A Relevance-based Approach To Discourse Coherence

This thesis sets out to investigate discourse coherence in terms of relevance. The hypothesis underlying the present research is that coherence is constructed as a consequence of the discourse participants' common goal for optimal relevance in the dynamic process of communication.Coherence is a fundamental but controversial concept in discourse analysis. In the past three decades, linguists have explored coherence from different perspectives, arrived at different definitions, and constructed various theories about it. Previous studies, both semantic and pragmatic, have contributed greatly to our understanding of this issue. However, they all suffer from their weaknesses. The common problem with previous studies is that they have not paid enough attention to the cognitive feature of coherence constructing, which makes the present study necessary and worthwhile.This thesis maintains that coherence occurs in the mind of the discourse interpreter and is the establishment of a mental representation which consists of a connected set of ideas based on appropriately interpreted discourse, and both the speaker and the hearer contribute to the establishment of coherence. This thesis is an attempt to explore the process of constructing coherence from a cognitive-pragmatic perspective.