How do the theme choices in SFL play an important role in building coherence and

Initially, questions two and three aimed to investigate two different aspects of the class practice, but the students did not understand the difference. This was evident after analysing their comments which seem to treat the two topics as one and had similar responses for the two questions. Therefore, to avoid repetition, their answers to these two questions are combined here. These questions examine the students’ awareness of theme and rheme patterns, which can help them to recognise the importance of thematic progression patterns when analysing the poem. According to Thompson (2004), it is possible to make sense of the theme by examining “how Theme choices work together through a text to signal its

underlying coherence and to signal its method of development” (165). For example, the students can identify the following functions based on certain structures that express thematic choices: signalling progression, specifying or changing framework, signalling boundaries, signalling important starting points. This is necessary to show the Saudi students the difference between the English and Arabic sentence structure. The first student feels that it helps her to identify the structure of the English language.

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I think the poem can be clear for us now when the sentence is divided in this way (referring to the Metafunctions), this SFL will help us follow the main theme

throughout the poem. I really needed something like this to help me. (January 2014). The extract above suggests that there was a sense of clarity afforded by seeing the sentences described according to their structure.

The next student compares the use of SFL for analysing poems in English to drawing out a map: it seems to direct the students to a destination.

Student two:

The Theme and Rheme helped me build in my mind a map for the thought of the poet. I think using linguistics like this really can improve my understanding for some of the difficult ideas in the English poems. (January 2014).

The third student presents a different idea for SFL tools, because she understands the explanations in the introductory stage but is reluctant in using it.

Student three:

The explanation for the poem was really nice. I like the simple way it divides the main ideas of the poem. I was able to scan and understand the whole idea of the poem. This looks easy, but will it be too difficult for me to do if I try? (January 2014). This student is optimistic about the idea of using SFL to analyse the theme and rheme

because doing so simplifies reading, but she is unsure that she would be capable of using SFL herself in the reading of poetry in English. Yet, her perception is relevant to this study

because she has recognized the usefulness of this theoretical approach and has the option of developing her knowledge when it is appropriate for her.

The fourth student explains that using SFL to improve understanding of the coherence of a poem was practical since they had to study linguistic courses in the English department. Student four:

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When I saw the way SFL organised the main theme to help in understanding the poem, I said finally we can make use of our linguistic knowledge here! I really would like a course of SFL to allow me to use all the linguistic courses in my poetry class. (January 2014).

The extract above suggests that SFL is beneficial because she supports the idea of combining linguistics with literature in the reading of poetry.

The last student in this section suggests that different teaching techniques should be used more to help Saudi students learn in a non-native language.

Student five:

The use of SFL for understanding the theme and at the same time seeing the way it is tied together worked for me. I need these new teaching techniques because English is not our native language. The English poems also have ideas that we don’t know sometimes because our language and culture are different (January 2014).

The student above suggests that SFL makes linguistic difficulties less and it allows her to follow the main idea of poems that are not from the native language or culture.

The findings for the third and fourth questions show that Saudi students are willing to undertake new techniques to analyse poems in English. They find the use of the theme choices in SFL constructive ways of understanding coherence. They feel that this teaching technique, which analyses the poem by taking into account meaning and form, is a clearer way of studying the poem. Lirola (2015) comes to similar conclusions in her exploration of class room practice for bilingual students in the USA. She explains that the use of SFL techniques which focus on the relationship between texts and on the context and offer tools for the analysis of texts can be productive. She states that this form of teaching in ESL and EFL classrooms is essential for making students aware of the different “cohesive devices, types of context and variables of the context of situation, the concepts of Theme and Rheme and information structure” (2015, 13). This research is relevant to this study since the students are non-native to the English poetry they are studying and tools for improving the relationship of the text and context was evident and supported by the students beliefs.

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6.5.3 Based on the transitivity choices in the analysis of the poems, were you able to find