Extensive reading shows small-to-medium significant positive effects on every measured language domain, including vocabulary, reading comprehension, and general proficiency¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesis r3 · q3
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Interventions had small to medium, significant positive effects on all effect measures (reading comprehension, vocabulary, decoding/fluency, motivation, writing, oral proficiency, general language proficiency). → Sangers 2025

Evidence¶

Sangers 2025¶

Sangers, N. L., van der Sande, L., Welie, C., Dobber, M., & van Steensel, R. (2025). Learning a Language Through Reading: A Meta-analysis of Studies on the Effects of Extensive Reading on Second and Foreign Language Learning. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-025-10068-6

q3 · i? · quant-synthesis · r3

Random-effects moderator analysis over all effect measures combined; Table 1 reports per-domain effect sizes, with vocabulary (k = 31) and general language proficiency (k = 9) among the larger estimates and significant Q-statistics indicating heterogeneity for all outcomes. Listening, speaking and grammar were combined into one oral proficiency measure because they were rarely measured.

"The interventions had small to medium, significant positive effects on all effect measures, as shown in Table 1."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Reading and Language — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• Interventions targeting different reading and skill content domains show mostly small differences, with average effect sizes of 0.14–0.22 all statistically significant — a broader claim this one bears on
• Extensive reading has a small, significant positive effect on second and foreign language skills (d = 0.41 across 86 experimental comparisons; d = 0.38 for the 82 immediate-posttest comparisons) — a narrower finding that bears on this claim