To investigate the role of context in reading development, a comparison of reading comprehension and processes was conducted between learners of Japanese as a second language in study abroad (SA; n = 15) and intensive domestic (in the United States) immersion (IM; n = 15) contexts. A significant difference was found between contexts in pretest to posttest gains on only one measure of reading comprehension, a self-assessment. Differences on the two other measures of comprehension--free-recall and vocabulary knowledge--were not significant. The self-assessment measure indicated that SA students felt more confident reading the second language than their IM counterparts. In terms of reading processes, think-aloud protocols showed significant differences in changes over time in the amount of monitoring understanding (less for IM than SA) and responding and reacting to text content affectively or emotionally (more for IM than SA). In the IM context, office-hour interaction with teachers influenced students to monitor comprehension less and more efficiently and to respond affectively to text more often. Variability in terms of gains on reading measures and contact with language and culture outside of class was greater for SA than for IM. The controlled IM setting and the open SA context contributed to differences in variability. The need for a variety of new measures designed to capture gains specific to any given context is discussed and specific suggestions for new measures are given. (Contains 1 footnote.)