Recent advances in psycholinguistics, cognitive psychology, and information processing theory have produced several notions that have revolutionized previous conceptions of reading and what it means to understand. These notions support the idea that more emphasis should be placed on reading comprehension skills in the English as a second language (ESL) classroom. An approach to reading instruction based on teaching specific reading comprehension skills rather than passages in readers, teaching process rather than product, brings the students to conscious awareness of the processes involved in understanding what they read and provides a sense of confidence in their ability to read anything. The lessons are easy to write and can be most effective when they use real materials. The skill focus accomplishes more if presented in the context of a total ESL reading program including intensive reading, extensive reading, and practice in reading rate improvement. (MSE)