Abstract
This study aims to investigate the effects of 10-minute Sustained Silent Reading (extensive reading in class; henceforth SSR) on reading fluency and motivation of Japanese junior high school EFL learners. A total of 122 3rd years participated in the study: 60 of them (experimental group) were involved in reading graded readers or leveled readers extensively for ten minutes at the outset of one English class in a week, and 62 of them (control group) were not. Extensive reading tests developed by Edinburgh Project on Extensive Reading (henceforth EPER) were conducted as a pre-and a post-test to measure reading comprehension and reading speed. A 31-item questionnaire was administered to examine their motivation at the end of the program. The results showed that 10-minute SSR improved the reading fluency (reading accurately and rapidly) of the experimental group more significantly, and developed their intrinsic motivation to read English. These findings suggest that large amounts of linguistically appropriate input seem to promote efficient word recognition and syntactic parsing and to achieve fluent reading, and that easy, interesting materials and enjoyable reading experiences seem to promote a positive attitude and the growth of motivation toward second language reading.
