Extensive Reading

ELT Concept #7 – Extensive Reading

Amelyn Thompson – 1 July 2021

What is it?

Extensive reading (ER) is essentially reading regularly for pleasure. Reading materials are easy and the goal is to build fluency (Renandya, 2016, p.32). Texts are longer (such as graded readers) and should be chosen by the students themselves as they know their own interests best.

ER can be implemented in class at first with the teacher as a model, and then it should hopefully become a hobby that students continue in their free time (Ewert, 2017, p. 5). A target of 200 000 words overall is associated with gains in reading scores (Ewert, 2017, p.10). There is no formal assessment on comprehension but students can do activities such as a reading log, a poster, or a roleplay. Ideally, ER should go hand-in-hand with intensive reading in a curriculum.

Why is it important?

Based on Krashen’s comprehension hypothesis, it is a good way for students to receive input outside of class (Ellis, 2005). Repetition and fluency will ease their processing load. It is also effective in building vocabulary knowledge implicitly. Reading regularly will allow students to acquire a large vocabulary base. Class time is not enough for students to acquire the 3000 most frequent words (which account for 80% of spoken and written language), to say nothing of the less frequent words (Ewert, 2017). ER will allow multiple opportunities to encounter these words in context over time, which will help in acquisition.

It is also important because despite the known benefits, teachers or schools do not often implement ER in the curriculum. Firstly, they may be confused with intensive reading, where shorter and more difficult texts are read with specific goals of comprehension and reading skills (such as vocabulary in context or making inferences). Secondly, there are practical concerns such as budgetary constraints, limited resources, and parents’ or students’ attitudes as they may prefer teachers to focus on test-taking skills.

My Reflection

The idea of implementing ER in the curriculum is a good wake-up call for me. I am aware of the positive correlation between reading and vocabulary acquisition. However, I often focus on direct vocabulary instruction and intensive reading in class.

When I plan lessons on reading skills, I often think about how to teach intensive reading skills, such as understanding vocabulary in context, making inferences based on the text, and paraphrasing skills. These are necessary but not likely to encourage reading in students’ free time. I should try to incorporate extensive reading alongside intensive reading.

There are other avenues to be explored, even with real limitations in the form of time and budget constraints. For instance, I now ask about students’ reading habits and interests in their own language. In addition, I can be a good reading model by introducing my own favourite genres or book series in English, and I have encouraged students to make use of library materials to find materials that would interest them in the target language. In particular, narrow reading of popular series might be effective (Renandya, Krashen, & Jacobs, 2018) as students self-select materials that interest them, and will be motivated to keep reading with each new book in the series.

ELT Concept 6 – Deductive Approach

Deductive Approach

References

Ellis, R. (2005). Principles of instructed language learning. System, 33(2), 209-224.

Ewert, D. (2017). Getting ER into the Curriculum: No More Excuses!. CATESOL Journal, 29(2), 5-20.

Renandya, W.A. (2017). Should You Be Teaching Reading Intensively or Extensively?. In D. Shaffer & M. Pinto (Eds.), KOTESOL Proceedings 2016: Shaping the Future: With 21st Century Skills (pp 31-39). Seoul: KOTESOL.

Renandya, W. A., Krashen, S., & Jacobs, G. M. (2018). The potential of series books: How narrow reading leads to advanced L2 proficiency. LEARN Journal: Language Education and Acquisition Research Network, 11(2), 148-154.