Problems occur in teaching English to the child whose native language is not English because of a lack of relevant research about the specification of the native language and the transfer of reading skills from one language to another. Most bilingual instruction in the United States is based on either the "native language approach" (literacy is achieved in the child's native language first) or the direct method (the second language, at least initially, is the primary language of instruction). Another problem is that it is not clear how the successful transfer of reading skills occurs across two languages, or what factors are relevant to such transfer. Some alternate approaches to bilingual reading instruction (especially Spanish-English) include reading in the standard native language, using dialect readers, and teaching reading in English but letting children use their native language in informal discussions among themselves. The fact that there is not a "best" teaching method in bilingual instruction, however, makes research in this area a clear necessity. (Audience response following presentation of the paper is included.) (RL)