Municative Layer: We Introduced the Notion of Communicative Schema to Model Domain-dependent 5. the Textual Component 4. the Rhetorical Component

intention-based communication heuristics and we argued for the need for making domain dependent information available throughout the planning process. 13 process, an explicit representation of domain dependent information. For example, consider the following text, taken from the GIST domain: Do you receive a widow's benefit? 2 no 2 yes enter your benefit number Here, \enter your beneet number" is a follow up instruction of having crossed the \yes" option. Usually, in our domain (pension forms), each request for information is put on a diierent (possible indented) line, apart from follow-up instructions which are always put aside the relevant check box. How can the automatic generator get the right text layout in a simple and eecient way? In principle we could use the RST structure, however there is no domain independent rhetorical relation that can express the relation between \yes" and \enter your beneet number". A sequence relation would be too generic, for our purposes. In our system we exploit the domain speciic information coded in the communication plan; the \enter your beneet number" instruction is included in a follow-up communication schema. This information is recorded in the communication plan and accessed from the module responsible for indentation to produce the expected layout. 6. CONCLUSION In the rst section of this paper we discussed the kind of knowledge resources needed for strategical text planning, argueing for a distinction between knowledge about how to communicate in a speciic domain and general communication knowledge. In the rest of the paper we presented the solutions adopted in the speciication and implementation of the text planning component of the GIST multilingual generation system. We presented a exible architecture for multilingual strategical planning. Our design is based on three structural layers: communicative, rhetorical, textual. Special emphasis has been put on the com-12 (esplvar::send-birth-certiicate / send :time e=r=s :polarity positive :clause-type imperative :politeness normal :distance none :continuity discrete :nominalisation propositional :actor (esplvar::reader / hearer :recoverability recoverable :politeness polite :emphasis non-emphasized :deixis none :number singular :identiiability identiiable) :actee (esplvar::reader-birth-certiicate / birth-certiicate :deixis none :emphasis non-emphasized :number singular :recoverability nonrecoverable :identiiability identiiable) :beneeciary (esplvar::inps / department :deixis none :emphasis non-emphasized :number singular :recoverability recoverable)) Figure 2: Sample ESPL output (e.g. politeness). The textual engine takes as input an enriched communication plan and maps it onto an Espl expression (Vander Linden, 1994). Figure 2 shows a sample ESPL formula corresponding to the sentence "Send us the birth certiicate". The choices …