This collection of conference papers explores the application of a range of different disciplinary perspectives to studying literacy, drawing not only on newer linguistic and cognitive psychological orientations, but also on cultural anthropology, sociolinguistics, reader-response theory, critical theory, and poststructuralist theory. The collection is organized in four major sections as follows: Difficulties in Adopting a Multicultural Approach; Disciplinary Perspectives and Methodological Approaches; Specific Disciplinary Perspectives on Literacy Research; and Reaction Papers. Following a foreword by Jerome C. Harste, the papers and their authors are as follows: (1) "Introduction" (Richard Beach and others); (2) "Multiple Perspectives: Issues and Directions" (Judith L. Green); (3) "Ethnomethodology and the Possibility of a Metaperspective on Literacy Research" (James L. Heap); (4) "Reconciling the Qualitative and Quantitative" (George Hillocks, Jr.); (5) "First, Catch the Rabbit: Methodological Imperative and the Dramatization of Dialogic Reading" (Russell A. Hunt and Douglas Vipond); (6) "Adopting Multiple Stances in Conducting Literacy Research" (Richard Beach); (7) "Modes of Inquiry in Literacy Studies and Issues of Philosophy of Science" (Timothy Shanahan); (8) "A Psychological Perspective Applied to Literacy Studies" (John R. Hayes); (9) "Some Issues Concerning Differences among Perspectives in Literacy Research" (Michael L. Kamil); (10) "Changing Views of Language in Education: The Implications for Literacy Research" (Jenny Cook-Gumperz and John J. Gumperz); (11) "Studying Language and Literacy through Events, Particularity, and Intertextuality" (David Bloome and Francis M. Bailey); (12) "Literacy Research in Community and Classrooms: A Sociocultural Approach" (Luis C. Moll); (13) "World Knowledge, Inferences, and Questions" (Arthur C. Graesser and others); (14) "Inquiries into the Nature and Construction of Literary Texts: Theory and Method" (Joanne M. Golden); (15) "Articulating Poststructural Theory in Research on Literacy" (Linda Brodkey); (16) "Literacy Research and the Postmodern Turn: Cautions from the Margins" (Peter McLaren); (17) "Multiple Perspectives on Multiple Perspectives" (Diane Stephens and P. David Pearson); (18) "Intuition and Ideology: Exploring the Ecosystem" (Susan Hynds); (19) "What It Means To Be Literate" (Robert Gundlach); (20) "Multidisciplinary Research on Literacy and the Possibility of Educational Change" (Marjorie Siegel); (21) and "What I Learned at This Conference: A Personal Narrative of a Literacy Event" (Ann Matsuhashi Feldman). (SR)