This volume contains a selection of the papers presented at the fifth International Reading Association World Congress on Reading. Part one, "Reading: An Expanding Concept," contains papers that examine such topics as literal comprehension, miscue analysis, and children's literature and reading. Part two, "Some Implications for the Reading Curriculum," contains papers on such topics as language and the reader, language games and literacy, reading to learn, evaluation of progress in spare-time reading, and sequence and structure in reading development. Part three. "Writing Systems and Early Reading: Comparative Perspectives," contains papers that examine such topics as writing systems in Japan, the teaching of spelling, and some unexplained aspects of early reading. Part four,"The Reader and the Media," contains papers on such topics as new developments on readability, content bias in adult reading materials, and reading and television in the United States. Part five, "Special Problems," contains papers which discuss such topics as promoting reading habits, class size and reading development, and reading comprehension in fifteen countries. Part six, "Raising Teaching Standards," contains papers on such topics as the rationale for competency based inservice education, and evaluation and accountability. (TS)