Discusses the part reading and writing play in the whole language approach. Offers 11 recommendations to help teachers provide a functional approach to language development. (MG)

Critique on two overstatements about literacy: the illiteracy problem is much worse than many people think and is getting worse; and literacy development is both the cause and the solution to many social problems and will lead to economic development. Explores issues in literacy education such as skills versus processes, standardized testing,…

Offers a plan for changing the perception among teenagers that reading for pleasure is an activity of their childhood past. Suggests an elective Reading Workshop that allows students to share favorite books and authors, to read aloud and listen to others read aloud, and to discuss their reading processes and decisions. (PRA)

States that previous research shows links between children's reading comprehension and various writing skills but little is known about reading-writing relationships in adult students. Investigates such relationships in health-care workers attending an adult literacy program. Finds that writing of poorer readers showed significantly lower level of…

Discusses why print library collections are still important and will not be replaced by digital forms of information. Topics include technological improvement; reading from digital devices; universal conversion of library materials from print to digital form; digital communications; publishers and rights; data, information, and knowledge; and…

Notes "register" refers to the variety of language that is appropriate for a particular situational context. Examines young children's development of register switching expertise as they become independent readers through the intervention of a Reading Recovery program. Suggests that developing expertise in register switching may compose…

Examines 31 book club discussion guides prepared by major book publishers for book club readers to explore which particular ways of reading and discussing books they might sanction. Finds that they steer readers toward a rather narrow collection of academic reading practices (analytic and text-based) and away from other types of responses. (SR)

Argues that the way teachers and students transact with a piece of literature needs to change if teachers are to change the way students read and see themselves as readers. Suggests teachers need to support a variety of responses and avoid the tendency to reduce discussion to a search for a single main idea. Includes a brief response by Susan…

Defines "electronic books," and shares examples of prior research on the use of such environments to improve the reading fluency and comprehension of students with reading difficulties. Presents a taxonomy of the types of supportive resources that have emerged from efforts to design and research the use of electronic books, and presents…

Four experiments tested the self-teaching hypothesis of word learning. Findings indicated that: (1) minimizing phonological processing significantly attenuated orthographic learning; (2) reduced orthographic learning was not attributable to alternative factors; and (3) contribution of pure visual exposure to orthographic learning is marginal. It…

Examines the differences in the reported use of reading strategies of native and non-native English speakers when reading academic materials. Participants were native English speaking and English-as-a-Second-Language college students who completed a survey of reading strategies aimed at discerning the strategies readers report using when coping…

The typical college student is unable to deeply comprehend what he or she reads. Most students have few, if any, intellectual tools that would enable them to read deeply, and then apply what they have read. The "Critical Thinking and the Art of Close Reading" series (which includes this column and the past three columns) focuses on some of the…

French and Dutch differ regarding the manifestations and lexical functions of the stress pattern of words. The present study examined group differences in stress processing abilities between French-native and Dutch-native listeners, thus extending previous cross-linguistic comparisons involving Spanish-native and French-native adults. The results…

This article compares the development of print and braille reading in children who are blind and sighted in relation to Chall's stage model of reading development. Chall's model includes a prereading period, in which concepts are developed; middle stages, in which skills that are necessary for decoding text are developed; and later stages, which…

This study examines how measures of articulation rate, verbal short-term memory (STM), naming speed, and phonological awareness tasks administered in kindergarten and again in Grade 1 jointly and uniquely predict word reading and passage comprehension variance in Grades 1, 2, and 3. Results from regression and commonality analyses indicated that…