The three articles in this publication discuss the following topics: (1) a psycholinguistic perspective on beginning reading that focuses on the child's linguistic system, rather than on the information processing strategies he or she learns to use in reading, and identifies word recognition as the major hurdle faced by the beginner; (2) the issue of whether the meaning of words can be assessed directly from their representation; and (3) the status of knowledge about phonological rules and their role in reading. Lists of references accompany each article. (CC)