Abstract
Much has happened in the consideration of language and literacy over the past 25 years, providing a rich context for reflecting on articles written in the original issue of Topics in Language Disorders. This article looks at L. S. Snyder's (1980) article, which provides a base for considering the relationship between language and literacy, and at Zigmond, Vallecorsa, and Leinhardt's (1980) article offering a focus on the individual learner. Following a brief comment on the theoretical and conceptual backgrounds for both articles, the current article reconsiders questions posed by the original authors vis-a-vis the questions being raised currently by federal legislation that both influences and is influenced by current research, and concludes with thoughts on possible directions for the future.