Reading the Signs - The Meaning from a Single Perspective

Download Reading the Signs - The Meaning from a Single Perspective PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781847534248
Total Pages : 148 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (342 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Reading the Signs - The Meaning from a Single Perspective by : Stephen Gareth Smith

Download or read book Reading the Signs - The Meaning from a Single Perspective written by Stephen Gareth Smith and published by . This book was released on 2007-11-01 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reading the Signs - The Meaning from a Single Perspective 'We live in a time which encapsulates a strange mixture of knowing and unknowing. The wealth of what has become known through advances in the sciences is considerable, and increases all the time. But in some ways this has served to distract us from the wider questions concerning the meaning of our lives: we are busy with our new toys, and we seem more than happy to settle for blurry, inconsistent and half-hearted attempts to understand the human condition. But it won't go away, and this paucity of meaning has come to cause problems both in the way that we relate to each other and in the way that we interact with the environment that we are living in...' 60,000 wds. Profit resulting from the sale of this book which exceeds the amount needed to live simply, will be used to effect positive changes in the world.

Reading the Signs

Download Reading the Signs PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT)
ISBN 13 : 1642052345
Total Pages : 38 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (42 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Reading the Signs by : Mohammad Hashim Kamali

Download or read book Reading the Signs written by Mohammad Hashim Kamali and published by International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT). This book was released on 2018-09-15 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Advanced in this paper is a Qur’anic perspective on thinking, rationality, and critical reason, which in its critical and goal-oriented dimensions provides a set of guidelines that ensures its purity and purpose from negative reductionist influences. The guidelines so provided are also rich in advancing a spiritual dimension with the understanding that thinking which is not informed by morality and faith can lose its direction and purpose and can even become harmful to human welfare. The paper begins with a discussion of the divine signs, the ayat, and the prominent profile that they take in the Qur’anic conception of thinking. Other topics discussed include an identification of the sources of knowledge in the Qur’an, factors that impede rational thinking, and a historical sketch of the golden age of scientific creativity and its eventual decline. A brief section is also devoted to ijtihad and where it fits into the scheme of our analysis on thinking, followed by a short comparison of Islamic and Western philosophical perceptions of rationality.

Reading

Download Reading PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1000729206
Total Pages : 147 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (7 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Reading by : Roger Beard

Download or read book Reading written by Roger Beard and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-10-20 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The field of reading is a compelling one, characterised by many debates and discussions. It is also amenable to investigations through a range of theories and research studies. In this book, eight leading authorities provide a ‘state-of-the-art’ overview of reading, using perspectives that have informed their work. There are overviews from linguistic, psychological, sociological and literary viewpoints, as well as more hybrid ones from investigations of digital literacy and multi-modality. This book celebrates what has already been achieved by bridging research, scholarship and practice; it also suggests what still needs to be done to bring the positive rewards from reading to greater numbers of young people. It also recognises that the benefits of reading extend beyond the personal. Accomplished reading skills empower people to meet the challenges of everyday life: making decisions, solving problems, and dealing with unexpected events. The need to refresh and renew our knowledge of reading has gained further impetus in the ‘information age’. New technologies for information and communication continually appear: manifestations of ‘fake news’, disinformation and conspiracy theories spread rapidly across the globe. The book underlines the importance not only of reading, but also the fact that reading between and beyond the lines is more important than ever, in print and across multiple media platforms. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Education 3–13: International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education.

Beyond Textual Literacy: Visual Literacy for Creative and Critical Inquiry

Download Beyond Textual Literacy: Visual Literacy for Creative and Critical Inquiry PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : BRILL
ISBN 13 : 1848880073
Total Pages : 314 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (488 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Beyond Textual Literacy: Visual Literacy for Creative and Critical Inquiry by : Mary A. Drinkwater

Download or read book Beyond Textual Literacy: Visual Literacy for Creative and Critical Inquiry written by Mary A. Drinkwater and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-09-25 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume contains chapters derived from papers presented at the 3rd Global Conference on Visual Literacies: Exploring Critical Issues held in Oxford, UK, July 14th through the 16th, 2009. The conference brought together a broad range of cultural, artistic and academic participants.

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Learning to Read

Download Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Learning to Read PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1135150680
Total Pages : 390 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (351 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Learning to Read by : Kathy Hall

Download or read book Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Learning to Read written by Kathy Hall and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2010-04-05 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Learning to Read brings together different disciplinary perspectives and studies on reading for all those who seek to extend and enrich the current practice, research and policy debates. The breadth of knowledge that underpins pedagogy is a central theme and the book will help educators, policy-makers and researchers understand the full range of research perspectives that must inform decisions about the development of reading in schools. The book offers invaluable insights into learners who do not achieve their full potential. The chapters have been written by key figures in education, psychology, sociology and neuroscience, and promote discussion of: comprehension gender and literacy attainment phonics and decoding digital literacy at home and school bilingual learners and reading dyslexia and special educational needs evidence based literacy visual texts. This book encompasses a comprehensive range of conceptual perspectives on reading pedagogy and offers a wealth of new insights to support innovative research directions.

Perspectives on School Learning

Download Perspectives on School Learning PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1135876541
Total Pages : 441 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (358 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Perspectives on School Learning by : L. W. Anderson

Download or read book Perspectives on School Learning written by L. W. Anderson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-01-09 with total page 441 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 1985. This volume offers a collection of John B. Carroll’s works on the mastery of learning and related topics. Including discussions and information around his “Model of School Learning” and a biographical background.

International Perspectives on Critical English Language Teacher Education

Download International Perspectives on Critical English Language Teacher Education PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1350400343
Total Pages : 451 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (54 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis International Perspectives on Critical English Language Teacher Education by : Ali Fuad Selvi

Download or read book International Perspectives on Critical English Language Teacher Education written by Ali Fuad Selvi and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2024-05-16 with total page 451 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book showcases how teacher educators from diverse backgrounds, contexts, and realities approach English language teacher education with a critical stance. Organized into nine parts that explore different facets of English Language Teaching, each section opens with theoretical considerations chapters and features 24 practical application chapters. Written by renowned scholars including Graham Hall, Lili Cavalheiro, and Mario López Gopar, among others, the theoretical considerations chapters offer concise insights into current issues and controversies in the field, point out opportunities for criticality, and discuss implications for teacher education. Written by critically-oriented teacher educators/researchers from various parts of the world including Brazil, Germany, Morocco, Sweden, Turkey, and the USA, among others, the practical application chapters exhibit various ways to incorporate critical approaches in reshaping current teacher education practices (ranging from critical and queer pedagogy to translanguaging to multilingualism) along with a critical reflection of the potentials and the challenges involved in their application.

Intercultural Theology, Volume One

Download Intercultural Theology, Volume One PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : InterVarsity Press
ISBN 13 : 0830873090
Total Pages : 460 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (38 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Intercultural Theology, Volume One by : Henning Wrogemann

Download or read book Intercultural Theology, Volume One written by Henning Wrogemann and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2016-10-06 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christianity is not only a global but also an intercultural phenomenon. The diversity of world Christianity is evident not merely outside our borders but even within our own neighborhoods.M Over the past half century theologians and missiologists have addressed this reality by developing local and contextual theologies and by exploring issues like contextualization, inculturation, and translation. In recent years these various trajectories have coalesced into a new field called intercultural theology. Bringing together missiology, religious studies, social science research, and Christian theology, the field of intercultural theology is a fresh attempt to rethink the discipline of theology in light of the diversity and pluriformity of Christianity today. Henning Wrogemann, one of the leading missiologists and scholars of religion in Europe, has written the most comprehensive textbook on the subject of Christianity and culture today. In three volumes his Intercultural Theology provides an exhaustive account of the history, theory, and practice of Christian mission. Volume one introduces the concepts of culture and context, volume two surveys theologies of mission both past and present, and volume three explores theologies of religion and interreligious relationships. In this first volume on intercultural hermeneutics, Wrogemann introduces the term "intercultural theology" and investigates what it means to understand another cultural context. In addition to surveying different hermeneutical theories and concepts of culture, he assesses how intercultural understanding has taken place throughout the history of Christian mission. Wrogemann also provides an extensive discussion of contextual theologies with a special focus on African theologies. Intercultural Theology is an indispensable resource for all people—especially students, pastors, and scholars—that explores the defining issues of Christian identity and practice in the context of an increasingly intercultural and interreligious world. Missiological Engagements charts interdisciplinary and innovative trajectories in the history, theology, and practice of Christian mission, featuring contributions by leading thinkers from both the Euro-American West and the majority world whose missiological scholarship bridges church, academy, and society.

Sign Language Research Sixty Years Later: Current and Future Perspectives

Download Sign Language Research Sixty Years Later: Current and Future Perspectives PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Frontiers Media SA
ISBN 13 : 2832505341
Total Pages : 511 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (325 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Sign Language Research Sixty Years Later: Current and Future Perspectives by : Valentina Cuccio

Download or read book Sign Language Research Sixty Years Later: Current and Future Perspectives written by Valentina Cuccio and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2022-11-14 with total page 511 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Reading the Sighs and Signs of our Times

Download Reading the Sighs and Signs of our Times PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : ucanews
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 124 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Reading the Sighs and Signs of our Times by : La Civiltà Cattolica

Download or read book Reading the Sighs and Signs of our Times written by La Civiltà Cattolica and published by ucanews. This book was released on 2022-02-11 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of 11 articles from the September 2021 edition of La Civiltà Cattolica, the highly respected and oldest Catholic journal published from Rome. “Peace and union are the most necessary of all things for men who live in common, and nothing serves so well to establish and maintain these as the forbearing charity whereby we put up with one another’s defects” St Robert Bellarmine. As timely as ever! This month Giancarlo Pani reviews Bellarmine’s life and works. When Karol Wojtyla was elected, few would have imagined that the new pontiff was about to bring a renewal to the Social Doctrine of the Church. However, there were clear indications in his earlier life of the direction he would take, Fernando de la Iglesia Viguiristi tells us in John Paul II and the Social Doctrine of the Church. From the archive we have Bartolomeo Sorge’s speech on the relationship between the Gospel and modern culture to the “Cultural and Literary Challenges in Italy 50 Years after the Second Vatican Council Conference” in November, 2012. In Considerations on Power and International Aid Relations, Michael Kelly, publisher of La Civilta Cattolica, English edition and his friend and colleague Daniel Solymári from the Order of Malta, who is active in the resettlement of refugees, detail how aid is an element of politics, whose original scope was born out of the interaction between nations and right up to the present it occurs significantly among states and political institutions.

The Handy Literature Answer Book

Download The Handy Literature Answer Book PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Visible Ink Press
ISBN 13 : 1578596785
Total Pages : 747 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (785 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Handy Literature Answer Book by : Daniel S. Burt

Download or read book The Handy Literature Answer Book written by Daniel S. Burt and published by Visible Ink Press. This book was released on 2018-07-01 with total page 747 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Get the most out of reading with this an engaging and fun guide to the deeper meanings in great works of literature! From the epic of Gilgamesh to Aristotle and Cicero, and from Shakespeare and the King James Bible to Wuthering Heights, War and Peace, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the Nobel-winning lyrics of Bob Dylan, the world of literature is an integral part of our lives. Great literature can shape and form thoughts and opinions as well as influence politics and predict the future. Reading can truly enrich our lives, but it can sometimes be daunting to get the most out of a great work of literature. The Handy Literature Answer Book: Understand and Enjoy Meanings, Symbolism, and Signs in Great Works is an engaging, easy-to-read look at literature basics such as themes, symbols, context, and other literary devices. Different literary forms, including novels, poems, plays, short stories, memoirs, and literary nonfiction are analyzed. Hundreds of important stories and great works are used as illustrative examples. Learn about the five basic questions for any work of literature, including “What is the significance of a title?” “What is conflict?” “What is character development?” “What is point of view?” “How does a setting affect a story?” “What are the different schools of literary criticism?” and many more. Bringing the most out of the reading experience, The Handy Literature Answer Book deciphers and analyzes stories, novels, and verses through insightful in-depth answers to nearly 400 common questions. You will also read about such fascinating tidbits as ... What are the key components of literature? How is reading literature different from other kinds of reading? Why is artful reading so hard? What do poems do? How should a poem be read for its comparisons—metaphors and similes? What, according to Poe, should be the method of the short story writer? How do you recognize the difference between story and plot in a short story? How can you recognize a symbol? What are the defining characteristics of the novel? How did the novel evolve from a popular literary entertainment to the modern novel? What is the difference between drama and theater? What is the best way to understand and appreciate Shakespearean drama? What approaches should you take in reading an essay? What are characteristics of a memoir? This handy primer from two highly regarded experts also includes a glossary of essential literary terms, a timeline, a helpful bibliography, and an extensive index, adding to its usefulness. Making reading more enriching, rewarding, and enjoyable, The Handy Literature Answer Book is a wonderful, eye-opening read!

Making Sense of Messages

Download Making Sense of Messages PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351130102
Total Pages : 388 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (511 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Making Sense of Messages by : Mark Stoner

Download or read book Making Sense of Messages written by Mark Stoner and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-11-13 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Making Sense of Messages, now in its second edition, retains the apprenticeship approach which facilitates effectively learning the complex content and skills of rhetorical theory and criticism. A new chapter on “The Rhetoric of Ignorance” provides needed theory and examples that help students deal with the new rhetorical landscape marked by such discursive complexities as “fake news,” “whataboutism,” and denial of science that creates rather than reduces uncertainty in public argument. A new chapter, “Curating and Analyzing Multimodal Mediated Rhetoric,” deals with problems of media criticism in the digital age. It provides theory, models of application, and commentary that help novice critics understand and mindfully practice criticism that leads to insight, not mere opinion. Throughout the book, extended and updated examples and commentaries are designed to promote "novice-to-expert" agency in students. This textbook is ideal for introductory courses in contemporary rhetoric, rhetorical criticism, and critical analysis of mass media.

Semiotic Perspectives

Download Semiotic Perspectives PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1315528274
Total Pages : 297 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (155 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Semiotic Perspectives by : Sándor Hervey

Download or read book Semiotic Perspectives written by Sándor Hervey and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-11-18 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1982, this book looks at a wide variety of issues concerning the vast field of study that is ‘semiotics. It begins by tracing the beginnings of modern semiotics in the works two pioneering figures — Saussure and Peirce — in order to present fundamental assumptions, notions and distinctions which provide an essential background to the more recent developments. The author then goes on to look at Behavioural Semiotics, Luis Prieto’s idea of "l’Acte Semique", Austin’s theory of ‘Speech Acts’ and Searle’s elaborations, Barthes’ move away from philosophical and scientific approaches in his ideology of Socio-Cultural Signification, Functionalism and Axiomatic Functionalism, style as a form of communication, semiotics of the cinema, and communicative behaviour in non-human species.

A Literary Semiotics Approach to the Semantic Universe of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four

Download A Literary Semiotics Approach to the Semantic Universe of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1527524051
Total Pages : 328 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (275 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis A Literary Semiotics Approach to the Semantic Universe of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four by : Murat Kalelioğlu

Download or read book A Literary Semiotics Approach to the Semantic Universe of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four written by Murat Kalelioğlu and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2019-01-03 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Semiotics can be considered as a well-organized signification journey taken among the pages of the work of art. It requires background knowledge related to the field and its analysis tools, as well as careful reading practices in the text to reach the projected destination after stopping over in certain stations. These stations represent meaning intersections where the meaningful formations are articulated to contribute to the generation of the semantic universe of the text. The presentation of such a fictional universe can be complicated because of the nature of the literary work and the language used. With regards to Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, what makes its fiction precious is the masterful acts of the author in both paradigmatic and syntagmatic dimensions. This book conducts a semiotic analysis in order to unfold the enigmatic semantic organization of Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four narrative by penetrating the formative structures at various meaning levels of the text.

Handbook of Early Childhood Literacy

Download Handbook of Early Childhood Literacy PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : SAGE
ISBN 13 : 1446206955
Total Pages : 460 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (462 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Handbook of Early Childhood Literacy by : Nigel Hall

Download or read book Handbook of Early Childhood Literacy written by Nigel Hall and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2003-10-18 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This volume examines early literacy research on a global scale and puts social, cultural, and historical analyses in the front seat--without losing sight of individual and family-level matters in the process. It is comprehensive, ground-breaking, and provocative, and should help literacy researchers to think differently about the field." --Marjorie Faulstich Orellana, School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University "No other publication that I am aware of brings together views from such diverse disciplines, contributing to a comprehensive statement about early childhood literacy. The Handbook not only reviews the current field of situated literacy but presents some important and exciting new research. It is a significant resource that promises to become a landmark text." --Eve Bearne, University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education, U.K. "This handbook brings together an astonishing array of writers who explore contemporary political, cultural, and cognitive understandings of early childhood literacy. Literacy and literacy acquisition are broadly defined here to encompass not just traditional notions of reading and writing, but multimodalities, multiliteracies, and critical literacies. . . It is rich and comprehensive, an invaluable resource for scholars, educators, and students of early childhood literacy." --Elsa Auerbach, Professor of English, University of Massachusetts, Boston "This book is unique in its broad consideration of topics and its global focus . . . I particularly appreciate how the editors have situated current research in an historical context. They have also included development issues, pedagogy, research, and the newest areas of interest--critical literacy and popular culture." --Diane Barone, University of Nevada, Reno In recent years there has been a virtual revolution in early childhood studies, with a mass of books and papers seeking to re-examine and reposition childhood. At the same time an equally significant area has developed within literacy studies, reflecting a growing interest in the nature of literacy as a socially situated phenomenon. There is increased interest in literacy as a multimodal concept in which symbolic meaning is a central concept, rather than more conventional and narrower notions of literacy. The Handbook of Early Childhood Literacy is central in providing access to all these different perspectives. The Handbook offers a way through the vast diversity of publications on early childhood literacy by providing comprehensive and up-to-date reviews of research and thinking in early childhood literacy. The arrangement of chapters reflects a contemporary perspective on research into early childhood literacy. Major sections include: the global world of early childhood literacy; childhood literacy and family, community and culture; the development of literacy in early childhood; pedagogy and early childhood literacy and researching early childhood literacy. Contributions by leading authorities focus on literacy as a socially situated and global experience, one that is evolving in relation to changes in contemporary culture and technological innovation.

Once Upon a Sign

Download Once Upon a Sign PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 1598844776
Total Pages : 286 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (988 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Once Upon a Sign by : Kim Taylor-DiLeva

Download or read book Once Upon a Sign written by Kim Taylor-DiLeva and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2010-11-11 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book shows how integrating American Sign Language (ASL) into story time and other educational programs can benefit and entertain ALL children, whether or not they are hearing impaired, from infancy onward. There are a multitude of reasons to introduce hearing children to American Sign Language, currently the third most-used language in the United States. Babies and young children who are taught basic signing typically have a stronger bond with their parents; young children who sign show increased self confidence and enthusiasm for learning, and studies have even shown significantly higher IQs as a result of using sign language. Once Upon a Sign: Using American Sign Language to Engage, Entertain, and Teach All Children contains an introduction to using American Sign Language in the library, suggested program ideas for infants and toddlers (and their parents), as well as suggestions for school-age children, 'tweens, and even teens. By showing librarians and other educators how to integrate American Sign Language into their lapsit, preschool storytime, and 'tween/teen programs, this text will benefit not only the hearing children that constitute the majority of patrons, but also help hearing impaired and deaf children feel welcome and appreciated in the library.

Reading Comprehension Difficulties

Download Reading Comprehension Difficulties PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1136488626
Total Pages : 498 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (364 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Reading Comprehension Difficulties by : Cesare Cornoldi

Download or read book Reading Comprehension Difficulties written by Cesare Cornoldi and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-04-03 with total page 498 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recognizing the characteristics of children with learning disabilities and deciding how to help them is a problem faced by schools all over the world. Although some disorders are fairly easily recognizable (e.g., mental retardation) or very specific to single components of performance and quite rare (e.g., developmental dyscalculia), schools must consider much larger populations of children with learning difficulties who cannot always be readily classified. These children present high-level learning difficulties that affect their performance on a variety of school tasks, but the underlying problem is often their difficulty in understanding written text. In many instances, despite good intellectual abilities and a superficial ability to cope with written texts and to use language appropriately, some children do not seem to grasp the most important elements, or cannot find the pieces of information they are looking for. Sometimes these difficulties are not immediately detected by the teacher in the early school years. They may be hidden because the most obvious early indicators of reading progress in the teacher's eyes do not involve comprehension of written texts or because the first texts a child encounters are quite simple and reflect only the difficulty level of the oral messages (sentences, short stories, etc.) with which the child is already familiar. However, as years go by and texts get more complex, comprehension difficulties will become increasingly apparent and increasingly detrimental to effective school learning. In turn, studying, assimilating new information, and many other situations requiring text comprehension -- from problem solving to reasoning with linguistic contents -- could be affected. Problems with decoding, dyslexia, and language disorders have attracted more interest from researchers than have specific comprehension problems and have occupied more room in specialized journals. Normal reading comprehension has also been a favorite with researchers. However, scarce interest has been paid to subjects who have comprehension difficulties. This book is an attempt to remedy this situation. In so doing, this volume answers the following questions: * Does a reading comprehension problem exist in schools? * How important and widespread is the problem? * Is the problem specific? * How can a reading comprehension difficulty be defined and identified? * Does the "syndrome" have a single pattern or can different subtypes be identified? * What are the main characteristics associated with a reading comprehension difficulty? * When can other well-identified problems add to our understanding of reading comprehension difficulties? * Which educational strategies are effective in preventing and treating reading comprehension difficulties? * What supplementary information can we get from an international perspective?