This commentary addresses the complexities of reading comprehension with an explicit focus on reading in the disciplines. The author proposes reading as entailing multi-dimensional demands of the reader and posing complex challenges for teachers. These challenges are intensified by restrictive conceptions of relevant prior knowledge and experience…

Argues that a loss in general literacy occurs as the potential for imagery decreases through lack of understanding of the root meanings of words. Argues that the rich stores of imagery that contribute to English vocabulary are denied to those ignorant of the linguistic contributions to the English language. (RS)

This brief article uses a weaving metaphor to address the relationship between braille and reading, with prior knowledge (the warp threads) interacting with reading content (the weft threads) by means of braille (the shuttle). Reading is seen to be an interactive process between reader, text, and the context of the reading situation. (DB)

Psycholinguistics, with its emphasis on language processes rather than products, is particularly compelling when applied to the search for underlying connections between reading and writing. One such connection is best stated in the following propositions about writing and learning to write: (1) at no time are the acts of reading and writing as…

In attempts to understand the process of literacy acquisition, many researchers have devised models of reading. The basic elements of most reading acquisition models include word, or print knowledge and comprehension. The inadequacy and global nature of the conversational model of language proficiency provide impetus for C.E. Snow's development of…

Summarizes good reading research published in journals during 1986, focusing on studies that deal with reading comprehension, prior learning, and word recognition. (SRT)

Considerable attention has been devoted in recent years to theories of text comprehension and recall that stress the importance of preexisting knowledge structures or schemata. While the valuable contribution such research has made to the understanding of the reading process and the various disabilities that often attend its acquisition must be…

The first of a series providing reviews, syntheses (empirical and rhetorical), and reports of reading research, the chapters in this volume treat the question, "What does a child have to know (or be able to do) in order to learn to read?" The book begins with an in-depth logical analysis in historical perspective of the concept of reading…

Claims that readers can conduct dialogue with many inner audiences through reading, and readers who manage to do so are likely to develop more sophisticated strategies for learning. Describes different kinds of dialogues, specifically, dialoging with reader's experience, with the author/illustrator, with genre, with problems, and with culture.…

Challenges the widely endorsed practice of activating relevant knowledge prior to reading. Outlines a perspectival (perspective-relative) view of reading and suggests that this view provides a means to make coherent sense of interpretations. Concludes that having specific knowledge is not the main desideratum in interpreting texts--the main…

In an effort to create a multilevel, interactive, and hypothesis-based model of the reading comprehension process that bridges interdisciplinary gaps in the theory of learning, this report focuses on descriptions of cognitive processes developed in the fields of cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence, sociolinguistics, linguistics, and…

Discusses two facets of the disparity between the way children learn and the way they are tested: the necessity of practice and the importance of prior knowledge. (FL)