Goodman's hypothesis, that the task of learning to read is made more difficult as the divergence between the dialect of the learner and that of the material increases, raises three questions considered by the author to be central to the dialect/reading issue. The first asks what influence dialect has on acquiring reading ability; the second asks what solutions have been suggested and explored; and the third asks what other solutions might there be which have not been attempted. The author discusses three basic alternatives which have been suggested: (1) to write initial reading materials in dialect, (2) to teach standard spoken dialect before teaching reading, and (3) to use standard materials but to accept nonstandard rendering of these materials. He then recommends as superior a fourth alternative, the language experience approach. Through such an approach, children would tell stories and the teacher would write them in dialect. This would insure that no divergence would exist between child language and materials. As facility is acquired in reading dialect materials, so would facility in reading standard materials be increased. References are included. (MS)