A study examined the extent to which adults engage in reading tasks to meet a variety of personal purposes and needs, asking when engaged reading is most likely to occur for types of text sources, reading purposes, reading settings, educational attainment groups, and occupational groups. Subjects included 159 adults who represented a wide range of…

Argues that the "good" reader in school, who has mastered reading skills, does not offer a natural starting point for progression to the "good" reader of adulthood who is an active and voracious reader. Stresses that reading in school needs to reflect reading attitudes and behaviors of "good" adult readers. (RS)

This paper contains excerpts from a report by the National Endowment for the Arts, issued by its Office of Research, headed by Mark Bauerlein, a contributor to "Arts Education Policy Review." The excerpts do not include the report's tables, figures, or appendices, but numbers have been retained in their original sequence (see notes).

If the classroom English teacher is to be given any assistance in determining the most appropriate literary experiences for developing students' literature appreciation, it is imperative that research create a clearer understanding of the factors involved in developing discrimination in literature. (RL)

There are many critical problems that are influencing the status of literature and the teaching of literature in the United States today, according to this paper. Some of the problems cited are the poor quality of recent best selling books; the smaller number of people who read books compared to the number of people who read magazines and…

Case study research of adult lifelong readers' key experiences reveals that some of the crucial events resulting in love of reading took place prior to formal literature instruction. Results of interviews with about 60 adult readers of all ages--some of whom choose to read fiction, some of whom do not--indicate reasons readers give for their…

A total of 59 Senegalese adult and college students filled out a questionnaire in a study designed to gather data about their reading habits. The 15-item instrument, written in English and French, required yes or no responses to questions that described students' satisfaction with reading ability, types of materials read, perceptions of reading…

These papers on reading research in the socialist countries were delivered at a conference held in Budapest, Hungary, in October of 1974. Included are the text of the introductory address and papers on the following topics: (1) the library and society; (2) the library as it relates to students, teachers, and engineers; (3) the role and…