When teachers work with students to construct a metalanguage that they can draw on to describe and analyze graphic novels, and then invite students to apply that metalanguage in the service of composing multimodal texts of their own, teachers broaden students' analytical frameworks. In the process of doing so, teachers empower students. In this…

Implementation of Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts across most of the United States has yielded the rapid creation of new, interconnected literacy assessments, curriculum guidelines, instructional materials, teacher preparation programs, teacher evaluation systems, and professional development. This essay explores two…

This response was constructed based on the author's experience as a language program coordinator and her expertise in second language (L2) reading development. Because "transcultural competence," as defined in the MLA Report (2007), shares much of its underlying capacities with "reading ability," in principle, reading instruction could play a…

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to respond to A. G. Kamhi's (2007) challenge to consider two points of view on reading--the broad and the narrow. Each point of view includes a component of the reading process; namely, comprehension and word recognition. Taken separately, each point of view is insufficient for our understanding of the…

Purpose: This commentary is a personal reaction to A. G. Kamhi's (2007) article on the "narrow view" of reading and his suggestion that this view be adopted as a way to address the reading problems of children and adolescents. Method: In this article, I consider the narrow view of reading from an adolescent literacy perspective and discuss the…

Although a growing body of research and practice in reading strategy instruction in secondary education has identified specific and successful methods for encouraging metacognitive awareness, there is little published research connecting these findings to post-secondary literacy education. Consequently, a gap remains in the conception, and…

Examines the various approaches to reading instruction, their merits and shortcomings, and advocates a blend of all approaches for literacy that is fulfilling rather than mechanical. (HTH)

Shows how subjective knowledge acquires authority. Applies this argument to the making of literary responses in classrooms, thereby allowing both research and pedagogy to emerge from the same procedures of reading. (RL)

Argues that the teaching of poetry teaches sequential comprehension, the process of reading and rereading a poem by making sense of connected images, metaphors, or conceits. Investigates the question of how poetry should be dealt with in the schools to make good use of its specialness. (TB)

Explores what might be established as professional knowledge about teaching reading--knowledge that even the most informed parents would not be expected to have but that teachers need to have. Classifies such knowledge under three headings: structure, support, and strategies. Concludes that reading is a complex process and requires complex…

Presents psycholinguistic views of second language reading which see reading comprehension as a result of an interaction among three factors: higher-level conceptual abilities, background knowledge, and process strategies. Discusses kinds of reading to teach and kinds of texts and materials to select for different proficiency levels and given…

Describes the organizational and linguistic skills that enable a reader, first, to interpret the statements in a text and their relationship to each other, and second, to judge the relative importance of these statements. Considers the interrelation between the two types of skills and how this applies to instructional strategies. (SED)

Describes research on reading achievements of children who have not begun formal reading instruction. Indicates that children employ meaning, decoding, and memory as principal strategies for an effective approach to reading instruction. (Author/MJL)

Describes the concept of phonemic awareness and offers suggestions to classroom teachers on how to enhance phonemic awareness in their students. (PRA)

Discusses potential dangers in the current move toward literature-based instruction across the curriculum. Calls for educators to help students understand that there are different stances one can take in reading a text and not to mislead them by treating literary works as if they were intended to be read "efferently." (MG)