ABSTRACT
Interest in reading comprehension research and testing reached its zenith in the late 20th century. Given the historical, social, and political changes in the nation, as well as the international and national involvement in military campaigns, it is striking that researchers ignored the impact of these changes and failed to account for them in reviews and definitions of reading comprehension. Their actions remind us how ideological and cultural hegemony reacts and recasts itself as “a shifting set of ideas by means of which dominant groups strive to secure the consent of subordinate groups to their leadership” (Strinati, 1995, p. 170). The discourse used by dominant groups in the past also continued to inform reading comprehension research and testing during this period. For instance, the philosophical assumptions that underpin reading comprehension research rest on the ability to isolate, or give the illusion of isolating it from the contexts in which it develops.
