Coherence &
Discourse

Dr. Elias Vance
Dr. Elias Vance

Senior Researcher

39 min
Intermediate
AI Lesson Video
0:00 / 39 min

Learning Objectives

Define discourse coherence and its major components: reference chains, connectives, and topic continuity

Analyze Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST) and its practical applications in AI text generation

Evaluate LLM coherence failures systematically using formal discourse structure analysis

Apply coherence principles to design better long-form AI content generation workflows

How texts achieve coherence — and why LLMs sometimes produce fluent but ultimately incoherent extended text.

This lesson builds on the theoretical foundations established earlier in the module and extends your understanding of how cognitive-linguistic principles apply directly to modern AI systems.

Learning Objectives

Define discourse coherence and its major components: reference chains, connectives, and topic continuity

Analyze Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST) and its practical applications in AI text generation

Evaluate LLM coherence failures systematically using formal discourse structure analysis

Apply coherence principles to design better long-form AI content generation workflows

Key Concepts

1

Define discourse coherence and its major components: reference chains, connectives, and topic continuity

2

Analyze Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST) and its practical applications in AI text generation

3

Evaluate LLM coherence failures systematically using formal discourse structure analysis

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