Effect of Extensive Reading on Incidental Vocabulary Retention

AbstractThis study addresses the role of extensive reading on vocabulary retention. Much has been written, on both theoretical and empirical levels, about the idea of extensive reading and the suggestion that some kind of extensive reading activities need to be incorporated into second language (L2) communicative contexts. However, this article will first elaborate on the need to utilize extensive readings in our pedagogy and L2 teachings. Pedagogical possibilities and strategies will then be suggested, and examples provided of tasks that may help to realize this goal in classroom contexts. Relevant empirical evidence on the effectiveness of such tasks will be presented and discusse