Thought by many to be the father of modern literacy, William Gray’s contributions to the elimination of world literacy are many.
Gray, an eminent reading educator and theorist has
written a number of books, over his career which addressed this
problem. represents an attempt to review prevailing practices of
combatting world illiteracy; to evaluate the efficacy of methods
being employed. In other worlds, through his research and experience
Gray has attempted to isolate the problem and has made
recommendations for further study.
Gray’s 1969 book, The Teaching of Reading and Writing: An
International Survey, covers such subjects as: the role of
reading and writing in fundamental education, the influence that the
type of language has on literacy training, the nature of the reading
process in various languages, reading attitudes and skills essential
to functional literacy, the best methods of teaching reading,
findings of research that help in the choice of these methods, the
nature and organization of reading programs for children, adult
literacy and teaching adults to read, the basic principles underlying
the teaching of handwriting as well as teaching handwriting to
children, teaching handwriting to adults, the action required to
attain the goal of world literacy, and the current developments in
reading and literacy education.
Gray’s 1984 book, Read: A research perspective, is
a reprint of a classic review of research and research trends on
reading that originally appeared in 1941 as the article
"Reading" in the "Encyclopedia of Educational
Research." This book is broken down into 11 sections which
discuss the following topics:
(1) the sociology of reading;
(2) the nature of reading and the basic processes involved;
(3) interest in reading;
(4) reading readiness;
(5) the aims, organization, and time allotment of reading in the elementary school;
(6) factors related to growth in reading;
(7) the nature, content, and grade placement of reading materials;
(8) teaching methods;
(9) reading in the content fields;
(10) diagnosis and remedial teaching;
(11) the hygiene of reading.
Books and Publications
The Reading TeacherJournal of Adolescence and Adult Literacy
The Teaching of Reading and Writing: An International Survey
Read: A research perspective