DECODING BURMESE ARGUMENTATIVE WRITING STYLES: A THEMATIC PROGRESSION PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

This study examines the Thematic Progression patterns in arguments written by Burmese native speakers, addressing a gap in the application of Daneš’s TP model. While previous Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) research on Burmese has primarily focused on isolated clause-level structures, the macro-level discourse coherence achieved through sequential theme development remains underexplored. To investigate these textual strategies, 60 argumentative essays produced by 20 native Burmese undergraduates under standardized, timed conditions were analyzed. The texts were segmented into clauses to identify Theme-Rheme boundaries and map their organizational trajectories into Constant, Linear, Derived, and Split Rheme progressions. The quantitative findings reveal that Constant Theme Progression is the most prominent pattern (40.99%), indicating a strong preference among native writers for maintaining focus on a central topic across clauses. Linear Theme Progression closely follows (37.78%), demonstrating the writers’ ability to construct dynamic information chains by transforming preceding Rhemes into subsequent Themes. Derived Theme (11.60%) and Split Rheme (9.63%) patterns were utilized to a lesser extent. Finally, this study decodes the rhetorical strategies employed by Burmese writers, providing structural insights that enrich the Thematic Progression framework for non-Western and low-resource languages.

Keywords: Systemic Functional Linguistics, Thematic Progression, Theme and Rheme, Argumentative Writing, Burmese Language