The reading research studies presented in this volume address questions that incorporate more than one culture, language, or writing system, illustrate a broad conceptualization of the study of reading, and represent the expanding international consciousness and program of the International Reading Association. Part one offers the following examples of cross-cultural research in reading: reading competency as a predictor of scholastic performance in industrialized and Third World nations; cloze procedure and comprehension in three languages; reading achievement among three racial groups; the relationship between sex difference and reading ability in an Israeli kubbitz system; syntax and readability for ESL students in Thailand; the image of foreign born persons as conveyed in recent American children's literature; and a comparison of realistic contemporary fiction by non-American and American authors for intermediate age children. Part two presents general principles of comparative reading, discusses various reading processes involved in the teaching of reading in Swedish, Chinese, and English, and relates the results of an international survey on adult semiliterates. The final part of the volume discusses some of the issues involved in cross cultural cooperation. (MAI)