  Based on empirical evidence from a free word order language (German) we
propose a fundamental revision of the principles guiding the ordering of
discourse entities in the forward-looking centers within the centering model.
We claim that grammatical role criteria should be replaced by indicators of the
functional information structure of the utterances, i.e., the distinction
between context-bound and unbound discourse elements. This claim is backed up
by an empirical evaluation of functional centering.
