Focusing on the teaching of reading, chapters in this book (written in French, but with brief English and German translations of chapter resumes) consist of lectures delivered at an international symposium on the teaching of reading held in Switzerland in September of 1971. The contents include: an introduction: opening statements delivered at the symposium; presentations on the teaching of reading in France, Belgium, Quebec, and Geneva; separate scientific findings specially concerning (1) written language and spoken language, (2) the child's operatory development and verbal acquisitions, (3) perceptive factors in learning to read, (4) the different skills involved in teaching reading, (5) minimal visual and auditory requirements for successful reading instruction, (6) affective problems--emotional maladjustment, and (7) experimental research in methods of teaching reading; recommendations; goals of reading instruction; and a structure of descriptive criteria for a method of teaching reading. A list of the experts invited to the symposium concludes the volume. (JM)