What is 'exophoric reference' in discourse analysis?

Correct answer: Reference to an entity outside the text, needing shared situational context

Exophoric reference directs the listener's attention away from the text and out into the physical, immediate environment or broader cultural context (e.g., pointing and saying, 'Pass me that book over there'). Because the referent is not named anywhere in the text, it cannot be decoded without analyzing the immediate situational surroundings. It contrasts with endophoric references, which look inside the text.