Results

Table 1 presents means for the pre- and post-test and gain scores. As expected, the comparison group outperformed the experimental group on the pre-test, but inspection of post-test scores shows that the experimental group nearly made up the gap between the groups.

The gains made by the experimental group were significantly greater than the gains made by the comparison group (t = 2.269, df = 38, p < 0.025).

Perhaps the most important and impressive finding of this study is the clear improvement in attitude shown by the experimental students. Many of the once reluctant students of EFL became eager readers. Several wrote in their diaries that they were amazed at their improvement. Their diaries also indicated that they understood the stories. Also of interest is our observation that students did not progress linearly from easy to harder books. Some students read easier books after reading some more difficult tests, and then returned later to harder books.

Discussion

The clear gains made by the experimental group are quite consistent with previous reports of the positive effect of extensive reading on second language acquirers. Taken in isolation, however, these results of this study are, at best, suggestive. It is a study of only two classrooms, only one measure was used, and one of the experimenters taught both sections.

Experiment 2 was designed to establish the reliability of the effect of extensive reading with two additional groups, one from a prestigious university and one from a junior college. This time, the experimenter taught only the extensive reading section, and the treatment was lengthened to one academic year.

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