A collection of articles on language and reading drawn from a wide variety of disciplines is presented. Reading research and reading problems and the state of the art of reading instruction in 1967 are also covered. Contents include the following: "On Explaining Language" by E. H. Lenneberg; "The Nature of the Reading Process" by J. B. Carroll; "Skills Required for Learning to Read: A Preliminary Analysis" by R. L. Venezky, R. C. Calfee, and R. S. Chapman; "Sources of Knowledge for Theories of Reading" by M. D. Jenkinson; "Some Language and Cultural Differences in a Theory of Reading" by R. W. Shuy; "Some Conditions for Developing Beginning Reading Materials for Ghetto Children" by R. W. Shuy; "A Glance at the Linguistic Organization of Elementary Reading Textbooks" by D. W. Reed; "Reading: A Psycholinguistic Guessing Game" by Kenneth S. Goodman; "Reading Research: What, Why, and for Whom?" by H. Levin; "Reading and Reading Difficulty: A Conceptual Analysis" by M. Wiener and W. Cromer; "Perceptual Training and Reading Achievement in Disadvantaged Children" by D. Elkind and J. A. Deblinger; "Linguistic Considerations in Reading Disability" by D. W. Reed and J. O. Sawyer; "Reading Retardation: I, Psychiatric and Sociologic Aspects" by L. Eisenberg; "A Note on the Relation of Reading Failure to Peer-Group Status in Urban Ghettos" by W. Labov and C. Robins; "Dyslexia: A Problem of Communication" by J. F. Reid; "The Rarity of Reading Disability in Japanese Children" by K. Makita; and "Reading Instruction, 1967" by W. D. Sheldon. (SW)