148 Linguistik Terapan 19 (3) (2022): 148-160 Jurnal Linguistik Terapan Pascasarjana Available online http://jurnal.unimed.ac.id/2022/index.php/JLT-Unimed THEME AND RHEME ANALYSIS IN THE STUDENTS’ WRITING DESCRIPTIVE TEXT AT A JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL Carolus Novanda Hulando Duha Johannes Jefria Gultom English Education Study Program Faculty of Language and Arts-Universitas Negeri Medan Submitted September; Accepted October; Published December ABSTRACT The aims of this study were to describe types of themes and thematic progression patterns found in students’ descriptive texts. This study was conducted by using descriptive qualitative design. The data were collected by using documentation and interview t echnique. The data were in the form of clauses from students’ descriptive texts at SMPN 1 Delitua. In this study, it was found that there were 267 clauses and 145 types of thematic progression patterns of 20 students’ descriptive texts. The first finding of this study indicate that Unmarked Simple Theme (UST) held the highest frequency of occurrence at 78%, followed by Unmarked Multiple Theme (UMT) at 11.5%, Marked Multiple Theme (MMT) at 7.5%, and Marked Simple Theme at 3%. The second finding of this study indicate that Constant Theme Progression (CTP) held the highest frequency of occurrence at 62.08%, followed by Simple Linear Progression (SLP) at 28.27%, Split Rheme Progression (SRP) at 6.9%, and Derived Hyper-Theme Progression (DTHP) at 2.75%. Keywords: Theme and Rheme, Thematic Progression, Descriptive Text How to Cite: Duha, Carolus Novanda Hulando. (2022). Theme and Rheme Analysis in the Students’ Writing Descriptive Text at a Junior High School. Jurnal Linguistik Terapan Pascasarjana Unimed, 19 (3): 148-160. ISSN: 2407-7410 INTRODUCTION Discourse is defined in numerous ways, but one way to think of it is as any piece of prolonged language, written or spoken, that has unity, meaning, and purpose. Saragih and Saragih (2021) defined discourse as a meaning that is realized in the text. In English Language Teaching, discourse analysis becomes fundamental tool to interpret the use of language in different contexts. The analysis can be based on Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). SFL,