Abstract:

This study explores the objectives, effects, and drawbacks of a semester-long Extensive Reading program among Thai university students. The extensive reading program was piloted as a means to develop reading fluency and general language competence. Participants are emerged in constant reading and get familiar with long English texts to improve reading proficiency. Twenty-five students from Thai university participated in this semester-long project in order to enhance their English communication skills through reading. Students were required to read at least 3,000 headwords each week in 10 consecutive weeks following graded reading materials as a standard set for this program. Also, they were required to submit a weekly book report and give oral report on an alternate basis. Students read books based on the chosen genres starting with beginner to fluent level. Several positive impacts were observed including improvement on the reading ability and fluency as well as development in reading habit. Despite some drawbacks, student feedbacks showed the program motivated the participants and served as a springboard to develop communication skills in English.

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