Extensive reading has for many years been seen as an important and motivating means of improving general language proficiency in a second language. This article argues that while extensive reading per se is an important medium for long-term second language acquisition, extensive reading schemes may not be the most effective means of promoting acquisition. This argument springs from the disappoi...

This study, situated in an EFL context, aimed at discovering the ways purposes behind reading activities  influence  vocabulary  knowledge  gain  and  retrieval.  Seventy  five  elementary  learners of  English  were  randomly  assigned  to  three  groups  of  ‘free  reading’,  ‘reading  comprehension’ and ‘reading to summarize’. A modified text was administered to all the three groups. The dat...