Look back at text or rely on memory? Efficacy of reading comprehension strategies in good and poor oral comprehenders

Background: Reading comprehension is a multifactorial process, but one of its features has been relatively under-investigated: it is the strategy used when answering reading comprehension questions. In order to find the correct answer, children can either respond to questions about a text relying on their text memory or look back at the written text. This study analyses (i) which strategy, memory or look-back is more frequently adopted in primary school children according to grade level and type of text (expository vs narrative) and (ii) the preferred (most frequently used) and more efficient (higher number of correct responses) strategy for poor oral comprehenders. Poor oral comprehenders were selected for having adequate nonword decoding skills but impaired oral comprehension, compared with good oral comprehenders. Methods: The total sample comprised 1,417 primary school children. A standardised test assessing reading and comprehension of oral and written language was administered. Results: In the comparison among children attending different grades, older children showed a more frequent use of the look-back strategy for the expository text, whereas no age-related difference emerged for the narrative text. Poor oral comprehenders (n = 88) showed a different pattern, compared with matched good oral comprehenders (n = 88), for both preference and efficiency of strategies. Despite having a globally poorer performance in reading comprehension, poor oral comprehenders were more accurate than good oral comprehenders when using the look-back strategy. Conclusions: The complex pattern of results obtained reinforces the idea that intervention strategies should be personalised based on individual characteristics and specific for the type of task and text

Marking out the pitch: a historiography and taxonomy of football fiction

Football, or soccer as it is more commonly referred to in Australia and the US, is arguably the world’s most popular sport. It generates a proportionate volume of related writing. Within this landscape, works of novel-length fiction are seemingly rare. This paper establishes and maps a substantial body of football fiction works, explores elements and qualities exhibited individually and collectively. In bringing together current, limited surveys of the field, it presents the first rigorous definition of football fiction and captures the first historiography of the corpus. Drawing on distant reading methods developed in conjunction with closer textual analyses, the historiography and subsequent taxonomy represent the first articulation of relationships across the body of work, identify growth areas and establish a number of movements and trends. In advancing the understanding of football fiction as a collective body, the paper lays foundations for further research and consideration of the works in generic terms

Treatment of peripheral neuropathies.

There are three general approaches to treatment of peripheral neuropathy. First, an attempt should be made to reverse the pathophysiological process if its nature can be elucidated. Second, nerve metabolism can be stimulated and regeneration encouraged. Third, even if the neuropathy itself cannot be improved, symptomatic therapy can be employed. This review outlines the options available for each approach