Exploring the Effectiveness of Extensive Reading: The Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition of EFL Learners

Abstract

This research aims to determine whether extensive reading is effective in developing the English vocabulary of first-year students majoring in English at a university of Language and International Studies. The study utilized a quasi-experimental research design. The population consisted of 54 students: 26 in the control group and 28 in the experimental group. The instrument for data collection was a vocabulary test. Data were obtained through pretests and posttests for both groups and analyzed using SPSS version 17.0. The analysis showed that extensive reading effectively developed English vocabulary. The mean pretest score for the control group was 29.31, while the experimental group’s mean pretest score was 41.64. In the posttest, the control group, taught using intensive reading, had a mean score of 47.07, while the experimental group, taught using extensive reading, had a mean score of 59.86. This indicates that the improvement in vocabulary achievement from pretest to posttest was 17.76 for the control group and 18.22 for the experimental group. Therefore, incidental vocabulary learning occurred in both intensive and extensive reading, but the improvement was greater in the extensive reading group (18.22 > 17.76).