The pragmatics of discourse planning

Abstract

It is argued that the basic notions of natural language pragmatics cannot be the same as those of syntax and semantics as developed so far. Instead, pragmatics must be an empirically oriented theory of action and interaction. The role of sentences and predications is secondary. The most promising approaches for such a pragmatics are: (1) conceptual dependency theory, in which language is a form of actions specified by goal-directed plans ( e.g. Schank); (2) plan theory, in which the analysis of tasks and resources leads to the specification of a planned sequence of steps ( e.g. Sacerdoti); (3) problem-solving theory, in which points or states in a problem space have to be connected by a successful pathway ( e.g. Newell and Simon); and (4) procedural theory of discourse, in which language elements and systems are investigated with respect to how people utilize them in communication and processing. The paper offers the framework of a natural language pragmatics along these lines and applies the resulting theory to a study of a scene from a stage play by Sidney Howard. It is shown that the actions and discourse actions of the scene are indeed generated by the characters' plans and goals.