Reading rate gains during a one-semester extensive reading course

Abstract

Extensive reading (ER) is an effective way to provide large amounts of comprehensible input to foreign language learners, but many teachers and administrators remain unconvinced, and it has been argued that there is still insufficient evidence to support the claims that have been made regarding its benefits. Few studies have looked at ER’s effect on reading fluency. This article reports on an investigation of the reading rate gains of Japanese nursing college freshmen during a one-semester ER course, with students in an intensive reading (IR) course serving as the comparison group (N = 66). The ER group achieved significantly higher reading rate gains (20.73 wpm) than the IR group (-.62 wpm), without sacrificing comprehension. These results add to a growing body of empirical evidence of the effectiveness of ER.