In this essay, the author addresses the current status of emergent literacy research. First, she sets the stage by briefly exploring the important questions and continuing contributions of the emergent literacy perspective. Next, she examines some inherent theoretical tensions--especially how emergent literacy's research questions have bounded and…

Ken Goodman and Frank Smith met for the first time in 1970, though they had each been studying and writing, separately, about the reading process for several years prior to that. They commemorated the occasion by collaborating on an article, On the Psycholinguistic Method of Teaching Reading which appeared soon after in The Elementary School…

The author calls into question whether learning to read and write is an exclusively logical and systematic process in which the child moves step-by-step from part to whole, as it is frequently presented in "scientific" reading research. She examines research on different types of intuitive behavior and suggests parallels in the development of…

Discusses the need for new directions for research in children's literature, as pointed out by F. Andre Favat's "Child and Tale: The Origins of Interest." (DD)

Offers a fanciful dialog between Socrates and his followers to present findings about spelling development. Discusses the work of two scholars (Frank Smith and Steven Krashen); then discusses various hypotheses. Concludes that effective spellers get to be that way because they read as if they were writers; and a strong relationship exists between…

Discusses a longitudinal study of the reading readiness of 100 children entering school, and provides a reading readiness checklist. (DD)

Presents a study whose results show that the writing of children contains features of their reading texts. (JL)

Examines six adolescent girls' talk around a young adult novel ("The Beggar's Ride" by T. Nelson). Reveals unexpected reading purposes: adolescent girls' reading for the combined purposes of agency and desire, exploring the fears and potentialities of being female and of the possibilities of autonomy. (SR)

Many of the award winning Newbery books have a readability level at the upper elementary grades. (JH)

Describes a study which found that children generate literature categories like those selected by adult experts. (DD)

Reviews trends in the types of research submitted to receive the National Council of Teachers of English Promising Researcher Award. (DD)

Investigates the syntactic complexity and vocabulary diversity of books recommended by authorities to be read aloud to children and of "grocery store" books. (DD)

Describes a research study of literacy use in low-income homes and the ways in which the research team addresses issues of culture, class, and social dynamics of family and communities. Shares some tentative findings to raise further issues. Suggests that researchers and practitioners maintain a reflective stance on the subject of family literacy.…

Draws from 15 documents indexed in the ERIC system in order to demonstrate ways to build positive attitudes toward classroom reading tasks. (DD)