Thematic progression of childrens stories

as related to different stages of

cognitive development*
S MOYA GUIJARRO and
ARSENIO JESU
S ANGEL AVILA ZAMORANO
JESU

Abstract
Within the framework of systemic functional linguistics, this paper aims to
analyze the thematic structure of twenty childrens storybooks in the English language in relation to four Piagetian-based stages of cognitive development: the sensory-motor stage, the pre-operational stage, and two stages
of concrete operations. The analysis conrms the tendency of childrens
storybook authors for the 011 years age range to make the characters
coincide with the thematic position of the clause. In this way, character
identication and the ability to follow plot development is facilitated for
the child. However, this general tendency is more evident in storybooks
written for children who are in the rst two stages (06 years) than in
those related to the last two concrete operations stages (711 years). At
the same time, in terms of developmental phases, the stories intended for
older children conform less consistently to the patterns of thematic progression described by Danes (1974).
Keywords:

1.

systemic functional linguistics; theme; thematic progression;

childrens storybooks; developmental stage.

Introduction

This study, within the framework of systemic functional linguistics, oers

an innovative perspective in relation to others previously carried out on
theme and thematic progression (Ghadessy 1995a, 1995b; Goatly 2008):
It aims to determine the thematic structure of twenty childrens storybooks in the English language, analyzed according to four Piagetianbased stages of cognitive development: the sensory-motor stage, which includes children from 0 to 2 years of age; the pre-operational stage (37
years); and two stages of concrete operations (from 7 to 9 years and
18607330/09/00290755
Online 18607349
6 Walter de Gruyter

Text & Talk 296 (2009), pp. 755774

DOI 10.1515/TEXT.2009.038

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Arsenio Jesus Moya Guijarro and Jesus Angel Avila Zamorano

from 9 to 11 years). This paper intends to discover whether the distinct

developmental stages for which the stories have been created inuence
the thematic organization and character placement within the clause
structure of the twenty storybooks, ve for each of the four stages of
development.
Our point of departure is the hypothesis that the storywriter will frequently place characters in thematic position, with the aim of facilitating
comprehension of the plot and protagonist identication from the beginning of the story. However, depending on the degree of cognitive and linguistic maturity of the hearers or readers, the stories belonging to the four
dierent developmental stages should show certain variations in relation
to the thematic patterns. The goal of the study is to ascertain whether
the characters about which the plot is constructed are located in the thematic slot of the clause, or whether a functional motivation exists that
leads the storywriter to displace the topical entities toward the nal positions of the clause.
In order to demonstrate the hypothesis proposed, we will rst set out
the theoretical background concerning theme (Halliday 1994 [1985]) and
thematic progression (Danes 1974). Next we will analyze the character
placement in the thematic or rhematic spans of the clause and their global
thematic organizations in our sample texts. The results obtained from a
quantitative and statistical analysis will conclude this contrastive study.

2.
2.1.

Theoretical background
Theme as point of departure

The thematic approach adopted here is based on systemic functional

grammar where theme is considered a predication-internal entity (Halliday 2004). This diers from the functional grammar model represented
by Dik (1997), which approaches theme as a left dislocated element or as
an initial predication external entity that expresses what the following
predication is about.
Thematic structure is not without controversial terminology. In fact,
the concept of theme has undergone debate in the heart of the Prague
School of Linguistics ever since Mathesius oered a denition that combined three aspects. Theme is the part of the sentence that expresses
known information; it also represents the point of departure of the clause
as message, and nally, it is described as what an utterance is about.
Later, Halliday (1994 [1985]) and Martin (1992) defend, albeit only
partly, this viewpoint and dene the initial constituent of the clause on

Thematic progression of childrens stories

757

the basis of two criteria: the Theme is the starting-point of the message;
it is what the clause is going to be about (Halliday 1994 [1985]: 39).
This controversy surrounding the conceptual characteristics of theme
would not make sense if the syntax of a language were so rigid that all
the initial elements of its sentences were already determined in advance.
However, as Halliday states (1994 [1985], 2004), the theme is a meaningful choice that species the angle from which the speaker/writer projects
his/her message: It is what sets the scene for the clause itself and positions it in relation to the unfolding text (Halliday 2004: 66). As a matter
of fact, Halliday distinguishes between marked and unmarked themes in
order to analyze the communicative intentions that lead the speaker/
writer to move a clause constituent from its typical place to the initial
position of the sentence. A theme is unmarked when it coincides with the
subject of a declarative clause, the nite form or the wh-element of an
interrogative modal clause or the predicate of an imperative structure.
However, the speaker/writer does not always use a prototypical pattern;
on many occasions the realization of his/her message requires a marked
option with some specic informative connotations. In this sense, Goatly
(2008: 61) points out that unmarked themes are much less likely to involve a deliberate choice than marked themes, and that the latter are
more signicant and more truly thematic than non-marked themes.
2.2.

The topical theme: an ideational component

[. . .] just how much of what comes rst in a clause counts as Theme?

More technically, how many constituents belong in the Theme? (Eggins
1994: 275276). Egginss query into which part of the sentence should be
considered thematic is of interest to us here. Although in many cases the
theme is simple and is realized by a sole constituent, there are also sentences that present a more complex initial structure. In fact, Halliday admits the possibility that within the thematic part of the sentence three different types of theme can be included: ideational, interpersonal, and
textual themes. Halliday arms that the theme of a clause extends from
its beginning up to the rst element that fullls a function in transitivity
and that this experiential thematic constituent tends to be topical (Halliday
1994 [1985]: 52). When speaking of multiple themes, he (1994 [1985]: 54)
states that only ideational themes are, in principle, referential and can be assigned a topical status. In contrast, textual and interpersonal components,
which are typically located before ideational elements, do not exhaust the
thematic potential of the clause and do not fulll a topical function.
Although some academics accept the Hallidayan denition entirely, as
is the case with Martin (1992: 434435) and Eggins (1994: 275), the

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Arsenio Jesus Moya Guijarro and Jesus Angel Avila Zamorano

correlation between the rst and second aspects of the denition of theme
is by no means obvious. The problem lies in the fact that in his denition,
Halliday groups under one concept (theme) a linguistic category, which is
identied exclusively by positional criteria, together with a discourse category, that which the message is about. Besides, he considers the initial
constituents of the clause as topics only if they belong to the ideational
component (participants, processes, and circumstances). However, there
is a wide range of ideational elements (adverbials, existential constructions, frontalized attributes, verbal forms . . .) that can be located in initial
position without carrying out a topical function (Downing 1991).
Thus, it is not always possible to establish an automatic relationship
between the clause constituent that expresses what an utterance is about
(the topic) and the rst ideational constituent of the clause (the theme).
On many occasions, as Excerpt (1) taken from The Story of Babar shows,
the theme is realized by an adverbial component that does not provide
topical information and whose only function is to specify the spatial
frame within which the communicative interaction takes place:
(1)

(The Story of Barbar, p. 3)

[. . .] In the Great Forest [theme] a little elephant [topic] was born

Although Halliday identies theme and topic, we assume that they are
two dierent concepts that should be dened from two distinct perspectives: theme as a structural category whose main function is to determine
the point of departure of the message, and topic as a discourse, cognitive,
and contextually referential category, independent of special languagesystematic coding, that expresses what the message is about (Cornish
2004; Moya 2006). Thus, unlike theme, topic is not restricted to constituents with special formal treatment, which in English is mainly associated
with initial position in the clause and with grammatical, lexical, or intonational reections. In the approach adopted here, the function of topic
is sensitive to both cognitive and pragmatic aspects that go beyond the
single correlation of topic with clause-initial position or with any morphological marking. The communicative purpose of the writer, the linguistic and extralinguistic contexts, and the general or background
knowledge that both the writer and the reader share or can infer from a
specic situation are all taken into account in the delimitation of the notion of topic as aboutness.
Entities that fulll a topical function form part of the previous linguistic context and are also anchored in our general encyclopedic knowledge.
Thus, clausal or local topics, what the clause is primarily about in a specic context of communication, are identied by their referential continu-

Thematic progression of childrens stories

759

ity in the text and by their being embodied or subsumed within the discourse topic (Van Dijk 1981; Moya 2006). The clausal topics of the tales
under analysis are prototypically those referential, concrete, and perceptually salient entities which, after their activation in the current discourse,
(i) convey the pragmatic aboutness of the clause in relation to the wider
discourse (Reinhart 1982); (ii) are at the forefront of the interlocutors
consciousness at the time of utterance (Chafe 1996); and (iii) are kept
alive persistently in the subsequent discourse by means of proforms, repetitions, synonyms, etc. (Givon 1983; Ariel 1990). In practical terms, the
clausal topics of the tales are prototypically the characters about which
information is given at the clause level.

2.3.

Thematic progression

Linguistic studies over the past decades have assessed the theme as a
function that transcends the limits of clausal structure in order to contribute decisively to the global articulation of the text. This is probably the
greatest merit that Danes (1974) has added to studies on functional sentence perspective and textual organization. Through his thematic progression theory, Danes demonstrates the importance of the thematic clause
structure, with its two elements, theme and rheme, in the structural organization and cohesion of the message. Danes (1974: 118120) distinguishes three basic thematic progression patterns:
1.

2.

3.

Simple linear thematic progression or TP with linear thematization of

rhemes. In this progression, the rheme of a clause is converted into a
thematic constituent of the following clause, giving the text a dynamic character, as Eggins (1994: 304) attests: The zig-zag pattern
achieves cohesion in the text by building on newly introduced information. This gives the text a cumulative development.
TP with a continuous or constant theme. In this progression the same
theme, although not necessarily carried out by the same clausal element, is shared by a series of utterances to which distinct rhemes are
assigned. This mechanism contributes to the creation of a static style
that, while facilitating the comprehension of the message, does not
need to be maintained for long periods of time in a text. This would
be tedious for the receptor and would produce a stagnant sensation
regarding the transmission of information.
TP with derived theme. In this model, a broad spectrum theme,
which Danes calls hypertheme, gives rise to the themes of the clauses
which follow to form a chain of subthemes deriving from the general
theme.

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Arsenio Jesus Moya Guijarro and Jesus Angel Avila Zamorano

Danes proposes another more complex textual structure, the split rheme
pattern, in which the rheme of a clause can be divided into two or more
elements, generally coordinated, each of which is taken up as the theme in
following clauses.
Although texts often do not conform to these models strictly, Daness
thematic progression theory was and continues to be a necessary point of
reference for many posterior studies on textual organization. Therefore,
we shall keep it in mind when analyzing the structural organization of
the tales comprising each of the developmental stages.

3.

Analysis of the data and exemplication

The typology of theme discussed above can be applied to the twenty tales
in order to establish the dierences in their thematic progression. Before
carrying out the comparative analysis of the thematic organization displayed by the twenty literary works, the general characteristics of the
sample texts that form the data are presented.
3.1.

Database

The selection of the sample texts comprises twenty childrens storybooks

written during the twentieth century (see appendix). All of them are well
known and have a wide readership in the English-speaking world as
attested by the literary studies carried out by Towsend (1990), Hunt
(2004), among others, as well as journals specialized in childrens literature (CLIJ, Childrens Literature in Education). Given the developmental
nature of the focus of this study, Tuckers (2002a, 2002b) and Cerrillo
and Yuberos (2007) reviews of childrens storybooks have also been considered as they specify the age of the intended child for whom the tales
are created. In line with Piagets (1981) framework, these researchers on
childrens literature classify storybooks by taking the dierence in the
cognitive stages of the intended readers or audiences as an explanatory
variable. A suitable selection of storybooks according to age needs to
consider the cognitive ability of the child at each state of development,
as it is essential that stories meet the linguistic and psychological maturity
of the children for which they are written. Tucker (1984) also grants great
importance to the selection of tales by age; he states that storybooks are
designed to oer the child solutions to the psychological needs of each developmental stage.
Along with design and format, the major criteria of selection of storybooks underlying the dierent developmental stages are conceptual and

Thematic progression of childrens stories

761

linguistic diculty, which logically increase as the child becomes older

and has a more developed cognitive capacity. Each stage is slotted into
age groups and is dened by dierent cognitive structures, which signify
a specic way of comprehending reality and expressing it linguistically
(Piaget 1981). The rst is the sensory-motor stage and comprises children
from birth to 2 years. In this phase the child experiences sensory-motor
actions with his body, and therefore feels especially attracted to the musicality of rhymes and verses accompanied by movements and gestures.
The themes tend to be closely related to the childs environment (the
home, toys) and the animal world. The tales are characterized by a very
simple structure and simple content, with basic expressions. In terms of
their design, full-page, color illustrations are predominant as they help
the child decode the content that is being transmitted.
The stories intended for children in the pre-operational stage, from 3 to
6 years of age, expand the range of topics dealt with, and revolve around
the home, nature, and school; fables and short stories with everyday anecdotes are also included. The storybooks are characterized by their expressive simplicity and sparse conceptual content. While large format design is
still preferred with many illustrations, all in color, with brief, large-print
text, at this stage the amount of verbal language increases considerably.
As a result, repetition and syntactic parallelism are more predominant.
The themes of the tales included in the concrete operations stage I
(from 7 to 9 years of age) are more complex and belong to fantastic stories and extraordinary legends. The literary structure is brief, with clear
orientation, quick development and brief conclusion, and much action.
The structures are less simple and do not use as much repetition or syntactic parallelism as in the previous period. As for the design, text predominates, with 25% of illustrations as a minimum.
Finally, in the tales intended for children in the concrete operations
stage II, from 9 to 11 years of age, subject matter deals with realistic stories (biographies, sport), adventures, detective and mystery stories, animal
life, humoristic elements, explorations of other countries, and fantastic literature. The plot is clear but more elaborate with a resolution to presented problems. The stories are longer and occasionally require subdivision into chapters, each one introducing a new adventure. In terms of
design, illustrations are less important (one or two per chapter). The typography is normalized and the format is conventional.
3.2.

Method of analysis

We will now attempt to highlight the dierences in the thematic organization of the twenty chosen tales belonging to the four cognitive stages of

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Arsenio Jesus Moya Guijarro and Jesus Angel Avila Zamorano

development. In order to demonstrate the hypothesis outlined above, the

twenty storybooks were submitted to an empirical analysis to determine
the correlation between theme and topic/character in the whole sample
of texts. The quantitative data extracted from the empirical study are interpreted in functional terms and proved to be statistically valuable
through a Chi-Square analysis.1
For the purposes of this paper we have taken the Hallidayan model in
which all the clauses in a text have a thematic constituent located in initial position. In the case of compound sentences, . . . the point to bear in
mind is that there will be two thematic domainsthat of the clause nexus
and that of the clause (Halliday 2004: 394). However, in this study we
have only counted the themes of individual clauses and have not analyzed
the thematic clauses of compound sentences.
We have also considered that thematic progression depends upon repeated reference and not only upon repeated word form. A character
such as Spot can form part of a thematic progression just by being referred to by means of pronominalization (he), as in: Theres Spot! Hes
under the rug (Wheres Spot). Thus, all referring expressions, independently of their nominal or pronominal form, can play a fundamental
part in the thematic development of a stretch of text.2 Besides, we have
assumed that a particular thematic progression occurs even when only
part and not the whole theme or rheme of a previous clause gures in
the thematic slot of the following clausal structure.
Finally, the storybooks written for readers aged 911 years have not
been analyzed in their totality, so the word length of these tales is considerably superior to those of the preceding stages. In order for the texts analyzed to be as homogeneous as possible in length, initial chapters have
been selected of the ve stories belonging to the concrete operations stage
II. A motivation for this choice is that the rst chapters introduce the protagonists in the story in the same way as they are activated in the tales
intended for other age groups. The following chapters in the tales written
for children in the concrete operations stage II narrate new events and actions but they are essentially carried out by the main characters, already
known to the reader. Thus, the innovative nature of the protagonists is
only kept alive in the initial part of the storybooks for this developmental
stage.
3.3.

Choices of theme and topic

In the selected stories, the characters about which information is transmitted, considered to be topical elements, tend to be placed in the thematic positions of the clause. Theme/topic correspondence is more evi-

Thematic progression of childrens stories

763

dent in the tales written for children who are in the sensory motor stage
(from 0 to 2 years of age), where it can reach 79.1% of the identied
cases. A clear example of this are the tales Dear Zoo and Wibbly Pig
Can Make a Tent, in which the theme and topic correspondence is absolute, favoring the use of syntactic parallelism to mark the succession of
the protagonists actions in time. Later we reproduce a fragment from
the tale Wibbly Pig Can Make a Tent where the main character is located
in the thematic slot of the clause. Only the narrators intervention, What
can you make?, breaks this repetitive model, which is typical of stories
destined to this age of reader/listener:
(2)

Wibbly Pig [theme and topic] can make a wobbly tower! He can
make a cushion tower! And a tent. He can make bubbles. He can
make a bus. He can make it rain! And he can make a mess! What
can you make?

Even the characters activated for the rst time in the discourse or the introductory participants (Dik 1997) tend to be located in thematic position
in the tales intended for all the developmental stages, above all in the stories written for children in the sensory motor and pre-operational stages.
Given their scarce cognitive capacity and inexperience in narrative questions, it is fundamental that the storywriter is clear from the beginning
concerning the topics and characters about which information is being
imparted. Also in the literary works for children in later stages, although
with less frequency (see Table 1), introduction of the characters in thematic position is preferred, as is apparent in this fragment extracted
from The Tale of Johnny Town-mouse (79, page 9):
(3)

Johnny Town-mouse [theme and topic] was born in a cupboard.

Timmy Willie [theme and topic] was born in a garden. Timmy Willie
was a little country mouse who went to town by mistake in a hamper. The gardener [theme and topic] sent vegetables to town once a
week by carrier; he packed them in a big hamper.

Table 1. Theme and topic overlapping

Absolute values
Age
Theme and topic overlap
Theme and topic do not overlap
Total

02
53
14
67

36
97
33
130

79
301
149
450

Values in percentage
911
727
323
1050

02
79.1
20.9
100

36
74.6
25.4
100

79
66.9
33.1
100

911
69.2
30.8
100

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Arsenio Jesus Moya Guijarro and Jesus Angel Avila Zamorano

However, the theme/topic correspondence is not always so automatic. In

all the childrens storybooks belonging to the analyzed developmental
stages, the presence of adverbial components in thematic position is a
constant, displacing topical elements toward the rheme of the clause.
In this way, the point of departure of the message marks the spatial and
temporal framework in which the principal action of the story is developed. In the following fragment, taken from the story The Very Hungry
Caterpillar (02), the days of the week move the topical constituent, realized by the pronominal form, he, toward the clausal rheme. The theme
coincides with the adverbial group that species the temporal frame in
which the actions carried out by the main character are developed. Possibly, through repetitive and accumulative structures, the author of the
story intends to familiarize the child of the sensory motor stage with the
names of the days of the week, numbers, foods, and some habitual concepts of daily life:
(4)

On Monday [theme] he [topic and rheme] ate through one apple

[. . .]. On Tuesday he ate through two pears [. . .]. On Wednesday he
ate trough three plums [. . .]. On Thursday he ate through four strawberries [. . .]. On Sunday he ate through one piece of chocolate cake,
one ice-cream cone [. . .], and one slice of watermelon.

In the tales in relation to the two beginning developmental stages, from

0 to 2 years and 3 to 6 years, this type of adverbial group, typically realized by then, is employed to demonstrate to the reader or hearer that
the actions happen one after another. In the childrens storybooks related
to concrete operation stages, the adjuncts of time located in thematic position increase in variety and precision and introduce temporal and spatial details missing in previous stages. In the following excerpt extracted
from Gorilla (79 years), we observe how the adjuncts (The night before
her birthday or in the middle of the night), specify the time in which the
action occurs with greater detail and no longer use the generics like later
or then. These are more characteristic of the tales of the rst developmental stages to show the logical sequence of events. Although it continues
with hardly any leaps of time, the stories last longer and contain more
temporal information:
(5)

The night before her birthday [theme], Hannah [topic] went to bed
tingling with excitementshe had asked her father for a gorilla! In
the middle of the night [theme], Hannah [topic] woke up and saw a
very small parcel at the foot of the bed.

Thematic progression of childrens stories

765

Adjuncts of time, realized by subordinate time clauses, were also located

in the stories of the concrete operations stage, as is seen in the following
extract from Mary Poppins (911, page 12):
(6)

When the afternoon began to die away behind the Park [theme], Mrs
Brill and Ellen [topic] came to give them their supper and to bath the
Twins.

In this way, the messages point of departure coincides with the temporal
coordinates in which the action is developed and the appearance of the
character or topical component is postponed until the rhematic position.
These temporal constructions present greater complexity and, therefore,
are not used in the literary works of the sensory motor stage. However,
they are lightly incorporated in the tales of the pre-operational stage and
increase progressively in those of the concrete operations stages. The adjuncts of place and manner are equally frequent, above all in the stories of
the nal stage of cognitive development (911 years). The rst situates the
spatial setting in which the adventures of the characters occur. The inux
of the large number of protagonists that move in dierent spaces and the
long duration of time of the stories justify the variety of localizations.
This contrasts with the unique space in which the actions of the characters in the stories of the rst stages happen.
The appearance of adjuncts of manner is more limited in the clausal
theme, through which the author enriches the text specifying how the
action is carried out. This is evidence of the greater expressive richness
that children of advanced ages demand; the author does not limit himself
to only telling what the characters do, as in the tales of the sensory motor
and pre-operational stages, but rather oers new expressive nuances:
(7)

(The Tale of Johnny Town-mouse, 79, page 22)

With the utmost politeness [theme] he [topic] introduced Timmy
Willie to nine other mice, all with long tails and white neckties.

The analysis of the characters placement in the thematic and rhematic

slot of the clause conrms the tendency of the storywriter to make the
topical entities and clausal theme coincide. More than 70% of the identied cases of the sample texts were this way. Upon locating the characters
in initial position, the author helps the reader follow the plot, so from the
start the topical entity about which information is transmitted is clearly
specied. This tendency is more prevalent in the childrens storybooks of
the rst two stages (02 years and 36 years): 79.1% and 74.6%, respectively, of the cases analyzed. The scarce cognitive capacity and inexperience in storybooks of the child makes it necessary for the author to plant
in the mind of the child from the start who the protagonist is. Finally, in

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Table 2. Distribution of theme/topic overlapping and developmental stage

Stage

02

36

79

911

Total

overlap

53

overlap

14

Total

67

97
[46.5]
33
[20.5]
130

301
[90.2]
149
[39.8]
450

727
[312.4]
323
[137.6]
1150

1178
[728.9]
519
[321.1]
1797

w2 5.99, df 3, P 0.1105 (non-signicant)

the tales related to the concrete operations stages I and II, the topical
components continue to appear mainly in initial position, although there
is an evident descent in the frequency of characters located in the thematic span of the clause. In fact, in the literary works of the concrete operations stage II, the theme/topic correlation diminishes to 69.2%. The
lowest percentages are found in the period of 79 years where the character location in initial position descends to 66.9%. Older readers can identify the characters of the stories successfully although they do not necessarily appear associated with the clausal theme.
At this point, we have considered it relevant to provide a Chi-Square
analysis using SPSS in order to prove whether the absolute and relative
values reached before are statistically signicant and, in turn, to measure
the extent of the correspondence between theme/topic and developmental
stage in the clauses of the sample texts.
The Chi-Square analysis provided above (Table 2) reveals that although the relative frequencies occur similarly across the cognitive stages,
the degree of deviation from the null hypothesis of no association varies
somewhat from one developmental period to another. Comparing the observed values of frequency with those which would be expected if there
were no association between frequency of theme/topic correspondence
and developmental stage; it would seem that the tales intended for children of ages up to 6 produce slightly more theme/character overlap than
would be expected from no association between this linguistic variable
and stage of cognitive development. In fact, the expected counts for
theme/topic correspondence are 46.5 in the tales of the rst age stage
(02) and 90.2 in the second (36 years old), and the observed frequencies
account for 53 and 97, respectively. Seven to nine-year-old tales produce
slightly less overlapping (301) than was expected (312.4). Finally, tales
written for nine to eleven-year-olds produce the expected amount. However, although these dierences exist, they are not signicant statistically
(w2 5.99, df 3, P 0.1105). This aspect will be elaborated further in
the concluding section.

Thematic progression of childrens stories

3.4.

767

Patterns of thematic progression

The goal now is to relate the notion of thematic progression in childrens

storybooks, as formulated in Daness (1974) framework, to dierent
phases in childrens cognitive development, as manifested in stories written for children in dierent ages. The lineal thematic progression model
is, as can be seen in Table 3, the most utilized in the stories of all developmental periods, reaching 26.9% of the identied cases in the tales of the
02 year stage. Next in frequency is the constant thematic progression
model, whose maximum percentage is in the storybooks of the sensorymotor stage, 23.9%. The presence of the derived thematic progression
model is much lower, found in the literary works of the pre-operational
stage and onward, at 1.5%. Finally, the split rheme pattern is hardly apparent, identied in the childrens tales of the concrete operations stages
at 0.15% average.
Table 3. Patterns of thematic progression
Absolute values

Constant TP
Lineal TP
Derived TP
Split TP
No TP
Total

02
16
18
0
0
33
67

36
24
26
2
0
78
130

Values in percentage
79
70
72
11
1
296
450

911
143
159
28
1
719
1050

02
23.9
26.9
0
0
49.2
100%

36
18.5
20
1.5
0
60
100%

79
15.6
16
2.4
0.2
65.8
100%

911
13.6
15.1
2.7
0.1
68.5
100%

In the stories intended for children in the sensory-motor period, the

percentages are higher for the constant thematic progression pattern at
23.9%. In fact, as previously indicated, one of the stories of this stage,
Wibbly Pig Can Make a Tent, is organized exclusively according to this
model (see [2]). Following his activation in the theme of the rst clause,
Wibbly Pig, the protagonist of the story, is maintained in initial position
throughout the entire tale. It is true that the constant utilization of this
thematic pattern could make the text too static. However, the brevity of
the story, it is hardly seven clauses in length, and the age of the audience,
between 0 and 2 years, make the constant thematic model an appropriate
tool for helping the child to follow the plot. The coincidence throughout
the entire text of the grammatical function of the subject, the structural
function of the theme, and the pragmatic-discursive function of topic
needs to be added to this. Precisely to avoid textual monotony, the storywriter for children aged 0 to 2 years resorts to using the lineal thematic
progression model, which reaches its highest percentage in the tales of

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Arsenio Jesus Moya Guijarro and Jesus Angel Avila Zamorano

this stage at 26.9%. In Wheres Spot?, for children aged 0 to 2 years,

both the constant and lineal thematic models are inserted in order to
attract the childs attention to the main character and at the same time,
to give the text dynamism:
(8) Theres Spot! Hes under the rug.
The stories of the pre-operational stage present quite similar values to
those of the stage previously described, although the percentages are
lower for the constant theme (18.5%) and lineal patterns (20%). This is
due to, in part, the minor appearance of the derived theme pattern at
1.5%. The authors of childrens stories intended for children of the concrete operations stage I continue to prefer the lineal model of thematic
progression (16% of the identied cases) and the constant model (15.6%).
The percentage value of these thematic progressions again declines if we
compare them to the frequencies found in previous stages. This situation
is due, in part, to the increase of the derived thematic pattern (2.4% compared with 1.5% in the literary works of the previous stage). In any event,
it is unexpected to a certain degree that a model so static as the constant
thematic progression would maintain its presence at this developmental
stage. The story The Wild Washerwomen is organized basically according
to this pattern except for the lineal progression that begins the narration.
The combination of the lineal and constant progressions in the same story
starts to be a structural pattern in the tales of the dierent developmental
stages analyzed. The introduction of the woodcutters onto the scene in
The Wild Washerwomen is one of the more illustrative examples in this
respect:
(9) (The Wild Washerwomen, 79)
In a hut in the forest lived seven woodcutters [rheme and topic].
They chopped down trees and oated them down the river to the
town. [. . .]. They angled their hair and matted their beards.
Finally, in the tales of the concrete operations stage II, the lineal thematic
pattern (15.1%) continues to be the most frequently employed with an increase in the percentage from the tales of the preceding stage. The constant thematic model, on the other hand, constitutes the lowest frequency
registered of the dierent developmental stages at 13.6%. The decline of
the constant thematic pattern is essentially due to the stories not focusing
on one exclusive protagonist. The storybooks of this stage are characterized by the continual entrances onto and exits o the scene of topical entities in initial position and the necessary reactivation of those participants that have momentarily lost their topical status. In this context the
lineal pattern is much more tting as it favors the alternating of characters in the clausal theme.

Thematic progression of childrens stories

769

Table 4. Distribution of Daness thematic progressions and developmental stage

Stage

02

36

79

911

Total

Constant

16

Lineal

18

None

33

Total

67

24
[10.2]
26
[11.1]
78
[45.6]
128

70
[19.6]
72
[21.3]
296
[87.1]
438

143
[67.0]
159
[72.8]
719
[298.2]
1021

253
[156.2]
275
[169.8]
1126
[695.1]
1654

w2 16.7, df 6, P 0.0105

The analysis of the thematic progression of the childrens narrations

studied reveals that, as the age of the reader or hearer increases, the stories adapt less to the thematic progression patterns described by Danes
(see Table 3). The progressive development of childrens cognitive capacity means an increase in the length of the stories and characters, which
explains the texts not easily tting into thematic patterns since it could
lead to them being restricted and too predictable while diminishing the
authors creative freedom to give priority to elements of a structural nature. In fact, the absence of patterns of thematic progression is higher in
the stories of the last two developmental stages: 65.8% and 68.5%, respectively, of all the analyzed cases. However, in the literary texts that seem to
be written for children who are in a pre-operational stage of development,
the percentage decreases to 60% and it reaches the lowest values in the
sensory motor stage where 49.2% of the tales do not follow a dened thematic model.
As shown statistically in a Chi-Square test (Table 4), there are clearly
signicant dierences in proportions across the variables as a whole
(w2 16.7, df 6, P 0.0105).3 Tales intended to 02- and 36-yearold children produce more constant and lineal thematic progressions
than expected on the basis of no association between developmental stage
and Daness (1974) thematic progression types. The utilization of constant thematic progression is shown to be more relevant in the stories of
the rst two developmental stages than in the last two. In fact, the expected count for constant patterns is 10.2 for the tales of the 02 years
age period and 19.6 for those of the second developmental stage, 36
years, and the observed frequencies account for 16 and 24, respectively.
However, the statistical backup reveals that literary works for 79-yearolds produce just about what would be expected as their frequencies
of distribution are the most similar across the four developmental periods, especially in the case of linear thematic progression. Finally, the

770

Arsenio Jesus Moya Guijarro and Jesus Angel Avila Zamorano

storybooks intended for 911-year-olds produce fewer linear and thematic models than expected, with more cases of no thematic progression.
In fact, in the tales intended for the children of the concrete operations
stage II, the expected count for the lack of thematic progression is 695.1
and the observed frequencies account for 719. Thus, the degree of deviation from the null hypothesis of no association between cognitive stage
and thematic progression varies greatly from one developmental phase
to another in the sample texts.

4.

Conclusions

The twenty childrens storybooks investigated present similar organizational and structural patterns in dierent developmental stages. The characters about which information is given at the clausal level correspond to
human participants (or at least humanized) that are often located in the
thematic slot of the clause, with a 72.4% average of all the identied examples. This tendency is due to the purpose of the story writer to facilitate comprehension of the narration for the reader or listener since, in
this way, it helps to clearly identify the entities about which information
is imparted in the clauses of the story. The fact that the Chi-Square analysis carried out shows that the dierences, although existing in absolute
and relative values, are not statistically signicant, proves that the genre
characteristics of the tales seem to play a key role in their thematic organization, independent of the cognitive stage for which the stories are created. This seems to support Ghadessys (1995a, 1995b) nding that thematic progression correlates with genre, and that dierent genres and
registers follow specic thematic developments.
The general predisposition toward placing the topical entities in thematic position, characteristic of the literary works intended for children
in the rst developmental stages, diminishes, to a certain extent, in the
stories of the later stages as the age and level of cognitive and linguistic
development increase. In the storybooks written for children belonging
to the nal stages, it seems that the theme/topic identication becomes
less necessary for it to be clear about which character information is offered in each moment of the narration. The utilization of longer and
more varied adjuncts, especially temporal ones, as the developmental
stages advance make the character or topical entity move toward the rhematic slot of the clause in a larger percentage of the cases. Similar to our
ndings, when comparing newspaper sports commentaries with other
genres, Ghadessy (1995b) nds that the most frequent themes are related
to the major text participants and temporal location elements. While the

Thematic progression of childrens stories

771

tales included in the rst stages of the cognitive period base their development in topical participants, the works included in the later stages seem to
use more marked themes; in the latter phases, the range of clause constituents that can be located in the thematic part of the clause broadens considerably, especially adjuncts of time and place, which mark the temporal
and spatial sequence of the actions and events carried out in the story.
The decrease of theme/topic correlation is evident in the tales of the
concrete operations stage I (66.9%) compared to those of the two previous stages, the sensory-motor (79.1%) and the pre-operational (74.6%).
The slight increase of topical constituents in initial position occurring in
the storybooks intended for the last stage, the concrete operations II
(69.2%), deserves attention since the observed tendency was inverse. Although the destined readers of this stage are older and, therefore, are
better able to understand storybooks, the included tales in this developmental stage contain more characters, so the initial position is very
helpful in identifying the participant about which information on the
clausal level is imparted.
Regarding Daness (1974) thematic progression models, the stories do
not seem to lend themselves easily to the basic patterns of progression,
above all in later developmental periods where the texts do not follow
these patterns as closely as in the earlier stages. In the later phases, the
constant and lineal thematic progression models could be too monotonous for the readers and so are used with less frequency. However, it
should be noted that in the literary works of all the developmental stages
analyzed, the lineal and constant progression patterns are the most utilized while the use of the derived or other more complex combinations
could complicate the structural organization of the story, which would
be less appropriate for the youngest children.
To conclude, the results of our analysis demonstrate that the writers of
childrens stories intended for the sensory-motor stage have a predisposition to introduce the character from the beginning of the narration in thematic position and to frequently utilize the lineal and constant thematic
progression patterns (50.8% of the topical sequences identied), which
favor the appearance of repetitive structures and syntactic parallelism. In
this way, it is made clear who the absolute protagonist of the story is. Regarding the tales of the second stage studied, the pre-operational, the same
lineal and constant thematic patterns are observed as in the previous
stage, although their percentages are lower: 20% and 15.6%, respectively.
In the works destined for children in the concrete operations stage I,
the characters tend to be located in thematic position as well. The larger
number of participants about whom information is oered at the clausal
level makes the plot more dicult for young readers to decode. Therefore,

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Arsenio Jesus Moya Guijarro and Jesus Angel Avila Zamorano

character placement in thematic position helps the child to identify more

easily the topical entities around which the plot is constructed. Once the
cognitive capacities of the addressees are heightened, the stories do not
adapt themselves to Daness (1974) thematic progression as these can be
too predictable and restricted for a child who demands new challenges.
However, the alteration between constant (15.6%) and lineal (16%) thematic patterns is also recognizable in all the stories of this stage. Finally,
the works included in the concrete operations stage II increase in length
and the characters are clearly multiplied. However, the thematic and topical structuring of the stories written for children 911 years of age is similar to the tendencies already reected in the tales of the previous stage.
The tales of the nal developmental phase help the child to understand
in greater depth the mechanisms that dene the genre of storybooks,
which they will, with time, master as their age reaches that of the upper
limit of the developmental stage, when they will be better adept at facing
the requirements of more demanding stories.

Appendix. Tales analyzed

1.

2.

3.

Sensory-motor stage (02 years of age)

a. Campbell, R. (1998 [1982]). Dear zoo. London: Campbell Books.
b. Carle, E. (2002 [1969]). The very hungry caterpillar. London:
Pun Books
c. Hill, E. (1983 [1980]). Wheres Spot? London: Pun Books.
d. Inkpen, M. (1995). Wibbly Pig can make a tent. London: Hodder Childrens Books.
e. Kitamura, S. (1996). Cat is sleepy. London: Andersen Press.
Pre-operational stage (36 years)
f.
Blake, Q. (1999 [1980]). Mister Magnolia. London: Red Fox.
g. Lobel, A. (1999 [1973]). Mouse tales (The journey). London:
Mammoth.
h. McBratney, S. (2000 [1994]). Guess how much I love you (illustrated by Anita Jeram). London: Walker Books.
i.
Ross, T. (2000 [2001]). I want my dummy. London: Collins Picture Books.
j.
Sendak, M. (2000 [1963]). Where the wild things are. London:
Red Fox.
Concrete operations stage I (79 years)
k. Browne, A. (2002 [1983]). Gorilla. London: Walker Books.
l.
De Brunho, J. (1991 [1934]). The story of Babar. London:
Methuen Childrens Books.

Thematic progression of childrens stories

773

m.

Prister, M. (2000 [1992]). The rainbow sh. New York: NorthSouth Books.
n. Potter, B. (1995 [1918]). The tale of Johnny town-mouse. London: Frederick Warne.
o. Yeoman, J. (1982 [1979]). The wild washerwomen (illustrated by
Q. Blake). London: Pun Books.
4. Concrete operations stage II (911 years)
p. Dahl, R. (2001 [1964]). Charlie and the chocolate factory (illustrated by Q. Blake). London: Pun Books.
q. Kerr, J. (2002 [1971]). When Hitler stole Pink Rabbit. London:
Collins.
r. Lindgren, A. (2002 [1945]). Pippi Longstocking (illustrated by
T. Ross). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
s. Milne, A. (1992 [1926]). Winnie-the-Pooh (illustrated by E. H.
Shepard). New York: Pun Books.
t.
Travers, P. L. (1998 [1934]). Mary Poppins (illustrated by
M. Shepard). London: Collins.

Notes
*

My sincere gratitude to Christopher Butler for making interesting suggestions and providing the statistical backup.
1. The SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) is one of the most appropriate statistical packages to investigate the association between the variables under research as it
shows the comparison between the observed values of frequency with those which would
be expected if there were no association between frequency of linguistic features and age
stage.
2. In the tales analyzed there seems to be a preference for proforms over full nominals to
refer to a particular character in the story, as the distance between an antecedent and the
current mention of the entity is short (usually one sentence) and there is a low level of
possible interference from competitors. For further information about accessibility and
reference in dierent genres, see Givon (1983), Ariel (1990), and Moya (2006).
3. It has not been possible to include the gures for derived and split thematic progression,
since two of the expected frequencies fall below 5, which invalidates the analysis. We
have therefore performed the test with constant, linear, and no TP only.

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Prof. A. Jesus Moya does research in discourse and text analysis and has published several
articles on information, thematicity, topicality, and multimodality in international journals
such as Word, Text, Functions of Language, and Journal of Pragmatics. He is co-editor of
The World Told and The World Shown: Multisemiotic Issues (in press, Palgrave). Address
for correspondence: E. U. de Magisterio Fray Luis de Leon, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Avda. de los Alfares, 44, 16071 Cuenca, Spain 3arsenio.mguijarro@uclm.es4.
ngel A
vila received his Ph.D. from the University of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain) in
Jesus A
2008. His research interests include childrens literature, discourse analysis, and applied linguistics. 3jesusangel.avila@edu.jccm.es4.

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