‘Theme’ as point of departure: pedagogical implications
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Abstract
This paper discusses from the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistics the importance of considering ‘Theme’ as the point of departure of the clause. A detailed analysis of the successive points of departure of a variety of texts in Spanish highlights the structuring of what is named here the ‘semantic skeleton’ of the text. The paper further examines the functions of different types of Theme and how discourse flow can be modified by changing their combination and sequence. This positional consideration, which contrasts with an information driven consideration of Theme as given, provides powerful pedagogical tools for a detailed understanding of discourse organization.
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