INTRODUCTION

In many second or foreign language teaching situations, reading receives a special focus. There are a number of reasons for this. First, many foreign language students often have reading as one of their most important goals. They want to be able to read for information and pleasure, for their career, and for study purposes. In fact, in most ESL situations, the ability to read in a foreign language is all that students ever want to acquire. Second, written texts serve various pedagogical purposes. Extensive exposure to linguistically comprehensible written texts can enhance the process of language acquisition. Good reading texts also provide good models for writing, and provide opportunities to introduce new topics, to stimulate discussion, and to study language (e.g., vocabulary, grammar, and idioms). Reading, then, is a skill which is highly valued by students and teachers alike. But, what is reading instruction like in the classroom? How do we teach reading? Do teachers teach according to principles derived from research findings? The three articles in this section, to varying degrees, seek to throw light on the principles and practice of teaching reading.

In the first paper, Grabe critically examines the relationship between research and practice in both L1 and L2 reading. He points out that the relationship between research and instruction in the L1 reading contexts is quite straightforward. L1 reading instruction has to a large extent been influenced by research findings.