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Thematic Progression Patterns in the IELTS Task 2 Writing

Seyed Foad Ebrahimi, Seyed Jamal Ebrahimi
Department of English, Shadegan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shadegan, Iran
seyedfoade@yahoo.com
jetco2003@yahoo.co.uk

ABSTRACT
This study investigated the thematic progression patterns in the Task 2, essays, of the writing section of the IELTS test. To
this end, thirty Task 2 essays with a score of 8 and 8.5 were selected. Then, the data were analyzed based on the
thematic progression model proposed by Eggins (2004). The findings suggested that the selections of the thematic
progression patterns were directly imposed by the nature of the genre of essay writing. This means that the writers were
required to select the thematic progression patterns in a way which help meeting the general goals and purposes of this
genre. The finding could be used in the IELTS preparation writing classes to help the writers, especially EFL novice
writers, to achieve satisfactory scores in the Task 2, essays, of the writing section of the IELTS test.

Keywords: Theme; Rheme; Thematic Progression; Task 2 writing; IELTS; Genre.

Council for Innovative Research

Peer Review Research Publishing System

Journal: Journal of Advances in Linguistics

Vol 3, No. 3
editor@cirjal.com
www.jal.cirworld.com, www.cirjal.com
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INTRODUCTION
In the past two decades, the IELTS test has gained an increasing importance in university systems around the world. In
Australia, for instance, it is now the only test accepted by all universities and is often referred to as the preferred test
(Coley, 1999, P.10). The IELTS is one of the few English language proficiency test in which the listening, speaking,
reading, and writing skills of examinees are assessed and reported on. The writing skill requires examinees to do two
Tasks in 60 minutes. In Task 1, examinees write a short description of information presented in the form of a table,
diagram etc. In Task 2, examinees should write an essay in response to a question or proposition. Tests designers
illustrated that examinees in their responses to the requirement of Task 2 should provide general factual information,
outline and/or present solution, justify an opinion, and evaluate ideas and evidence (UCLES, 2002). In the present study,
researchers decided to focus merely on Task 2 essay. This decision was partly motivated by the heavier weighting of this
Task on the test and the greater attention that it receives in test preparation classes. In addition, the focus on Task 2 was
sourced from fact that it has a major influence on students emerging understandings of what academic writing
fundamentally infold.
A sustainable literature has been published on the writing section of the IELTS test. These studies have focused on the
role of argument in IELTS writing (Coffin, 2004) and the washback of IELTS tests on the education systems and societies
in which they operate (Green, 2006, 2007). In addition, Moore and Morton (2005) compared IELTS essay writing and
university writing. More recently, Dickinson (2013) shed the light on the adaptation of a genre-based framework to help
learners prepare for the essay writing section of the IELTS test. Literature reviews have indicated that no research has
been carried out on the linguistic features used in the writing section of the IELTS test. Thus, this study aims to shed the
light on theme as one of the linguistic features by investigating the thematic progression patterns in the Task 2 essay of
the writing section of the IELTS test.
The contribution of this study is obvious in the IELTS preparation writing classes as the resulting outcomes can be
capitalized as guidelines to help novice writers, especially EFL novice writers, to develop their essays by smoothing the
flow of information which in turn increases their scores of writing.

Methodology
Data
This study was carried out on a data of 30 Task 2 essays. These Task 2 essays came from the publicly available IELTS
materials with score band of 8 and 8.5. The particulars of the data are presented in Table 1.
Table 1: Particulars of the data
Number of Task 2 Essays

30

Length of Task 2 Essays

251-376

Total number of words of Task 2 Essays

8701

Total number of Thematic progression patterns

540

The data selection was based on three criteria: genre, English for Academic purposes (EAP) and text type. Essay writing
(Task 2 essays of the IELTS test in this study) qualifies as a genre on its own satisfying the first criterion. To meet the
second, Task 2 essays from the academic IELTS test were selected. Lastly, to meet the third criterion, this study focused
on the Task 2 essays of the IELTS test as a text type which contains peculiar linguistic features.

Method of Analysis
Halliday (1994) defines theme as the element in a particular structural configuration taken as whole, that organizes the
clause as a message; this is the configuration of theme and rheme. Based on this definition, a clause is made of two parts
theme followed by rheme. Theme is the starting point for the message; it is the ground from which the clause takes off.
Theme helps us to know what the clause will be about and what it is going to tell us. He also gives two examples to show
the importance of theme in the meaning of the clause.
1.

A halfpenny is the smallest English coin.

2.

The smallest English coin is a halfpenny.

In the first sentence, theme is a halfpenny which this means the writer wants to tell us about a halfpenny but in the
second sentence, the theme is the smallest English coin this means the writer wants to tell us about the smallest
English coin.
Theme has been studied from two perspectives, thematic organization and thematic progression. This study focused on
only thematic progression patterns.
Eggins (2004) model of Thematic progression:

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Fries (1994) points that thematic progression is the way in which a theme of a clause repeats or pick up a meaning from
the preceding theme or rheme. This progression is necessary for the creations of the information flow which in turn
contributes to the communicative effectiveness in a message (Eggins, 2004).
Eggins (2004) categorizes these patterns into:
1) Reiteration pattern: In this pattern, theme of one clause is derived from the theme of the previous clause.
Example: In fact, I think when young people today are so rebellious that it's possible that both parents
and teachers are afraid to exercise their authority. However, I do not agree that this is the basic reason
for the increase in teenage violence.
2) Zig-zag pattern: In this pattern, theme of one clause is derived from the rheme of the previous clause.
Example: I believe there are two main causes of this situation. The first is parental pressure and the
second is competition for university places.
3) Multiple-Rheme pattern: In this pattern, the rheme of the first clause is split into two parts, then each in turn being taken
as the theme element of the subsequent clauses.
Example: Also, students go to colleges and universities to have new experiences. This often means
having the opportunity to meet people different from those in their hometowns. For most students, going
to college is the first time theyve been away from home by themselves.
The rationale behind the selection of this model was: first, this is the most practical, reliable model which provides
attestable mechanisms for determining the thematic progression patterns of the texts correctly (Martinez, 2003) and
second, most of the studies that have been done in terms of thematic analysis have resorted to this model.

Unit of Analysis
In this study, only main clauses were analyzed for their thematic progression patterns. This enables a clear display of the
thematic progression patterns used in the Task 2 essays without having to focus on the secondary organization of text
(Gosden, 1993). In this concern, Halliday (1985) argues that main clauses theme makes the major contribution in the
method of development of the text. To Fries and Francis (1992) and Berry (1989), examining only the main clause
because of its significance could help knowing the text organization and increase the genre awareness.

Procedure
The procedure of analysis follows a few steps. First, the Task 2 essays were stored into word files and word count run on
them. Second, the data were analyzed based on Eggins (2004) model of thematic progression patterns. Initial analysis is
verified by two raters who are pursuing their PhD in English language studies. Once concordance was established, the
researchers proceeded with the rest of the analyses. Third, the frequency and percentage of thematic progression
patterns of the sample were calculated and tabulated. Finally, manifestations of thematic progression patterns were
discussed.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

All the t-units in the data were analyzed to determine different patterns of thematic progression including reiteration, zigzag, and multiple rheme. In this study, following McCabe (1999), the themes for which the reader has to go back more
than two clauses to find a previously mentioned concept were not considered as part of thematic progression pattern. In
other words, if links were established over a maximum of three clauses, these links were not considered as part of
thematic progression patterns. One more point to be mentioned is that some themes were not related to other clauses,
and they could not be categorized under any of the conventional thematic progression patterns. These themes were called
miscellaneous. The result is displayed in Table 2.
Table 2: Frequency and Percentage of the Thematic Progression Patterns
Thematic Progression Pattern

Frequency

Percentage

Reiteration Progression Pattern

118

22%

Zig-zag Progression Pattern

125

23%

Multiple-Rheme Progression Pattern

51

10%

Miscellaneous

246

45%

Total

540

100%

Reiteration Progression Pattern

Table 2 demonstrates that the writers of the Task 2 essays dedicated 22% of the thematic progression patterns to the
realization of the reiteration progression pattern. This finding is in contrast with Jalilifars (2010) and Ebrahimis (2008)
findings. Jalilifar (2010) who scrutinized the thematic progression patterns of Applied Linguistic research articles found

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38% of the reiteration progression pattern. This difference could be discussed on the grounds of difference in genre. In the
genre of research article, there are some rhetorical sections which impose writers to make the use of this progression
pattern. Rhetorical sections of introduction and methodology could be obvious examples in which writers need to name
and present list of the aims, instruments, and procedures of the study. In the genre of essay writing, writers use this
progression pattern mostly to list the advantages and/or disadvantages of an event or item. Our finding is also in contrast
with the study conducted by Ebrahimi (2008). He analyzed the thematic progression patterns of students compositions
and found 47% of the reiteration progression pattern. Even our study and the study conducted by Ebrahimi (2008), both
analyzed related kinds of texts, essay and composition, but the plausible justification of the contrast could be the nature of
the analyzed text which were argumentative and narrative respectively. It seems that it is possible to refer to the same
item, person, or event in thematic position in the narrative texts.
According to Wang (2007) and McCabe (1999), the use of the reiteration progression pattern makes the text to be simple,
repetitive, and redundant. They added that this is due to the use of the similar theme for more than one t-unit. This could
not be the case in Task 2 essay writing as the writer is limited by the word counts. Writers have to present their arguments
in 250 to 300 words; therefore it is not possible to elaborate and develop all the information presented in the theme of the
t-unit. A support to this claim comes from findings of Ebrahimi, Chan and Tans (2012) study. They analyzed research
article abstracts from different disciplines and found 14% to 22% of the reiteration progression pattern. This similarity could
be due to that in both, essay and research article abstract, writers are limited by the word counts.
In the analyzed Task 2 essays, the reiteration progression pattern was mostly used to list the advantages and/or
disadvantages (Example 1-2) of an event or item. It was also used to help writers to present themselves in the thematic
position as it is a focal point which makes the text to be more personal (Example 3). It seems that IELTS instructors should
make the students aware of the use of the reiteration progression pattern for these three purposes. This awareness could
help the students not to use this progression pattern else where in their Task 2 essays which might make their Task 2
essays to be redundant and repetitive.
Example 1: Throughout my life, I have been lucky enough to have a very good relationship with my
parents. They have supported me, given me necessary criticism, and taught me a great deal about how
to live my life. Parents can be very important teachers in our lives; however, they are not always the
best teachers. Parents may be too close to their children emotionally. Sometimes they can only see
their children though the eyes of a protector. For example, they may limit a childs freedom in the name
of safety.
Example 2: People dont join community organizations and theyre not willing to get involved in trying to
improve the quality of life. If someone has a petition to put in a new street light, she has a very hard time
getting a lot of people to sign. They dont feel it has anything to do with them. They dont get involved in
improving the schools because they dont think the quality of education is important to their lives. They
dont see the connection between themselves and the rest of their community. People dont try to
support others around them. They dont keep a friendly eye on their children, or check in on older folks if
they dont see them for a few days. Theyre not aware when people around them may be going through
a hard time. For example, they may not know if a neighbor loses a loved one.
Example 3: If our town is going in growth, I would prefer slow growth with good planning. I dont want to
see rows of cheaply constructed townhouses. Our quality of life must be considered. I believe that this
growth will change our city too much. I love my hometown because it is a safe, small town. It is also
easy to travel here. If we must expand to hold new citizens, the small-town feel will be gone. I would
miss that greatly. A factory would be helpful in some ways. However, I feel that the dangers are greater
than the benefits. I cannot support a plan to build a factory here, and hope that others feel the same
way.

Zig-zag Progression Pattern

According to the figures in Table 2, the Zig-zag progression pattern was realized in 23% of the total progression patterns.
This finding contradicts with the earlier findings reported by Jalilifar (2009) and Ebrahimi (2008). Jalilifar (2009) analyzed
the Applied Linguistic textbooks for the thematic progression patterns and found that the Zig-zag progression pattern was
realized in 40.61% of the total progression patterns. This contradiction could be discussed based on the difference in
nature of the writers of these texts. Applied Linguistic textbooks are written by expert writers of English that most of them
are native speakers of English, but Task 2 essays of the IELTS test are written by non-native speakers of English that big
portion of them are holding undergraduate degrees. Therefore, it is not surprising if we have more cohesive textbooks than
Task 2 essays. The less realization of this progression pattern could be discussed based on the limitations in word counts
that imposed on Task 2 essays writers participating in the IELTS test.
A closer look at the analyzed data, it was evident that this pattern was used mostly in the body of the essays as the
essays written for the Task 2 of the IELTS test include short introduction and conclusion. Therefore, short space dedicated
to the introduction and conclusion sections of Task 2 essays leaves no room for the use of this progression patterns. In the
body section of the essays, writers used this progression pattern to develop the information presented in theme of t-unit
(example 4). This progression pattern also helps the readers to know where the information comes from and where it is
going which contributes to the cohesion of the texts that contributes directly to the increase of the score of the Task 2
essays.
Example 4: Also, students go to colleges and universities to have new experiences. This often
means having the opportunity to meet people different from those in their hometowns. For most

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students, going to college is the first time theyve been away from home by themselves. In additions,
this is the first time theyve had to make decisions on their own. Making these decisions increases
their knowledge of themselves.

Multiple-rheme Progression Pattern

As is evident from Table 2, the multiple-rheme progression pattern received little attention from the writers of the Task 2
essays. Even this progression pattern was realized in only 10% of the thematic progression patterns but it is far more than
that found by Jalilifar (2009, 2010), Ebrahimi (2008) and Ebrahimi, Chan, and Tan (2012). These studies have reported
that this progression pattern was realized in less than 1% of the total thematic progression patterns. The difference
between our finding and earlier studies findings could be sourced from the fact that when writers are imposed by time and
word counts, they prefer to put more information in the rheme part and develop this information in the following t-units.
This means that the Task 2 essay writers starts the body section of their essays by putting more information in the topic
sentence and develop this information in the supporting sentences (Example 5).
Example 5: Traveling to a centralized workplace also has a number of points in its favor. The first is
that many employees would miss the social aspect of work such as seeing colleagues and meeting
customers. A further point is that employers would need to be able to trust their workers to work at a
high standard and finish their work on time, since supervising teleworkers is even more complicated
than supervising workers in the same office.
Data analysis indicated that the writers of the Task 2 essays used this progression pattern to provide a clear layout for the
reader to catch what the passage is about. It also helps the readers to find the useful information and as they move a step
forward, the information offered are become more and more specific. Task 2 essays which have more of this progression
pattern are treated as more logic and coherent.

Miscellaneous Progression Pattern

Table 2 illustrated that 45% of the progression patterns could not be classified under any existing patterns (Eggins (2004)
patterns of Thematic progression), therefore they were classified as the miscellaneous progression patterns. According to
Wang (2007), the overall effect of applying miscellaneous progression patterns is in creating essays which is lacking in the
development of ideas. Contrary to Wang's (2007) suggestion that miscellaneous progression patterns distort the
development of ideas, McCabe (1999, P.180) argues that:
In no way are all of the themes in the corpus chained to a previous theme or rheme in close proximity.
However, this does not necessarily mean that they are difficult to process, only that they are difficult to
analyze in terms of linking them to one previous point in the discourse in order to say that they belong to
one or another chain. These themes are important to the organization of the discourse; they are only
labeled as peripheral in that they are peripheral to the thematic progression patterns.
The miscellaneous progression patterns are crucial to the development of the text and can provide thematic continuity in
the text because of the accessibility of their references to the reader. Sometimes the reader goes back to more than three
clauses to relate propositions together even though the clauses fall outside thematic rules because context compensates
for the distance between the clauses by giving the reader the opportunity to rely on the contextual clues to link ideas
together. And sometimes when a new idea that has no connection to the preceding clauses is introduced, analysis of
thematicity requires great efforts on the part of the readers (Example 6). In addition, some t-units starts with empty themes
(e.g. there) which distort the link between the ideas. (Example 7)
Example 6: It is obviously difficult to restrict the movement of people around the world and it is probably
foolish to try to stop it, but attempts should be made to redress the imbalance.
Example 7: The second cause is related to the higher education system. Each year, there are many
times more applicants to university than there are university places. The result of this is that only those
students with very high grades manage to obtain a place.

CONCLUSION
The data were analyzed in terms of thematic progression patterns proposed by Eggins (2004). All types of thematic
progression patterns were found in analyzed data. The researchers found that a large percentage of clauses did not fit into
any of the thematic progression patterns proposed by Eggins (2004). These progression patterns were called
miscellaneous progression pattern by the researchers.
The findings suggest that thematic progression patterns need to be considered as one of the effective and valuable
techniques in teaching essay writing for Task 2 of the IELTS test due to the following points. First, thematic progression
patterns enhance connectivity between ideas presented in the Task 2 essays thus helps writers to construct more
cohesive essays. Second, they help the readers to have a better understanding of how The Task 2 essays are developed.
This is due to the fact that, in Task 2 essay writing, the thematic progression patterns guide the readers through the logical
paths constructed by the writers. If little attention is paid to these progression patterns, the writers attempt to help the
readers to understand the text will be destroyed. Third, the selections of the thematic progression patterns are directly
imposed by the genre. This means that different genres require the writers to link the ideas in a way which help in
achieving the purposes and goals of that genre.

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