Extensive Reading in English as Foreign Language by Adolescents and Young Adults: A Meta-Analysis
Stephen Krashen (2007)
International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 3(2): 23–29. (2007) Also in: Free Voluntary Reading, S. Krashen, 2011. Libraries Unlimited
A review of studies of extensive reading adolescents and young adults studying English as a foreign language revealed a strong and consistent positive effect for both tests of reading comprehension and cloze tests. Students provided with more access to reading (titles per student) did significantly better on tests of reading comprehension, but there was no relationship between access and performance on cloze tests.
Despite the consistently positive results of extensive reading programs, there still seem to be doubts as to its effectiveness: Study after study says it works, but very few language programs have adopted it. This paper takes another look at the research, focusing on studies of extensive reading using adolescent and adult students of English as a foreign language. Older students of English as a foreign language (EFL) students are an appropriate group to study for both practical and theoretical reasons. Mastery of English is, of course, crucial for nearly all activities that involve any kind of international communication. Also, focusing on foreign language