We are compiling a corpus of Dutch texts annotated with discourse structure and lexical cohesion, containing initially 80 texts from expository and persuasive genres. We are using this resource for corpus-based studies of discourse relations, discourse markers, cohesion, and genre differences. We are also exploring the possibilities of automatic text segmentation and semi-automatic discourse an...

We present a method of using cohesion to improve discourse element identification for sentences in student essays. New features for each sentence are derived by considering its relations to global and local cohesion, which are created by means of cohesive resources and subtopic coverage. In our experiments, we obtain significant improvements on identifying all discourse elements, especially of ...

Religious communities are important sources of bridging and bonding social capital, which, in turn, have varying implications for perceptions of social cohesion in rural areas. In particular, as well as cultivating cohesiveness more broadly, the bridging social capital associated within mainline religious communities may represent an especially important source of support for the social integra...

Coh-Metrix is a computer program that analyzes various text features relevant to text comprehension by incorporating techniques informed by theories of text processing, cognitive psychology, and computational linguistics. Three key classes of cohesion indices (i.e., coreference, conceptual relations, connectivity) measured by Coh-Metrix are evaluated with texts used in published studies of cohe...

We explore the effects of foreign aid on FDI in a large number of aid-recipient countries using data since the mid-1980s. We control for the various determinants of FDI and we specifically include the interplay of aid with social cohesion and the interplay of aid with human capital. The empirical results from dynamic GMM estimations indicate that the independent impact of aid on FDI is negative...

Social cohesion in schools refers to positive interpersonal relations between students, a sense of belonging all students and group solidarity. is multidimensional construct, educators policymakers researchers may focus on specific domains within this concept, guided by their personal conception social cohesion. With non-systematic review we provide examples how conceptualized measured various ...

Although previous research has shown that social cohesion may promote physical activity, social cohesion at the individual level was not always differentiated from social cohesion at the community level, and studies were often limited to specific population subgroups or geographical areas. We addressed the above limitations through the use of a multilevel modelling approach and nationally-repre...