| Acknowledgements | 第1-5页 |
| Abstract | 第5-7页 |
| 摘要 | 第7-12页 |
| Chapter 1 Introduction | 第12-16页 |
| ·Research orientation | 第12页 |
| ·The rationale of the present study | 第12-13页 |
| ·The significance of English writing to college students | 第12-13页 |
| ·The problems of college students' English writing | 第13页 |
| ·Research questions | 第13-14页 |
| ·The unique characteristic of the present study | 第14页 |
| ·The organization of the thesis | 第14-16页 |
| Chapter 2 Literature Review | 第16-34页 |
| ·The origin of theme | 第16-17页 |
| ·Halliday's thematic theory | 第17-25页 |
| ·Concepts of theme and rheme | 第17页 |
| ·Distinctions of theme, topic and subject | 第17-19页 |
| ·Types of theme | 第19-21页 |
| ·Thematic structure and information structure | 第21-24页 |
| ·Contributions and limits of Halliday's thematic theory | 第24-25页 |
| ·Thematic progression | 第25-34页 |
| ·Danes's thematic progression theory | 第25-29页 |
| ·TP theory in China | 第29-34页 |
| Chapter 3 Research Design | 第34-57页 |
| ·Research subjects | 第34页 |
| ·Research hypotheses | 第34-35页 |
| ·Research procedures | 第35-57页 |
| ·Pre-research | 第35-37页 |
| ·Research | 第37-51页 |
| ·Post-research | 第51-57页 |
| Chapter 4 Data Analysis and Results | 第57-69页 |
| ·Sample analysis | 第57-63页 |
| ·The procedure of sample analysis | 第57页 |
| ·Specification of sample analysis | 第57-58页 |
| ·Analysis | 第58-63页 |
| ·Results | 第63-69页 |
| ·The comparison of theme types between pre-researching samples and post-researching samples | 第63-65页 |
| ·The comparison of TP patterns between pre-researching samples and post-researching samples | 第65-66页 |
| ·The comparison of different scores between pre-researching samples and post-researching samples | 第66-69页 |
| Chapter 5 Conclusions | 第69-73页 |
| ·Conclusions | 第69-70页 |
| ·Implications for teaching | 第70-72页 |
| ·Limitations | 第72-73页 |
| References | 第73-76页 |
| Papers Published during 2008-2011 | 第76页 |
