1. introduction

5. Reading is its own reward. There are few or no follow-up exercises to be completed after reading.
6. Reading materials are well within the linguistic competence of the students in terms of vocabulary and grammar. Dictionaries are rarely used while reading because the constant stopping to look up words makes fluent reading difficult.
7. Reading is individual and silent, at the student's own pace, and, outside class, done when and where the student chooses.
8. Reading speed is usually faster rather than slower as students read books and other material that they find easily understandable.
9. Teachers orient students to the goals of the program, explain the methodology, keep track of what each student reads, and guide students in getting the most out of the program.
10. The teacher is a role model of a reader for students -- an active member of the classroom reading community, demonstrating what it means to be a reader and the rewards of being a reader.⁹
Kelly (1969) claimed that Harold Palmer was the first to use the term extensive reading in foreign language (FL) teaching. In Palmer’s view of ER, students read a great deal and read quickly. He believed that in ER, books were read for both language study and real-world experiences (i.e., pleasure and information). Another ER pioneer was Michael West. Day and Bamford (1998, p. 6) credited West with developing ER methodology. His term for ER was “supplementary” reading (1955, p. 26).It is important to note the use of the terms reading a great deal, reading quickly, and real-world experiences in these early conceptions of extensive reading. These original aspects of ER continued to be recognized and utilized since the early days of ER.Day and Bamford (1998) attempted to determine the nature of successful ER programs. After their study of ER programs, they claimed that successful ER programs had 10 characteristics (pp. 7–8). Influenced by Williams’s 1986 article about the top 10 principles for teaching intensive reading, Day and Bamford developed their original characteristics as ER principles. They wrote:These are what we believe are the basic ingredients of extensive reading. We encourage teachers to use them as a way to examine their beliefs about reading in general and extensive reading in particular, and the ways they teach foreign language reading. We posit these ten principles in the hopes that others will consider them and react to them. (2002, pp. 136–137).
Their top 10 principles were:
1. The reading material is easy.
2. A variety of reading material on a wide range of topics is available.
3. Learners choose what they want to read.
4. Learners read as much as possible.
5. The purpose of reading is usually related to pleasure, information and general understanding.
6. Reading is its own reward.
7. Reading speed is usually faster rather than slower.
8. Reading is individual and silent.
9. Teachers orient and guide their students.
10. The teacher is a role model of a reader.¹⁰