most common approach to identifying Theme in a clause is based on Halliday (1994),
who states that “Theme extends from the beginning of the clause and up to (and including)
the first element that has a function in transitivity” (Halliday, 1994:53). Thus, according to
Halliday (1994), the Theme of a clause “ends with the first constituent that is either
participant, circumstance, or process” (Halliday, 1994:52) and Rheme is “the remainder of
the message” (Halliday, 1994:67), i.e. everything which is not Theme. Examples 3.3 and
3.4 illustrate the way in which Halliday identifies Theme and (by implication) Rheme in
the clause:

Example 3.3 Unmarked Theme

China started its massive programme of tax reform as part of an overall
economic restructuring in January 1994.
Theme Rheme

Example 3.4 Marked Theme

In January 1994, China started its massive programme of tax reform as part of an overall
economic restructuring.
Theme Rheme

Report 6, Clause 4

We may interpret Example 3.4, following Halliday, as the writer having made the date the
Theme of the clause – perhaps to remind the reader of action which occurred previously. In
Example 3.4, the first element with a ‘function in transitivity’ is not the Subject, but a
Circumstantial Adjunct of location: time, in January 1994, and because it has ideational
force, Halliday identifies this element as Theme. (A discussion of Circumstantial Adjuncts
occurs in Section 3.5.2.) Furthermore, since Halliday considers any clause element coming
before the Subject in the clause a ‘marked’ Theme, the Circumstantial Adjunct in January

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 Chapter 3: Definition and Identification of Theme

1994 is a marked Theme in this clause. In this example, it follows that the Subject in this
clause, China, is part of Rheme (rather than part of Theme) since the function of Theme is
not merely realised by the Circumstantial Adjunct but ‘exhausted’ by it. On the other hand,
in Example 3.3, the Subject of the clause, China, is the first element with a ‘function in
transitivity’ in the clause, and thus it is not only Theme but also considered the ‘unmarked’
Theme. The present study diverges from Halliday in the identification of Theme and the
reasons for this are given below. In the corpus texts marked Theme features quite
prominently and a more detailed discussion of marked Theme is presented in Section 3.4.
Findings related to marked Theme in the present data are presented in Chapters Five and
Six.

3.2.2 Alternative definitions of Theme

Although most scholars follow Halliday (1994) in their analysis of Theme, alternatives do
exist and these are discussed below.

Building on Halliday’s work on Theme, Berry (1995, 1996) argues that Theme need not
necessarily be only the first ideational element in a clause. If only the first ideational
element is analysed as Theme, Berry (1996) suggests, then some co-referential elements
will not be captured by an analysis of Theme in a text. She claims that “the priority
concerns, discoursal or causal, of a speaker or writer need not be ideational” (Berry,
1996:19), and that the writer may choose to select a feature as Theme because it relates to
the surrounding text, or the concerns of the immediate clause, or something more closely
related to the reader’s concerns. Berry states that when conducting an analysis of the
thematic choices in a text, she is more interested in its interpersonal and textual features
and that extending the boundary of Theme aids her understanding of such features. In some
cases, she argues that the Theme can be seen to act as an interpersonal Theme at a
discourse level, and that such interpersonal Themes will influence the meaning of a number
of clauses or a paragraph. Therefore Berry, along with Davies (1988, 1994, 1997), Stainton
(1993), Ravelli (1995) and others, argues that the boundary of Theme needs to be extended
to include some elements relegated to Rheme in Halliday’s style of analysis.

Stainton (1993) argues not only for the Subject to be included in Theme but also the
auxiliary verb. Berry’s position (1996) takes her further still, proposing that the lexical verb
may be included as part of Theme as well. She argues that by including the lexical verb

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 ASPECTS OF THEME AND THEIR ROLE IN WORKPLACE TEXTS

within the Theme, the Theme will then include prioritised interpersonal meaning. Berry
adds that by including the lexical verb, the Theme is seen to represent “the part of the
clause associated with the speaker’s/writer’s main communicative concerns” (Berry,
1996:46). However, to date little support has been given to the proposal that the boundary
of Theme should be extended to include the auxiliary and/or lexical verb. The case for the
inclusion of the auxiliary verb is stronger than that for the lexical verb, because as argued
by Halliday (1994), in an interrogative clause the auxiliary verb is included as part of
Theme. Berry took a different position on this issue in an earlier paper (Berry, 1995),
where she argued that Theme should be extended up to and including the Subject.
However, most SFL scholars have been content to advance arguments as to whether or not
the boundary between Theme and Rheme should be moved to include the Subject or not,
with Davies (1988, 1994, 1997), Matthiessen (1992), Berry (1995), Ravelli (1995), Martin
and Rose (forthcoming) all suggesting that Theme should include the Subject.

3.2.3 Subject as an obligatory element in Theme

The main argument in favour of analysing the Subject as part of Theme is that the thematic
development of a text may be more easily understood (Davies, 1988, 1997; Matthiessen,
1992; Berry, 1995, 1996; and Ravelli, 1995). Berry (1995) argues that it is only when one
starts to analyse everything before (but not including) the main verb as Theme that one can
clearly show how a text fits together. The writer may wish to include more than one
element as the start of the message. Matthiessen (1992) agrees with Berry that “…
experiential Adjuncts may pile up at the beginning of the clause and the effect is clearly
one of successive Thematic contextualisation” (1992:50). By including the Subject as part
of the Theme, Berry and Davies argue that this ‘piling up’ of ideational meaning in the
initial part of the clause should be investigated further.

The views put forward by Berry, Matthiessen and Stainton are supported by Thompson
(1996), and Martin and Rose (forthcoming), in addition to Davies, who argues that non-
Subject Themes are ‘framing elements’ (Davies, 1994:172; 1997:55). Martin (1992a),
Davies (1994) and Thompson (1996) among others believe that these elements are used as
a signal for showing a step or a stage in the progression of the text, or as a change in focus,
whereas Subjects are seen as ‘recurrent elements’. Thompson (1996:122) states that an
Adjunct in thematic position tends “to serve a particular function in signalling textual
organisation”. Martin (1992a), and Martin and Rose (forthcoming) agree and state that

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 Chapter 3: Definition and Identification of Theme

marked Theme choices occur at important stages in the text. The recurrent (Subject)
elements continue the lexical chains and cohesion throughout the text and marked Themes,
called ‘framing elements’ by Davies (1988, 1994, 1997), generally show a change in topic
or progression.

These ‘framing elements’, which Davies calls ‘Contextual Frames’, help establish the
context of the clause. Davies (1988) points out that non-Subject thematic elements

…are seen to serve the distinct function of providing different frameworks or

contexts for the development of the topic as the discourse proceeds.
(Davies, 1988:177, bold in orig.)

Davies argues that while the Subject of the clause is an obligatory element of Theme, a
contextual frame is “optional and is seen to serve the function of signalling changes in the
real-world, fictional, or discourse circumstances” (Davies, 1997:55). Davies adds that by
considering the Subject as part of the Theme, we can show that Theme has the two
potential functions of the “identification of Topic, realised by Subject, and provision of
Contextual Frame, realised by elements preceding the Subject, i.e. Circumstantial Adjunct
and/or modal or conjunctive adjuncts and conjunctions.” (Davies 1997:55; italics in orig.).

In arguing for a dynamic view of Theme, Ravelli (1995) also argues that what is
identified as the Theme of a clause should always include the Subject of the clause. She
believes that the Subject is an important element in understanding thematic development
and is a necessary part of Theme. In her work on modelling the textual system, Ravelli
presents a view of Theme which makes thematic choices clearer. She recommends that
“Synoptic and dynamic perspectives need to be interwoven, and both should be applied
simultaneously to data to achieve full understanding of text”, and that such a model would
be of benefit to SFL theory (Ravelli, 1995:191). She views the linguistic choices in a text
as being dynamic where whatever is chosen as the Theme, and consequently the Rheme, of
a text will affect the way in which the text unfolds. She argues by looking at the decisions
that lead to, or follow, the specific point at which the choice of Theme is made, i.e. the
path leading to the Theme, that the choice of Theme can be understood. Moreover, factors
which occurred before or after the decision are seen to affect the decision made at the point
of making the choice of Theme. The choices of Theme at particular places in the text can
be understood by establishing the factors influencing the decision-making point. Certain
paths may lead to a marked Theme being chosen above an unmarked Theme, and

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 ASPECTS OF THEME AND THEIR ROLE IN WORKPLACE TEXTS

understanding the successive choices, and the local contexts for each choice, would be
extremely informative. In part, this is what happens when conducting an analysis of
thematic development. Ravelli is calling for a more in-depth analysis related to successive
choices; such an investigation would reveal interesting findings, but would be impractical
if analysing large corpora.

An analysis of a text which allows the Subject to be considered part of Theme, whether it
is preceded by a marked Theme or not, makes it easier to see its thematic development (and
to some extent its lexical chains and cohesive patterns), whereas in Halliday’s mode of
analysis, the Subject Theme in cases of a preceding marked Theme is ‘lost’ and
consequently, at times, so too is the text’s line of development. Fries, in reviewing the
different approaches concerning what should be included in Theme, posits that the
inclusion of the Subject “finesses the issue of exactly how Theme and Subject interact”
(Fries, 1995a:15). Fries adds that this interaction is difficult to separate in a number of
instances where the Subject and Theme are conflated. Ghadessy (1995) argues that since
marked Themes, especially Circumstantial Adjuncts in initial position, are frequently New
Information, considering these to constitute all of the Theme obscures the development of
the text. An analysis of lexical chains and cohesion does not depend on an analysis of
Theme as such an analysis can be carried out without analysing Theme. However, when
conducting an analysis of Theme, including the Subject as part of Theme allows the
researcher to see the lexical chains, cohesion and all other choices in the Theme which may
have occurred, such as a marked Theme choice. Analysing the Subject as obligatorily part
of Theme allows us to always see both. The argument in the present study is that Theme
can include more than one topical element and that the choice of a second topical element
within the clause is a meaningful one which needs to be investigated further.

3.2.4 Topic, Subject and Theme

The discussion so far has involved investigating the different ways in which scholars
identify and analyse Theme. Downing (1991) points out that often topic or Subject are
equated with Theme and, as Thompson cautions, “it is easy to confuse Theme and Subject
since we can say that, in some sense, the clause is about both” (Thompson, 1996:121).
Topic also refers to two distinct elements according to Halliday (1994:38) – Theme and
Given. As already noted, Theme and Given have two distinct functions. However, these

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three terms – topic, Subject and Theme – are not synonymous, and this section attempts to
clarify the way in which the terms are used in the present study.

Topic, Downing (1991:121) states, is a “rather elusive category”, pointing out that there
appears to be a great deal of confusion concerning the notion of ‘topic’. A topic can occur
at different places within a clause and may even be interpreted differently by different
readers. Halliday points out that “The label ‘Topic’ usually refers to only one particular
type of Theme … ; and it tends to be used as a cover term for two concepts which are
functionally distinct, one being that of Theme and the other being that of Given” (Halliday,
1994:38). Topic then is seen as a difficult element to identify as readers may interpret a text
differently and disagree about the topic of a particular clause, or a particular clause
complex.

While topic may be not be easily defined or identified in a clause, let alone a text, the
grammatical Subject is both more easily defined and recognised. This study will not make
use of the term topic, and will instead limit itself to the concepts clause grammatical
Subject and Subject/Theme. Halliday condenses the history of the different interpretations
of Subject over the course of the 20th Century, and summarises the three different functions
for Subject: ‘psychological’ Subject - “that which is the concern of the message”;
‘grammatical’ Subject - “that of which something is predicated”; and ‘logical’ Subject -
“doer of the action” (Halliday, 1994:31). In some instances all three functions can be
conflated, as shown in Example 3.5.

Example 3.5

The duke gave my aunt this teapot.

psychological Subject
grammatical Subject
logical Subject

Example 3.6

This teapot my aunt was given by the duke.

psychological grammatical Subject logical Subject
Subject

(examples from Halliday, 1994:32)

In other instances, the three functions of Subject can be assigned to more than one
participant, as shown in Example 3.6. For the purpose of the present study the grammatical
Subject of a clause, whether in a single clause (a ‘simplex’ to contrast it with a clause

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 ASPECTS OF THEME AND THEIR ROLE IN WORKPLACE TEXTS

complex) or in the α clause of a clause complex, will be referred to as Subject/Theme, as

shown in Examples 3.7 and 3.8:

Example 3.7

The major change of is to clearly spell out the respective responsibilities of the
the audit report auditor and the auditee for the financial statements.
Subject/Theme Rheme

Memo 27, clause 5

Example 3.8

Whilst City Council do have they do not have responsibilities

responsibilities for for the delivery of primary
Environmental Health, health care services to the
people of the City.
marked Theme Subject/Theme Rheme

Letter 3, clause complex 2

Example 3.9

but at that time, of course, we will follow Personnel’s guidance as

always, to make sure we are doing
everything fairly.
textual marked Interpersonal Subject/ Rheme
Theme Theme Theme Theme

Memo 2, clause complex 23

The term Subject/Theme has been borrowed from Martin and Rose (forthcoming) who use
it in their discussion of marked Theme (see Section 3.5). Subject/Theme is distinct from
textual and interpersonal Themes, which precede it and which, together with
Subject/Theme, constitute a multiple Theme. Halliday points out that the unmarked Theme
is the default choice and the Subject is usually “chosen as Theme unless there is a good
reason for choosing something else” (1994:4). He continues to define marked Theme as “a
Theme that is something other than the Subject”, that is, when an ideational realisation is
chosen in initial position which is not the Subject. In the present study, the term marked
Theme will be used to refer to ideational elements which precede Subject/Theme, but the
Theme of the clause/clause complex may include more than one ideational feature as
Theme will always include the Subject. As shown in Example 3.9, there are two ideational
elements realised in the Theme: a Circumstantial Adjunct of location: time, at that time,
and the Subject/Theme, we. A distinction needs to be made in the discussion of Theme
between the possible elements which can be realised in Theme, as Theme may include far

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 Chapter 3: Definition and Identification of Theme

more than Subject alone. The thematic choices of Subject/Theme, textual Theme, inter-
personal Theme and marked Theme and how they relate to the present study are discussed
in more detail below.

3.2.5 Theme in the present study

Within SFL there is general agreement about the function and definition of Theme.
However, there appear to be differences in the identification of Theme, and especially in
the identification of subcategories of Theme. As always, it is possible for an analyst to
adopt a working identification of Theme which will vary with the purpose of the analysis,
and also to some extent with the type of text being analysed. The identification of Theme
and thus the resulting analyses will also vary if Theme is analysed at different ranks or
rather for different lexico-grammatical units, i.e. clauses vs. clause complexes. The
researcher needs to designate the unit of analysis and establish clear criteria for identifying
Theme, as different methods of identification of Theme will result in different findings.

According to Halliday (1994), Theme is realised by the first element of the clause up to
and including the first ideational element. Departing from this, in the present study the
‘special status’ assigned to the starting point of the message may include more than one
ideational element, which means by definition the Subject of the main clause will be
included in the Theme. In addition, Subjects which are found after the verb of the
independent clause will not be analysed. If the Subject of the independent clause has been
ellipsed, then the ellipsed Subject will be noted and analysed as ellipsed.

In assigning the Subject and all that precedes it to the category of Theme, certain nuances
of the text may be overlooked. For instance, as noted in Example 3.4, Halliday and others
argue that a Circumstantial Adjunct coming first in the clause constitutes its ideational
Theme and the Subject following it constitutes part of Rheme. Scholars adhering to this
position argue that if the Subject is not in initial position in the clause, then this
demonstrates a choice by the writer or speaker to highlight another element of the clause as
its Theme. However, by analysing Theme up to and including the Subject, other elements
such as Circumstantial Adjunct, which may occur before the Subject, along with the
Subject are all classified as Theme. This interpretation of Theme takes into consideration
this loading of ideational elements in the choice of Theme. This study adopts the position

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 ASPECTS OF THEME AND THEIR ROLE IN WORKPLACE TEXTS

advanced by Davies (1994, 1997), Ravelli (1995) and Berry (1996), who identify as Theme
any ideational element up to and including the Subject.

Any analysis that varies from those of other scholars in what it recognises as Theme will
produce different results, but as the main function of an analysis of Theme is to show the
way in which the text makes meaning through its choice of Theme, such variation in modes
of analysis has to prove its worth by the results it achieves. The position adopted in this
study is that by making the Subject obligatorily (part of) Theme, we will be able to more
clearly show the way in which a text is structured. It may be that authors of memos often
put Circumstantial Adjuncts of location: time before the Subject or, as Matthiessen
(1992:50) points out, certain text types may produce a ‘loading’ of Circumstantial Adjuncts
in the Theme. As Thomas and Hawes (1997) state, “an item in Subject position serves as a
more effective prompt for what a passage is about than another item which is not the
Subject of the sentence … This suggests that the grammatical Subject is closely associated
with what the message is about” (Thomas and Hawes, 1997:35). In other words, if an
element is in Subject position, it is highly relevant to the meaning of the clause, i.e. to the
‘aboutness’ of the clause, and to the structuring of the message. Such meanings are the
(textual) focus of the present study. The meanings construed in the Rheme are essential
meanings conveyed by ‘new information’; they may well be the message itself, but they are
not the focus of the present study.

Moreover, Cope and Kalantzis (1993:9), in presenting a history of the genre movement
and its application to pedagogy, point out that “the divergences are the essence of the
vitality of the genre literacy movement” (Cope and Kalantzis, 1993:9). They argue that
sometimes it is just a matter of talking about different things, or looking at something from
a different perspective. However, the fundamental aim of SFL has been to offer a
theoretical and pedagogic resource which goes beyond the traditional and progressive
models. Keeping SFL constantly in touch with other approaches, or looking at texts from
different SFL perspectives, necessarily adds to this theory of language. Thus, by adopting a
method of analysis where Theme includes Subject, SFL takes on another perspective in the
understanding of texts and the way in which they are structured. This study does not
propose that Davies, Berry and others are necessarily ‘right’ in their description of Theme,
but adopts their approaches as ‘another way of looking at the same coin’, bringing to bear
multiple perspectives on our understanding of the meaning of text. Berry, Davies and

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 Chapter 3: Definition and Identification of Theme

others who stretch the boundaries of SFL strongly believe in SFL as a theory of language –
they are simply arguing for space within that theory.

3.3 Unit of analysis

Theme can be analysed as an element of either the clause or the clause complex. Martin
advocates analysing Theme in relation to the clause, clause complex, paragraph and text
(Martin, 1992a). Whichever unit one chooses to analyse, Fries and Francis (1992)
recommend that “the choice of unit must be governed by the purposes of the investigator”
(Fries and Francis, 1992:47). The purpose of the present research is to provide information
which can later inform pedagogy. Whittaker (1995), whose analysis was also pedagogically
motivated, believes that the clause complex or “orthographic sentence” was the best choice
for the unit of analysis as it was easily recognisable by students with little or no knowledge
of grammar (Whittaker, 1995:107). She added that research into reading considers the
sentence as the main unit used by readers to process written texts. The fact that readers
with no grammatical background can recognise the sentence as a complete unit is critical,
and has led to the adoption of the clause complex as a unit of analysis.

Fries and Francis (1992), Berry (1995), Fries (1995c), Whittaker (1995), Thompson
(1996) and Davies (1997) argue for the independent clause to be the unit of analysis. For
example, Fries and Francis argue that

if one chooses to examine only the ‘main’ clauses within a clause complex (i.e.
paratactic sequences and primary clauses in hypotactic sequences, with beta
clauses forming part of Rheme), then it becomes easier to discern the method of
development and thematic progression of the text.
Fries and Francis (1992:47)

The clause complex, in the present study, refers to an independent clause which may be
followed or preceded by one or more dependent clauses, i.e. a clause complex with either
an alpha ^ beta (α^β) or a beta ^ alpha (β^α) structure in the notation introduced by
Halliday (1994). In a clause complex where there are two or more paratactic clauses, for
example an alpha ^ alpha (α^α), or alpha ^ beta^ alpha (α^β^α), each alpha clause has
been analysed separately for its thematic structure. In this study, following Fries and
Francis, the approach taken is to “ignore the Themes of hypotactically related (subordinate
clauses)” (1992:47) if they follow the independent clause, as shown in Example 3.10:

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 ASPECTS OF THEME AND THEIR ROLE IN WORKPLACE TEXTS

Example 3.10

Alternative must be if the unit cannot service

arrangements considered their needs.
independent clause dependent clause
α β
Subject/Theme Rheme

The dependent clause in such a clause complex is considered part of the Rheme. Although
of course it still has its own thematic structure, in practice the reason for not analysing the
dependent clause is that, as Fries and Francis (1992:47) point out, “the structure of beta
clauses, including their thematic structure, tends to be constrained by the alpha clauses”,
and we are thus justified in ignoring a dependent clause following the independent clause
on which it depends. Halliday’s claim that “the main contribution comes from the thematic
structure of independent clauses” (Halliday, 1994:61) also supports the position adopted in
this study.

On the other hand, in a clause complex where the dependent clause is followed by the
independent clause on which it is dependent, i.e. a beta ^ alpha (β^α) structure, the
dependent clause plus certain elements of the following independent clause will be
identified as Theme, as shown in Example 3.11:

Example 3.11
If the unit cannot service alternative must be
their needs then arrangements considered.
dependent clause independent clause
β α
extended Theme Rheme

Report 3, clause complex 100

In a β^α clause complex, then, the dependent clause is considered the (marked) Theme of
its clause complex, following Halliday (1994) in this regard, and the elements in the
following independent clause up to and including the Subject (itself considered an
obligatory part of the clause Theme) are considered the Theme of the clause. In support of
Halliday, Thompson (1996) points out that the analysis of the text “emerges more clearly if
dependent clauses in initial position are taken as the point of departure for the whole clause
complex” (Thompson, 1996:132). In this study both the Theme of the clause complex, i.e.
the dependent beta clause, and the Theme(s) of the independent alpha clause, i.e. Subject
and any marked clause elements preceding it, (including Circumstantial Adjunct,

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 Chapter 3: Definition and Identification of Theme

Complement, conjunctives and relatives), are considered ‘one’ Theme, and identified as
‘extended Theme’, as shown in Example 3.11.

In analysing the Theme of independent or alpha clauses, one exception is made to the
way in which projecting and projected clauses are analysed. Projecting clauses found in
initial position in the clause complex, it is argued, should be considered as interpersonal
Themes in the clause complex because such clauses are seen to be construing writer
viewpoint. It should be noted that this thesis is only concerned with discussing projecting
clauses which are in initial position and which are hypotactically related to the projected
clause. Therefore, from this point onward, unless stated otherwise, all references to
projecting clauses refer to projecting clauses in initial position which are followed by a
hypotactic projected clause. When a projecting clause is followed by the projected clause,
the projecting clause and the Subject (and anything preceding the Subject) of the projected
clause constitute the Theme of the clause complex, as shown in Example 3.12:

Example 3.12

I can assure you that the Government share your concern about violence at football
matches
projecting Theme Subject of projected
Theme Rheme
extended Theme

Letter 12, clause complex 2

The rationale and justification for this is presented in detail in Chapter Six.

In the case of a clause which has no relation to any other clause in an orthographic
sentence or clause complex, the Theme is considered to include all elements up to and
including the Subject, as shown in Examples 3.13 and 3.14:

Example 3.13
The library cannot meet the present increasing level of demand
from existing resources.
Subject/Theme Rheme

Report 3, clause 67

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 ASPECTS OF THEME AND THEIR ROLE IN WORKPLACE TEXTS

Example 3.14
As part of our internal a questionnaire was sent out to UK Higher
library study Education libraries.
Circumstantial Adjunct Subject
marked Theme Subject/Theme Rheme
extended Theme

Report 3, clause 68

Following the approach taken with a single clause, in the case of paratactic clause
complexes each clause will be analysed with respect to its own thematic structure, as
shown in Example 3.15:

Example 3.15

The County Council are now appealing on the decision of the Court of
Appeal to the House of Lords [sic]
and the hearing is scheduled for 12th June 1995.
Theme Rheme

Report 4, clauses 52 and 53

Clauses 52 and 53 in Example 3.15 are independent but linked paratactically, and are thus
analysed as each having their own Theme.

In this study, therefore, the unit of analysis is:

− a single clause structurally unrelated to any other

− where the clause complex comprises of two or more independent clause (α^α
structure), the Theme of each independent clause will be analysed for its own
thematic structure
− where the clause complex comprises a dependent clause preceding an
independent clause (β^α structure), both clauses, i.e. β and α clauses
− where the clause complex comprises an independent clause followed by one or
more dependent clause(s) (α^β structure), only one clause, i.e. α clause
− where projecting clauses of a hypotactic nature are found in the Theme position,
the projecting clause and the Subject of the projected clause

Both the clause and the clause complex have thematic structures appropriate for analysis.
The departure in this study from some other approaches lies in analysing a dependent
clause in a β^α clause complex as part of a larger Theme that encompasses both the
independent β clause and the independent α clause on which the β clause is dependent,
such a Theme being defined as ‘extended Theme’. In this way it is hoped that thematic
patterns of interest for pedagogy may be revealed.

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 Chapter 3: Definition and Identification of Theme

3.4 Textual, interpersonal and topical Themes

3.4.1 Textual and interpersonal Themes

The Theme of a clause includes an obligatory topical Theme and may also include optional
features such as textual and interpersonal Themes. Textual Themes help structure the text
by developing links to other clauses and are realised by Conjunctive Adjuncts, e.g. and,
however, conjunctions, e.g. before, after and relatives, e.g. how, which. Interpersonal
Themes function to explicitly construe writer viewpoint and are realised by Modal
Adjuncts, e.g. unfortunately, in my opinion, generally. The one feature they have in
common, Halliday notes, is that they do not exhaust the potential of Theme and cannot be
counted on their own as the Theme of a clause.

Textual Themes are typically thematic since they relate the clause to the preceding text
and thus usually come first in order to realise this linking role. Textual Themes such as
Conjunctive Adjuncts (however, in conclusion, as a result) are typically thematic, although
they can occur other than in initial position in a clause. They signal the coherence of the
text, being concerned with the way in which the meaning expressed in one clause is related
to that expressed in another, and are thus textual in nature. Halliday (1994:49) presents a
list of Conjunctive Adjuncts, together with text examples, as shown in Table 3.1. In the
first column, Halliday groups the Conjunctive Adjuncts into three groups: I, II and III.
Although he does not explicitly state the rationale for this numbering, from the grouping it
can be inferred that the three groups realise elaboration (I), extension (II), and enhancement
(III).

Table 3.1 Conjunctive Adjuncts

Type Meaning Examples
I appositive ‘i.e., e.g.’ that is, in other words, for instance
corrective ‘rather’ or rather, at least, to be precise
dismissive ‘in any case’ in any case, anyway, leaving that aside
summative ‘in short’ briefly, to sum up, in conclusion
verifactive ‘actually’ actually, in fact, as a matter of fact
II additive ‘and’ also, moreover, in addition, besides
adversative ‘but’ on the other hand, however, conversely
variative ‘instead’ instead, alternatively
III temporal ‘then’ meanwhile, before that, later on, next, soon, finally
comparative ‘likewise’ likewise, in the same way
causal ‘so’ therefore, for this reason, as a result,
conditional ‘(if …) then’ in that case, under the circumstances, otherwise
concessive ‘yet’ nevertheless, despite that
respective ‘as to that’ in this respect, as far as that’s concerned

(Halliday, 1994:49)

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 ASPECTS OF THEME AND THEIR ROLE IN WORKPLACE TEXTS

Textual Themes also include conjunctions and relatives, which commonly occur in
thematic position. Conjunctions are different from Conjunctive Adjuncts as they not only
establish semantic relationships between meanings, but are grammatical in that they
“construct two parts into a single structural unit” (Halliday, 1994:50). Relatives also relate
one clause to the previous clause, and may function as Subject, Adjunct or Complement
within the clause. They are not a separate word class; they are nouns or adverbs.

Modal Adjuncts are intrinsically interpersonal in nature, adding information that reflects
the writer’s or speaker’s judgement. Interpersonal Themes are not necessarily obligatory
elements of Theme as they can occur in other positions in the clause. However, as Halliday
points out, they are commonly in thematic position because “If the speaker includes within
the message some element that presents his or her own angle on the matter, it is natural to
make this the point of departure: ‘I’ll tell you what I think’” (Halliday, 1994:49). Modal
Adjuncts have two sub-types, Comment Adjuncts and Mood Adjuncts. Comment Adjuncts
are realised by expressions which comment on the clause as a whole, such as generally,
unfortunately (this can be compared to the traditional term ‘disjuncts’ by Quirk et al.
(1985:612-31)). Mood Adjuncts are more commonly linked to the Finite within the clause,
for example of course, in my opinion, in general. Examples of Modal Adjuncts following
the list outlined by Halliday (1994:49, Table 3(3)) can be found in Table 5.3, Section 5.2.

If a textual Theme, Modal Adjunct, Conjunctive Adjunct, conjunction or relative occurs

thematically, it “may not exhaust the thematic potential of the clause” (Halliday, 1994:52),
and is thus considered only part of the Theme in the clause. Therefore a Theme may
comprise several Themes, i.e. textual, interpersonal and topical Themes, and such a
composite Theme is referred to as ‘multiple Theme’ by Halliday (1994).

The present study follows Halliday (1994) in that Modal Adjuncts, Conjunctive Adjuncts
and relatives occurring thematically are not considered marked Themes (what is meant by
marked Theme is discussed in Section 3.5). Following Halliday (1994:54), Conjunctive
Adjuncts and relatives are considered to add textual value, and are thus considered textual
Themes, while Modal Adjuncts are considered interpersonal Themes within a multiple
Theme. While these Adjuncts may be part of the Theme, they do not exhaust the potential
of Theme; instead, along with the Subject, they are considered to be a part of a ‘multiple
Theme’ comprising textual, interpersonal and topical Themes.

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 Chapter 3: Definition and Identification of Theme

A topical Theme is an obligatory part of Theme. Following Halliday (1994), Theme will
include everything up to the first topical (ideational) element. In the present study, as
previously noted, Theme will include everything up to and including the Subject. A topical
Theme can be realised by a Circumstantial Adjunct, e.g. in October, after the meeting,
tomorrow, etc., a participant, e.g. The Director of Housing, the programme, or a process,
e.g. decide, to be examined, obtain. Generally for a process to be the Theme, i.e. for a
process to be the first ideational feature in a clause, it is part of an imperative structure, e.g.
please ensure. In this example, as is usual in imperative clauses, the Finite will and Subject
you have been ellipsed. Topical Theme is a term used to refer to any or all of the above
features which are found in the Theme of a clause or clause complex.

3.4.2 Is the Theme interpersonal or topical?

In many cases, topical and interpersonal Theme are realised simultaneously by the same
word or phrase. For instance, we typically represents the views of the participant, an
animate Subject, as in we - the company, where we is experiential and topical Theme. On
the other hand, if we refers to both author and reader, i.e. it is an inclusive we, then it
should be considered interpersonal in nature, as suggested by Berry (1995, 1996). Personal
pronouns which refer to both the reader and the writer, such as you and we, which are
commonly analysed as topical Theme if in initial clause position, could also be analysed as
interpersonal Theme (Berry, 1995:64).

Personal pronouns commonly straddle the line between the interpersonal and the
ideational metafunction; examples of either ambiguity or true double encoding are you,
your, our and us in let’s. Here both the intended reader and the writer are the topic and are
thus functioning as ideational elements, but simultaneously the pronouns contribute to the
development of an interpersonal strand in the text.

Other grammatical choices also play an interpersonal role in the linguistic realisations of
shared knowledge; the use of imperatives, for example, is inherently interpersonal. In the
present study, it is argued that projection is also functioning in an interpersonal manner, by
construing writer viewpoint either in an explicit manner, e.g. I believe, where the personal
pronoun I explicitly marks the writer’s viewpoint, or in a more implicit manner, e.g. it is
believed, where the it, to some extent, appears to be more objective. Projection and its
relationship to interpersonal meaning is discussed in depth in Chapter Six. This study aims

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to discuss in detail the way in which the writer influences the intended meaning of a text
through their choice of Subject – not only through the use of personal pronouns but also
through other features chosen as Subject.

For the purpose of the present analysis, although it is understood that these personal
pronouns construe interpersonal meanings, these items have been coded as meta-
functionally ideational and thus as topical Theme. For example, when personal pronouns
are the Subject of an independent clause, they function both ideationally and inter-
personally within the clause complex. The interpersonal characteristics of such linguistic
choices are returned to in the discussion of the texts and the findings in Section 5.3. It is
noted that these personal pronouns are seen to be performing two functions at the same
time, namely realising both the interpersonal features and the ideational topic.

In addition, as pointed out by Thompson and Thetela (1995), personal pronouns not only
subsume both interpersonal and ideational meanings, they also ‘project’ and ‘enact’ roles
for the reader. Personal pronouns are one method of assigning certain roles to the two (or
more) people involved in the text. These assigned roles are called ‘enacted roles’ by
Thompson and Thetela (1995:108). The writer, through their choice of declarative, inter-
rogative or imperative, and depending on the context, establishes the role for the speaker /
reader, i.e. whether the clause and the clause participants are giving/demanding
information or giving/demanding services. In a memo, for example, the participants could
be placed either in the role of giver or demander of information by the writer’s selection of
a declarative or interrogative clause. Projected roles refer to the explicit labelling of the
interlocutors. In Thompson and Thetela’s (1995:108) example you can use it to guarantee
cheques up to £100, the enacted and projected roles combine in that the you is a participant
both in the clause and the language event, i.e. you is the reader and also the Actor in the
process of guaranteeing a cheque. This clearly demonstrates that the writer may choose
both the type of role they wish to project for the reader and who will be enacting the role
instantiated in the clause.

3.4.3 Subject/Theme

The enacted role and projected role chosen as the Subject/Theme are influential in deter-
mining the inscribed meaning and the interpreted meaning of a text. The Subject/Theme, as
established above, refers to the grammatical Subject of the α clause (with the exception of

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 Chapter 3: Definition and Identification of Theme

projecting Themes). Subject/Theme may include realisations such as personal pronouns,

e.g. I, you, we, they; reference items, such as demonstratives and anaphoric nouns, e.g. this,
that; Subjects that have been ellipsed from the clause, such as in imperative clauses, e.g.
you, in [you should], see Appendix II; Subjects, such as what in What is the best way
forward?; and nominal groups, e.g. the Landlord, the incinerator.

Included in the analysis of Subject/Theme is its possible expansion through resources

which add further descriptive information to it, e.g. through post-modification. Some
examples of post-modification are: the role of the unit [[in serving the teaching needs of
faculties not based at the Frenchay Campus]], the amount of waste [[disposed of via this
route]], the Hotel owners, [[Messrs Cheung and Foo]]. The double square brackets here
show that the information inside these brackets is postmodifying the noun. The
Subject/Theme can include any or all of the following functions: Deictic, e.g. any in any of
the institutions; Numerative, e.g. all in all gain on capital tax; Epithet, e.g. fantastic, great,
Classifier, e.g. the school association in the school association of Nicholas Comprehensive
and Qualifier, e.g. splendid, fantastic can all modify the noun chosen as Subject (Downing
and Locke, 1992:438-449; Halliday, 1994:180-186). The Subject/Theme can be modified
by both pre- and postmodifiers, with both adding supplementary information about the
Subject/Theme but not new information (Halliday, 1994:191-196). Modification can be
used to encode the writer’s viewpoint in their choice of Subject, as in the following
example:

Example 3.16

some very important issues

Deictic Epithet Classifier Thing
Subject/Theme

If this were the Subject/Theme of a clause, it would be clear that the writer was encoding a
particular viewpoint in this message. Martin (1997, 2000a) proposes an ‘appraisal system’
to interpret the interpersonal linguistic features of a text. In this study the interpretation of
interpersonal features of the Theme draws to a limited extent on the work on appraisal.

The range of lexis realising Subject/Theme is extensive. A closer examination of the type
of lexis used to realise Subject/Theme of the main clause in workplace texts may reveal
interesting information which can aid our understanding of this particular genre. As argued
by Iedema, meanings can be distanced from the here and now through various linguistic

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 ASPECTS OF THEME AND THEIR ROLE IN WORKPLACE TEXTS

resources and, as they become more distanced, they become “less-negotiable” (Iedema,
1995:134). The choice of Subject/Theme reflects this move of dislocating the proposal
from the here and now. Table 3.2 shows how the Subject/Theme choice moves the modal
responsibility from the personal I and the less personal the company, where it is clear who
is doing the requiring, to the proposee in you are required. The modal responsibility of a
clause is related to the choice of predicated Subject, which in the present study constitutes
part of the choice of Theme. Modal responsibility is where the onus of the proposition
advanced in the clause is placed on the writer, the institution, and the intended reader.
Iedema (1995, 1997, 1999, 2000) discusses how the modal responsibility placed on the
Subject affects the meaning and interpretation of a directive. Modal responsibility is there-
fore an issue directly relevant to the present study.

Table 3.2 Changing the modal responsibility realised by Theme

Subject/Theme Rheme
I require you to be vigilant with this problem.
The company requires continued vigilance in relation to this problem.
You are required to be vigilant with this problem.
The problem requires continued vigilance. (Letter 12, clause 14)
The requirement is that you remain vigilant with this problem.
Continuation of vigilance is required with this problem.

In the Subject/Theme examples the problem, the requirement and Continuation of

vigilance, the proposer and proposee roles are de-emphasised in the choice of the Theme.
Each of these choices represents a different starting point for the message conveyed in the
clause or clause complex. In the last two examples in Table 3.2, The requirement and
Continuation of vigilance, the Theme is depersonalised, the modal responsibility of the
clause has been ‘objectified’, and the proposer and proposee have been de-emphasised.
This de-emphasis is what Iedema (1995, 1997, 1999, 2000) refers to as “demodulation”.
Demodulation is used in administrative texts to suppress the proposer (of the proposition)
and to make the source of the utterance sound more objective and ‘fact-like’.

Nominalisation is one form of demodulation. Nominalisation is where a congruent verb

is used metaphorically and changed into an incongruent noun. For example, in Table 3.1
above, the verb to require, which usually has an Agent (who is asking someone to do
something) and an Actor (who is responsible for carrying out the action), is transformed
into a noun, the requirement. The participants involved become implicit and the requiring

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 Chapter 3: Definition and Identification of Theme

becomes an objectified packaged statement. Hartnett (1995:206) states that nominalisation

is presented in a manner where the writer wants the reader to accept the information
“without a challenge”. Halliday (1994) adds that the writer holds greater control over the
intended meaning of a text if nominalisation is used as the meaning is clear to the writer,
but due to the linguistic complexity of nominalisation the meaning may not necessarily be
completely clear to the reader. It is therefore seen as a complex packaging of information
which in workplace texts is used as a mark of prestige and power. Iedema argues that

To appreciate the constructive power of administration and its language, we

need to ‘unpack’ the discourse, i.e. go into the grammar and show how the
features of administrative language contribute to its power over social
organisation.
(Iedema, 1995:134)

By ‘unpacking’ the influential choice of Subject/Theme, which in some cases may include
nominalisation, workplace texts can be understood in relation to the power, identity and
status construed in the choice of Subject/Theme.

3.4.4 Existential Themes as one choice of topical Theme

As noted by Thompson (1996), when analysing Theme “you will certainly find that you run
up against some problems, some more serious than others” (1996:138). The question of
what is the Theme in existential ‘there’ clauses is one such problem. Since there does not
realise a participant in the transitivity of an existential clause, i.e. it has “no represent-
ational function” (Halliday, 1994:142), the question is whether there can in fact be
considered Subject/Theme. In other words, since Halliday (1994) identifies Theme as the
first ideational element in a clause, it is difficult to understand why there should be
considered Theme. As shown in Table 3.3 below, Halliday adds that there is the starting
point of the clause, and that the referent comes later in the clause (Halliday, 1994:44).
Martin (1992b) supports this view and adds that there realises the existential feature and
sets up the presentation of the Existent later in the clause. Martin adds that

existential clauses… are ideally designed for introducing participants as un-

marked news at the end of the clause… and reinforcing their introduction by
taking their existence as the point of departure
(Martin, 1992b:164)

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 ASPECTS OF THEME AND THEIR ROLE IN WORKPLACE TEXTS

The Theme there makes prominent the feature that will be introduced later; it makes space,
in an unmarked manner, for a referent that will come later.

Thompson (1996) argues that there in existential clauses can be analysed as Theme, but
that in existential clauses the Theme should be extended to include the process (Thompson,
1996:138). However, this approach raises the question: if the process is to be included in
Theme in existential clauses, then why not in other types of clauses?

Table 3.3 Different interpretations of existential Theme

There will be a parallel run of 1 week before implementation.
existential Process: Existent Circumstantial Adjunct location: time
Theme Relational
Theme Rheme (Halliday, 1994)
Theme Rheme (present study)
Theme Rheme (Thompson, 1996)
Theme Rheme (Davies, 1997)
Memo 6, clause complex 10

As shown in Table 3.3, Halliday, Thompson and Davies draw the boundary between
Theme and Rheme at different places. Davies (1997) suggests that in existential clauses the
Theme should include both there and also the Existent that is set up by the introducing
there. Davies (1988) adds that by choosing there as Theme, the writer “presents their own
viewpoint as established fact”. The author’s viewpoint becomes hidden and information is
presented in an existential manner. Although this appears to be a more convincing
argument than Thompson’s, problems persist with this account of existential Themes. If a
writer has explicitly chosen an existential there in thematic position, it may be, as Berry
(1995) suggests, worth considering there as a ‘negative option’ where the writer chooses as
Theme “a pass option, an option not to make use of the thematic slot to foreground any
particular type of meaning” (Berry, 1995:66, bold and italics in orig.). By choosing an
existential Theme, the writer has chosen to remain ‘hidden’ and to pass over the option of
placing something interactional (interpersonal) or informational (topical) in initial position.
It should be noted that existential Themes are different from everything else which is
referred to as Subject/Theme as they are the grammatical Subject but not the true topic of
the main clause in the analysis. However, other alternatives for extending the analysis of
existential Themes to include more than just there are not completely convincing and in the
present study there will be analysed as Subject/Theme but also considered, following Berry
(1995), a ‘pass’ option from the writer’s perspective.

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 Chapter 3: Definition and Identification of Theme

3.5 Marked Themes and the concept of ‘extended’ Theme

In the typical clause pattern, the Theme is conflated with the Subject. Such a Theme
Halliday refers to as ‘unmarked Theme’, stating that “The Subject is the element that is
chosen as Theme unless there is good reason for choosing something else” (1994:43). A
Theme that is not Subject Halliday (1994) refers to as ‘marked Theme’; the most common
types of marked Theme are:

Circumstantial Adjuncts (today, currently, on 13 August, at the meeting)

Complements (that meeting we could not attend)

Halliday (1994) posits a cline of markedness, capturing the likelihood of any of these
elements occurring in initial position in the clause. The most common form of marked
Theme is an adverbial group or prepositional phrase functioning as Circumstantial Adjunct.
The least likely, and thus the most marked, is a Complement, which is a nominal group that
could have been chosen as Subject but was not (Halliday, 1994:44).

Regarding the order of clauses in a clause complex, Halliday argues that the default order
of clauses is independent clause followed by dependent clause, while a dependent clause in
initial position constitutes a marked choice of Theme (Halliday, 1994).

In the present study, marked Theme is analysed in the clause as well as in the clause
complex. As outlined in Section 3.5.3, if Theme is analysed to comprise everything up to
and including the Subject of the independent clause, the question as to whether a Theme
can be ‘marked’ arises, as Theme will always include the Subject, which is ‘unmarked’.
Martin and Rose (forthcoming) overcome this problem by identifying the marked Theme
and the Subject of the α clause, as shown in Example 3.17:

Example 3.17

after about three years with the special forces our hell began
Marked Theme Subject/Theme New

(Martin and Rose, forthcoming)

However, they do not propose a term which can be used when discussing the combination
of marked Theme and Subject/Theme. For the purpose of the present study, as introduced
above, where the combination of marked Theme and Subject/Theme is used to realise a

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 ASPECTS OF THEME AND THEIR ROLE IN WORKPLACE TEXTS

thematic choice, the term ‘extended Theme’ is adopted to refer to this combination, as
shown in Example 3.18:

Example 3.18

In the event of the Universal will not buy back the original stockholding,
contract being terminated
by either party,
marked Theme Subject/
Theme Rheme
extended Theme

Letter 14, clause 8

Example 3.19

If anyone can see a better please [you] feel free to speak to me or Pete
way or advise improvements
marked Theme Interpersonal Subject/
Theme Theme Rheme
extended Theme

Memo 4, clause complex 50

In an independent clause that is not part of a clause complex a marked Theme, i.e. any
topical element(s) preceding the Subject, plus the Subject itself are analysed as extended
Theme. In Example 3.19, the extended Theme includes a marked Theme, an interpersonal
Theme and the Subject/Theme. In a clause complex with a projecting clause in initial
position, the projecting clause and everything up to and including the Subject of the
projected clause are also analysed as an extended Theme. The projecting clause is
categorised as an interpersonal Theme and constitutes the ‘marked’ part of the Theme.
Exemplification is provided in Chapter Six.

3.5.1 Function and importance of marked Theme as part of extended Theme

A marked Theme is said to be a Theme where the writer consciously or unconsciously

affects the organisation of the text by choosing something other than the Subject for the
starting point of their message:

If Theme is everything located at the beginning of the sentence as a result of

choice, then markedness of Theme or use of special resources to put
Complements/Objects and Verbs in initial position betrays a deliberate choice;
by contrast the default use of Subject as Theme may be quite automatic.
(Goatly, 1995:166, italics in orig.)

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 Chapter 3: Definition and Identification of Theme

Goatly’s point is supported by a number of writers (Downing, 1991; Martin, 1992a; Berry,
1996; Stainton, 1996; Thompson, 1996; Davies, 1997; Martin and Rose, forthcoming),
who agree that the choice of marked Theme is important, and that it plays a crucial role in
the interpretation of the message. Discussing Circumstantial Adjuncts as an example of a
marked Theme, Downing (1991), Berry (1996) and Davies (1997) agree with Halliday that
Circumstantial Adjuncts are important to the message as they add further ideational detail
and information, but are optional in that the message would be coherent without them.
However, Davies and Berry disagree with Halliday’s view that circumstantial elements
“typically, …. occur freely in all types of process, and with essentially the same
significance wherever they occur” (Halliday, 1994:149). Downing (1991), Martin (1992a),
Berry (1996), Davies (1997) and Martin and Rose (forthcoming) argue that when a
Circumstantial Adjunct occurs in first position it has greater importance than if it occurs
elsewhere in the clause. A Circumstantial Adjunct in initial position constitutes a marked
choice and a marked Theme is seen as a “deliberate choice” made by the writer, according
to Goatly (1995).

Research on marked Theme by Stainton (1996) suggests that it is not only important
because it is a ‘motivated’ choice by the writer, but also that it is important for the success
of a text. Stainton found that in 22 technical reviews there was a higher proportion of
“marked themes in the most successful texts” (Stainton, 1996:53). Davies (1997) analysed
14 texts covering a wide range of text types, e.g. novel, historical survey, prospectus,
children’s writing, editorial, letter to the editor, textbook, gardening magazine article, and
research article, while Berry (1996) analysed three texts functioning as a university depart-
ment’s introductory guides, namely a departmental guide, the registrar’s guidelines, and
university guidelines. Even though their motivations and starting points are different,
Davies and Berry agree that marked Theme functions in some way to guide the reader or,
as Davies (1997) puts it, to act as a ‘Contextual Frame’.

However, very little research has been conducted into marked Theme in workplace texts,
with Iedema (1995) and Stainton (1996) being the only notable exceptions. In addition, it
appears that few studies have analysed and discussed Circumstantial Adjuncts, dependent
clauses and projecting clauses found in thematic position in workplace texts.

Davies (1994, 1997) suggests a framework for analysing marked Theme at the level of
discourse. She believes that the marked/unmarked distinction of Theme is too simplistic a

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 ASPECTS OF THEME AND THEIR ROLE IN WORKPLACE TEXTS

categorisation, and she suggests three categories of Theme as introduced previously in

Section 3.4.1. These three categories, i.e. interactive, informational and organisational
Themes, Davies believes, could be applied to all Theme types. The categories introduced
by Davies directly reflect the interpersonal (interactive), ideational (informational) and
textual (organisational) aspects of discourse. Interactive Themes basically negotiate the
relationship between the writer and reader expressing the interpersonal function, e.g. in my
view, if you wish to be considered. Informing elements are related to the ideational meta-
function and are predominantly realised by topical or informational units, e.g. in 1997, over
the last few weeks. Organising Themes are where the writer selects a Theme which is
related to an earlier or later part of the text, e.g. in this section, in view of the above, and as
such they are closely related to the textual metafunction. For Davies (1994), all Themes can
be classified using these three categories. In a later paper, Davies (1997) suggests that the
categorisation of these Contextual Frames is driven by semantic as well as grammatical
criteria. Davies’ semantic categories are discussed below in relation to marked Theme and
particular grammatical features found in marked Theme, i.e. Circumstantial Adjuncts and
hypotactic enhancing clauses.

Martin (1992a), Davies (1994:174) and Fries (1995a) all believe the Subject is recurrent
and enhances the coherence of the text, while the marked Theme, the Contextual Frame, is
not recurrent but rather signals “changes/shifts or stages in the progression of the
discourse” (Davies, 1997:55). Davies views the grammatical Subject as the topical Theme
and if other elements precede the Subject of the independent clause then they are viewed as
framing elements.

A further departure from Halliday (1994) is proposed by Davies (1994, 1997) in what she
classifies as marked or unmarked Theme. Although Halliday and Davies would agree that
the function of ‘markedness’ is to give a special status within the clause to something other
than the Subject of the clause, Davies extends what Halliday would identify as a marked
Theme, arguing that Modal Adjuncts, Conjunctive Adjuncts, existential there and
anticipatory it should all be considered as marked Themes. She believes that existential
there and anticipatory it should be analysed as interpersonal projections of writer view-
points in relation to the ‘Existent’ they introduce. The writer is exploiting the thematic
structure of the clause by choosing such features. Existential Themes and anticipatory it are
not the true Subjects; instead, they are place holders for what will follow as Subject. The

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 Chapter 3: Definition and Identification of Theme

present study follows Davies here only partially in that there in an existential clause will
not be considered a marked Theme as it does not convincingly fulfil interpersonal roles in
the same manner as it. For example:

Example 3.20
There is ample spare capacity.

Report 1, clause 4

Example 3.21
The Design Team have recommended that a re-tender exercise be undertaken following
substantial redesign of the project.

Report 2, clause complex 10

In Example 3.20, the existential Theme there is followed by a relational process which may
not necessarily be encoding interpersonal meaning. However, as shown in Example 3.21, a
projecting clause is realised by a mental, verbal or factual type of projection and according
to Martin (1995), Thompson and Thetela (1995) and Thompson (1996), projection is taken
to be inherently interpersonal. The position taken in the present study regarding existential
Themes is to only count the existential there as the Theme, as outlined in Section 3.4.4.
The position taken with regard to anticipatory it clauses within projecting clauses is to
include the whole projecting clause as an interpersonal Theme. When it is used in a cleft
sentence, as presented in Section 6.3.2, only the it will be classified as Theme.

3.5.2 Extended Theme: Circumstantial Adjuncts

Circumstantial Adjuncts can occur freely in the clause, as noted above. When a
Circumstantial Adjunct occurs in clause-initial position, it is considered by Halliday as a
marked Theme, with the unmarked Theme always realised by the Subject of the in-
dependent clause. Together, the marked Theme of a Circumstantial Adjunct and the un-
marked Theme constitute what has been called an ‘extended Theme’, as shown in Example
3.22:

Example 3.22

As of today we have ordered a large consignment of items from yourselves

on a BMS Purchase Order and await the delivery.
marked Theme Subject/Theme
Rheme
extended Theme

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 ASPECTS OF THEME AND THEIR ROLE IN WORKPLACE TEXTS

Letter 13, clause 6

Circumstantial Adjuncts are considered part of the ideational metafunction in SFL. They
are frequently realised by an adverbial, e.g. today, currently, tomorrow, or as a pre-
positional phrase, as shown in Example 3.22 as of today; other examples include: on 25
July, as an investment (Downing and Locke, 1992:556; Halliday, 1994:44). Circumstantial
Adjuncts do not have the potential to become the Subject or take on the modal
responsibility within the clause (Halliday, 1994:150). However, the words that make up the
Circumstantial Adjunct may become Subject, and if they do, then they can no longer be
functioning as an adjunct; for example, compare today is my birthday with Example 3.22.
In today is my birthday, today is no longer an adjunct but the Subject of the clause.
Halliday identifies nine types of Circumstantial Adjunct: location, extent, manner, cause,
contingency, accompaniment, role, matter and angle (Halliday, 1994:152-158). Circum-
stantial elements usually answer questions such as ‘when?’, ‘where?’, ‘how?’ and ‘why?’
and they are generally linked to, and expand upon, the process or participant in a clause.
Halliday’s nine types of Circumstantial Adjunct are illustrated in Table 3.4 with examples
from the corpus of workplace texts in the present study or from Thompson (1996), or
Martin et al. (1997); the Circumstantial Adjunct is shown in italics. The examples marked
with ‘*’ in Table 3.4 are taken from Martin et al. (1997) or Thompson (1996), as no
examples were found in the corpus.

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 Chapter 3: Definition and Identification of Theme

Table 3.4 Types of Circumstantial Adjunct

Circumstantial Example Probe
Adjunct
location
- time Every Monday afternoon, representatives from the When?
recycling company will come to our office.

- place After Gothenburg, the container is usually shipped to Where?

Hamburg in Germany, more delays are likely here.
extent
- time As you know, over the last few weeks, smoking breaks How long/often?
have been taken outside of the building…
every step*

- space in the yard, miles away* How far?

manner
- means With the present methods of off-air recording there is With what/ By what
always the possibility of human error and of last minute means?
programme change.

- quality In its simplest form, the chemical waste producer would How?
pay a charge for the collection and disposal of his wastes.

- comparison It’s OK, she went out like a light.* What … like?
cause
- reason Because of the size of CL, all loading has to be planned a Why? As a result of what?
number of days in advance.

- purpose For the purpose of this review, C&A homes refer to those What for?
C&A homes receiving government subventions.

- behalf For those reviewers who are using Cabs pro, you are Who for? On whose
expected to ensure that your time sheets are correct and behalf?
complete.
contingency
- condition As the requirement for engineering increases, engineers Under what conditions?
will need the facility to draft concepts of SAC and then to
send to the DAC operator for detailing.

- concession in spite of the rain* Despite/in spite of what?

- default in the absence of proof* Lacking what?

accompaniment
- comitative With Gary’s post and registration, it is short term and the Who/what with?
range of duties is fairly limited…

- additive the Director of Housing has added that in addition to And who/what else?
departmental vehicles, the HAHQ building has to
provide…
role
- guise as a concerned parent* What as?

- product (smashed) into pieces [sic]* What into?

matter With regards to Select feed plus pricing I understand that What about?
Tariff 1 is to be replaced with another pricing structure…
angle Basically, under BVI law, surplus of the company is From what point of view?
anything over and above the capital and liabilities of the Says who?

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 ASPECTS OF THEME AND THEIR ROLE IN WORKPLACE TEXTS

Circumstantial Example Probe

Adjunct
company.

(Adapted from Thompson, 1996:105, and Martin et al., 1997:104)

However, despite the neatness suggested by this coding scheme, “circumstances frequently
seem to combine two different types of meaning”, as pointed out by Thompson (1996:105).
He adds that frequently time and cause, along with manner and reason, may both be present
in one Circumstantial Adjunct. He also suggests that the use of metaphor may also confuse
the meaning of a Circumstantial Adjunct. Thompson sums up his description of
Circumstantial Adjuncts by stating:

Whichever set of categories you rely on, you are likely to find that they will not
easily account for all examples of circumstances that you come across in texts.
(Thompson, 1996:105)

A limited number of Circumstantial Adjuncts found in the corpus could have been ‘doubly’
coded, as pointed out in Section 4.4.5.

As noted above, the analysis of Circumstantial Adjuncts in thematic position differs from
Halliday (1994) in that Halliday’s analysis considers a Circumstantial Adjunct coming first
in a clause as constituting the total Theme, while in this study the Subject following the
Circumstantial Adjunct will be included in an ‘extended’ Theme. Example 3.23 contrasts
the two styles of analysis:

Example 3.23

In 1994 and 1995, the tax authorities were focusing on the introduction of the tax reform and
the formation of a new system of tax administration.
Circumstantial Adjunct Subject
Theme Rheme (Halliday, 1994)
extended Theme Rheme (present study)

Report 6, Clause 105

While in Halliday’s style of analysis the Circumstantial Adjunct in 1994 and 1995
constitutes all of the (marked) Theme, in the style favoured in this study in 1994 and 1995,
the tax authorities, i.e. the Circumstantial Adjunct together with the following Subject,
constitute the ‘extended Theme’ of the clause. The Circumstantial Adjunct, following
Davies (1997:58), is believed to frame “real world entities” within the discourse of the text,
and the Subject to provide information about the topic or ‘content’ of the clause. In the

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 Chapter 3: Definition and Identification of Theme

present study, the extended Theme may include one or more Circumstantial Adjuncts
directly preceding the Subject.

Circumstantial Adjuncts which occur before the main verb are referred to as “additional
ideational” information by Berry (1995:76). This is in partial agreement with Halliday
(1994) who clarifies the status of the Circumstantial Adjunct by saying

what is important is the notion of the ‘circumstance’ as a kind of additional

minor process, subsidiary to the main one, but embodying some of the features
of a relational or verbal process, and so introducing a further entity as an
indirect participant in the clause.
(Halliday, 1994:152)

It could therefore be argued that as Circumstantial Adjuncts embody only ‘some’ of the
features of a process or participant they, like other linguistic elements, do not exhaust the
potential of Theme.

In support of this view Downing (1991) provides three reasons why a Circumstantial
Adjunct should not be counted as Theme on its own. Circumstantial Adjuncts

“do not represent participant roles in the semantic structure … They can never, in
‘congruent’ representation, be topics … they are not identifiable as ‘what the
clause is about’”;

do not disturb the mood structure and do not therefore “affect the predictability
of which way the clause is going”;

are not directly related to what the clause is ‘about’, but rather provide a “spatial,
temporal or other circumstantial framework within which the ensuing message
can develop.”
(adapted and quoted from Downing, 1991:126)

In this sense, Downing’s view of Circumstantial Adjuncts as a constituent within Theme

supports Davies’ arguments, presented above.

3.5.3 Extended Theme: dependent clauses

A marked Theme may be realised by a whole (dependent) clause acting as the Theme of a
clause complex, or by one of the elements discussed above, i.e. a Circumstantial Adjunct or
a Complement in clause-initial position. This section discusses why dependent clauses may
be Theme in a clause complex but independent clauses may not.

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 ASPECTS OF THEME AND THEIR ROLE IN WORKPLACE TEXTS

The justification for analysing the Them of the independent clause in a clause complex is
provided in Section 3.6. At the level of the clause complex, the clauses exist as ‘bundles’
of clauses which have some direct structural relation with each other. In written language a
clause complex is typically identified by the conventions of marking sentence boundaries,
i.e. the first word in the sentence is written with initial uppercase and the sentence ended
with a full-stop, while a clause complex is not as easily identified in spoken language. In a
coherent written text, a sentence may be presumed to be co-extensive with a clause
complex or a single independent clause (a clause ‘simplex’), but beyond this there is little
reliable information found in conventional punctuation concerning the relationship of
clauses within the clause complex.

Halliday (1994:218) posits two dimensions to the interpretation of clause relations. These
are shown below in Table 3.5:

Table 3.5 Basic types of clause complex

(i) paratactic (ii) hypotactic

(a) John didn’t wait; John ran away,
elaboration 1 α
(1) he ran away. which surprised everyone
E =2 =β
x
p (b) John ran away. John ran away,
a extension 1 α
n and Fred stayed behind whereas Fred stayed behind.
s +2 +β
i
o (c) John was scared, John ran away,
n enhancement 1 α
so he ran away because he was scared
x2 xβ

(2) (a) John said: John said

P locution 1 α
r “I’m running away” he was running away.
o “2 “β
j
e (b) John thought to himself: John thought
c idea 1 α
t ‘I’ll run away’ he would run away.
i ‘2 ‘β
o
n

(Halliday, 1994:220, Table 7(2))

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 Chapter 3: Definition and Identification of Theme

Halliday describes the interdependency of clauses in terms of ‘hypotactic’ and ‘paratactic’

relations, giving us dependent and independent clauses, and the logico-semantic relation-
ships between clauses in terms of ‘expansion’ and ‘projection’, both of which may be
realised through either parataxis or hypotaxis. The concept of interdependency is discussed
in Section 3.5.3.1, and that of expansion in Section 3.5.3.2.

3.5.4 Clause relations: interdependency

Relationships between clauses, especially dependent relationships, are central to the

analysis presented in this study. The study focuses on the way in which hypotactic clauses
function as Theme in the clause complex. According to Halliday (1994:56), the typical
order of clauses in the clause complex is independent clause followed by dependent clause,
and when the order is reversed and the dependent clause comes first, the “motive is
thematic”. The clause and clause complex can both be analysed for Theme, as Halliday
demonstrates:

Example 3.24

If winter comes can spring be far behind?

Theme1 Rheme1
structural topical Finite topical
Theme2 Rheme2 Theme3 Rheme3

(Halliday, 1994:57, Fig 3-16)

Halliday states that while it is acceptable to analyse a dependent clause as Theme when
initial in the clause complex, each clause also has its own thematic structure. As shown in
Example 3.24, there are three possible interpretations of Theme. Theme1 is the Theme of
the clause complex, while Theme2 and Theme3 are the Themes of the dependent and
independent clauses respectively. In support of Halliday, Fries (1983), Housman (1967,
quoted in Goatly, 1995), Berry (1996) and Davies (1997) agree that a hypotactic clause
(which is by definition dependent) occurring in initial position in a clause complex should
be analysed as marked Theme.

When carrying out an analysis of data, the test applied to decide whether a clause was
hypotactic was whether it was dependent on the other clause or not, in line with (Halliday,
1994:221): “Hypotaxis is the binding of elements of unequal status. The dominant element
is free, but the dependent element is not”. Paratactic clauses do not fit this test as both (or

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 ASPECTS OF THEME AND THEIR ROLE IN WORKPLACE TEXTS

more) clauses are free and neither clause is dependent on the other. Halliday, as shown in
Example 3.25, illustrates the hypotactic relationship between clauses in a clause complex:

Example 3.25

John thought he would run away.

α β

(Halliday, 1994:220)
Similar examples can be found in the corpus of workplace texts:

Example 3.26

Although no details have been the proposed elimination of exemptions for the
confirmed yet, importation of goods forming part of foreign invest-
ments seems to be a certain move.
β α

Report 6, clause complex 61

In both examples the β clause is dependent on the α clause. In Example 3.26 the
independent clause the proposed elimination of exemptions for the importation of goods
forming part of foreign investments seems to be a certain move could stand alone while the
dependent clause Although no details have been confirmed yet could not. If one were to
remove the α clauses in both examples, the β clauses would not make sense on their own.
These two examples demonstrate a relationship between two clauses in which one is
dominant and the other dependent. When the dependent clause is in first position in the
clause complex, it constitutes a marked Theme. In the present study the Theme of the
clause complex is analysed to include the dependent clause and anything up to and
including the Subject in the following clause, provided it is both an independent clause and
the dominant clause in the clause complex, as illustrated in Example 3.27:

Example 3.27

Although no details have the proposed elimination of exemptions seems to be a

been confirmed yet, for the importation of goods forming part certain move.
of foreign investments
dependent clause Subject/Theme (of α clause) Rheme (of α clause)
β α
extended Theme Rheme

Report 6, clause complex 61

Therefore, when discussing relationships between clauses, hypotaxis is an important

feature as the meaning potential of one clause is only realised if another clause is present.

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 Chapter 3: Definition and Identification of Theme

In addition, hypotaxis is important in the analysis of Theme in a clause complex, since it is

only dependent clauses which have the potential to be marked Theme.

As established above, as the Theme includes everything up to and including the Subject
of the independent clause, following Davies (1994, 1997) and Berry (1995), if a dependent
Theme is in initial position then this, as well as the Subject, will be taken to be the Theme.
The function of marked Theme is not relevant to paratactically related clauses as these
clauses may occur in any order. Paratactic clauses are independent units and they have been
recognised as such in the analyses of Theme.

3.5.5 Clause relations: expansion

According to Halliday (1994), a dependent clause may be related to another clause by a
relationship of either ‘expansion’ or ‘projection’, collectively referred to as logico-semantic
relationships. These two types of relationship capture the way in which any two clauses in
a clause complex are related semantically while their logical relationship is captured by
those of ‘taxis’, i.e. hypotaxis or parataxis.

Halliday posits three different types of expansion:

i. elaboration
One clause is used to specify or describe another clause.
ii. extension
One clause adds information to another clause to extend its meaning.
iii. enhancement
One clause qualifies the meaning of another clause by time, place, manner, cause or
condition.
(adapted from Halliday, 1994:220)

The logico-semantic relationship most frequently found in this study’s corpus in relation
to Theme was enhancement. Frequently, enhancing clauses were found in initial position,
thus constituting a marked Theme. All hypotactic clauses of expansion can be realised
through both Finite and non-finite clauses.

The Finite and non-finite hypotactic clauses analysed as marked Themes in this study
tend to be enhancing clauses. The enhancing clause has “a circumstantial feature
incorporated into it” according to Halliday (1994:232). Additionally, in hypotactic (rather
than paratactic) enhancing clauses, “the conjunction serves to express both the dependency
(the hypotactic status) and the circumstantial relationship” (Halliday, 1994:238). As there

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 ASPECTS OF THEME AND THEIR ROLE IN WORKPLACE TEXTS

is such a clear relationship between the circumstantial nature of hypotactic enhancing

clauses and Circumstantial Adjuncts, the markers of hypotactic enhancing clauses are very
similar to those of Circumstantial Adjuncts illustrated in Table 3.1. In the present study,
dependent clauses functioning as marked Themes have been analysed following Halliday
(1994:237), reproduced as Table 3.6, which includes an exemplification of some of the
conjunctions and prepositions associated with hypotactic enhancing clauses. In this table,
adapted from Halliday, the symbol ‘#’ signals that no marker was provided by Halliday or
found in the corpus; and ‘*’ signals an example not given by Halliday, but found in the
corpus.

Table 3.6 Principal markers of hypotactic enhancing clauses

Finite Non-finite
conjunction conjunction preposition
(i) temporal
same time: extent as, while while in (the course/process of)
same time: point when, as soon as, the moment when on
same time: spread whenever, every time # #
different time: later after, since since after
different time: earlier before, until until before
(ii) spatial
same place: extent as far as # #
same place: point where # #
same place: spread wherever, everywhere # #
(iii) manner
means # # by (means of), as (e.g. as
spoken)*
comparison as, as if, like, the way, like #
however*

quality* whilst* # for*, in*

(iv) causal: conditional
cause: reason because, as, since, in case, # with, through, by, at, as a
seeing that, considering result of, because of, after*

cause: purpose in order that, so that # (in order/so as) to; for (the
sake of) with the aim of, for
fear of

condition: positive if, provided that, as long as if in the event of

condition: negative unless unless but for, without,
condition: concessive even if, although even if, despite, in spite of, without
although
(adapted from Halliday, 1994:237, Table 7(7))

To summarise, an extended Theme comprises any marked Theme together with the un-
marked Theme of the main clause. The marked Theme can be a Circumstantial Adjunct, or
a Complement at clause level, or a hypotactic (dependent) clause in initial position at

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 Chapter 3: Definition and Identification of Theme

clause complex level, together with the Subject of the following dominant (independent)
clause.

3.6 Concluding remarks

From the research and through the above discussion, it has been shown that choice of
Theme appears to be a key factor for the success or otherwise of clause and text alike. In
relation to the general question of the function Theme performs in written workplace texts,
one function of Theme would seem to be the organisation of the message. In the present
study, an additional role is explored, viz. that of expressing an interpersonal message or
viewpoint. Two particular thematic choices appear to serve this function, viz. marked
Theme and projecting clauses in thematic position in a clause complex. Projecting clauses
are discussed in detail in Chapter Six.

A number of methods for identifying Theme have been reviewed in detail, and a rationale
for selecting the method used in the present study provided. The boundary between Theme
and Rheme adopted for the present study diverges from Halliday’s identification of Theme
in that Theme is considered to extend up to and including the Subject of the first
independent clause in the clause complex. The reasons for analysing Theme in this manner
are that it allows the text analyst and others who are users of the texts to understand the
way in which a text is constructed and the role played by the Subject and features other
than the Subject in organising the message. Davies (1988, 1994, 1997), Berry (1995, 1996),
Fries (1995a) and Ravelli (1995) all support the view that including the Subject as part of
Theme aids the understanding of the thematic development of a text.

In the present study, Theme is made up of the Subject of the main clause plus anything
preceding the Subject. Theme may therefore include textual Themes, interpersonal
Themes, as well as more than one topical Theme. The term Subject/Theme has been
adopted in order to establish the obligatory topical Theme. When the Subject is the only
thematic element, it is also the unmarked or default choice of Theme. When other topical
features are found to precede the Subject/Theme, these are referred to as marked Theme.
The distinction made between marked and Subject/Theme, and the idea that marked Theme
plays a special role different to the default unmarked Theme have been established. The
category of extended Theme, which includes additional topical Themes other than the
Subject/Theme, such as clause elements, e.g. Circumstantial Adjunct, Complement, as well

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 ASPECTS OF THEME AND THEIR ROLE IN WORKPLACE TEXTS

as dependent enhancing clauses, was introduced in a departure from Halliday’s concept of

marked Theme.

As argued above, the choice of Theme will always affect the viewpoint, or as Martin
(1992b) calls it, the ‘angle’ of the message presented in a text. Extended Themes are one
way in which interpersonal meanings within the choice of Theme are construed. Another
feature which it is possible to analyse and investigate in depth is the choice of Subject. As
pointed out by Iedema (1995, 1999, 2000), the modal responsibility assigned by the choice
of Subject can explicitly emphasise the personal or depersonalised nature of a text and its
meaning. The choice of Subject as part of Theme is an area which will be scrutinised in
detail in the following chapters. The range and choice of Theme, according to Martin
(1992a), Davies (1994, 1997) and Fries (1995a) will be constrained to some extent by the
genre in which the writer is operating. However, the extent and level of constraint needs to
be investigated further.

After considering the theoretical concerns and establishing the remit of the present study,
the procedures and application of the theory to the data need to be explicated. The
methodological considerations adopted for the analysis of the present study will be
presented in the following chapter.

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