research papers on extensive reading

Extensive Reading

• First Online: 13 January 2022

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• Willy A. Renandya 3 &
• Yuseva Iswandari 4  

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Extensive reading is an approach to language teaching that aims to facilitate second language acquisition by immersing L2 learners with large amounts of interesting and comprehensible language. In extensive reading, students choose what they want to read, how they want to read it and what they want to do with it after they have finished reading.

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Day, R. R., & Robb, T. (2015). Extensive reading. In D. Nunan & J. C. Richards (Eds.), Language learning beyond the classroom (pp. 3–12). Routledge.

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Jeon, E.-Y., & Day, R. R. (2016). The effectiveness of ER on reading proficiency: A meta-analysis. Reading in a Foreign Language, 28 (2), 246–265.

Krashen, S. Lee, S. Y., & Lao, C. (2017). Comprehensible and compelling: The causes and effects of free voluntary reading. Libraries Unlimited. ABC-CLIO, LLC.

Nakanishi, T. (2015). A meta-analysis of extensive reading research. TESOL Quarterly, 49 (1), 6–37.

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Renandya, W. A., & Jacobs, G. M. (2002). Extensive reading: Why aren’t we all Doing it? In J. C. Richards & W. A. Renandya (Eds.), Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice (pp. 295–302). Cambridge University Press.

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English Language and Literature, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

Willy A. Renandya

English Language Education, Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Yuseva Iswandari

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Correspondence to Willy A. Renandya .

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European Knowledge Development Institute, Ankara, Türkiye

Hassan Mohebbi

Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), Dubai Men’s College, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Christine Coombe

The Research Questions

How can a balance between extensive reading and intensive reading be achieved in a second language programme?

What are L2 students and teachers’ beliefs and practices of extensive reading?

Does reading digital graded readers result in students doing more reading compared to reading non-digital graded readers?

What is the effect of narrow reading on reluctant readers’ reading motivation?

What are some of the key factors that may weaken the impact of extensive reading on L2 students’ overall language proficiency?

How can extensive reading be implemented in low resource environments?

Is extensive reading equally beneficial for lower and higher proficiency students?

How much reading is needed before students can reap the full benefit of extensive reading?

What’s the effect of a one year extensive reading programme on L2 students’ academic writing proficiency?

How does home literacy culture affect the practice of extensive reading in school?

Suggested Resources

Day, R. R. & Bamford, J. (1998). Extensive reading in the second language classroom . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

This is a highly recommended book for those who need a comprehensive account of extensive reading. It provides a historical account of extensive reading in the context of English as a second and foreign language, explains the theories behind extensive reading and summarizes the empirical evidence that supports its implementation in the language classroom. Day and Bamford argue convincingly for the inclusion of extensive reading in language teaching and provide a valuable and practical guide to implementing it in a L2 curriculum.

Extensive Reading Foundation website: www.erfoundation.org

The Extensive Reading Foundation website provides a wealth of online resources for language teachers and researchers. Teachers can find useful online resources on how to start an extensive reading programme, how to find relevant reading materials, how to nurture a reading culture in school and how to seek advice from extensive reading scholars. The website houses a large annotated bibliography containing abstracts of over 600 books, journal articles, book chapters, theses and dissertations related to extensive reading in second and foreign language learning contexts.

Jeon, Eun-Young., & Day, R. R. (2016) . The effectiveness of ER on reading proficiency: A meta-analysis . Reading in a Foreign Language , 28(2), 246–265.

This is an important meta-analysis study involving more than 70 empirical research studies published from 1980 to 2014 that examined the impact of extensive reading on reading proficiency (reading rate, comprehension and vocabulary). The authors found that the effect was largely positive, ranging from small to medium effect sizes. The study also found that (1) the effect of extensive reading was more pronounced for adults than children and teenagers; (2) the effect of extensive reading was higher in EFL than in ESL contexts (3) web-based materials produced a stronger effect than print-based materials. Finally, extensive reading produced the highest impact when implemented as an integral part of a curriculum (than as an extracurricular activity or an independent reading course).

Krashen, S. (2004). The power of reading . Heinemann and Libraries Unlimited (second edition).

In this book, Krashen builds a compelling case for self-selected extensive reading by reviewing hundreds of empirical research studies conducted in the past decades. He argues that self-selected reading often has strong effects on the reading development of a wide range of language learners; children, teenagers, older adults and second language learners can benefit a great deal from narrow and wide reading. He calls for schools to relook at their literacy programmes, urging them to fill school libraries with a rich collection of high interest books that cater to the diverse needs of their students.

Nakanishi, T. (2015). A Meta-Analysis of Extensive Reading Research.  TESOL Quarterly , 49(1), 6–37.

This is another important meta-analysis of extensive reading research that explored the overall impact of extensive reading on language learning. The study included 34 empirical studies from 1997 to 2012, designed to answer two major research questions: whether learners’ age had an impact on learning and whether length of time had an effect of test scores. The overall impact was largely positive. The effect size was medium (d = 0.46) for the group contrasts and larger (d = 0.71) for the pretest–posttest comparisons. Older participants enjoyed a higher level of language learning benefits compared to younger ones, and participants who stayed longer in the extensive reading programme. Based on the findings, the author suggested that there was sufficient evidence to include extensive reading in the L2 curriculum.

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Renandya, W.A., Iswandari, Y. (2021). Extensive Reading. In: Mohebbi, H., Coombe, C. (eds) Research Questions in Language Education and Applied Linguistics. Springer Texts in Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79143-8_81

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79143-8_81

Published : 13 January 2022

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Extensive Reading Research in the EFL Classroom of China: A Qualitative Meta-Analysis

Shuyan Wang is a lecturer at the School of Foreign Languages, Shanxi Normal University. She received her PhD from the Department of English Education, Chung-Ang University. Her research interests include second language teaching and intercultural communication.

Heyoung Kim is a professor at the Department of English Education, Chung-Ang University, Republic of Korea. Her research interests include second language teaching and multimedia-assisted language teaching.

Extensive reading has long been applied in the English as a foreign language classroom in China, but the fundamental theories and practical instruction are not satisfactory. The study aims to synthesize and examine extensive reading studies over the past fifty years (1962-2019) from a holistic perspective. By performing a qualitative meta-analysis, a total of 81 articles published in widely accepted journals were carefully coded and analyzed. Three latent problems emerged, including that 1) most extensive reading researchers misunderstand the inherent characteristic of extensive reading (i. e., pleasure reading) and less frequently follow the principles of extensive reading instruction; 2) there are methodological weaknesses in empirical research designs, and; 3) research scope is limited regarding participants and methodology. Suggestions for extensive reading research and instruction are included.

About the authors

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Acknowledgments

We deeply appreciate anonymous reviewers ’ insightful comments on the previous versions of this study as well as editors ’ generous support.

© 2021 FLTRP, Walter de Gruyter, Cultural and Education Section British Embassy

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