| This dissertation focuses on the role of interactional purpose and goal in judgments of coherence. Theoretically, this study is concerned with whether a functional global account of coherence is a better approach to coherence than a local structural, local functional, or global structural approach to coherence. More specifically, the hypotheses addressed are concerned with whether perceived conversational goal influences evaluations of coherence.;In this experiment, observers were asked to evaluate the coherence of brief dialogues containing topic shifts. Different observers received different extra-textual information about participant goals. From a text based view of coherence, judgments of topic shifts should not be affected by extra-textual information, while on a goals-based view, such judgments should vary with assumptions about interactional purpose. The experiment was designed to demonstrate the dependence of coherence judgments on assumptions about goal and purpose.;Results of this study do not support the hypotheses as presented but do indicate that there are extra-textual features of functional and global properties present in the situation that influence evaluations of coherence: Individual's expectations of the situational appropriateness of conversational topic appear to over-ride manipulations concerning goal orientation. |
