Ideas of educational psycholinguists Frank Smith and Kenneth Goodman can be combined with the ideas presented in current basal reader manuals to help teachers teach reading more effectively. Since reading and speaking are parallel processes, teachers may invite children to "read" with them, hearing the melody of language as they point to interesting or dramatic sentences in the text. Assisted reading, in which the child reads the same text after the teacher, is another useful device. Basal reader authors and psycholinguists agree on the need to continue to refine and enrich oral language competency. Even though we read for meaning more than for word identification, basal readers emphasize word identification as the foundation of comprehension. Basal readers stress phonics, but Smith and Goodman argue that teaching phonics makes it harder, not easier, for children to learn to read. Smith's view of the relativity of comprehension, however, is affirmed by the writers of most basal reader manuals. Both psycholinguists and basal reader authors recognize that reading involves using visual clues to predict meaning. The Directed Reading Activity, a series of steps used in basal readers to promote children's predictive strategies, is the best way not only of teaching reading skills but of stimulating student interest. Research also indicates the usefulness of miscue analysis and the questionable value of recall tests. (JL)