خلاصة:
The present study aimed to find out thematic organization and progression in the argumentative writing of Iranian learners of English, representing two levels of language proficiency, and the introduction section of published Research articles (RAs) of Applied Linguistics. For this aim, 60 articles were downloaded from three journals and also 92 MA and BA students majoring in English Language Teaching and English Literature were selected. Then, three topics were used for gathering data from them. Of the written argumentative compositions, only 67 were chosen for the next phase of the study. These compositions together with the RAs were analyzed based on Halliday’s (1985) model of thematic structure and the revised model of Danes’ (1974) thematic progression patterns. The results of Chi-square suggested that there was a significant difference in the thematic structure of the essays written by MA students and the introduction section of RAs. It was concluded that thematicity can be effectively applied in classrooms to help students in writing. Students will know where they are losing their effectiveness in their arguments due to problems with either thematic progression or thematic selection, or both. The findings of this study can be effectively applied in teaching writing skills.
ملخص الجهاز:
com Abstract The present study aimed to find out thematic organization and progression in the argumentative writing of Iranian learners of English, representing two levels of language proficiency, and the introduction section of published Research articles (RAs) of Applied Linguistics.
The results of Chi-square suggested that there was a significant difference in the thematic structure of the essays written by MA students and the introduction section of RAs. It was concluded that thematicity can be effectively applied in classrooms to help students in writing.
Given there are few, if any, studies linking novice writing to professional argumentative writing, the present study aims to find out thematic organization in the argumentative texts written by Iranian learners of English and the introduction section of RAs published in scholarly journals and to identify possible sources of non- professionality in students’ writing.
5. Are there any differences between the argumentative texts written by Iranian MA and BA learners of English, and the introduction section of RAs in terms of theme/rheme organization and thematic progression?
This confirmed the greater tendency of RA authors to apply textual theme resulting in the argumentative, impersonal, and factual tone of texts in the introduction section of RAs than in MA essays (McCabe, 1999).
Table 4 Frequency and Percentage of Themes in BA Essays, MA Essays, and RAs Hallidayan’s Model of Thematic Organization BA Compositions (%) MA Compositions (%) Total No. of BA & MA (%) Research Articles (%) Topical 782 891 1673 3297 (22.