“Given” and “new” information
'standard' word order

there is some psycholinguistic evidence to suggest that
second and foreign language learners acquire the
standard word order before they acquire other sentence
patterns.
In English,
'standard' word order: Subject + Verb + Object.
The cat ate the rat
(subject + verb + object)
However, there are numerous other ways in which the
semantic content of the sentence could be expressed. For
example:
1. The rat was eaten by the cat.
2. It was the cat that ate the rat.
3. It was the rat that the cat ate.
4. What the cat did was ate the rat.
5. Ate the rat, the cat did.
6. The cat, it ate the rat.

One important consideration is whether the information
has already been introduced into the discourse, or is
assumed to be known to the reader or listener. Such
information is referred to as given information.

new information is the one introduced for the first time.
it is the speaker/writer who decides what information
should be considered given or new.


in English, the new information in a sentence or utterance
generally comes last.

In the statement The cat ate the rat, the assumed
knowledge is that the cat ate something and the new
information is that it was a rat that got eaten.

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There is a close relationship between discourse considerations and grammatical structuring in relation to given and
new information.
if we provide questions to which the statement The cat ate
the rat might be appropriate responses. We obtain:
QUESTION: What did the cat do?
RESPONSE: It ate the rat. [Or, The cat, it ate the rat.]
QUESTION: What happened to the rat?
RESPONSE: It was eaten by the cat.
QUESTION: Did the dog eat the rat
RESPONSE: No, it was the cat that ate the rat.
QUESTION: Did the cat eat the mouse?
RESPONSE: No, it was the rat that was eaten by the cat.
Theme and Rheme

It is essential to consider the prominence or importance
that the speaker or writer wishes to give to different pieces
of information.

Theme is a a formal grammatical category which refers to
the initial element in a clause. It the element around which
the sentence is organized, and the one to which the writer
wishes to give prominence.
Rheme is everything that follows the theme.

sentence
Theme
Rheme
The cat ate the rat.
The cat
ate the rat.
The rat was eaten by the cat.
The rat
was eaten by the cat.

It is essential to consider the prominence or importance
that the speaker or writer wishes to give to different pieces
of information.

Theme is a a formal grammatical category which refers to
the initial element in a clause. It the element around which
the sentence is organized, and the one to which the writer
wishes to give prominence.
Rheme is everything that follows the theme.

sentence
Theme
Rheme
The cat ate the rat.
The cat
ate the rat.
The rat was eaten by the cat.
The rat
was eaten by the cat.

It is essential to consider the prominence or importance
that the speaker or writer wishes to give to different pieces
of information.

Theme is a a formal grammatical category which refers to
the initial element in a clause. It the element around which
the sentence is organized, and the one to which the writer
wishes to give prominence.
Rheme is everything that follows the theme.

sentence
Theme
Rheme
The cat ate the rat.
The cat
ate the rat.
The rat was eaten by the cat.
The rat
was eaten by the cat.

It is essential to consider the prominence or importance
that the speaker or writer wishes to give to different pieces
of information.

Theme is a a formal grammatical category which refers to
the initial element in a clause. It the element around which
the sentence is organized, and the one to which the writer
wishes to give prominence.
Rheme is everything that follows the theme.

sentence
Theme
Rheme
The cat ate the rat.
The cat
ate the rat.
The rat was eaten by the cat.
The rat
was eaten by the cat.
Our dog, Rufus
Our dog, Rufus limped into the room. His back
paw was red with infection, but he forgot all
about it. When he was distracted by the snarling
cat, he began to chase her, but his paw prevented
him. It was throbbing painfully. He whimpered
and turned to Sammy for comfort and attention.
Identify all the
themes and rhemes
Theme/ topic
(Starting point)
Rheme/ comment
(new information)
Our dog, Rufus
limped into the room.
His back paw
was red with infection
but he
forgot all about it.
When he
was distracted by the snarling cat
he
began to chase her
but his paw
prevented him.
It
was throbbing painfully.
He
whimpered
and (he)
turned to Sammy for comfort and attention.

Within the school of linguistics known as functional
linguistics, three types of theme are identified - topical,
interpersonal and textual.

Topical themes have to do with the information conveyed
in the discourse. (e.g. the cat, the rat)

Interpersonal themes, on the other hand, reveal
something of the attitude of the speaker or reader.

Textual themes link a clause to the rest of the discourse.

Example:
Frankly, the movie was a waste of money. However, you
should see it and make up.
sentence
Topical
Interpersonal
Frankly, the movie was a waste of money.
the movie
Frankly
However, you should see it and make up.

you
Textual
However
When moving beyond the sentence to discourse, the issue
of f thematization becomes particularly important as the
writer has to arrange information in terms of given/new
and also in terms of desired thematic prominence.

The importance of theme/rheme structuring is illustrated in
the following extracts. From two versions of Peter Pan.

The importance of theme/rheme structuring is illustrated in
the following extracts. From two versions of Peter Pan.

1. All children, except one strange little boy, grow up one day. Wendy,
knew she would have to grow up when she was just two years old. She
was playing in the garden and picked a flower for her mother. Mrs.
Darling saw her daughter running towards her and smiled because
Wendy looked so enchanting. ‗Oh why can‘t you remain like this for
ever!‘ she cried. (J.M.Barrie Peter Pan).

2. One day, all children, except one strange little boy, grow up. It was
Wendy who knew she would have to grow up when she was only two
years old. What happened was that she was in the garden playing, and
a flower was picked by her for her mother. Enchanting, Wendy looked,
and smiled, her mother did, because Wendy looked so enchanting
running towards her. ‗Remain like this forever, why can‘t you?‘ she
cried.

The importance of theme/rheme structuring is illustrated in
the following extracts. From two versions of Peter Pan.
Theme/ topic
(Starting point)
All children, except one
strange little boy
Wendy
she
when she
She
And [Wendy]
Mrs. Darling
and [Mrs. Darling]
Wendy
Oh why ….you
she
Rheme/ comment
(new information)
grow up one day
knew [she would have to grow up]
would have to grow up
was just two years old
was playing in the garden
picked a flower for her mother
saw her daughter running towards her
smiled because [Wendy looked so enchanting]
looked so enchanting
can‘t remain like this for ever
cried
Theme/ topic
(Starting point)
One day, all children, except one
strange little boy
It
Wendy who
she
when she
What happened
that she
and a flower
Wendy
and…. her mother
Wendy
[when Wendy]
[…………]
why …… you?‘
she
Rheme/ comment
(new information)
grow up
was [Wendy who [knew she would have
to grow up]]
[knew [she would have to grow up]]
would have to grow up
was only two years old.
was [that she was in the garden playing]
was in the garden playing
was picked by her for her mother.
Enchanting, …..looked
…. smiled, ….. did
looked so enchanting [running towards
her].
[was] running towards her
Remain like this forever
…… can‘t……
cried

In the altered version, the writer appears to be answering
questions which have not been asked, and presupposing
knowledge on the part of the readers which they cannot be
expected to have..
Genre
Genre

Genre means “ kind “ or “ form” and it refers to major
types of literature: poetry, drama & epic.

different types of discourse can be identified, by their
overall shape or generic structure.

In the field of Applied Linguistics, genre refers to
different communicative events which are associated
with particular setting and which have recognized
structures and communicative functions.
Genre
A genre comprises a class of communicative events, the
members of which share some set of communicative
purposes. （Swales，1990）
Examples of communicative events:
e.g. Wedding ceremony?
Concert?
Sales encounter?
Class lecture?
Academic conference?
Genre
These purposes are recognized by the expert members of
the parent discourse community, and thereby constitute the
rationale for the genre.
language exists to fulfil certain functions and that these
functions will determine the overall shape or ‘generic’ structure of the discourse.
Genre
Question to consider:
1. What are the purposes of Wedding ceremony?
2. What is the rationale of wedding ceremony?
3. Are Western ceremony similar as that of
Arabic ones in terms of rationale?
different types of communicative events
result in different types of discourse, and
each of these will have its own distinctive
characteristics.
MARRIAGE IS A JOURNEY
Example of genres and their main generic characteristics
Food recipes (procedural text):
• Title
• List of ingredients
• Procedure (set of instructions in imperative)
• Redundant items are eliminated
Recounts
• A sequence of events with am introduction and orientation and events
in the past
Newspaper articles
• Title
• Authors
• Location
• Argument
• Supporting details
• Agentless passive (it was revealed…)
• Emotionally charged words (sensation, bungle, mercy, plea)