Offers a tentative definition of reading comprehension, based on contemporary work in psycholinguistics and cognitive psychology; invites response and criticism. (MKM)

Outlines seven basic concepts regarding teachers' understanding of the comprehension process and proposes several instructional strategies based on the concepts, each of which actively involves children in reading. (FL)

Emphasizes the need for teachers to perceive the process of reading as a process of predictions so that teaching techniques emphasizing reading comprehension will be used. (MKM)

Reports on a study to examine the way college students in a reading methods course learned about and demonstrated the strategies they use to construct the main idea of an essay. Concludes that teacher modeling and concrete examples are important to all levels of instruction, kindergarten through university senior. (RS)

Suggests that critical reading and reading comprehension be taught separately at first to insure that students learn both to understand and to evaluate pieces of writing. (MKM)

States that beginning reading instruction must not be perceived as an either/or phenomenon, as either strong adherence to the code devoid of meaning, or the reverse. Teachers should teach the code and meaning at the same time. (MKM)

Proposes a teaching viewpoint on comprehension which removes some of the abstraction; the final product is a teaching sequence for comprehension skills that is parallel in form to the teaching sequences commonly used for word recognition. (JM)

Reviews work in the connection between imagery and reading that has taken place recently in order to discover productive classroom practices aid reading comprehension. (FL)

Shows how older, largely context-free models of reading and its instruction became changed into a multidimensional, context-dependent orientation toward written language and the reading process and concludes with suggestions for using a variety of contextual strategies to increase reading comprehension. (HOD)

Examines the processing order between the comprehension of a text and the use of comprehended ideas for such thinking tasks as comparing, evaluating, and problem solving. Finds that readers with limited background knowledge read in a more linear fashion than those with extensive background, who read in a parallel manner. (RS)

Notes that readers do not depend solely on the visual aspects of reading, but also make use of nonvisual understanding in decoding print. Among the nonvisual components of reading discussed are desiring knowledge, understanding the nature and purpose of reading, reading for meaning, and predicting an author's message. (MKM)

Extends a previous study examining the relationship between reading comprehension and thinking skills by using an "on-line" reporting procedure in which undergraduate subjects reported on their reading during the process of reading. Reports that the extent of a reader's background knowledge affects the order of processing as well as the kinds of…

Lists four characteristics of strategic readers: establishing goals, selecting appropriate strategies, monitoring comprehension, and displaying a positive attitude toward reading. Discusses how these characteristics provide readers with the necessary skills to profit fully from the reading process. (MG)

Examines the influence of first-language reading-models on second-language reading-theory and research. Recommends a sharing and transfer of knowledge between related disciplines, such as first- and second-language reading, to increase understanding of the reading process, regardless of the target language. (PA)