ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the important role student interest plays in the learning process. Theories of motivation recognize how learning is fostered by social interaction. A. Taboada, J. T. Guthrie, and A. McRae describe literacy social interaction as "student interchanges and dialogues in a literacy situation with the purpose of supporting students' reading motivation". R. Fink points out that her research as well as that of others, including S. Hidi and K. A. Renninger and R. L. Lipstein and Renninger, demonstrates that motivation and skill performance go hand in hand, that cognitive aspects and motivational aspects of reading are equally important. Content area teachers can enhance both competence and confidence as they introduce and teach concepts and skills. The step toward a solution to student apathy or disinterest is to increase the breadth and depth of the reading and writing and learning that teachers and pre-service teachers do.
