Extensive and Intensive Reading
Done by 3d-course 301-group student
Vakhidova Nargiza
Most teachers are trying to get their
students to read more. The question to
ask is what kind of reading are
teachers trying to get students to do. In
general, there are two common ways
in which students read and they are
extensive
reading
and
intensive
reading.
Extensive Reading
Extensive reading is having students read
broadly for the sake of reading in a
pleasurable way. Doing so improves
students’ word recognition and builds
overall reading ability.
For many students, including adult ESL, you cannot just
turn them loose and say read. Rather, it is important to
develop some sort of guidelines for extensive reading.
 The books students choose to read extensively should
be at their reading level so that comprehension is the
primary goal.
 The teacher needs to provide motivation. This can be
done through the use of assignments, group work, or
other activities related to the books the students are
reading.
 There must be some mechanism in which students are
required to report their opinion about a book they
have read.
Extensive reading is often done
outside of class or as a small part
of the school day. If it happens
outside of class it requires the
students to have some discipline
to complete an assignment on
their own. If it happens in class it
is often used as a cool-down
after an exciting activity.
Intensive Reading
Intensive reading is serious
focused reading for the
purpose of achieving a study
goal. A common example is
reading a chapter to answer
questions. This requires a
slightly different scaffolding in
order to have success.
Below are some principles to keep in mind when
having students read intensively.
Students must know why they are reading and
for how long. This helps with goal-setting and
self-regulation.
There must be some sort of way for students to
provide feedback about what they learned. It
can something as simple as a discussion, or as
complex as developing a presentation.
When a discussion takes place, students must
refer to the text while discussing to demonstrate
their familiarity with it.
Intensive reading is often done in class. One
challenge with intensive reading is vocabulary.
Students often see too many words that they do
not know the answer too. The constant use of
dictionaries uses up all the time set aside for
reading. As such, teachers need to monitor
dictionary use so that they do not impede the
goal of reading the text.
Conclusion
 Reading is a skill that most would agree
that students need to develop. Extensive
and intensive reading provide different
ways in which students can develop
reading skills. Reading for pleasure or
purpose is some of the primary ways in
which adults read. As such, extensive
and intensive reading are excellent
strategies for supporting students in the
development of their reading abilities.
Thank you for your attention!