A Model of Revision in Natural Language Generation

We outline a model of generation with revision, focusing on improving textual coherence. We argue that high quality text is more easily produced by iteratively revising and regenerating, as people do, rather than by using an architecturally more complex single pass generator. As a general area of study, the revision process presents interesting problems: Recognition of flaws in text requires a descriptive theory of what constitutes well written prose and a parser which can build a representation in those terms. Improving text requires associating flaws with strategies for improvement. The strategies, in turn, need to know what adjustments to the decisions made during the initial generation will produce appropriate modifications to the text. We compare our treatment of revision with those of Mann and Moore (1981), Gabriel (1984), and Mann (1983).