A B S T R A C T This article examines the thematic structure and progression of an extract of a spontaneous conversation using the inference-boundary model (an amended version of the Hallidayan theme-rheme framework) and the thematic progression framework of Daneš. This article argues that equal attention should be paid to both thematic and rhematic progression. Insofar as rheme carries the body of the message, it would be tremendously helpful for us to gain an understanding of the patterned behaviour of the rhematic element and how theme and rheme together shape the message in the unfolding discourse. The article also examines the different patterns of theme-rheme development in the extract. The boxed, gapped, holistic, and multiple developments, including their variant forms, are presented and discussed.K E Y W O R D S : conversation, inference-boundary model, rheme, thematic progression, theme A RT I C L E 701Discourse Studies

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This article reports on the findings of an investigative study on teacher feedback at a lower-secondary class in a Singaporean school. Involving an observation of the writing lessons and interviews with several respondents, the study reveals a misfit between desired and actual feedback The potential for such mismatches becomes greater if the writing lesson is set rigidly as a unilateral transfer of knowledge from teacher to student This study argues that the writing lesson should not be viewed as a mere pedagogic event but as a social event as well, allowing room for teacher-student interaction and the provision of personal, substantiated feedback In such an environment, students are guided to discover writing as a process of finding and structuring ideas, and the responsibility that comes with searching for a way to express them (GAGE 1986:25),

The situation in many composition classes in Singapore is characterized by scaffolding (Vygot-sky, 1962; Bruner, 1985), where students are given explicit guidance, particularly concerning the organizational structure of the essay. With scaffolding, there is a concern that the students will produce similarly-structured essays. How then does one differentiate a good essay from a less well-written one? Using Halliday's clause-complex framework (Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004), our analysis shows that while the better writers display a greater mastery of clause-complex structures, the weaker writers rely heavily on simplex constructions. In addition to scaffolding, we argue that the appropriate use of clause-complex structures should be incorporated as part of the writing lesson.

This paper extends the application ofthe inference-boundary (IB) modela clause-level, cognitive psychological model oftheme andrheme (Leong, to appear)-at the level ofthe text and how it facilitates a characterization of text-level themes by way of thematic prominence and their functional r öle in the text. The IB model lays emphasis on theme äs a position-bound, initial element that activates a boundary of acceptability within which it ispossible for the rheme to occur. Shapedby context, the knowledge structures ofthe language user, and inferential activities, the boundary of acceptability constrains how the message may proceed, given an initial element. In terms of thematic prominence, anddrawing on the work ofTadros (1985,1994), a text-level theme may be dassifiedas a thematicpre-head, head, orpost-head. In functional terms, seven categories are proposed, namely, setting, hypotheticality, report, question, instruction, summary, and scenario. The findings of an exploratory corpus-based study indicate that the functional categories of text-level themes have varying degrees of thematic prominence and that certain categories are more widely used than others.