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Extensive reading, also referred to as pleasure reading (Mikulecky, 1990), fun-reading (Hermes, 1984) or free voluntary reading (Krashen, 1993) is recognised as one of the reading styles applied in the EFL classroom. Bamford and Day (2004, p. 1), experts in the field of extensive reading, define it as follows:

Extensive reading is an approach to language teaching in which learners read a lot of easy material in the new language. They choose their own reading material and read it independently of the teacher. They read for general, overall meaning, and they read for information and enjoyment. They are encouraged to stop reading if the material is not interesting or if it is too difficult. They are also encouraged to expand their reading comfort zone – the range of material that can be read easily with confidence.

Following this and similar definitions (Davis, 1995; Renandya, 2007), frequent reading of a large quantity of text(s) is at the heart of extensive reading. Furthermore, in extensive reading projects, reading is conducted for the sake of pleasure. In contrast to intensive reading, extensive reading does not aim at close analysis but rather at a global understanding of the texts.

Day and Bamford (1998, pp. 7–8) summarise the key principles of extensive reading in the following list:

1 Students read as much as possible, perhaps in and definitely out of the classroom.

2 A variety of materials on a wide range of topics is available so as to encourage reading for different reasons and in different ways.

3 Students select what they want to read and have the freedom to stop reading material that fails to interest them.

4 The purposes of reading are usually related to pleasure, information, and general understanding. These purposes are determined by the nature of the material and the interests of the student.

5 Reading is its own reward. There are few or no follow-up exercises after reading.

6 Reading materials are well within the linguistic competence of the students in terms of vocabulary and grammar. Dictionaries are rarely used while reading because the constant stopping to look up words makes fluent reading difficult.

7 Reading is individual and silent, at the students’ own pace, and, outside class, done when and where the student chooses.

8 Reading speed is usually faster rather than slower as students read books and other materials they find easily understandable.

9 Teachers orient students to the goals of the program, explain the methodology, keep track of what each student reads, and guide students in getting the most out of the program.

10 The teacher is a role model of a reader for the students – an active member of the classroom reading community, demonstrating what it means to be a reader and the rewards of being a reader.

Although this list is commonly referred to in publications in the field, it has to be noted that the application of extensive reading usually varies according to the context in which the individual project is conducted; not all the principles are always followed. I also adapted my extensive reading project design to the specific needs of my study (see Chapter 5.5). Nevertheless, the key principles of extensive reading as listed in the literature require further elaboration.

The essence of the extensive reading approach is that students read a lot in the foreign language. Therefore, in extensive reading projects students need to be exposed to a large amount of reading material. They should be allowed to select their own reading material according to their own interests. Depending on the individual design of the project, pre-selection of texts on the part of the teacher or researcher, may, however, be necessary. For Day and Bamford (1998, p. 53) interesting content and appropriate linguistic level are major criteria when selecting suitable reading material for an extensive reading project. They point out that

for the purposes of developing reading fluency and confidence, second language students need to read interesting, understandable materials that are basically at the i minus 1 level,1 that is, below their linguistic ability.

They therefore plead for the use of both language learning literature and children’s fiction in extensive reading projects.

Since extensive reading requires students to read a lot, students need to do a substantial part of it outside the classroom. In order to be effective, however, time should also be set aside for students to read extensively in class. Harris and Sipay (1990, p. 656, qtd. in Day and Bamford 1998, p. 90) raise the following question: “If we do not demonstrate that reading is a worthwhile activity by providing school time, how can we expect children to value reading?” By giving students time in class to read extensively, value is placed on the activity of reading. In addition, the opportunity is created to assist students in their reading process. Therefore, reading lessons or phases of silent reading are often part of extensive reading programmes.

It is debated whether pre-/while-/post-activities during the extensive reading process are useful or rather distract from the pleasure of reading. For Krashen (1993, p. 23), reading alone provides the necessary input for language learning: “Reading is the only way, the only way [sic] we become good readers, develop a good writing style, an adequate vocabulary, advance grammar, and the only way we become good spellers”. He does not consider output to have any effect on learners’ ability. Day and Bamford (1998, p. 140) mention no or very few follow-up activities as one of the key principles of extensive reading. Reading should be considered its own reward, they argue: “Ideally, […] no postreading work should be required, the act of reading being its own reward. Students read and that is all” (ibid.). Other scholars, however, also point to the importance of follow-up activities in extensive reading programmes. In their review of Day & Bamford’s Extensive Reading in the Second Language Classroom, Renandya, Jacobs and Yu (1998, p. 189) criticise the authors for downplaying the importance of follow-up activities and state: “We agree that students should see reading as a rewarding experience in and of itself, but we feel that postreading activities have an important role in ER [extensive reading]”. They consider follow-up activities particularly helpful for readers who are not yet very experienced.

A central principle of extensive reading is learner autonomy and, therefore, extensive reading may be considered especially productive in the context of constructivist approaches (see also Chapter 2.6). In an extensive reading project, the teacher or educator withdraws from her/his role as an instructor and acts as a guide on the side instead. This stepping back on the part of the teacher/educator strengthens the autonomy and self-responsibility of the learners. By providing students with a variety of different texts, a rich learning environment is created for them, which constructivists consider essential for the students’ process of meaning construction. In addition to this, extensive reading is an approach that takes the individuality of every student into account, as the students are given the opportunity to choose the texts according to their own level of language proficiency and interest. In this way, the students’ subjective needs may be catered for.

Extensive reading can also be linked to the discourse of postmodernism (see Chapter 2.4) and intertextuality in the foreign language classroom (see Hallet, 2002, 2007; Genetsch & Hallet, 2010). According to Hallet, teaching approaches should reflect the complexity and diversity of discourses appropriately. He therefore pleads for a combination of texts in foreign language teaching:

Die Bedeutung eines Textes erschließt sich nicht aus diesem selbst heraus, sondern im Zusammenspiel mit anderen Texten und Diskursen. Ein Text wird aus dem Blickwinkel anderer Texte beleuchtet, seine Merkmale und Besonderheiten, darunter inhaltliche wie gender, race und class, aber auch strukturelle und erzählerische treten erst im Vergleich mit anderen Texten deutlich hervor. [The meaning of a text does not become accessible by itself, but in the interplay with other texts and discourses. A text is illuminated by the perspective from another text, its features and characteristics, including content-related aspects such as gender, race and class, but also structural and narrative only become apparent clearly when they are compared with other texts.] (2002, p. 99; my translation)

Following Hallet, the limitations of single literary texts have repeatedly been pointed out in the context of cultural learning: “As each text only entails a limited insight to a culture, it only offers a single representation to which counter-representations can often be found” (Alter, 2015, p. 45). It can be expected that the framework of an extensive reading project that calls for the integration of various texts and, therefore, may include different representations and counter-representations is particularly fruitful for cultural and global learning.