Extensive Reading In English As A Foreign Language

1.	Because some of the studies supporting extensive reading have been done in the second language environment, is it viable in a foreign language acquisition environment? Will foreign language students who do extensive reading do as well as those in traditional classes?
2.	Some maintain that extensive reading will only benefit more successful and more motivated students, and will not help those who are unmotivated and who have not done well in language classes; these poor students, it is argued, lack the grammatical knowledge and vocabulary that is necessary for reading comprehension and enjoyment.
3.	Can extensive reading be enhanced by the use of output/writing activities in the foreign language?
4.	Is the effect of extensive reading reliable? As noted above, there is only a handful of studies supporting the use of extensive reading in second and foreign language acquisition.

Experiment 1: Extensive Reading And Reluctant Students of EFL

In this study, we investigate whether so-called "bad students" or failures in English as a foreign language (EFL) could improve with an extensive reading treatment.

Procedure

Subjects. Subjects were members of two intact EFL/reading classes at a women's university in Osaka, Japan, The comparison group consisted of second year students in the general education curriculum. The experimental class was designed for students who had failed EFL classes, termed a Sai Rishu (retakers) class. Students in this class were second, third and fourth year students. Both classes were held once a week for 90 min and were taught by the same teacher (B.M.).