ABSTRACT
This study deals with Theme in the oral discourse of native and non-native users of English. The assumption is that gaining awareness and knowledge about the thematic structure of native English may help learners/teachers in the process of learning/teaching English. It is hypothesised that (i) the thematic areas produced by natives and learners differ from each other, and (ii) the use of marked Themes is more frequent in the English discourse of Spanish learners. Findings confirm the existence of significant differences in the thematic areas, even though their degree of markedness is similar.
