Reading in a Foreign Language

0 All those who teach reading, teach about the teaching of reading, or conduct research on reading will welcome the Alderson and Urquhart volume, with its emphasis on relevant research evidence (p. xxvii). The book is wide-ranging in its coverage and stimulates thought in all the areas that it covers. Both the preface by Candlin and the editors' joint article, What Is Reading? provide a most provocative introduction to the book. Candlin describes the importance of viewing the reading process in terms of the reader, the text, and the interaction of the two-as the reader negotiates for meaning. He stresses the need for both largescale quantitative research as well as for more qualitative and exploratory case studies. In their introductory article, the editors raise a number of important issues, such as the distinction between L1 and L2 reading, the view of reading as a series of separate subskills, and the nature of reading as process and product, issues which are later addressed by other authors. The volume addresses the shared aspects of L1 and L2 reading, with one third of the book (chapters 2-5, 13) directly addressing only Li reading but clearly speaking to L2 reading as well. From the outset, researchers are challenged to validate or refute timehonored models of reading comprehension. The editors note, for example, that researchers have failed to prove that reading comprehension questions intended to probe different subskills actually tap these subskills. And throughout the volume, the reader is invited to consider not just the product of reading comprehension, but the process as well. The editors suggest that the first five chapters deal mainly with the reader, the next five with the text, and the last four with the