The fifth edition of this landmark reference continues the tradition of offering the highest quality research and representing the best scholarship in the field. The selected pieces, 70 per cent of which are new to this edition, will help educators develop an understanding of reading and literacy research and the ability to apply that understanding in generating new research and informing instructional decision making. The volume is organized into the following sections: Perspectives on Literacy Research and Its Application: Viewing the Past, Envisioning the Future; Processes of Reading and Literacy; Models of Reading and Writing Processes; Literacy's New Horizons: An Emerging Agenda for Tomorrow's Research and Practice. Although pieces from past editions of Theoretical Models and Processes of Reading have been retained, the editors highlight more recent works that reflect new findings and promising directions in the field. Section One contextualizes the fifth edition in today's rapidly changing literacy scene. Section Two emphasizes the role that sociocognition and literacy development play in reading processes, provides a catalog of key factors influencing the acquisition and mastery of reading processes, and explores the role of teaching and tutoring in literacy development. Section Three presents models that represent markedly different reading and writing theories. Section Four focuses on literacy's future potential to develop insights into reading processes, instruction, technology, and educational policy. Questions for Reflection accompany each section to assist readers in transforming their current knowledge base through discussion and deeper thinking about theory, research, and instruction. Plus, a supplementary CD includes a number of other classic and recent research pieces to enrich readers' understanding of the selections in this updated volume.
Here are the texts of the experts, rich with questions for researchers and an important resource for professors and their students. They tell us where the reading field has been, is now, and might be going. The earlier editions of "Theoretical Models and Processes of Reading" are known to many of us and readers of this edition will be eager to see what is new and to ponder the criteria for selection of what is old.
The collection testifies to the existence of diverse approaches to reading, encourages productive discussion, and expands the knowledge base from which we all work. The editors balance new ideas with classic articles that remind us not to reinvent the wheel through ignorance f ideas that have stood the test of time, and they present this comprehensive and diverse material in an open and nondirective format.
I find it hard to set aside my usual role of integrating the best of what I read into a new synthesis, but, following the lead of the excellent editors, I will resist the temptation to predict new directions. It is for each reader to discover these for him-- or herself-- one of the rewards of being a reader. Marie M. Clay (from the foreword)
