ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the complex, dual position of reading as an academic domain within the larger developmental story traced by the Model of Domain Learning (MDL). Reading is central to learning in academic domains, but reading is also an academic domain in its own right, with its own bodies of domain and topic knowledge, its own form of individual interest, and its own trajectory of development over the lifespan. However, taking reading as an academic domain is not a straightforward matter, and its developmental path has discontinuities, as well as multiple branches. In particular, although reading competence involves cross-situational success in reading—being able to read well even when texts are unfamiliar or uninteresting, it also (according to the MDL) means the development of targeted, domain-specific knowledge about and interest in reading. The aim of this chapter is to spell out this complex story of reading development within the MDL, bringing together both theory and empirical data. On the basis of that analysis, some tentative conclusions about reading development are offered, critical methodological issues facing this line of research are identified, and a range of directions for future research are suggested.
