In an ongoing English reading course at a Chinese higher vocational college, a variety of extensive reading programs have been carried out. Students’ homework, feedback and the results from course questionnaire indicate that some are motivated to read and many find the course interesting and inspiring.

To motivate learners, reading content must instill genuine interest. We need to feel a connection to the material which makes us want to find out more. This paves the way for a lifelong, sustainable - and enjoyable - reading habit. In this session, featuring examples from National Geographic Learning graded readers, we will discover six elements that inspire English learners to go beyond a superficial glance at a passage to explore and analyze the text.

Reading literacy is significant for learners’ academic success, and high levels of reading literacy can be established through strong engagement in extensive reading. This study, thus, investigated lower secondary school learners’ habits and attitudes toward extensive reading. The data were collected from 377 learners in North Wollo Zone, Ethiopia, using a survey questionnaire. Descriptive (frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation) and inferential (independent samples t-test) statistics were used to analyze the data. The findings of the study indicated that majority of the learners’ habit of extensive reading was poor: a great majority of them did not read any book over the last year, and most of them did not read for pleasure every day at all. The finding of the study also showed that most of the learners’ attitudes toward extensive reading was not favourable, and they mostly read for academic purposes. It was also found that there was no significant difference between gender and age of learners regarding their extensive reading habits and attitudes. Lack of appropriate reading materials, low English ability, and lack interest in reading are the major factors that affect learners’ leisure reading habits. Based on the results, it can be suggested that integrating extensive reading programme (accessibility of a wide range of interesting reading materials based on the learners’ linguistic level and interest) in input-poor English as a Foreign Language contexts like Ethiopia is essential to promote learners’ extensive reading habits and develop positive attitudes toward (extensive) reading.

The study aims to investigate whether extensive reading (ER) can promote university students’ English reading motivation and foster positive attitude towards reading in English. It further explores the teachers’ perceptions of and the challenges faced in the implementation of ER activities. An ER program was held for eight weeks at two public universities in Thailand. Teacher’s observation and student’s log were applied to collect some insightful data. After the ER program ended, focus group interview were conducted with some students randomly and six lecturers from the participating schools who were involved in the ER program. The majority of the students from both institutions expressed positive attitudes towards the ER program. However, students with different knowledge levels of English expressed diverse opinions regarding ER practice and expectation towards English test achievement. While most of the lecturers realized the usefulness of ER, some of them were still worried about the time consuming and extra workload. Although the reflection on ER was varied in some aspects, there was a consensus about the benefits of ER in promoting English language learning among learners and teachers. Therefore, the study suggested to some degree the plausibility of implementing ER in the country like Thailand where ER is not well known.