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Reading Comprehension: Assisting Children with Learning Difficulties by Gary Woolley Brisbane, Australia: Springer, 2011, 259 pages. ISBN: 978-94-007-1173-0
Reading Comprehension: Assisting Children with Learning Difficulties by Gary Wool-ley is a general consensus of the possibilities for reading comprehension instruction for students who struggle with reading, including those with reading disabilities and those learning a second language, with a focus on practices in the United States of America and Australia. While much of the focus of Woolley's book is on students with reading disabilities, or factors which may affect their reading, it is a common practice for second language learners to be identified as having reading difficulties, regardless of their reading ability in their native language (Kiefer, 2010). Woolley acknowledges this when he notes that the popular belief that "learning and reading difficulties are predominately a result of deficiencies within the reader is considered too narrow a focus and ignores the range and complexity of social, educational, cultural, and environmental factors that influence reading" (p. 8). Even within a single language, students may experience reading difficulties not because of their cognitive ability but because of their sociocultural or dialect differences.
Another common belief concerning reading is the simple view that decoding and listening comprehension proficiency will lead to reading comprehension (Hoover & Gough, 1990). Woolley acknowledges this simple view, but quickly rebuffs it, thoroughly explaining the complexities of reading, specifically comprehension. This complex view of reading, which acknowledges reader factors, is the current view held by student- centred and...