Presents study designed to investigate effects of statements designed to activate scripts on measures of unfamiliar vocabulary with American college students reading in French and in English. Study revealed importance of preparing readers for what they are about to read. Teachers should keep background and present knowledge of students in mind…

Offers an annotated list of books recommended for young readers (ages six to eight), intermediate readers (ages nine to twelve), and older readers (ages twelve through young adult). (HOD)

Examines the variables experienced teachers of deaf children use to make decisions about the difficulty of a text for use by their students and how effective teacher judgment actually is in determining text difficulty. (EKN)

Argues that reading is a useful tool in successful living as well as a pleasure in itself and discusses the importance of making books accessible to children and teaching them how to select appropriate reading materials. (CHC)

Criteria to serve as a basis for intelligent review and selection of books and materials for use in schools include: the nature of the learner; program gestalt; "teachability" of the material; determination of in-school use; content appropriateness; disposition of teacher, student, and parent; availability; physical format; cost; and…

Offers general guidelines by which English teachers can guarantee the students' right to read and protect their right not to read literature that offends them. (RL)

A survey of the course content, reading lists, assignments, and grading procedures used in 63 adolescent literature courses across the country. (RL)

Products evaluated in this column are two readiness kits: Readiness Steps (Houghton Mifflin) and Experiences in Reading Readiness (Milton Bradley) plus three text series for the full elementary grade span: Pathfinders (Allyn and Bacon); American Book Reading Program (American Book Company); and Young America Basic Series (Rand McNally). (SJL)

Problems faced by classroom teachers in selecting and using reading materials with reading-disabled students are discussed. Teachers of disabled readers need the cooperative support of teacher-educators, publishers, and school administrators in selecting the most appropriate materials. (JN)

Contains criteria for recommending adolescent science fiction and fantasy literature and an annotated list of such reading materials. (RL)

Reviews ERIC documents concerned with the use of comic books in the classroom. (FL)

The courts, while acknowledging in theory that public schools should provide students with a wide range of reading materials, are ruling against this in practice. The rationale in the latest court cases lies in determining the hierarchy of power, but the result comes dangerously close to legitimating censorship. (Author/RL)

Discusses problems and techniques in the teaching of literature in the context of the teaching of foreign language and culture. (AM)

Offers lists of goals and criteria and refers to various approaches to the teaching of area/culture studies. Concludes that such studies have only an ancillary function in FL teaching, where the primary goal is achieving ability to communicate. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Offers a progressive list of reading and popular culture selections that chronicles (interspersed with a personal narrative) the intellectual and social development of one culturally literate adult who is now a member of the academic community. (PA)