Sentential Effects on Discourse Processing

While there is an established literature on the effect of discourse and context on sentence processing, little is known about the effect of sentence on the text. The current study reviews recent developments in sentential variables’ effect on discourse processing. Four sentential variables were discussed: anaphoric referentiality, implicit causality, syntactic cues, and linguistic connectives and markers The study aim at presenting an integrative framework of how these variables set up and update the reader’s mental model of the text. Sentential variables build this mental model through connecting consequent sentences, avoid repeating the same referent, specifying the focus of the text, and keeping track of the temporal order of events and logical relations among them. In discussing each of these variables, basic aspects of the variable was presented and new developments in its linguistic analysis and related psycholinguistic evidence were reviewed. Controversial issues like time course of the effect of these variables, and problems of the relative weights assigned to them were mentioned also in order to locate points of possible interest for future research.