Continues a discussion begun in the February column concerning the pyramid taxonomy of reading. Makes 10 suggestions for reading researchers attempting to define reading. (FL)

Discusses the different ways theorists and researchers define "reading." (FL)

Discusses the challenges of translating definitions of reading found in research into classroom practice. (FL)

Discusses techniques used by reading researchers to derive "operational definitions" of reading phenomena. (FL)

Proposes a pyramid organization for constructing theories of reading. Discusses each category of the proposed organization: (1) readers and learners, (2) materials, (3) tasks, (4) situation organizers, and (5) settings. (FL)

Raises a number of questions about current descriptive definitions of reading. (FL)

Notes that while researchers talk about many things--what to teach, how to teach, and when to teach reading--they don't talk about why to teach it. (FL)

Argues that a problem with the storage and conduit metaphor lies in its attention to representational knowledge while giving little attention to cognitive knowledge. (JC)

Discusses three approaches to the history of reading: (1) reading as definition, focusing on the features that characterize reading; (2) reading as cause and effect, focusing on why different definitions of reading come into being; and (3) reading as ideology, focusing on what goal or ideology is implied by a particular history. (MM)

Argues that researchers and practitioners largely view reading in terms of a "storage and conduit metaphor." Examines the metaphor and explains why it is necessary for the profession to move beyond it. (FL)

Discusses research methodology in general, and suggests ways of identifying what is and is not known in the field of reading. Points out that reading research has not yet investigated how adults and children read nonschool materials in nonschool settings. (ARH)

Notes that the National Assessment of Educational Progress's (NAEP) recent assessment found fundamental changes taking place in education and in society which render the apolitical, uniform, "one size fits all" approach to education dysfunctional. Calls for reconceptualizing reading instruction to benefit all readers rather than just the majority…

Points out some of the difficulties involved in carrying out reading research, emphasizing the importance of simplification. (ARH)

Discusses the conventions that define the range of legitimate routine in the reading profession. (FL)

Compares the Darwinian approach to understanding reading (irrational) with the Cartesian approach (rational). Argues for the superiority of the Darwinian approach, and in the future will consider how research and practice might be conceptualized from a Cartesian approach to understanding and reading. (NKA)