Establishing an Extensive Reading Program in a Chinese as a Foreign Language Context

Extensive reading (ER) has been widely practiced in teaching English as a foreign or second language contexts. However, reports on how ER was practiced in Chinese as a foreign or second language (L2) contexts are not commonly seen. This study reports how an ER program was established in a liberal arts college in the U.S.A, and how ER affected L2 Chinese readers’ reading attitudes. The study also examined L2 Chinese learners’ perceptions of language abilities improved through ER, and their enjoyment of ER activities. Data were collected over thirteen weeks through pre- and post-reading attitude surveys, weekly ER activities, and the end of the semester reflections. The findings suggest ER significantly improved L2 Chinese readers’ confidence in reading Chinese and devotion to learning Chinese. Some students also perceived that ER improved their reading fluency, reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, character recognition, writing, speaking, and listening skills.