A lot of research evidence has shown that extensive reading (ER)
is very effective in enhancing students’ language proficiency and
learning attitude. However, there has been little research on the
effectiveness of the ER program with elementary school EFL
students in Taiwan in general and elementary school aged
underachievers in particular. The purpose of this study was to
explore the possibility of using extensive reading as a remedial
program to improve the learning performance and attitude of
elementary school EFL underachievers in Taiwan. Three
fourth-grade English underachievers participated in the program.
Thirty half-hour ER sessions were carried out over one semester.
The researchers collected data through participant-observation,
interviews, review of documents, running records of oral reading,
researcher’s journal, a letter identification test, and two
high-frequency word recognition tests. The results of this study
showed that after the ER program, all three remedial students
increased their letter and vocabulary knowledge. Their reading
speed and accuracy rate also improved. However, only one of the
students was able to perform at an above average level in their
regular English class after the program was completed. In
addition, the three participants’ learning attitudes changed
positively after completion of the ER program. Specifically,
participants became more engaged in English learning in school,
had more confidence in learning English, and were able to gain
satisfaction from reading independently and extensively.
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