The basic thesis of this book is that reading is not a passive process by which people soak up words and information from pages, but an active process by which they predict, sample, and confirm or correct hypotheses about written text. Part One of the book examines the reading process and reading instruction, and it contains chapters that deal with the following topics: teacher and learner beliefs about reading, how reading instruction has been viewed commonly, how words are perceived, how context aids in word identification, why a word-identification view of reading is inappropriate, and how a psycholinguistic view of reading is relevant to reading instruction. Part Two of the book focuses on reading in the classroom, and contains chapters that discuss methods of assessing reader strengths and instructional needs, helping readers develop good reading strategies, and designing psycholinguistically based reading programs. A brief introduction to English grammar is appended. A bibliography of references and suggested readings is attached. (RL)