Importing mental patterns of coherence as a comprehension strategy: a case study of errors in reference assignment
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36505/ExLing-2010/03/0003/000123Keywords:
Coherence, comprehension, topic construction, adjacency, relevanceAbstract
This paper addresses the interface between structural coherence, which builds on the formal and conceptual conventions of discourse, and cognitive coherence, which develops around the internal and external aspects of communication (Pasquier and Chaib-draa 2005). More specifically, the focus is on the cognitive coherence strategies set forth by discourse receivers when they encounter comprehension problems, especially those caused by non-standard uses in structural coherence. Drawing from studies on coherence and comprehension (Giora 1997; Wilson and Matsui 2000; Hobbs 2004), the paper discusses a case study which shows how error in reference assignment may encourage readers to import mental patterns of coherence, external to the discourse, as a repair strategy, thus prioritizing structural adjacency and their search for relevance over comprehension.
References
Giora, R. 1997. Discourse coherence and theory of relevance: Stumbling blocks in search of a unified theory. Journal of Pragmatics 27, 17-34.
Hobbs, J.R. 2004. Abduction in Natural Language Understanding. In Horn, L., Ward, G. (eds.), Handbook of Pragmatics. Oxford: Blackwell.
Holmes, M.S. Literature Annotations. The Man Without a Temperament. http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Annotation?action=view&annid=1408. 27 April 2010.
Mansfield, K. 1981. The Man Without a Temperament. In The Collected Stories of Katherine Mansfield. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. 129-143.
Pasquier, P., B. Chaib-draa. 2005. Agent Communication Pragmatics: The Cognitive Coherence Approach. Cognitive Systems Research, Volume 6, No 4: 364-395.
Wilson, D., Matsui, T. 2000. Recent Approaches to Bridging: Truth, Coherence, Relevance. Lengua, Discurso, Texto. Bustos Tovar, J.J. et al. (ed.) Madrid: Visor Libros. 103-31.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2010 Pilar Alonso (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
