Hello Everyone:

I'm very curious to know your reactions to this work.  As I was doing the 
research I found the learners words to be very compelling, heartfelt, well 
articulated, and interesting.  However, when I went to analyze the data, I 
wondered if their perceptions really shed light on the big questions of the 
day regarding teaching developing adult readers to read better.  I asked 
myself whether they gave me information that was new.  I guess two things 
really emerged for me.  One, that it was important to them that they be 
taught some technical skills and be given lots of opportunities to read 
interesting materials over extended periods of time (it seems like we have 
a tendency to emphasize one or the other depending on our own beliefs, but 
balance seems to be the key), and two, that they focused the discussion 
differently than teachers or researchers might do  Their focus makes clear 
that the starting place for success is within them.  It's not clear to me 
if teachers can create those conditions for learners or if they have to 
find a way to do it themselves.

Anyway, I'll be interested to know how this all strikes you.

Alisa