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EXTRAMURAL ENGLISH ACTIVITIES AND INDIVIDUAL LEARNER DIFFERENCES benefits of extensive reading identified that extensive reading may incidentally but gradually improve learners’ L2 proficiency both in terms of grammar (Aka 2020, Elley-Mangubhai 1983, Lee et al. 2015, Shintani-Ellis 2010, SongSardegna 2014) and vocabulary (Brown et al. 2008, Horst 2005, McQuillan 2019, Nation-Waring 2020, Pigada-Schmitt 2006, Rott 1999, Suk 2017, Waring-Takaki 2003, Webb-Chang 2015), and even writing skills (Im et al. 2010, Mermelstein 2015, Park 2016). In addition, extensive reading, by definition, improves reading speed and reading skills in general (Beglar et al. 2012, Beglar—Hunt 2014, Huffman 2014, McLean—Rouault 2017, Nakanishi 2015, Suk 2017). The key significance of extensive reading lies in the fact that learners encounter linguistic elements repeatedly in meaningful contexts catering to incidental learning. Webb (2015) points out that besides grammar, one of the biggest challenges in foreign language learning is vocabulary development. He argues that after acquiring the 2000 most frequent words, which, according to Nation (2001), need to be learned in an explicit and direct way, i.e., intentionally, it is much more difficult to learn less common and frequent words, especially because in many learning contexts (e.g., classroom lessons) there is not enough L2 input providing enough encounters for successful acquisition. However, there is no consensus in the literature on how many times it is necessary to encounter a linguistic element for a language learner to successfully acquire it. Table 4 provides an overview of the number of required encounters suggested by different studies. Table 4. The number of encounters required for the acquisition of vocabulary items in extensive reading Number of required encounters Research article 6 Rott (1999) 8 Horst et al. (1998) 10 Webb (2007) 12 Elgort and Warren (2014) 20 Herman et al. (1987) more than 20 Waring and Takaki (2003) As demonstrated in Table 4, the number of required encounters is between 6 and 20. Webb (2015) theorizes that the reason behind such inconsistent research results may lie in the individual differences of language learners (e.g., their working memory). Even though there is no consensus on the exact number of required encounters, researchers agree that the more a learner is exposed to a linguistic element, such as a vocabulary item, the more likely they acquire + 48 +
