Theme-Rheme structure in Chinese doctoral students' research writing ---- From the first draft to the published paper

Abstract This study examines the first draft and the published version of the Discussion sections of 20 medical research articles produced by Chinese doctoral students to track the changes in Theme-Rheme structure made in the process of revision. The results show that the modifications included conjunctive adjuncts and coordinating conjunctions that were used improperly in the first drafts. Half of the projecting clauses starting with the first person pronoun “ we ” were changed. More than half of the long, fully lexicalized pre-subject ideational components were modified so that the topic-revealing information could be reached more quickly. Most importantly, the majority of information discontinuity, represented by deviated thematic progressions, was adjusted through revision, which greatly increased the readability of the papers. In summary, the modifications in terms of Theme-Rheme structure are prominent and contribute essentially to the readability as well as publishability of the articles. Novice ESL/EFL research writers may lack and need the knowledge of the structure even though they are advanced language learners/users. It is recommended that explicit instructions regarding the structure be incorporated in a graduate-level writing class and teacher training be performed to ensure effective instruction.