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Extensive Reading Central is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to developing an Extensive Reading and Extensive Listening approach to foreign and second language learning.

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Uh, oh. That book just came out.

Cancel all meetings. Postpone all plans with friends. Hire a dog/cat sitter for several days.

Do anything important now, because once that book is in your hands... nothing is going to get done.

Everyone has one of those books, right?

Books that you just cannot put down-no matter how much you try. You fall so deeply in love with the world the author has created for you, that you forget the actual world you're living in.

This sort of pleasurable adventure is just as possible in a foreign language as in your native one. If you've been hitting wall after wall trying to drag yourself through a book that you hardly understand, give extensivereading a try instead.

In extensive reading you should know at least 98% of the words on a page. In other words, it should feel like reading. You should have that wonderful feeling of being wrapped up in a story, unable to set the book down even to eat.

Unfortunately many of us have come to associate learning with unnecessary suffering. All those late night cram sessions seemed to pay off, so why should it be any different with language learning? Well actually, language learning can be enjoyable and effective. At least some of the time.

Why Extensive Reading Is the Key to Your Success

Reading and being able to understand something is good. Reading and being able to understand something quickly is even better. How do you get faster at reading? Read a lot. One study carried out by St. Luke's International University showed that students in an extensive reading program were able to significantly increase their reading speeds, while those in an intensive program-who read less but harder material-had zero gain in reading speed.

If that's not enough, extensive reading also has just about every other advantage you can imagine. Research seems to support the idea that extensive reading can lead to better reading comprehension, a larger vocabulary and a higher level of motivation. That last one is by no means the least important, since motivation is one of the key factors in how fast you develop.

Now, you could just pick up a book (at the appropriate level) and go to town on it. But if you really want to maximize your time spent on extensive reading, there are a few activities that are super effective. Let's look at eight of them:

8 Extensive Reading Activities for Language Learners Teaching Themselves

1. Prime your knowledge

This is a very basic activity that will make your extensive reading easier and more effective.

First, skim through roughly the amount of text you plan on reading. Maybe a chapter or two at a time. You're looking for any unknown words, but mostly the ones that appear over and over again. These are the words that are going to make it easy to understand the basic plot elements of the story or the basic argument of the article. Look up a basic definition for each. Then you can add context and feeling to the definition as you read and see the word in a sentence.

Next, read over the dust jacket summary and take a good look at the cover illustration if you're reading a book. If you're reading an article, read the headline and the subheadings. From this information alone, make a prediction about what the story or article will be about. This requires you to gather all the relevant vocab and background knowledge you have of the subject, making it easier to contextualize and understand what you're about to read.

2. Write book reports and book reviews

This one is probably self explanatory. When you finish a book, just write out a simple piece about it, including a basic summary and some of your own feelings about the text.

Writing something like this will help to create a personal understanding of the text by making you reread certain sections of the text to confirm that your understanding of the work is correct. Since this also serves as a test of your ability to recall details of the text, it'll be much more likely that you'll remember new vocab and grammar in the long-run.

To make sure you really put the effort in to comprehend what's going on, try publishing your review on a site like Goodreads or Amazon.

3. Do timed readings

Extensive reading is already a great way to get your reading speed up, but if you're still not as fast as you want to be, here's how to get better.

The simplest task is a timed read. Choose a set number of pages and set a stopwatch for a set amount of time. Of course, texts vary a lot. Sometimes there's a lot of dialogue and you can read it quickly without any problem. Other times it's full of difficult descriptions and you have to struggle to make it to the end. So try to pick a time that would be reasonably difficult but possible-whatever happens in the text.

A tweak on this activity is to pick a section, read it and time how long it takes you. Then when you've finished, reread that section, only now try to read it 20% faster. It goes without saying that you should try to read it quickly the first time, or else the second part of the activity won't be much of a challenge.

There's one other activity that's truly excellent for timed reads, but it can be a bit trickier. You'll have to find a partner who's learning the same language as you and is at about the same level of proficiency. Agree to read a set number of pages and race each other to see who finishes first. The person who finishes first should have to give a decent summary of what she or he read to prove that they really read it.

4. Join book club discussions

Just like in your native language, book club discussions can provide great motivation to make sure you actually read what you want to. They also allow you to hear other people's thoughts on the book that might have never occurred to you otherwise. This can be a wonderful way to go over confusing grammar or just make sure you're reading what you think you're reading. Sometimes it's easy to have an existential crisis about what's really on the page when you're reading a book in a foreign language all by yourself.

Besides the reasons above, book club discussions can be a great way to roll together speaking and reading practice. If you host your discussions in the language you're learning, you'll quickly be able hold a decent conversation about literature. And you'll probably have to do some quick scanning for passages you want to use. Being able to switch back and forth between different parts of language is always a valuable skill.

To find a book club, Meetup is always a great place to start. However, since most book clubs around seem to be in English, you can either try to read the book in your target language, or start a new club where everyone reads in the target language. This is probably easier than you think. Are you a member of a language group already? Do you have friends who are studying the same language? All you need to do is convince two or three people to join you, and you have a book club.

5. Create chain stories

This is another activity that requires a partner at about the same level of proficiency as you.

You and a partner choose two different books. It's probably more fun if they're on wildly different topics. Begin by reading the first chapter or a set number of pages from one book and have your partner do the same from the other book. When you've finished, you each to have to summarize what you've just read to the other person as clearly and in as much detail as you can.

Now switch books and read the next section. Even if your partner made mistakes, hopefully you can figure them out and have some fun correcting them.

6. Work on your creative writing

Had enough of summarizing the story? Why not try rewriting it? Creative writing based on what you've just finished reading can be a highly effective tool for solidifying those gains in vocab/grammar that you've made.

Perhaps the most fun time to do this is when you're faced with a terrible ending to an otherwise good story. We've all had this happen to us. We're blissfully turning page after page. We see that the number of pages is slowly dwindling down, but there doesn't seem to be anything in the narrative that suggests so. And then the story just ends, as if the author had never read an ending themselves. Now is your chance to do what needs to be done. Write what they should have written in the first place.

An enjoyable alternative to this activity is to take one chapter of a book and rewrite it in a different genre. Think "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" or "Android Karenina." The result can be hilariously entertaining.

And if you've gone through these activities a thousand times, you can always write a letter to a character in the book about something you agree or disagree with, trying to assume the same tone as the book. Done well, it can give you an entirely new connection to what you're reading.

7. Keep vocabulary journals

In addition to the vocabulary you pulled out from the text in the first activity, you can also keep a vocabulary journal for those words that you inevitably miss when you're skimming the text.

A vocabulary journal doesn't need to be fancy. When you see a new word or phrase that you think is important, write it down in your journal. If possible, add your own definition based on context clues and an example sentence. That way, when you look it up later you can see it in context again.

If you're learning French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese or German, you can also check out the web version of the MosaLingua app, which gives you pre-selected content to learn with, including authentic reading material, and allows you to look up words and phrases instantly with a translator tool. You can also turn vocabulary into flashcards to ensure you don't forget about it.

And when you're all finished with what you're reading, go back and try to write a summary that includes all of the words you recorded in your vocabulary journal.

8. Skim and scan

These two activities are for those with a dire wish to be able to read as fast as a native speaker.

For skimming, pick a chapter and read only the first and last sentence of each paragraph. When you've finished, write out a summary. Then read the text again slowly and see if there are any important details you've missed. If so, what strategies do you think you could use to skim the text more effectively without slowing down? Tinker with how you do your skimming until it seems like you can read anything in no time, and still be able to write the equivalent of a late night school essay.

But maybe you don't need to read the whole text. Maybe you just want to be able to find answers to specific questions as quickly as possible. That's where scanning comes in. For this, it's best if you can find readings that come with questions. Often times books that have been marked for book clubs will include questions in the back. Otherwise, you might try generating some of your own questions based on the topic of the book or chapter.

You don't have to try every one of these activities. Just grab the ones that stick out to you. After all, they're to be paired with extensive reading-that wonderfully joyous way to spend a lazy Sunday. Or any other day for that matter. For once, you can let the pressure go and just have fun, knowing that you'll be learning all the while.

And One More Thing...

FluentU gives you a chance to practice reading in a foreign language right along with your favorite videos!

FluentU takes real-world videos like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks, and turns them into language learning experiences. Just a quick look will give you an idea of the range of content available:

FluentU has interactive captions that let you tap on any word to see an image, definition, audio and useful examples. Now native language content is within reach with interactive transcripts.

Didn't catch something? Go back and listen again. Missed a word? Hover your mouse over the subtitles to instantly view definitions.

You can learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentU's "learn mode." Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you're learning.

And FluentU always keeps track of vocabulary that you're learning. It uses that vocab to give you a 100% personalized experience by recommending videos and examples.

Start using FluentU on the website with your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes store.

If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love FluentU, the best way to learn languages with real-world videos.
Sign up for free!

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You'll Love Soaking Up Foreign Language Books with These 8 Extensive Reading Activities

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Uh, oh. That book just came out.Cancel all meetings. Postpone all plans with friends. Hire a dog/cat sitter for several days.Do anything important now, because once that book is in your hands... nothing is going to get done.Everyone has one of those books, right?Books that you just c

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WEEK 4 Extensive Reading and CLIL connections

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Webinar for TESOL EVO 2017 - Techno CLIL

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To learn more about this innovative project, download Language, Literacy and Life Skills for the 21st Century: An Overview of the Read On! Project (PDF: 536 KB), or the Italian version, Sviluppare le competenze del 21° secolo (PDF: 228 KB)

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An Extensive Reading Program for Your ESL Classroom

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The Internet TESL Journal Mary Clarity
maryclarity[at]gmail.com
Victoria University of Wellington (Wellington, New Zealand)

Introduction

Frank Smith may have thought he was stating the obvious in 1975 when he uttered a statement almost prophetic in its simplicity: "We do learn to read by reading". (cited in Smith & Elley 1997) Certainly, research has confirmed that extensive reading is beneficial to the learners in terms of increasing print exposure (West and Stanovich; 1989), writing ability (Tsang: 1996), receptive and productive skills (Elley and Mangubhai: 1983) and vocabulary acquisition (though numbers vary widely; see Krashen 1993; Horst 1998; Laufer 2003 for some very different and interesting discussions). A strong empirical base has formed around extensive reading, but from personal experience (both my own and other teachers) it is not utilised as a standard part of general ESL curriculum. Below lies an implementation plan that teachers can use to kick start the reading in their classroom.

What is Extensive Reading?

Simply, extensive reading is reading a lot. It is also reading for pleasure. Extensive reading should be at a comfortable "easy" level for the student and the main goal is to read. They should not be reaching for a dictionary every sentence or even every paragraph. The goal is to create fluency and enjoyment in the reading process. Finally, extensive reading is something that should take place over a sustained period. Studies which have shown very impressive results are studies which have devoted a serious amount of time to an extensive reading programme. (Elley & Mangubhai: 1981)

This last point leads into issues associated with the implementation of extensive reading. Extensive reading is not a quick fix. It is not a band-aid over something unforeseen which crops up in class. Instead, it is something which will reveal its benefits slowly, and in a variety of ways.

The Context

The learners in my experience who would strongly benefit from an extensive reading programme are adult immigrant learners in an ESL context. Despite living in an English speaking country, they primarily interact within their ethnic and cultural communities. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the time spent in community classes is the majority of time they spend speaking English. An extensive reading programme appeals to me as their teacher for a variety of reasons.

Extensive reading can help to move the focus from "plug the gap" activities to actually fixing the problem. Instead of responding to only immediate problems they encounter, extensive reading can help with consolidating vocabulary, fluency, and strategies in an ongoing and natural manner.

By encouraging extensive reading in class and at home students spend more time learning English and this time is not dependent on a teacher.

Every class contains students who range in ability, especially in reading. Extensive reading with graded readers makes it much easier to cater to the various levels in the class. Not only are students having more time on task, but by choosing appropriate books they are learning at their own pace and level.

Often these learners have young children, so by increasing the reading ability of the parent, it increases the parent's ability to help their children.

Implementation Plan

Orientation to Extensive Reading

Students, teachers and the administration need to be introduced to what you plan to do in class. If other teachers are to be involved they must be positive about the program. Having the administration of your school / class on board is also important. If books are needed they administration could help supply the need, and if this isn't possible investigating local libraries or literacy societies is always useful.

Find Learner Level

Choose a series of graded readers which will match all the levels in your class. Ensure enough interesting books match each level.

Teacher / Learner / Text Interaction

The teacher must be positive about books and their own experience with reading; books should be introduced to the learners and displayed attractively; learner choice should always be guided by level and learner interest.

Read in Class

The teacher models and reads with students in class. This time should be relaxing, and the focus is on reading (not vocabulary or answering questions about the book.)

Ensure Purpose

Is the reading time enjoyable? Are there other activities in class which promote reading i.e. having a 'one book a week' goal, putting opinion slips in books for students to fill out, having linked discussion activities related to their reading material, announcing student voted book awards etc.

Support

In class introduce strategies which will help with their reading such as fluency and vocabulary techniques. A library orientation at the school or community library would be a valuable lesson and finally, ensuring that the students progress through the graded reader levels is always motivating.

Success, Confidence and Increased Proficiency

The result of a good implementation plan for extensive reading should be greater student autonomy. They should have the skills, knowledge and resources to strike out on their own.

Dilemmas, Attitudes and Resolutions

It is important to be conscious of issues that may arise when implementing an extensive reading programme. While every context varies, the following are important considerations which are necessary for any teacher, or proponent of extensive reading, to be aware of.

1. Problem: Reading Books Is "Too Hard"

Firstly, teachers may avoid asking students to read books because the learner's vocabulary is low. This, however, leads to a vicious cycle whereby learners do not have enough vocabulary to read, but there is not enough reading in order for learners to learn more words. As a consequence, students rarely associate reading with an enjoyable activity. Reading is viewed as 'too difficult', and texts they are given are often unimaginative and not conducive to enticing learners to read for pleasure (take a look at any low level course book and the reading passages there).

Solution

By using graded readers that have been chosen to match the reader's level, reading will no longer be viewed as a difficult task, and will help in building the reader's confidence. Graded come in multiple levels readers (Oxford and Cambridge have excellent choices and levels), with many different books at each level. This gives the students a lot of choice, and importantly, the ability to engage in English at the level perfect to them as individuals. The book can match the learner rather than the class, and for learners on either extreme of the reading ability in the class, this has got to be good news. Those who are bored with 'easy' class material can stretch themselves, and those who struggle can finally read without relying exclusively on translations. The reading material should consist of 98% known vocabulary (Nation & Hu: 2000), and focus is on meaning rather than language. This means that only 2 out of 100 words should be unknown to the reader. More than that and the reading can become work and not pleasure.

2. Problem: Reading Is Not Valued

If reading is not valued in the learner's own culture, if they don't have they skills to read in their own language, or if they simply don't enjoy reading, then these are major problems which are going to effect the successful implementation of a reading programme.

Solution

Number one of Ray Williams (1986) 'Top ten' principles for teaching reading is that "In the absence of interesting texts, very little is possible." In saying that, just buying books is not enough either. The books should be attractive, interesting, within the learners capabilities, displayed prominently, and discussed. Some students, especially those who feel as though time spent on extensive reading is 'doing nothing', will also need some outcome-based reasons for participating actively. With a class of immigrant adult learners in mind, I have a list of potential persuasions below, with both reference to research and my learners' specific situation.

Only reading will improve reading. The number of books read is the best prediction of several measures of reading achievement. (Anderson, Wilson and Fielding; 1988. cited in Elley &Smith 1997)

However, reading will also improve writing! (Tsang; 1996)

It will also help with speaking and control over syntax. (Elley; 1991)

Reading at home with the learners' young children will help towards the estimated 1000 hours of tutoring that typical middle class (L1) families provide for their children before school even starts. (Adams; 1990, cited in Grabe: 1995) By being a confident parental reader, your children will find school easier

You can read and improve English anywhere and anytime. There is no dependence on having a fellow speaker, listener, or audience.

3. Problem: Time

The final issue I see as being a stumbling block to the implementation of extensive reading is that of time, or the illusion of time. By 'illusion of time' I mean that I believe there is an assumption that learners can read at home, so it is unnecessary to take up classroom time with this type of activity. By prioritising time in the classroom, something that all teachers must do, it is likely that reading will be assigned as homework. This is not bad, but neither is it a good idea, especially in the initial stages of a reading programme. In order for students to value reading, and commit their personal time to reading, they must see that the teacher is willing to commit their class time to it. As Green (2005) noted upon analysing the Hong Kong Extensive Reading Scheme, reasons for unsuccessful implementation were:

Reading was simply not done in class

Reading was done, but there was no reading support in terms of help in choosing appropriate books, or conferencing.

There was no teacher model.

By being implemented from the 'top down' (the administration wanted a reading program), teachers at the bottom were not committed to it.

The atmosphere was 'austere' and violated the 'reading for pleasure' principle.

Solution

Obviously, spending time in class, particularly when introducing extensive reading to the students, is important. Students will need assistance in deciding their initial reading level should graded readers be used, pre-reading discussion is very important (Tsang 1996), and linking other in class activities with reading such as pair, group or class discussions on books that have been read will all help increase the importance of reading in the eyes of the student. The idea that students will simply start taking books home to read, and actually read them without sufficient orientation to the objectives, is a hopeful but probably unrealistic, fallacy.

4. Ongoing Motivation

Some students will need a motivating goal beyond just 'reading' and this can be difficult to balance with the idea that reading should be for pleasure. Some great ideas could be:

Put opinion slips in the back of a book. When students finish the book they can make a comment about whether they liked it or not, if they thought it was easy or hard, or if they want to read it again. Other students can check these opinion slips before they read and see if they agree or disagree.

Book awards can be held at the end of a school term and the students can vote on their favorite books. You can have best fiction, non-fiction, adventure categories to suit your readers.

After reading a book students can sit in pairs and talk about the stories. As an informal discussion, students can really enjoy this. If your students struggle to speak then begin with prompts on the board; My book was about / I really liked (disliked) it because / My favorite character was...

Having a goal number of books per week can be motivating for some students, though be careful not to make it a strenuous goal to reach. Remember that ultimate goal is to enjoy reading.

Conclusion

Based upon a teaching situation I am familiar with, I have aimed to show how an extensive reading programme could be introduced and implemented into an adult community education classroom. As someone who has always believed in the value of reading personally, it is interesting to note that I was a sceptic when it came to the idea of extensive reading in an ESL classroom. However; if the programme is managed in an effective, positive, and ongoing manner, extensive reading may be one of the most valuable lessons in learning you will ever teach.

References:

Elley, W.B. and Mangubhai, F. (1981) 'The Impact of a book flood in Fiji Primary Schools'. New Zealand Council for Educational Research, Wellington.

Elley, W. B. (1991) 'Acquiring literacy in a second language: the effect of book-based programs' Language Learning 41, 3

Grabe, W. (1995) 'Dilemmas for the development of second language reading abilities'.Prospect 10, 2: 38-51

Green, C. (2005). 'Integrating extensive reading in the task-based curriculum'. ELT Journal. Volume 59 / 4 October

Horst, M., Cobb, T., Meara, P. (1998) 'Beyond a Clockwork Orange: Acquiring Second Language Vocabulary Through Reading'. Reading in a Foreign Language; v11 n2 p207-23 Spring

Krashen, S. (1993) The power of reading : insights from the research

Laufer, B. (2003). 'Vocabulary Acquisition in a Second Language: Do Learners Really Acquire Most Vocabulary by reading? Some Empirical Evidence' Canadian Modern Language Review. Vol. 59 No.4 June

Nation, P. & Hu, M. (2000) 'Unknown Vocabulary Density and Reading Comprehension,' Reading in a Foreign Language, vol. 13

Smith, J.W. & Elley, W.B. (1997) 'How children learn to read: insights from the New Zealand experience' Longman, Auckland, New Zealand

Stanovich, K.E. & West, R.F. (1989) 'Exposure to Print and Orthographic Processing'. Reading Research Quarterly, Vol. 24. No. 4. Autumn

Tsang, W. (1996) 'Comparing the Effects of Reading and Writing on Writing Performance.' Applied Linguistics. Volume 17, Number 2

Williams, R. (1986) 'Top ten' principles for teaching reading.' ELT Journal 40 (1)

The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. XIII, No. 8, August 2007
http://iteslj.org/ http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Clarity-ExtensiveReading.html

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An Extensive Reading Program for Your ESL Classroom

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The Internet TESL Journal Mary Claritymaryclarity[at]gmail.comVictoria University of Wellington (Wellington, New Zealand) Frank Smith may have thought he was stating the obvious in 1975 when he uttered a statement almost prophetic in its simplicity: "We do learn to read by reading".