The purpose of this book is to bring together essays--first published in the "Harvard Educational Review"--that identify and explicate critical issues and positions on language and reading, examine many educational and political problems arising from these issues, and illuminate the historical and philosophical developments that have made literacy and language such prominent educational concerns in the United States for the past 20 years. The essays have been organized into three parts. In the first part, "Thought and Language," the authors tackle the issues of developing, testing, and defining theories to explain the psychology of reading and language. Philosophical in outlook, the articles in this section are centrally concerned with the source of meaning in human language and the importance of meaning for applied work. The essays in part two, "Language and Reading," consider pedagogic and learning issues, often setting these within political and social contexts. Finally, in part three, "Selected Book Reviews on Language, Reading, and Learning," the themes and topics of the preceding sections are recapitulated in selected reviews of books that have contributed significantly to an understanding of language and literacy. The book reviews are organized so as to mirror the historical and conceptual organization of the rest of the volume. (GT)