This book had its origins at the 1984 TESOL Convention in Houston, Texas, when the three of us began collaborating on proposing, organizing, and presenting the Colloquium on Research in Reading in a Second Language. Our collaboration has continued since, not only on the continued life of the colloquium, but on other projects as well as this book. The responsibility and the effort in the production of this book have been shared jointly by all three of us.

We wish to thank the authors of the chapters which were specifically commissioned for this volume, as well as the authors of the reprinted chapters, who kindly gave us permission to incorporate their materials. We also wish to thank and acknowledge the support of our respective academic institutions (Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Skidmore College, University of Southern California) for their support of our individual research as well as for their support in the production of this book.

It goes without saying that a book such as this could not have been produced without the guidance of the series' editors, Jack C. Richards and Michael H. Long, and our editors and others at Cambridge University Press. We thank all of them. Special words of thanks go to Thomas Scovel for his helpful comments and valuable suggestions in reviewing earlier drafts of this book.

Last, but not at all least, we wish to thank our spouses (Craig, Ron, and Elena) and families (Michael and Jennifer; Oliver; Megan, Jennifer, and Katherine) for their understanding and support during the several years it took to produce this book.