21st century literacy for a diverse world.

Literacy demands in the 21st century require that proficient readers do more than 'read along the lines' or decode words and know their meaning. Proficient readers must be able to 'read between the lines', making relevant inferences to interpret, analyze, and synthesize information in texts; and 'read across the lines', applying these critical reading processes to multiple texts for purposes of problem-raising and problem-solving. This article will review literature on the cognitive and linguistic skills necessary for reading along the lines in a variety of scripts; the nature of the language and cognitive skills essential for the text comprehension necessary for reading between and across the lines, and the ways that culture and language influence text comprehension. Copyright 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel