2 Theme–Rheme Analysis of English and Romanian Tourism Websites

Promotion is essential for the tourism sector, as the product is not a regular one. In this case, the product is a service and has the following features: “intangible, inseparable, variable and perishable” (Morgan and Pritchard, 2000: 10). Tourism promotion has the purpose of configuring the tourist image of a destination while it points out its attractiveness (Calvi, 2006). A potential tourist decides to go on a holiday and becomes a real tourist “purely on the basis of symbolic expectations established promotionally through words, pictures, sounds and so forth” (Morgan and Pritchard, 2000: 10). The present study looks at tourist promotional messages from a textual perspective. It presents a small-scale comparison of commercial tourist websites belonging to two different countries: Great Britain and Romania. These websites promote numerous landmarks belonging to their country and at the same time, offer users the possibility to buy a tour to/ticket for the landmark(s) promoted. The focus of the study is on the webpages used to promote these countries and their heritage sites internationally via the Internet, in particular, on their texts. The following World Heritage Sites have been chosen: Canterbury Cathedral, the Tower of London and Edinburgh, for Great Britain; and the Monastery of Horezu, the Dacian Fortresses of the Orastie Mountains and Sighisoara, for Romania. The aim of the study is twofold: 1) to analyse the texts by identifying their Themes and Thematic structure and 2) to compare the results by looking at the similarities and differences that appear between the ways in which the commercial tourist texts are organized in light of their Themes and Thematic structure. The frameworks considered for the analyses are Systemic Functional Linguistics (Halliday, 1985, 1994; Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004) and Thematic patterns (Daneš, 1974).

and Matthiessen, 2004: 5).The last function is concerned with the creation of text into a meaningful whole and "enables the clause to be packed in ways which make it effective given its purpose and its context" (Eggins, 1994: 273).The system of Theme represents one of these ways.
Following Dejica (2005Dejica ( , 2009)), Theme accounts for the coherence and internal organization of discourse by organizing the initiation of the clause and/or by directing the attention of the receiver of the message to the parts the sender wishes to emphasize.As such, the Thematic organisation of a clause is the most important element in the development of a text.The Theme choices guide the recipient throughout the unfolding message.
The system of Theme presents the clause as falling into just two main constituents: Theme, i.e., the first experiential constituent, which serves as a starting point for the message and tells what the clause is going to be about, and Rheme, i.e., the part of the clause in which the Theme is developed (Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004: 64-7;Eggins, 2004: 273-5).Theme and Rheme are frequently associated with given and new information, considering that "we typically depart from the familiar to head towards the unfamiliar" (Eggins, 2004: 275).As such, Theme is considered to express familiar or given information, in other words, information which has already been mentioned somewhere in the text or is familiar from the context.As opposed, Rheme presents unfamiliar or new information (Halliday, 1994: 59).Nevertheless, this may not always be the case because speakers or writers can interchange these associations for particular reasons (Lombardi Vallauri, 1995: 359).
The Theme element can be further classified according to its composition and status.Theme can be simple, when expressed by one element -the experiential one; and multiple, when expressed by more than just the experiential element.The other element(s) forming the Theme can be textual -show how clauses are linked together and give cohesion to the text, and/or interpersonal -signal the writer's point of view on the message (Thompson, 1996: 156-160;Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004: 68, 79-87).As far as status is concerned, its choice reflects the writer's purposes and depends on whether the clause is declarative or not.Theme can be unmarked, i.e., the typical or usual choice, for example, Subjects in declarative clauses, and marked, i.e., the atypical or unusual choice, like adjuncts in declarative clauses (Eggins, 1994: 296-7;Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004: 73-9).Unmarked Themes seem to carry the lowest degree of new information, while marked Themes tend to bring in new information, being both topically and informationally salient (Westergaard, 1986cited in Manoliu-Manea, 1994: 230).However, according to McCabe (1999: 85), markedness can only be determined in context; in other words, the degree of markedness can vary (Thompson, 1996: 144-6).

Thematic structure
According to Dejica (2010: 22), individual Themes per se or their selection and identification in clauses are "not particularly significant", but their "overall choices and ordering" (Dejica 2004: 49) are.The selection of Themes is important as it organises the text and provides a point of orientation, revealing its underlying coherence and its method of development.Themes can develop following different Thematic patterns (Daneš, 1974), such as: a) Theme re-interation or continuous pattern -the same Theme is kept over several clauses.In this case, the message shows a clear focus.b) Thematic shifting -the Theme of one clause is taken from the Rheme of a previous clause.Thematic progression can be achieved by two different patterns.In the first one, zig-zag or linear pattern, part of the Rheme of each clause becomes the Theme of the following clause.Considering that it builds on newly introduced information, this development becomes cumulative.As for the second pattern, i.e., multiple-Theme or split, the Rheme of one clause introduces a number of different pieces of information, each of which is then picked up and made Theme in subsequent clauses.This last pattern provides frequently the underlying organising principle for a text (Eggins, 1994: 302-5).
Thematic development (Fries, 1983), thus, has several functions.According to Thompson (1996: 165-73), it points out the maintenance or progression of what the text is about at a certain point, specifies or changes the framework for the interpretation of the following clause(s), signals the boundaries of sections in the text, and shows what the speaker considers to be the useful or important starting point for her/his message.
The present study aims to analyse the Themes and Thematic structure of the chosen texts.The analysis can show their texture and organisation.It can also reveal the way the copywriter made clear her/his underlying concerns and priorities (Whittaker, 1995a(Whittaker, , 1995b;;Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004: 105).

Data selection and methodology
The study focuses on two commercial tourist websites: one British and the other Romanian.A number of search criteria have been followed in the selection of the corpus.English has been set as the language of promotion, since the study focuses on international promotion.Different types of well-known World Heritage Sites, i.e., religious, historical and urban landmarks from different regions, have been selected in order to cover possible diversity in the landmarks' features and their promotion.In addition, the analysis of more than one item per website aims to obtain a broader view and observe whether there is any distinctive promotional feature related to the site.The selection process has used the Google search engine and has taken the results generated by the word 'visit', followed by the name of the religious landmark.The first tour operator to appear has been checked also for the historical and urban landmarks.The tour operator has been chosen only if it promoted all the three landmarks.
The two commercial websites are Evan Evans Tours (www.evanevanstours.co.uk) and Ciao Romania (www.ciaoromania.co.uk).They are owned by tour operators that work in the countries mentioned and offer tours to visitors.They both promote landmarks and offer the possibility to buy tickets and tours online.In the case of every website, three webpages have been selected, each introducing a different national World Heritage Site, as mentioned above.The corpus of the study may be characterised briefly as follows: the field is tourism, particularly World Heritage Sites (religious, historic and urban landmarks); the medium is the Internet; the mode is the text with a length of approximately 95 words -British set and 55 words -Romanian set (the texts presenting urban landmarks are slightly longer); the language is English; the communicative purpose is to inform and persuade; the sender of the message is a tour operator; and the addressee is the general international public, who may be interested in gathering information, planning a trip and/or buying tours or travel packages.
The webpages advertise tours visiting different landmarks, which are not the object of discussion in this paper.As such, only the texts referring to the particular World Heritage Sites chosen have been analysed.We used Halliday's model (1985Halliday's model ( , 1994;;Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004) for the analysis of Themes and Rhemes, and we also considered Daneš' classification of Thematic patterns (1974).The textual analysis has looked only at the independent conjoinable clause complexes, i.e., complexes that "consist of an independent clause together with all hypotactically related clauses and words that are dependent on that independent clause" (Fries 1995), because they seem to be the optimal method for showing Thematic progression (Thompson, 1996: 166;McCabe, 1999: 73).For each unit of analysis, the initial part of the clause up to the first experiential constituent was considered Theme.In the case of fronted dependent clauses, these were taken as Theme, as the point of departure for the whole complex.The analysis includes the types of Themes, their status, composition and their Thematic progression.For clarity reasons, a table presenting these aspects is included for each text.

Results of the Theme-Rheme analysis
The results of the analyses are presented in relation to the representation of the textual function for each text.The results are first presented and then compared.

British set of texts
As already mentioned, the texts considered for the British set are those presenting Canterbury Cathedral, the Tower of London and Edinburgh.

Canterbury Cathedral
There is no webpage dedicated entirely to Canterbury Cathedral; the landmark is part of a tour, together with other landmarks in the region of Kent.The Cathedral is presented mainly in relation to its importance for the Anglican faith.
The textual analysis of the text is presented in Table 2.1.(Please note that T in italics indicates a new Theme; pointed dashes are used to signal an unclear, but possible Thematic development; underlined words indicate textual Theme and double square brackets stand for embedded clauses).The Themes found in this text are mainly unmarked and simple, e.g., 'The central "Bell Harry Tower" dates back to 1498', which indicates an objective message (Francis and Kramer-Dahl, 1991: 354).There is, though, an instance of marked Theme, in which case the dependent clause 'Traveling through Kent' is placed in Theme position, probably with the aim of providing the way to get to the city of Canterbury.The Cathedral's attractions are usually placed in Theme position.When this is not the case, the copywriter seems to use enhanced Themes, i.e., Themes that increase the strength or enhance the prominence of a participant or a circumstantial in the clause complex (Fawcett and Huang, 1995).These Themes counterbalance the objectivity of the unmarked Themes.These are expressed by predicated Themes, e.g., 'It is here where your guide will tell the story of the shocking murder of Archbishop Thomas Beckett in 1170', and existential Themes, e.g., 'there will be an opportunity for lunch in Canterbury'.Their aim seems to be that of emphasising other possibilities apart from visiting a religious landmark (Stoian, 2015), making the visit more interesting.
Regarding the Thematic development in this text, the message does not unfold following any clear pattern, as indicated in Table 2.1.It rather stops at almost every sentence.This is due to the frequent use of new Themes, e.g., 'the crypt' and 'there will be'.They can be, though, retrieved from the previous clauses by pronouns without a clear referent, e.g., 'it', and by synecdoche, e.g., 'the tower'.Their effect can be double-edged, as they can either draw users' attention to that particular item in Theme position or confuse them.

The Tower of London
The Tower of London is part of the tour 'Majestic London' together with other famous London's landmarks -Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and St Paul's Cathedral.The text describes the Tower from a historical perspective and points out some of its attractions, such as the Crown Jewels.
The textual analysis (Table 2.2) shows an equal frequency of unmarked and marked Themes.In the case of unmarked Themes, the participants are placed in Theme position, e.g., 'The Beefeaters'.They provide objectivity to the message, objectivity counterbalanced by the subjectivity of markedness.The marked Themes, expressed by preposed attributives, 'Founded by William the Conqueror in 1066-7 and enlarged by successive sovereigns', and circumstances, 'Over the past 1000 years', seem to emphasize the Tower's history and antiquity.
Table 2.2 also shows the lack of multiple Themes and Thematic development.(Please note that T in italics indicates new Theme and double square brackets stand for embedded clauses).There are only simple and new Themes.This can indicate a message made up of a series of unconnected sentences in which the copywriter pays more attention to the focalization of information than to the flow of the message.

Edinburgh
The commercial website dedicates an entire tour to the city of Edinburgh, without combining the landmark with other landmarks.As such, the text is slightly longer than the other two analysed so far.It presents a trip by train to the royal city, which can be visited by taking an open-top sightseeing bus.Several attractions are mentioned, e.g., Edinburgh Castle.The Themes encountered in the text are mainly unmarked and simple.They are expressed by participants like 'the train' and 'you'.There is only one instance of marked Theme, which brings to the readers' attention the place where the open-top sightseeing bus can be taken, i.e., 'right by the station'.As for Thematic development, various patterns are present in equal proportions.The linear pattern is used to unfold the message cumulatively and provide information related to the bus, e.g., 'The hop-on hop-off ticket allows you the freedom […].You will see …'.The continuous pattern maintains the attention on the visitor and the train, e.g., 'You will see […].You might want to …'.Sometimes, new themes, e.g., 'Your tour includes …', are inserted to emphasize important information, such as the tickets included by the tour indicated in the example.The Thematic structure of the Edinburgh text is presented in Table 2.3.(Please note that T in italics indicates new Theme and pointed dashes are used to signal an unclear, but possible Thematic development).The British texts are rather short and seem to provide an informative and objective message.The Themes are usually unmarked and present the attractions offered by the landmarks promoted.Objectivity is, however, balanced sometimes by the use of enhanced and new Themes.These draw readers' attention to particular attractions.Regarding the Thematic pattern, the texts do not seem to contain a clear Thematic progression.The text on the city of Edinburgh is an exception, thus being continuously centred on the client.Different pieces of information disrupt the flow of the message, which can become, at some point, incohesive and difficult to follow.

Romanian set of texts
The texts included in the Romanian set present the following landmarks: the Monastery of Horezu, the Dacian Fortresses of the Orastie Mountains and Sighisoara.All of them are included in the same tour, 'Grand tour Romania-Unesco tour', which visits the Romanian landmarks that hold the UNESCO designation.

The Monastery of Horezu
The Monastery of Horezu appears in the description dedicated to the second day of the tour as an alternative to another landmark, the Church of Saint Nicholas.The text is included in brackets and presents briefly several characteristics of the Monastery.It is very short and contains only one conjoinable clause unit, i.e., one theme.
The only Theme, 'Alternatively you', is unmarked and multiple, as indicated in Table 2.5 (Please note that the underlined words indicate textual Theme).The textual theme expressed by the conjunctive adjunct 'alternatively' highlights the idea of alternative and choice mentioned earlier.Placing the Monastery secondary to other landmark can reduce its importance.As for Thematic progression, there is none, because the text has only one conjoinable clause unit (Table 2.5).The readers' action is focalized in the main clause, while information on the Monastery is added as notes in the dependent clauses.The unfolding of the message seems, thus, unimportant.

The Dacian Fortresses of the Orastie Mountains
The Dacian Fortresses of the Orastie Mountains are presented in the description of the third day of the Tour.Like the Monastery, they are an alternative to the Castle of Hunedoara.The text presents the fortresses' past and their UNESCO recognition.The Themes encountered in the text and shown in Table 2.6 are unmarked and mainly expressed by participants, e.g., 'The six fortresses form the defensive system of Decebalus'.The frequent presence of multiple Themes, expressed by textual Themes like 'and', provide a cohesive link to the previous messages.Regarding the Thematic development in the text, the message unfolds following two patterns.The Dacian fortresses are picked up from Rheme, showing a linear pattern, and carried on as Theme, by continuous progression ('you can visit the six Dacian fortresses […].The six fortresses form […] and [the six fortresses] were …').The textual analysis of the text is presented in Table 2.6.(Please note that the underlined words indicate textual Theme and the square brackets in italics signal an elided Subject).

Sighisoara
The city of Sighisoara is part of the seventh day of the 'Grand tour Romania-Unesco tour'.Unlike the previous two Romanian landmarks, the city is part of the basic tour, and not an alternative.The text presents several attractions of the city, e.g., Count Dracula.The attractiveness of the city is emphasized by practical information regarding food and accommodation, stimulating, thus, users' interest.
The text contains mainly unmarked and simple themes, which are usually expressed by participants, e.g., 'we'.Even if unmarked, some of the Themes are enhanced, e.g., 'there are several …', or are expressed by a heavy Subject, e.g., 'Dinner in the house where Count Vlad was born/or an intimate restaurant medieval style and accommodation in Sighisoara in the citadel'.Their aim seems to be drawing users' attention to those particular elements, i.e., the existence of several defensive towers surrounding the city or the possibility to have dinner and accommodation in Sighisoara.The only instance of markedness places the Adjunct 'here' in Theme position ('Here was also born Vlad the Impaler') as if to emphasise that Sighisoara is where Vlad the Impaler was born.
The Themes do not succeed each other in any Thematic pattern of progression (Table 2.7 -Please note that T in italics indicates a new theme and double square brackets stand for embedded clauses).The text starts by a linear pattern, which introduces the city, but is continued by a new Theme, e.g., 'there are', which can make the message unclear and thus, confuse readers.The message presented by the short Romanian texts appears objective because of the dominance of unmarked Themes.This is sometimes mitigated by the conjunctive adjuncts, which present another voice, that of choice.The lack of any Thematic progression can indicate an unclear or unorganised message, with a split focus between the visitor/tour and the landmark.

Summary of the results
Table 2.9 summarises the results found in the two sets of texts.The Theme-Rheme analysis of the two sets of texts has indicated certain similarities.Both of them prefer unmarked Themes to present the landmarks and their attractions.These are often not organized in any clear Thematic pattern.
The same analysis has also shown differences in the Theme system of the two sets.The texts dedicated to the British World Heritage Sites combine objectivity with subjectivity in choosing their Themes and Thematic development.The objectivity signalled by the unmarked Themes is often counterbalanced by marked, enhanced and new Themes.The copywriter is the one that chooses which information is more conspicuous and foregrounded.The British message is less compact and cohesive due to its exclusive use of simple Themes and lack of any expressed textual link.In the British set, it seems that the flow of the message is secondary to drawing attention, as it is disrupted frequently by different pieces of information.As for the Romanian set, this is more objective than the British one; there is only one instance of marked Theme.Its message is divided clearly between the visitor/tour and the landmark, each being presented separately.The description of the landmark is subordinated to that of the tour, since it is almost always placed in dependent clauses.The preference for multiple Themes, expressed by textual elements, indicates a connected message.The flow of the message does not seem important, as it has usually no Thematic progression.This lack is not totally unexpected considering the low number of independent conjoinable clause units.

Conclusion
To conclude, this paper has presented a small-scale study of the Theme-Rheme analysis of two sets of commercial tourist websites belonging to different countries -Great Britain and Romania.The focus has been on three texts, for each set, presenting national World Heritage Sites internationally online.The texts have been first analysed and then compared.Their Theme and Thematic structure have been observed from a systemic functional perspective, following Haliday's model of textual analysis (1985, 1994;Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004) and Daneš' classification of Thematic patterns (1974).The results have shown both similarities and differences between the corpora analysed.Both sets have a preference for unmarked Themes and lack Thematic progression.The British set prefers unmarked Themes, but uses frequently also marked ones.It becomes subjective while drawing attention to certain information by means of marked, enhanced and new Themes.The organization and flow of the message seem secondary to catching users' attention.In the case of the Romanian set, markedness is barely used.The texts present information, linking messages to previous chunks, in an objective manner.The results can be explained by the influence of the context of communication (promotional tourism) and the medium of communication (Internet), which both have an impact on language.
In the end, we would like to stress that Thematic organization can play an important role in the composition of a message as a whole.Our study has shown that different Thematic choices can lead to different messages, some more informative, coherent, cohesive and structured than others.Such details can contribute to the overall decisions related to text production, since the Thematic organization and structure of a text can influence promotion and its perception by users.

Table 2 . 2 :
The Tower of London: Theme and Thematic structure

4 Theme and Thematic structure in the British set
Table2.4 summarizes the Theme and Thematic structure found in the three texts of the British set.

Table 2 . 4 :
Theme and Thematic structure in the British set

Table 2 . 6 :
The Dacian Fortresses of the Orastie Mountains: Theme and Thematic structure

.2.4 Theme and Thematic structure in the Romanian set The
Romanian texts display certain similarities (Table2.8)as far as their Theme and Thematic structure are concerned.

Table 2 . 8 :
Theme and Thematic structure in the Romanian set