Fluency, a major component of the construct of language proficiency, is largely ignored as a focus of language instructional practices, in training programs for teachers, in published instructional materials, and in curricular design. In fact, it seems that in most cases “fluency” has maintained its “on the street” meaning as the final result of language learning when you function almost like a “native” speaker. Nothing could be farther from reality. Fluency is the component of proficiency which reflects the learners’ ability to access implicit knowledge for spontaneous language to express their ideas quickly and continuously. Some researchers claim that fluency is a driver of acquisition and not a result. Nation (2000) claims that fluency building activity should make up 25% of any language curriculum, and no matter what you know, you should be able to produce it fluently. Research on the teaching of reading also supports attention on fluency development apart from accuracy-focused activity. This session will review the rationale for including fluency development activity along with extensive reading at all levels of second language proficiency.

This presentation reports the positive impacts made by online extensive reading on 14 adult learners of English. The participants who were advanced learners conducted extensive reading on Xreading for one year. The participants’ transformation from unconfident L2 readers to avid, engaged L2 readers is demonstrated by various data: their journal entries, comments given during five individual interviews, records kept on Xreading, and pre-/post-project metaphors that reflected their perceptions towards L2 reading. Specifically, seven participants read more than one million words and all of their metaphors shifted from negative to positive orientation. Furthermore, the participants made statistically significant gains in reading rates (p < .005) and vocabulary sizes (p < .0005). This presentation reports in detail, the factors that created such positive outcomes. They include the support given by the researcher, the successful routinization of L2 reading, and the Xreading factor such as the easy access to abundant intriguing graded readers.

Despite growing attention to the use of extensive reading (ER) in ESL teaching, little focus has been placed on adult community learners and their instructors. This presentation reports on the findings of a small qualitative case study conducted at an adult ESL community outreach program linked to the TESOL MA practicum course. The study examines student teachers’ (STs’) (N=13) perceived experiences of using ER in instruction and community members’ (N=16) perceived usefulness of engaging in ER. Responses to selected questions in an end-of-the-program reflection and survey for STs and community members, respectively, were coded and analyzed for common topics. Most of the STs were able to integrate ER into instruction, but their perceptions of the experience were impacted by the learners’ responses to the reading. Most of the learners engaged in reading outside the class and they reported that ER helped them improve their English language abilities, specifically vocabulary.