5.4 Conclusion

Academic disciplines are "largely a constellation of certain types of discourse" and "what counts as knowing a discipline is the ability to participate successfully in the discourses of that discipline" (Hasan, 1996, p. 398). This means that to successfully engage with these disciplines, students must develop reading proficiency, among other competencies. They need support in developing the skills and strategies for effectively engaging with academic texts of different types, sufficient richness, and increasing complexity. Such support can be provided through what Hammond (2006, 2014) referred to as "high-challenge, high-support" instructional programs, where teachers regularly engage students in close reading of challenging texts with complex language patterns. Although time consuming, close reading is a worthwhile undertaking. It can be an exciting and enriching experience that helps students develop keen discursive insights about how language works as a creative resource for making meaning. These insights are essential to the development of fluent, independent, and critical readers who are capable of comprehending, evaluating, renovating, and communicating knowledge across disciplines.(https://www.daowen.com)