Thematic choice in Chinese college students' English essays

• This study investigates thematic choice in Chinese college students' English essays.
• Systemic Functional Grammar approach is adopted.
• A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods is used in the analysis.
• Certain forms of marked, interpersonal and textual Themes are overused.
• Pedagogical implications based on these findings are discussed.

Thematic choice provides clues as to how English learners organize information and shape their essays. This research was based on a comparative study of thematic choices in Chinese and American college students' English essays, using a Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) approach to investigate how Chinese college students make different thematic choices from native speakers, and discusses the pedagogical implications based on the differences found. Chinese college students were found to deviate from native speakers in their thematic choices: They used proportionally fewer topical Themes and significantly more interpersonal Themes in the form of modal adjuncts and mood-marking Themes. Significant differences were also found in marked Themes and textual Themes: Chinese college students used more adjuncts for manner and contingency in marked Themes; they also used more conjunctive adjuncts and fewer conjunctions in textual Themes. These findings revealed that Chinese college students lack knowledge in how Themes function in ordering information and building up the framework of a text and that therefore they should be informed of the importance of the Theme position in organizing meaning, and introduced to alternative thematic choices and strategies in manipulating information by means of activities and writing assignments.