Centering : a framework for modeling the local coherence of discourse

Initial development of a theory relating focus of attention, choice of referring expression, & perceived coherence of utterances within a discourse segment is reviewed. A brief history of original & reactive work on centering is given, with mention of previous work by Grosz (1981) & Josh...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Computational linguistics - Association for Computational Linguistics 1995-06, Vol.21 (2), p.203-225
Main Authors: GROSZ, B. J, WEINSTEIN, S, JOSHI, A. K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied linguistics
Computational linguistics
Linguistics
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Summary:Initial development of a theory relating focus of attention, choice of referring expression, & perceived coherence of utterances within a discourse segment is reviewed. A brief history of original & reactive work on centering is given, with mention of previous work by Grosz (1981) & Joshi & Weinstein (1981). Discussed are phenomena to be explained, basic center definitions, claims of centering theory, factors governing centering, constraints on center movement & realization, applications of the rules, & requisite properties of underlying semantic theory. A framework & initial theory of centering, which intends to model the local component of attentional state, is presented. Interactions between choice of referring expressions & local coherence is examined. It is argued that differences in coherence will correspond partially to inference demands made by types of referring expressions within a particular attentional state. Attentional state properties modeled by centering are demonstrated as being able to account for these differences. 53 References. Adapted from the source document
ISSN:0891-2017
1530-9312