Compares three theories of coherence relations that differ in formality, broadness of coverage, and linguistic detail. Applies them to the concrete task of text analysis. Organizes the information according to principles of linguistic "stratification,""metafunction," and "paradigmatic/syntagmatic axiality," providing a three-way classification…

Proposes a taxonomy that classifies coherence relations in discourse in terms of four cognitively salient primitives, such as the polarity of the relationship and the pragmatic or semantic character of the link between the units. Finds experimental support for the relevance and psychological salience of the taxonomic primitives. (SR)

Analyzes three Dutch connectives. Argues that the crucial distinction between the pragmatic nature of causal and contrastive connectives should be made on an underlying level, the so-called Basic Scheme, and its relationship to the surface utterance. Establishes a relation between semantic and pragmatic use of a connective, and the ideational and…

Presents a text-linguistic definition of the difference between semantic and pragmatic relations. Shows that the type of context (descriptive, argumentative) appeared not to influence language users' interpretation of clear cases, whereas their judgments of ambiguous relations were influenced by the type of context. Finds informative texts are…

Readers' ability to identify and accept relational propositions (RPs) in a text may influence their judgments of text coherence. Types of text comprehension were defined in two ways: (1) according to whether an RP was immediately identifiable, identifiable after further reading, or not identifiable; and (2) according to whether the proposition was…

Outlines an attempt to use artificial intelligence formalisms as a formal language of description for the complex conversational behavior that occurs in ethnographic interviews. Discusses three kinds of coherence and uses them to analyze the text of an interview. (FL)

Discusses three experiments conducted to determine whether inferences that function so as to preserve the coherence of a passage are drawn in the course of comprehension. (Author/FL)

Analyzes different strategies used by speakers/writers and hearers/readers to deal with underspecified coherence relations, phrased in terms of Horn's (1984) Q- and R- principle. Presents data from the psycholinguistic literature on the interpretation of underspecified relations and data from language-acquisition research suggesting that both…

Analysis of two Harold Pinter plays, "The Birthday Party" and "The Dumb Waiter," illustrates the complementarity of cohesion and coherence in discourse analysis. Coherence is defined as the structure of verbal interaction on a higher level than grammar. Cohesion is defined as the resources of a language that generates…

Examines the strategic coordination of local and global textual resources in conversations of dyads with three different patterns of interaction involvement. Finds the dyads seemed to rely on integrated discourse strategies leading to the use of unified configurations of discourse resources. (MS)

Explains rhetorical structure theory's conception of relations and why it has appeal in the domain of text generation. Outlines problems resulting from the widespread adoption of the relational concept. Surveys suggestions about how a standard set of relations could be motivated. Presents a new methodology consisting of gathering and classifying a…

Presents various theories that define the structure of the narrative as a combination of sequences, and as tending to impose order on the universe. (AM)

Investigates the relevance of a Gricean model for accounting for coherent discourse in courts of law. Identifies 19 rules of discourse congruent with Grice's Cooperative Principle in transcripts of eight trials. However, finds courts must coerce participants to be cooperative. Concludes that Grice's theory does not account adequately for coherent…

Short-term stability of cohesion scores for spoken narratives of 39 language-impaired and 39 normally developing elementary-aged children was investigated. Mean cohesive adequacy scores were stable across narratives, but stability coefficients were only moderately large. Results also indicated that stability increases as children gained experience…

An explanatory linguistic theory attempts to capture and explain the universal nature of human language, to choose among possible grammars of each human language, and to account for the linguistic constraints involved in language acquisition. Discourse theory, like linguistic theory, must be mentalistic in that it seeks to account for mental…