Abstract:
devices address beliefs presumably entertained by the listener which may affect the acquisition of the IM, but, unlike the beliefs addressed by Instantiations and Descriptions, are not directly instrumental to its comprehension [Zukerman 1990b]. Our mechanism is based on ideas introduced in [Zukerrnan and Cheong 1988], and it follows the tenet that Peripheral RDs are generated to invalidate anticipated impairments to a listener's comprehension process. To this effect, our mechanism departs from the existing discourse genera-tion strategies, and adopts a predictive approach, whereby the effect of a message is simulated on a shal-low model of a listener's beliefs. If an impairment to the comprehension process is anticipated by this model, the generation of a remedial rhetorical device is called for.
