Introduction and History of Content Area Reading
Introduction and History of Content Area Literacy College Students
Content Area Teacher and Text Selection Assessment Reading Strategies
Writing Strategies Summary References
Content area reading is not new in the area of research. In the early 1900s, Huey and Thorndike believed that children learned to read by experiencing reading and studying content area subjects (Anders & Guzzetti, 1996). Gray in the early 1920s stated, “Every teacher is a teacher of reading” (Anders & Guzzetti, 1996, p.6). Researchers in the 1940s through the 1960s found that comprehension was related to achievement in content subjects and that the reading process was different in the content areas, and that each content subject needed different strategies (Anders & Guzzetti, 1996). At that time content area “teachers were advised to teacher reading and study techniques for each subject” (Anders & Guzzetti, 1996, p.7). During the 1970s and 1980s, researchers debated whether reading in the content areas was subject specific or generalized (Anders & Guzzetti, 1996). During this time, researchers realized reading was an interactive process between what the author was trying to convey and what the reader brought to the text (Anders & Guzzetti, 1996). The 1990s expanded reading to include writing and oral communication (Anders & Guzzetti, 1996). With this history of content area reading instruction, why do students continue to struggle with content information and content teachers feel they are not responsible for literacy instructions (Lapp, Flood, & Farnan, 1996; Tonjes & Zintz, 1992). Content area instructors believe their role is to impart content information and not to assist students in developing literacy skills. These instructors feel literacy development should be left to English or remedial reading teachers (Lapp, Flood, & Farnan, 1996; Tonjes & Zintz, 1992). Content area teachers do not teach comprehension strategies as part of their course work (Ciardiello, 2002).
Introduction and History of Content Area Literacy
Content Area Teacher and Text Selection