Implement extensive reading via stand-alone courses, curricular components, or reading clubs, with self-report accountability and no comprehension testing¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The article recommends three integration routes: extracurricular reading clubs where curricula are rigid, a stand-alone ER class devoted to in-class silent sustained reading with the instructor reading too, and ER added to an existing course as in-class or homework reading. Accountability uses reading logs, reflections, book reports, or simple self-evaluations where "Completion of the task, rather than the accuracy of the comprehension questions, is what counts". Instructors are advised not to test comprehension because testing shifts focus away from pleasure reading.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Access to easy, interesting reading material at learners' proficiency levels
• Instructors willing to sacrifice some instructional time for silent sustained reading, especially when ER is first introduced

Constraints¶

• Implementation relies heavily on an honor system, creating an opportunity for students to lie or exaggerate self-reports
• Voluntary extracurricular reading is likely to succeed only with highly self-motivated learners already committed to reading

Target Learners¶

• college beginner and low-intermediate foreign language learners
• middle school and dual language program students

Target Learning Goals¶

• L2 reading fluency and proficiency
• positive attitudes toward reading
• lifelong reading habits

Affordances¶

• Extensive Reading Tenets Virtuous Circle Framework

Related Strategies¶

• Use art-based sharing, short reviews, interviews, and Book Wheels when students each read different books

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

• Hardy, J. E., & Rodrigo, V. (2025). Incorporating Extensive Reading into the Foreign Language Curriculum. Dimensions, 60. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1466517