作者王大方以语篇的整体结构为基础，利用源自不同结构层面的回指制约因素和优选论的工作机制建构了一个侧重于篇章回指处理的优选理论模型。进而借助一个小型英文语料库对这一优选模型的解析效度进行实证性检验。《篇章回指的优选解析(基于语篇结构分析的理论探索)》的核心内容和创新之处主要体现为以下三点：第一，解决了如何对书面语篇的结构进行合理有效的描述，使其为回指研究提供向导和帮助的问题。第二，解答了源自不同结构层面的制约条件在回指解析的过程中分别发挥什么作用的问题。第三，利用优选理论的选择机制进行建立了一个侧重于篇章回指的解析模型。

《篇章回指的优选解析(基于语篇结构分析的理论探索)》简介：回指现象一直是语言研究中最为基本和重要的问题之一，同时也是哲学、人工智能、认知科学等很多相关领域内的热门话题。回指解析指的是为自然语篇中所出现的回指语(主要是第三人称代词)检索出它所指代的先行语的过程。随着信息科学和网络技术的发展，文本信息处理和机器翻译等应用性研究都对回指解析的精确度提出了更高的要求。本研究受中心优选理论的启发，以语篇的整体结构为基础，利用源自不同结构层面的回指制约因素构建了一个侧重于篇章回指处理的优选理论模型，并借助一定数量的英文语料验证了它在回指解析中的出色表现。希望王大方所著的《篇章回指的优选解析(基于语篇结构分析的理论探索)》可以为自然语言处理中更大规模的实证性研究提供必要的理论支持，从而为相关领域的研究者提供一些灵感和助力。

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

 1.1 Anaphora: The Central Notion

1.1.1 Defining Anaphora in Its Narrow Sense

1.1.2 Direct Anaphora vs.Indirect Anaphora

1.1.3 Anaphor-oriented Classification of Nominal Anaphora

1.1.4 Identity-of-reference Anaphora vs.Identity-of-sense Anaphora

1.1.5 Intrasentential Anaphora vs.Intersentential Anaphora

1.1.6 The Scope and Focus of This Study

 1.2 Central Theme and Basic Assumptions of This Study

 1.3 Research Methodology and Data Collection

 1.4 Organization of the Book

CHAPTER 2 A CRITICAL SURVEY OF RESEARCHES ON DISCOURSE ANAPHORA

 2.1 Linguistic Approaches to Anaphora Distribution in Discourse

2.1.1 The Textual Approach

2.1.2 The Pragmatic Approach

2.1.3 The Cognitive Approach

 2 2 Computational Approaches to Anaphora Resolution

2.2.1 The BFP Algorithm: A Knowledge-poor Model Based on Centering Theory

2.2.2 Veins Theory: A Knowledge-based Model Driven by Rhetorical Structure Theory

 2.3 Summary

2.3.1 Manner of Processing= Hierarchical vs.Linear

2.3.2 Angle of Approaching.Bidirectional vs.Unidirectional

2.3.3 Orientation of Modeling= Knowledge-based vs.Knowledge-poor

CHAPTER 3 AN ANAPHORA-ORIENTED DEPICTION OF DISCOURSE STRUCTURE

 3.1 Grosz and Sidner's Structural Theory: The Guiding Framework

 3.2 Decomposing Discourse: The Foundation Stage

 3.3 Portraying Intentional Structure with RST

3.3.1 RST: Portraying Discourse Structure with Rhetorical Relations

3.3.2 Synthesizing RST with Intentional Structure: Nuclearity vs.Dominance

3.3.3 Categorizing Rhetorical Relations in Terms of Anaphora Processing

 3.4 Modeling Attentional State with CT

 3.5 Summary

CHAPTER 4 REMODELING ATrENTIONAL STATE WITHIN INTENTIONAL STRUCTURE

 4.1 Specifying the Centering Update Unit: EDU and ARU

 4.2 Identifying Attentional Center: The Assessment of Salience Weight

4.2.1 Dynamic Loading of Information: Topic vs.Focus

4.2.2 The Formal Bias for Referential Prominence: Pronominalization

4.2.3 The Viewpoint Effect on Salience Denotation: Empathy

 4.3 Accounting for Centering Transition in Terms of Rhetorical Relations

4.3.1 Alignment Effect

4.3.2 Parallel Effect

4.3.3 Garden-Path Effect

 4.4 Modeling Attentional Accessibility within Rhetorical Scope

 4.5 Summary

CHAPTER 5 THE OPTIMIZATION OF DISCOURSE ANAPHORA IN THE LIGHT OF STRUCTURAL CONSTRAINTS

 5.1 Theoretical Foundation

5.1.1 Optimality Theory: Providing the Selection Procedure

5.1.2 Centering Optimality Theory: Reformulating CT within OT

 5 2 The Working Mechanism of GEN

5.2.1 Identifying Pleonastic Pronouns

5.2.2 Setting the Search Scope of Potential Antecedents

 5 3 The Working Mechanism of EVAL

 5 4 Empirical Evaluation of the Optimizing Model

5.4.1 Shallow Processing of the Test Corpus

5.4.2 Applying the Optimizing Model to Anaphora Interpretation

5.4.3 Error Analysis

 5.5 Summary

CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSIONS

 6.1 A summary of My Work

6.1.1 Defining the Notion Anaphora

6.1.2 A Critical Survey of Relevant Literature

6.1.3 Depicting Discourse Structure for Anaphora Processing

6.1.4 Polishing CT from Local to Global

6.1.5 Optimizing Discourse Anaphora

 6.2 Contributions of the Study

6.2.1 Proposing an Anapbora-oriented Structural Model

6.2.2 Remodeling CT with Better Treatment for Discourse Anaphora

6.2.3 Formulating an Ideal Resolution System with the Merits of OT

 6.3 Limitations of the Study

6.3.1 Inexplicit Representation of Knowledge Source and Contextual Information

6.3.2 Narrow-scale Data Base for a General Framework of Anaphora Processing

 6 4 Future Research Directions

6.4.1 Cross-linguistic Applicability

6.4.2 Bidirectional Optimization

6.4.3 Coherence Evaluation

 Bibliography

Appendix I Definitions of Rhetorical Relations

Appendix II Data Base

Acknowledgements