Thematic Progression Theory and Its Application in EAP Writing

Abstract

Cohesion and coherence of discourse is one of the major subjects in the research of EAP discourse. The theory of theme and rheme is hypothesized to be an important method for the analysis of discourse coherence. This paper intends to explore first the relationships among the division of theme and rheme and the coherence of EAP discourse. Then, it is to test the hypothesis that the patterns of Thematic Progression can be an effective way of topic development in EAP discourse by analyzing 50 abstracts down-loaded from Nature and Science. Therefore, it is of great value that the theory of theme and rheme sheds light on how to write high-quality abstracts of academic papers in English.