Science-Backed Approach
What research says about reading to learn languages
Scientific studies consistently show that reading is one of the most effective methods for acquiring a new language. Here's what the experts have to say.
Incidental learning of words during reading may be the easiest and single most powerful means of promoting large-scale vocabulary growth.
William Nagy & Patricia Herman, 1987. Breadth and Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge
Reading is the only way, the only way we become good readers, develop a good writing style, an adequate vocabulary, advanced grammatical competence, and the only way we become good spellers.
Stephen Krashen, 1993. The Power of Reading
The best way to improve one’s knowledge of a foreign language is to go and live among its speakers. The next best way is to read extensively in it.
Christine Nuttall, 1982. Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language
Picking up word meanings by reading is 10 times faster than intensive vocabulary instruction.
Stephen Krashen, 1993. The Power of Reading
Extensive reading not only improves reading comprehension and increases vocabulary, but also improves grammatical performance and output.
Stephen Krashen, 1993. The Power of Reading
Reading outside class was the most significant predictor of oral communicative ability.
Huang & Van Naerssen, 1987. Learning strategies for oral communication, Applied Linguistics
Adding an extensive reading program to a language course is the most important improvement that a teacher can make, and if this was the only improvement made, the teacher could still feel very satisfied about that.
I.S.P. Nation, 2013. What Should Every EFL Teacher Know?
The best way to improve in a foreign language is to do a great deal of comprehensible, interesting reading... The case for self-selected reading for pleasure is overwhelming.
Beniko Mason, 1997. Extensive Reading in English as a Foreign Language
Reading the words in either the retrieval or inference context increased retention, compared to control words not included in the story.
van den Broek et al., 2022. Vocabulary Learning During Reading: Benefits of Contextual Inferences Versus Retrieval Opportunities, Cognitive Science
Extensive reading produced several results superior to a skills-focused reading course. The extensive reading program also gave the learners more enjoyment. The effects of extensive reading were thus both cognitive and affective.
Robb & Susser, 1989. Extensive reading vs. skills building in an EFL context, Reading in a Foreign Language
Less frequent words may best be learned by reading extensively, because there is just not enough time to learn them all through conscious study.
Norbert Schmitt, 2000. Vocabulary in Language Teaching
Subjects exposed to extensive reading achieved both significantly faster reading speeds and significantly higher scores on measures of reading comprehension.
Bell, 2001. Extensive Reading: Speed and Comprehension, The Reading Matrix
