On Optimization in Discourse Generation
Jason Mattausch

Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to investigate generative strategies for 
maximizing coherence in discourse.  We will outline a description of a 
generative procedure for anaphoric substitution using the Optimality Theory 
framework of Prince and Smolensky [P&S93] that is loosely based on earlier 
attempts by Hendriks and de Hoop [H&H00] and, in particular, Beaver 
[Beaver00] to apply that framework to anaphora resolution and generation, 
paying particular attention to recent proposals by Blutner et al. related to 
bidirectionality and the interdependence of linguistic interpretation and 
production.  We will argue that the notion of bidirectionality ought to be 
modified to reflect an asymmetry in that interdependence as opposed to the 
symmetric, mutual reliance defended or assumed in contemporary definitions 
thereof.  Using the same constraint-based framework, and exploiting the 
notion of discourse relations expounded in Asher [Asher93] and Asher and 
Lascarides [A&L93b] et al., as well as the linguistic and non-linguistic 
knowledge bases that are assumed to underlie a hearer's determination of 
those relations, we extend the account to a description of restrictions on 
textual order, basic syntactic operations such as conjunction and 
relativization, and the distributional behavior of tense constructions that 
will, again, depend heavily on insights related to the interface of 
interpretational and generative constraints and to our own claims about 
interpretational precedence.  Finally, we return briefly to the subject of 
anaphora and, armed with the aforementioned insights regarding the utility of 
non-linguistic information in interpretation, give an account of some cases 
that are recalcitrant for our original, syntactic account.