Reference Identification and Reference Identification Failures

The goal of this work is the enrichment of human-machine interactions in a natural language environment. 1 Because a speaker and listener cannot be assured to have the same beliefs, contexts, perceptions, backgrounds, or goals at each point in a conversation, difficulties and mistakes arise when a listener interprets a speaker's utterance. These mistakes can lead to various kinds of misunderstandings between speaker and listener, including reference failures or failure to understand the speak-er's intention. We call these misunderstandings miscommunication. Such mistakes can slow, and possibly break down, communication. Our goal is to recognize and isolate such miscommunications and circumvent them. This paper highlights a particular class of miscommunication-reference problems-by describing a case study and techniques for avoiding failures of reference. We want to illustrate a framework less restrictive than earlier ones by allowing a speaker leeway in forming an utterance about a task and in determining the conversational vehicle to deliver it. The paper also promotes a new view for extensional reference.