Design features of this experimental study addressed the limitations in previous research into the impact of extensive reading on reading rate development. The findings provide evidence of the effectiveness and efficiency of extensive reading as a pedagogical tool over grammar translation activities and offer implications for teachers and curriculum administrators.
Pedagogical interventions to support more effective foreign language learning should be underpinned by evidence from solid research. Previous investigations into the development of reading rates through extensive reading (ER) have faced several design challenges. Limitations in previous studies have included: unequal time on task (Iwahori, 2008; Robb & Susser, 1989), no evidence of comprehension (Bell, 2001; Mason & Krashen, 1997), limited reading quantities (Taguchi, Takayasu-Maas, & Gorsuch, 2004), different pre- and posttests (Huffman, 2014), and quasi-experimental design (Beglar, Hunt, & Kite, 2012). To overcome the tradition of grammar translation used in instruction and to argue for broader inclusion of extensive reading as a pedagogical tool to develop foreign language reading skills, empirical studies with a more robust research design are needed. This presentation outlines an intervention study designed to address these limitations which investigated the impacts of extensive reading and grammar translation on reading rate development. In the experimental design of this quantitative study, 1st-year Japanese university students (N=50) were randomly assigned to their treatment group. Reading rate improvements over an academic year were determined by pre and posttreatment measurements with evidence that comprehension was maintained above 70%. The t-test findings revealed that ER participants increased their reading rate significantly relative to grammar translation participants, where both groups spent similar amounts of time conducting their treatments as homework. This study therefore provides evidence of both the effectiveness and efficiency of developing reading rates through ER relative to grammar and translation exercises. Policy and pedagogy implications include supporting administrators and teachers with expanding ER in curricula and questioning the dominance of grammar translation in EFL contexts. For researchers, this presentation highlights how the challenges of conducting experimental reading studies, with convenience samples from intact classes, can be addressed while also accounting for similar amounts of time spent on treatment tasks.
