中文可說是個篇章導向的語言(discourse-oriented language)，以篇章為其基本單位，數個中文子句不藉連接詞即可連結成主題串(topic chain)。當如此龐大的篇章單位翻譯成主語顯著的英文時，譯者會面臨的困難是，如何將主題串切割成數個英文句子。然而，此議題卻鮮少前人研究。因此，本論文試圖探討中文主題串英譯時的翻譯策略，並著重於斷句的影響因素。分析的語料來自漢英對照版的台灣光華雜誌以及翻譯教科書。為了瞭解翻譯策略，本研究分析中文的語意分段標記與資訊順序，並與譯文比較。分析結果顯示譯者在翻譯時會採用三種策略：反映段落標記(Reflecting the Markers)、建立語句關係(Establishing Textuality)、重整資訊(Rearranging Information)。第一個策略是將中文段落標記作為英譯斷句的依據。段落標記包括三類：主題的形式、連接詞、標點符號。第二個策略，建立語句關係，表示英譯斷句依據中文主題串各句子之間的篇章關係。第三個策略，重整資訊，表示透過增加、刪除、調換順序等方式調整原文的資訊。 / Chinese is considered a discourse-oriented language. The basic unit of the Chinese language is discourse-based. Several Chinese clauses can be linked together without any connectives to form a topic chain. When such a large discourse is translated into English, a subject-prominent language, translators may have difficulty deciding how to segment a Chinese topic chain into English sentences. However, little research has been done on this topic. The present study aims to explore translation strategies used in translating Chinese topic chains into English. In particular, the demarcation mechanism will be the focus. Chinese-to-English translation data from Taiwan Panorama, a Chinese-English bilingual magazine, and from translation textbooks are collected for analysis. The demarcation markers and information flow in Chinese are analyzed and compared to understand how they are treated in the English translation. Three strategies have been found: Reflecting the Markers, Establishing Textuality, and Rearranging Information. Reflecting the Markers is to reflect the Chinese boundary markers as English demarcation points. Boundary markers contain nominal references of topic, connectives, and punctuation marks. Establishing Textuality is to organize the Chinese topic chain based on the internal textual relationships. Rearranging Information is to add, delete, or reorder the information.

本研究旨在探討「中英文段落翻譯策略」對於高職學生在英文寫作中習得篇章連貫性的效用。本研究以新竹市新竹高商二年級，三十七位學生為研究對象， 每位寫四篇英文寫作及修改兩篇前測作文; 以148篇作文以及74篇修改後之作文為分析樣本; 並採用量的分析方法來驗證其效用。 本研究以兩階段驗證假設 : 第一階段以SPSS 10.0中之成對樣本T檢定(paired-samples t-test)來分析74篇前測與74篇後測英文作文; 第二階段用同樣的方式來分析74篇前測寫作與74篇學生修改前測後之作文。本研究結果顯示：（一）中英文段落翻譯練習，有助於學習者習得並運用凝結性(cohesion)技巧來提升寫作上篇章之連貫性(coherence)。（二）中英文段落翻譯練習，有助於學習者習得並運用凝結性(cohesion)技巧來修改寫作上缺乏篇章連貫性之部分。 總言之，本研究中所設計之中英文段落翻譯練習，能夠幫助高職學生習得篇章的連貫性並提升其寫作能力。翻譯練習中的凝結性技巧的設計，為學習者奠定了在寫作上習得篇章連貫性的基礎。本研究在最後，針對研究主題提出一些在英文寫作教學上的建議。 / This study aims to explore the effectiveness of Chinese-English paragraph translation device for vocational senior high school students in acquiring the coherent writing expertise. Subjects in this study are thirty-seven second-graders in Hsin-chu Commercial Vocational Senior High School in Hsin-chu city. Participants are required to finish four English compositions and two revision compositions. In total, 148 compositions and 74 revision compositions are analyzed to test the effectiveness on the basis of quantitative research. There are two stages of verification procedure. First, paired-samples t-test of SPSS 10.0 for Windows is used to analyze the seventy-four pre-test and seventy-four post-test compositions. Second, it is also used to analyze the seventy-four pre-test and seventy-four post-test revision compositions. Findings are summarized as follows: First, Chinese-English translation practice helps learners perform better in coherent writing. They acquire cohesive devices and better apply them to promoting their writing coherence. Second, Chinese-English translation practice helps learners perform a good job in revising incoherent parts of compositions. They acquire cohesive devices, apply them to revising compositions and thus promote writing coherence. To sum up, the findings show that Chinese-English paragraph translation practice in this study is effective to vocational senior high school students in acquiring coherent writing expertise and promoting their writing proficiency. The translation practice of the cohesive devices functions as a basis of acquiring coherent writing expertise for learners. Finally, some pedagogical suggestions based on this study are provided.

本篇論文的主旨在研究「也」「又」「還」三個連接詞在漢語敘述文中的 篇章功能。過去對於這三個連接詞的研究，多半偏向句法和語意關係的探 討，而事實上，我們還可以從另一個角度來分析這三個連接詞，那就是探 討它們的篇章功能。研究這三個連接詞的篇章功能之前，我們首先根據 Matthiessen 和 Thompson 的模式分析了漢語句群間的凝聚關係(text relations among combined clauses)。 此一分析不僅進一步證明「也」 「又」「還」確實可以作為連接詞使用，同時更清楚地呈現出「也」「又 」「還」所連接的子句之間的關係，以及這些子句本身與其前後子句所形 成的凝聚關係。「也」「又」「還」作連接詞用時，是用來連接一組語意 相關的子句。它們都可以用來表示聯合關係；不過，「也」和「又」還可 以用來表示對照關係。表示聯合關係時，「也」連接二個或二個以上平列 的子句；「又」也是連接平列的子句，然而「又」進一步加強這些子句所 呈現的聯合關係；「還」連接帶有輕重之別的子句。至於如何知道「又」 所加強的是什麼，以及如何決定那個子句比較重，這都得依上下文而定。 表示對照關係時，「也」和「又」都是用來連接二個看似相反，而實質上 卻相輔相成的子句，差別是「又」所連接的二個子句呈現出說話者矛盾的 心理狀態。上文所提出的假設，經由我們分析書寫的語料而獲得驗證。除 此之外，我們還做了一項問卷調查，目的在測試中國人如何使用這三個連 接詞，這項問卷的結果顯示我們的假設大致正確。最後，我們依據語料的 分析及問卷結果的討論，將上文所提的假設做了小幅度的修正，使其更能 明確地說明這三個連接詞的篇章功能。

當母語者與非母語者在進行溝通時，母語者通常會使用較為簡化的語言形式，此種語言形式研究者稱之為「調整語」。本文旨在探討在台灣的成人美語教室中，外籍教師針對不同程度的學生，使用調整語的情形，文中主要從「句法」與「言談功能」兩個角度分析外籍教師的語言使用。 有三位教授中、高級美語會話的外籍教師參與本研究，每位教師於不同層級的課堂各接受兩次錄音，總計收集到18小時的錄音語料，351頁的逐字稿，全數經過分析比較後，主要發現如下： (1) 外籍教師之語言平均句長並未隨著學生程度越高而有顯著增加。外籍教師在中級教室之平均句長為8.197，在高級教室為8.388，p>0.05。此結果顯示，當學生程度到達中級以上，「句長上的調整」似乎不再是外籍教師採用的調整方式。 (2) 外籍教師之語法正確率在兩個層級都非常高。外籍教師在中級教室之語法正確率為99.81%，在高級教室為99.79%，在兩個層級都僅有10個錯誤句子，透過錯誤類型分析，發現中級教室中出現較多句法層面上的錯誤，而篇章層面的錯誤則全出現在高級教室中。 (3) 外籍教師之言談功能會隨學生層級不同而有調整。外籍教師在中級教室中給予較多主動的語言輸入、提供較多的發問，主要功能為傳輸語言知識；在高級教室中，教師減低發言的比例，使用較多的回饋功能。 綜合以上研究結果發現，英語為母語之外籍教師在上課時面臨不同語言程度的非母語對話者有不同的語言調整方式，在中、高級程度的班級上，「句法上的調整」不再是外籍教師的主要考量，而轉向採用「語言功能上的調整」，在教學應用上，儘管隨著學生層級的增加，外籍教師減少了「主動語言輸入」功能，而採用較多的「語言回饋」功能，但整體而言，學生發言的比例仍然偏低（中級教室9.93%；高級教室12.15%），教師應給予學生更多的口語練習機會，採用更多的回饋機制，以增加學生之溝通能力。 / When addressing to non-native speaker, native speakers will modify his speech to what he thinks is simpler and easier for the non-native listener to comprehend. Such simplified register is referred to as “Foreigner Talk.” The present study aims to explore both the syntactic and discourse characteristics of FT in Taiwan’s adult English classrooms. Three measurements (1) syntactic complexity (2) grammaticality and (3) discourse functions are adopted to investigate if the interlocutor’s language proficiency affects the foreigner teacher’s language use. The data were collected from 18-hour recording of three English native speakers’ utterances in intermediate and advanced classrooms. The major findings of this study are summarized as follows: (1) In terms of syntactic complexity, the mean words per t-unit at both levels are very similar with 8.197 at the intermediate level, and 8.388 at the advanced level. The result of t-test (p>0.05) also indicates that no significant difference is found concerning the language complexity between the two levels. It is suggested that the adjustment of language complexity may only resort to students with lower proficiency. Once the student’s proficiency goes beyond a specific level, the length of teacher’s utterances will keep in a fixed range. (2) In terms of grammaticality, over 99.79% of the foreigners’ utterances are grammatical sentences in both language classrooms, showing that the foreigners’ language form is quite accurate. By analyzing the 20 ungrammatical utterances, it reveals that the foreigner teachers are more likely to utilize the syntactic adjustment for the lower level learners and conserve the discourse adjustment for the more advanced ones. (3) In terms of discourse functions, Sinclair and Coulthard’s model (1992) is modified to categorize the functions of the foreigners’ utterances. It is found that the distribution of the functions varies with the development of the students’ language ability. The foreigner teachers use significantly more initiation functions to the intermediate students and provide much more responsive functions for the advanced students. Based on the findings of this study, some pedagogical implications are addressed. It is suggested that teachers should pay more attention to their language use and consider if their adjustments of language really enhance language learning. In order to increase the learning potential, teachers are recommended to employ more judicious silence, to reduce the percentage of teacher-initiated utterances and to resist the temptation to interrupt. Also, teachers should realize that they are not only an instructor but also an interlocutor for their students at the same time. By realizing the dual roles as being a language teacher, the teacher can make language class less artificial and help learners to overcome the gap between communication in and outside the classroom.

本研究主要探討在英文敘述文和論說文文本中，英文限定關係子句的篇章功能(discourse functions)。我們主要是從句法、語意、語用和篇章結構(discourse structure)的觀點，來探討限定性關係子句的功能與它在篇章單位(discourse unit)所出現的位置有何關聯。研究結果顯示多數的限定性關係子句出現在篇章單位最前面的位置，而且他們往往引導他們新的先行詞(new head NPs)作為整個篇章單位的主題(topic)。因此我們認為，大多數限定性關係子句會出現在篇章單位最前面的位置，是因為它們有一個很重要的篇章功能，那就是它們要引介新的先行詞作為整個篇章單位的主題。此外，本論文也探討大學英文系學生在他們的英文寫作中，使用限定性關係子句的情形。研究結果發現，在大學生的寫作中，限定性關係子句的先行詞常是泛指，而且限定性關係子句的內容常常是舊有的訊息。因此，台灣大學生鮮少使用限定性關係子句來引導新的先行詞作為篇章單位的主題。我們推論大部份學生並未習得限定性關係子句的篇章功能。本論文根據此研究結果提出一些在英語教學上的建議：在課堂上教導英文限定性關係子句時，應以篇章單位為主，使學生了解限定性關係子句的篇章功能。 / The findings of the previous studies on discourse functions of English restrictive relative clauses are mainly based on spontaneous conversations and written narrations. Rare studies were found on the discourse functions of English restrictive relative clauses in written data. The purpose of the present study, thus, is to investigate the discourse functions of English restrictive relative clauses in written expositions and argumentations by native speakers of English. Also, we study the use of English restrictive relative clauses in the compositions by Taiwanese college students. In particular, we want to know how the discourse functions of English restrictive relative clauses are related to their occurrences in discourse structures. Thus, our analysis includes considerations from four dimensions: syntax, semantics, pragmatics and discourse. We found that the majority of English restrictive relative clauses occur in the beginning position of discourse units. And they serve as a device to introduce their new head NPs as the topics in the subsequent discourse when occurring in such a position. Therefore, we conclude that the main purpose of using a restrictive relative clause is to introduce a new head NP as the topic when the new referent is firstly mentioned in a new discourse unit. Moreover, we examined English restrictive relative clauses in the compositions by English Department juniors to see if the factors found in native speakers’ writings are also at work in their compositions. We found that students have not fully understood the discourse functions of English restrictive relative clauses. Based on our findings, we offer pedagogical implications with the aim of hoping that students can learn the discourse functions of English restrictive relative clauses.

本研究旨在探討台灣大學生英語被動語態的使用，並且探討台灣大學生是否理解英語被動語態在單句以及篇章的功能。本研究受試者為27位政大英語系大一作文班學生。受試者使用英語被動語態的語料則由三種不同類型的研究工具蒐集而來：中英單句翻譯，英文篇章選擇，與英文作文。 研究結果發現台灣大學生對於英語被動語態沒有完善的理解。受試者在單句翻譯的表現顯示當中文句子裡沒有中文被動提示詞時，受試者翻譯時容易使用錯誤的語態。此發現同時也點出受試者對於英語動詞種類以及英語語意角色這些和英語被動語態密切相關的概念相當陌生。在無法辨別句子裡動詞種類的情況下，受試者無法正確判斷句中名詞的語意角色，因而寫出錯誤的句子。然而，受試者在英文篇章選擇的表現顯示他們了解英語被動語態是一個能夠增進文章句子之間的連結以及一貫性的句型結構。而受試者在英文作文的表現也顯示了他們知道如何實際運用英語被動語態來建立自己文章中所要闡述的主題，並進一步強化文章整體結構。 為了進一步理解台灣大學生對於英語被動語態的知識如何形成，本研究也檢視了目前台灣國中以及高中所使用的英語教科書當中，對於英語被動語態的呈現方式以及介紹內容。本研究發現英語教科書對於英語被動語態的介紹多半侷限在此句型結構於單句以及句法的使用，而忽略了英語被動語態在篇章以及語意層面的功能。根據以上的研究發現，本研究亦提出了如何在英語被動語態的教學上加入篇章以及語意層面的介紹，以幫助台灣英語學習者學到更完整的英語被動語態的知識。 / The present study investigates the use of English passive voice by Taiwanese college students. The purpose is to see how Taiwanese college students use English passive voice on sentential and discourse level, and if they understand the functions of English passive voice from their performances. Twenty-seven college students participated in this study. And their uses of English passive voice were investigated with three different instruments, Single-sentence Translation, Passage Completion and English Compositions. The results of the analysis showed that Taiwanese college students do not have complete understanding on English passive voice. In Single-sentence Translation, the participants fail to recognize the correct voice in translating Chinese sentences when Chinese passive markers are removed. This finding points out that the participants do not have the knowledge of English verb types, their argument patterns, and semantic roles. Because they are unable to identify the type of English verbs in the sentences, they are not aware of the semantic roles of noun phrases accompanying the verbs in the sentences. As a result, they are unable to produce correct English passive sentences. In Passage Completion, however, the participants’ performances indicate they understand English passive voice is a useful device in facilitating the connections between the sentences and maintaining thematic progression of passages. In English Compositions, it is found that the participants demonstrated ways of using English passive voice that are not observed in the previous two research instruments. Their performances show that they know how to use this structure to facilitate the cohesion as well as coherence of their writings, and how to use English passive voice to establish the idea they want to elaborate on in the paragraph. To see how Taiwanese EFL learners build up their knowledge of English passive voice, English textbooks of junior high and senior high school are reviewed to see how this structure is presented. It is found that much emphasis is placed on the introduction of English passive voice on sentential and syntactic level, neglecting the introduction on discourse and semantic level. Based on the findings in the present study, it is suggested that the teaching of English passive voice include the introduction of this structure on discourse and semantic levels to help Taiwanese EFL learners gain a more comprehensive understanding of English passive voice.

本論文以“中文可以說是一種無時式（tenseless）的語言”（Lin 2006）為啟發，歸納整理中文事件謂語的種類，觀察到單一事件謂語因搭配的時間標記手段（Time-encoding Devices）不同，而可能產生不同的時間錨點（Time Anchorage），進而注意到中文實際上存在依靠單一有界[+telic]事件謂語，即能將時間錨點落在過去的可能性，也就是有界事件謂語存在過去時間默認視角（Default Viewpoint）。除了觀察單一事件謂語外，本研究亦納入了時間副詞、動詞後綴“了1”與篇章語法（Discourse Grammar）為觀察目標，本研究以問卷方式收集資料並進行量化分析，測試並觀察非中文為母語的中文學習者與中文母語人士的回饋有何異同。觀察重點如下：第一，單一有界事件謂語的過去時間默認視角存在與否；第二，單一／多重時間標記手段與單一有界事件謂語共現時，其對受試者理解事件時間產生影響。分析結果顯示，從大部分受試者的回饋中，“有界事件謂語存在過去時間默認視角”此觀念並不是普遍現象。這項結果顯示唯有標示足夠的時間標記手段，才能使聽話者理解事件時間的真正時間錨點。研究者最後以研究結果檢視現今通行的兩套華語文教材，發現中文時間標記教學練習不足，教師在教學現場時應扮演好引導學習者練習的重要角色。時間標記之所以重要，因為在在影響聽話者理解中文事件時間。本研究觀察學習者對時間的理解方式，有助於教學者，進行更有效的教學，協助達到有效的溝通。

為了呼應將人際層面融入寫作教學的趨勢，本論文將透過分析人稱代名詞（一種明顯的人際關係標記)在議論文中的使用功能來探討不同程度的台灣大學生如何使用人稱代名詞建構作者與讀者之間的關係。本研究的第一部份著重在七十六篇文章的文本分析。首先，這些文章按照評分結果將其分成高、中、低三組，然後分析人稱代名詞最常出現的搭配語言形式，並歸納出不同人稱代名詞的篇章功能。第二部份則是分析學生問卷及訪談學生，藉以作進一步的闡述。問卷的目的在找出學生對議論文寫作的看法，而訪談學生則是想找出使用不同人稱代名詞的原因。本研究發現不同程度的三組學生在人稱代名詞的整體使用數量、種類、及頻率分配上都有不同，程度高的一組明顯少於中間程度及較低組。同時，結果也顯示這些學生會搭配不同的語言形式（例如動詞、助動詞、加強標記等）來行使不同的篇章功能，而且不同程度的學生在功能運用上也會有所差異。整體而言，低組同學呈現較多的自我投射，中間組同學比較注重與讀者和其他外人的關係，而高組同學在呈現觀點時較為客觀。在選擇人稱代名詞時，學生會從自己本身、讀者、文章寫作等三方面的相互關係作出考量，決定採取主觀或客觀的觀點、表達權威或謙卑的態度、顯示親近或疏離的關係、使用直接或間接的策略。大致上來說，這些學生使用較多的人性訴求來凝聚跟讀者之間的關係，同時也強化自己論點的力道。這樣的策略充分反映出台灣文化中的人道主義和集體主義。本研究發現學生在議論文寫作中會以功能和人際關係為導向來選擇和使用人稱代名詞。 / In response to the call for the incorporation of interpersonal dimension into the writing pedagogy, this study provides a functional analysis of personal pronouns—an explicit interpersonal marker—used in argumentative texts by Taiwanese college students. The purpose is to see how students of different proficiency levels construct the writer-reader relationship through personal pronouns during the composition. The first part of the study centers on the analysis of 76 learner essays. They are first rated and sorted into three groups of different quality—High, Mid, and Low. Later, the linguistic forms associated with personal pronouns are examined, and the discourse functions personal pronouns fulfill in contexts are also identified. The results of the text analysis are further supplemented by the post-writing questionnaires and the oral interviews on students to obtain more in-depth discovery and interpretation. While the questionnaire aims to reveal how the students perceive argumentative writing, the interview intends to find out the reasons for their choices of personal pronouns. The results have shown that the use of personal pronouns in the three groups differs in quantity, type and distribution. The High group writers use significantly fewer pronouns than the other two. Moreover, the students use personal pronouns with salient accompanying linguistic forms (e.g. verbs, modals, emphatic markers) to perform various discourse functions, and students of different levels also vary in maneuvering the functions. Overall, the Low group writers tend to be more self-involved, and the Mid group writers are more likely to include in-group and out-group members in discourse. The High group writers, however, present their arguments more objectively. In selecting personal pronouns, the students usually take account of the interrelationship among the writer, the reader and the text, on whose basis the alternatives between subjectivity and objectivity, authority and modesty, intimacy and detachment, or directness and indirectness are weighed. In general, the students use more personal appeals to achieve mutual solidarity with the reader and to intensify their convictions as well, which reflects humaneness and collectivism that have been highly valued in Taiwanese culture. The study has found that the students' strategic choices of personal pronouns in argumentative writing are usually functionally and interpersonally-oriented.

本論文藉由分析三十二位主修英語的研究生所寫的克漏字測驗以及引導寫作來探討其使用完成式的情形。文中的討論主要涵蓋了三個面向：語言形式和語意之間的連結，語法體(grammatical aspect)與情狀體(lexical aspect)之間的關聯，以及語法體與篇章組織(discourse organization)之間的關係。本篇研究發現，進階學習者能將完成式的語言形式正確使用，但是似乎仍未能達到高度的適當使用(appropriate use)。此外，研究發現學習者有使用完成式的動詞似乎偏向於其語意中帶有終點(endpoint)或結果狀態(result state)的類別，此項發現並支持之前文獻的研究結果。最後，結果亦顯示學習者在篇章中所使用的完成式似乎具有情景建立的功能(scene-setting function)，幫助他們在文章的開頭建立起背景。 / This study aims to explore the advanced learners’ use of the perfect aspect from the perspectives of form-meaning matching, lexical aspect influence and discourse organization influence. Thirty-two English-majored graduate students participated in the present study and they had to complete two tasks: a cloze test and a composition. With a careful examination over the collected data, these advanced learners’ use of the perfect aspect could be summarized as the following. First of all, they showed better formal accuracy than appropriate use of the perfect aspect. Although they presented more underuse in the task of cloze, they had more overuse in their compositions. Secondly, it was found that the perfect aspect was closely related to the verbs involving a semantic endpoint. These verbs, according to Vendler’s classification, are ACCOMPLISHMENTS and ACHIEVEMENTS. Finally, the learners in the present study showed a tendency of using the perfect aspect as the scene-setting function in the opening paragraph of their compositions.

句子的主題具備了串連訊息、引導文句發展的重要功能，然而資料顯示許多外語學習者常因為使用不適當的主題而影響語句的連貫性以及文章的流暢度。本研究透過觀察台灣高中生記敘文的主題類型，分析其在高、中、低分群學生文章中的使用情形來了解主題的選用對文章連貫性以及整體作文品質的影響。 本研究分成初步試驗以及正式研究兩階段，在初步試驗階段我們建立了分析的架構。在正式研究階段，我們採集111位高三學生於課堂上完成的記敘文並交由兩位經過訓練的閱卷老師進行評分，最後結果產生高、中、低分三組學生作文，接著再從每一組的文章中各抽樣10份進行主題類型之分析研究。 分析結果顯示，三組學生作文的主題類型及出現頻率大致雷同，整體而言，學生最喜好使用非標記的名詞主題，卻最少使用標記的分詞+名詞主題。然而進一步分析三組的主題發展情形，卻發現有顯著的組別差異，以高分群為例，其主題多具備銜接上文或有利推進文意的背景資料文字，相較之下，中等或低分群的作文比較容易出現和上下文不相關或中斷文意發展的新主題。 根據本研究的發現，我們建議在英語作文課中介紹句子主題的概念，幫助學生熟悉其類型和功能，期使學生能在記敘文文章中正確使用主題來達到語句連貫，文意流暢的溝通目標。 / Theme plays a significant role in guiding the information flow in text. Nonetheless, there is evidence indicating that many EFL learners often fail to make good choices of theme to secure sentential relationship or writing coherence. Through the observation on the occurrences and distribution of theme types in three levels of student compositions: the high, the middle and the low-rated narratives, the present study aims to investigate the establishment of theme in Taiwanese senior high school students’ narratives in order to gain understanding of theme’s effect on writing coherence and writing quality. The entire study consists of a pilot study and a formal one. The pilot study helps establish the criteria for the main study. In the main study, 111 student compositions were gathered and two raters were recruited and trained for the rating. Based on the rating system, the student compositions are divided into 3 levels. 10 samples from each level were randomly selected for thematic analysis. The result shows that the occurrences and distribution of theme types in the three levels of writing are alike. In general, unmarked NP theme is the most favored by all the students and marked theme Non-fi C + NP is the least desirable. Nonetheless, in terms of the establishment of theme, there are major differences between groups. In particular, the high-rated essays tend to establish a theme that is connected to the theme or the rheme in the preceding discourse or provides background information for the development of the event. In contrast, the mid-or low-rated essays are more likely to establish a theme that is unrelated or disruptive to the progression of the current discourse. Based on the findings of the present study, it is suggested that the notion of theme including its features and functions be incorporated into the teaching of English compositions to help Taiwanese senior high school students identify the characteristics of coherent writing and facilitate coherence in their English narratives.