Literacy Secretariat Literacy is everyone

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• Foregrounding or
• What comes first?

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FOREGROUNDING 1 analysing texts for the
foregrounded elements theme
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Text 1
There are four basic face shapes. One is long.
Models tend to have this kind of face. The second
is round. People with round faces can look
homely. The third is square and the fourth is
oval.
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Text 1
There are four basic face shapes. One is long.
Models tend to have this kind of face. The
second is round. People with round faces can
look homely. The third is square and the fourth
is oval.
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Text 1
theme rheme
There are four basic face shapes.
One type is long.
Models tend to have this kind of face.
The second type is round.
People with round faces can look homely.
The third is square and the fourth is oval.
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Text 2
Susan Ellis is a girl that I know. She is pretty.
She has blue eyes and long hair, pretty blonde
hair. Lastly shes tall. Shes very..
impressively tall. Shes tall enough to be a
champion basketball player (even though she
isnt).
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Text 2
Susan Ellis is a girl that I know. She is
pretty. She has blue eyes and long hair, pretty
blonde hair. Lastly shes tall. Shes very..
impressively tall. Shes tall enough to be a
champion basketball player (even though she
isnt).
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Text 2
textual topical / experiential rheme
Susan Ellis is a girl that I know.
She is pretty.
She has blue eyes and long hair, pretty blonde hair.
Lastly shes tall.
Shes very.. impressively tall.
Shes tall enough to be a champion basketball player (even though she isnt).
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Text 3
Barney was born in 1956 in a small country town.
When he was six he started school there. After
seven years at that school he had to go to a
boarding school in Perth.
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Text 3
Barney was born in 1956 in a small country town.
When he was six he started school there. Then,
after seven years at that school, he had to go to
a boarding school in Perth.
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Text 3
textual topical rheme
Barney was born in 1956 in a small country town.
When he was six he started school there
Then after seven years at that school he had to go to a boarding school in Perth.
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Text 4
I am very sorry but Barbara can not go swimming
today. Last night we had a party to celebrate
her birthday. Unfortunately we all drank too
much and today we are all as sick as dogs.
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Text 4
I am very sorry but Barbara can not go swimming
today. Last night we had a party to celebrate
her birthday. Unfortunately we all drank too
much and today we are all as sick as dogs.
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Text 4
interpersonal textual topical rheme
I am very sorry but Barbara can not go to go swimming today.
Last night we had a party to celebrate her birthday.
Unfortunately we all drank too much and today we are all as sick as dogs.
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interpersonal Unfortunately Adverb
textual Lastly When he was six Conjunctions Dependant clauses
topical At six Last night Circumstances
We, he Susan Ellis Models People with round faces One type The second type The third There Noun groups - Human - Non human - Existential
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Text 5
First get the bread. Next get the butter. After
that spread the butter on the bread with the
knife. When you have finished, eat it.
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Text 5
Get the bread. Get the butter. After that
spread the butter on the bread with the
knife. When you have finished, eat it.
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Text 5
interpersonal textual topical rheme
Get the bread.
Get the butter.
After that spread the butter on the bread with the knife.
When you have finished, eat it.

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Marked and Unmarked Themes
textual topical rheme
Unmarked Theme Get the bread.
Marked Theme After that spread the butter on the bread with the knife.
Unmarked Theme Barney was born in 1956 in a small country town.
Marked Theme When he was six he started school there
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Genre First foregrounded element Type of theme (foregrounding)
recount After dinner At six oclock
description Next to that In the corner
biography In 1988 After she left school Unfortunately
argument Firstly School uniforms Lastly
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Genre First foregrounded element Type of theme (foregrounding)
recount After dinner At six oclock Topical Topical
description Next to that In the corner Topical Topical
biography In 1988 After she left school Unfortunately Topical Textual Interpersonal
argument Firstly School uniforms Lastly Textual Topical Textual
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FOREGROUNDING 2 Foregrounding and mode
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Mode

• Foregrounding is an element of Mode
• Mode is the how, the information about the
  textual element of a Text. Mode in Text in
  Context deals with the range of spoken, written
  and multimodal texts.

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Mode

• TEXT IN CONTEXT
• Deals with a range of texts constructed in a
  variety of modes highly spoken to highly
  written and includes a range of technologies
  
• (telephone, e-mail, pen etc)

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Mode continuum
Mode
spoken written shop
dialogue....written discussion on
shopping hours transcript of dialogue..
formal oral
presentation
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Mode

• We shouted like anything when Nigel came on.
• Nigel Smart led the Crows onto Football Park last
  Saturday. The crowd erupted into applause.
• Last Saturday Nigel Smart led the Crows onto
  Football Park last Saturday and the crowd erupted
  into applause.
• As Nigel Smart led the Crows onto Football Park,
  the crowd erupted into applause.
• With enormous applause ringing through the
  stadium, Nigel Smart led his beloved Crows into
  the stadium.

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Mode

• People destroy the places where the panda lives.
• The destruction of the pandas habitat is due to
  ...

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• Mode continuum
• spoken written

We shouted like anything when Nigel came on.
Nigel Smart led the Crows onto Football Park last
Saturday.
The crowd erupted into applause.
As Nigel Smart led the Crows onto Football Park,
the crowd erupted into applause.
With enormous applause ringing through the
stadium, Nigel Smart led his beloved Crows into
the stadium.
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• Mode continuum
• spoken written

We placed the mixture in the oven after five
minutes.
The mixture was placed in the oven after five
minutes.
People destroy the places where the panda lives.
The destruction of the pandas habitat is due to
...
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Mode continuum

• spoken written
• concrete nounabstract,
• nominalised
  noun
• human specifichuman general..no human
• 
  agent
• active voice ...passive voice
• action verbs. relational verb

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Foregrounding 3 Foregrounding at work
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Patterns of foregrounding
Easily understood texts have expected patterns
of foregrounding
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Patterns of foregrounding

• Thematic choice should not be unexpected - it
  should be connected with ideas presented in a
  previous theme or rheme.

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Pattern 1 rheme of a clause is split and used as
theme of clauses which follow
There are four basic face shapes.
One is long.
The second is round
The third is square
and the fourth is oval
taxonomic report
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There are three types of clowns.
White face clowns cover their face with white makeup.
Auguste clowns wear colourful, ill fitting clothing and oversize shoes.
Character clowns make fun of the human condition.
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Pattern 2 same theme information is built
through the rheme
theme rheme
Susan Ellis is a girl that I know.
She is pretty.
She has blue eyes and long hair, pretty blonde hair.
Shes tall.
Shes tall enough to be a champion basketball player (even though she isnt).
description
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Pattern 3 zig zag (given new) -an element in
the rheme of one clause is the theme, or implied
in the theme, of the next
theme rheme
The most common error in writing is foregrounding.
Foregrounding is the choice of what goes at the front of a sentence or clause.
A clause always has a verb.
explanation
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The most common type of clay is earthenware.
Earthenware clay needs firing to temperatures of between 1000-1800c.
These high temperatures result in a smooth, hard surface.
This surface is perfect for painted designs or mosaic finishes.
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Patterns of foregrounding
Easily understood texts have expected patterns
of foregrounding
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Patterns of foregrounding
The foregrounded element may change with each
new stage of the text
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What do you notice about the thematic pattern of this text?
New York is a city of things unnoticed.
It is a city with cats sleeping under parked cars, two stone armadillos crawling up St Patricks Cathedral and thousands of ants creeping on top of the Empire State building.
Some of New Yorks best informed men are elevator operators who rarely talk, but always listen like doormen.
Sardis doormen listen to comments made by Broadway's first nighters walking by after the last act.
They listen closely
They can tell you within ten minutes which shows will flop and which will be hits.
New York is a town of 3000 bootblacks whose brushes and rhythmic rag snags can be heard up and down Manhattan from mid morning to midnight.
They casually dodge cops, survive rainstorms and thrive in the Empire State Building.
They usually wear dirty shoes.
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Foregrounding 3 Foregrounding in the ESL Scales
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Foregrounding across the ESL Scales Procedure
Scale 4 6 7 9 11
begins to use action verbs Cut the bread begins to use conjunctions First, Second, Finally begins to foreground manner of doing an action Carefully place simple phrases time For about 3 minutes place On top of the icing From the centre of the page manner With clean cloth Phrases accompaniment With your friends support
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Foregrounding across the ESL Scales Narrative
Scale 4 6 9 12 14
basic phrases of time On Saturday, On Sunday chooses short, basic phrases of time and place Later that night, At Coles chooses phrases time At exactly the same time place On the return trip manner Suddenly chooses a range of simple dependent clauses When the film was over chooses a wider range of phrases and dependent clauses including consecutive phrases of place or time for effect time One cold winters day, in 1975 cause As the floodwater were rising rapidly chooses a range of elements for effect including circumstance with abstract concepts Because of the distressing circumstances, I decided to With the fires racing rapidly towards the house, we decided to For the greater good of all concerned, I decided to
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Foregrounding across the ESL Scales Explanation
Scale 9 10 11 13 14
uses a wider range of conjunctions Secondly, In addition, Later, Finally, Lastly, So, However begins to foreground circumstance Because of this conjunction So foregrounds circumstance Because of the rainfall conjunction As a result, Therefore foregrounds dependent clause Because the amount carbon dioxide is increasing, scientists conjunction Hence foregrounds dependent clause As the temperature decreases circumstance Due to the heat noun group The effect of this is to foregrounds non finite dependent clause Following the drying of the grapes
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Foregrounding across the ESL Scales Exposition
Scale 5 9 11 12 14
foregrounds human or non human topics words to give a series of beliefs eg Adelaide is a good city because.. or I like Adelaide because it is .. uses a wider range of conjunctions Secondly, In addition, Later, Finally, Lastly, On the other hand, So, However begins to use noun group as alternative to conjunctions The first reason is that uses noun groups as alternative to conjunctions with more confidence One of the main arguments, Another point is dependent clause Because fossil fuels contribute to pollution uses rhetorical questions with limited confidence to structure arguments And what do the students think? uses a wide range of conjunctions confidently and accurately Consequently, Nevertheless uses a wider range noun groups as alternatives to conjunctions The main factor instead of Firstly places less common conjunctions in second place The eye, in particular, Is circumstance with abstract concepts Because of the distressing circumstances of the homeless foregrounds abstract noun groups with confidence The recovery rate of some athletes, The potential effect of this is a reduction in cost
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Foregrounding 4 Foregrounding activities
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Change foregrounding

• Rewrite this recount as a procedure.
• The boys had a rough map of the area to help
  find their friends. They walked slowly across the
  road to look for them. They reached the other
  side and soon found them sitting in the park.

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Change foregrounding

• Read the rough map of the area to help find
  the friends.
• Follow it slowly across the road to look for
  them.
• When the other side is reached, find them
  sitting in the park.

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Change foregrounding

• Rewrite this paragraph using some options
  listed below.
• The boys had a rough map of the area to help
  find their friends. They walked slowly across the
  road to look for them. They reached the other
  side and soon found them sitting in the park.
• Non-finite verb (To run, Running to)
• Nominalisation (behavegtbehaviour, widegtwidth)
• Conjunction (Firstly)
• Non-human element (The car was driven )
• Circumstance (With a hammer, Yesterday, After
  midnight)
• Dependent clause (After I ate it, , Because the
  string broke, )

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Change foregrounding

• Using a rough map of the area to help find
  their friends, the boys walked slowly across the
  road. Their friends location under a tree was
  soon reached.
• In this version the human foregrounding (The
  boys, They, They) has been replaced.
• What by?
• What is the effect?
• When would this be appropriate?
• How could you teach this?

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Foregrounding 5 Teaching strategies
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Foregrounding

• Analyse foregrounded elements in a different
  versions of the same text
• My brother took me in his car. We went to my
  uncles house. On Saturday, we had fun, because
  we cooked lunch.
• In my brothers car, we went to my uncles house.
  Cooking lunch on Saturday was fun.

3. Compile lists of examples appropriate to the
genre time (biographical recount) - During his
childhood, After his, Following his , In his
final years,
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4. Experiment Shift foregrounded element from the
front to middle to back
5. Jumbled text Talk about foregrounding at text
and sentence level while reordering a text cut
into paragraphs.
6. Deconstruction Students deconstruct own text
for its foregrounded pattern. Categorise as human
and non-human.
7. Change audience or genre In small groups
practice choosing different foregrounding when
the audience/genre changes
8. Nominalisations Note the impact of
foregrounding nominalisations on the grammar (eg
active to passive voice).
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Foregrounding 6 How can the student be
supported to improve this text ?
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Last week I watched video about baby pig.
It told to babe pig was not intelligent and dont understand wrong or right things.
Then he made wrong things by he heard ducks.
When (Then) everyone were angry and they were against
boss wasnt lovely her and she felt very sad and she left farm
but she saw the dogs do very good things and he understood right and wrong things.
He made good everythings following 2 dogs.
Finally, he won in exam to keep sheeps and his boss was lovely him.
After watching video, I felt babe pig is good person.
He know right or wrong to herself make again good things.
It affect me
and I think that when I made wrong thing I can change for myself do good things again, I can become good person for everybody.
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