Call for abstracts on a special issue honoring Richard R. Day’s contributions to extensive reading: Theories and practices in the AI era

Over the past several decades, the field of foreign language reading has witnessed significant theoretical shifts, moving from viewing reading as a primarily receptive process to understanding it as an interactive endeavor between the reader and the text (Day, 2020;Grabe & Yamashita, 2022;Perfetti, 1985).This evolution underpins the role of readers in selecting interesting and level-appropriate reading materials, choosing when, where, and how to read, and achieving the optimal experience of reading.Reading is a process that elicits a sense of flow (Kirchhoff, 2013), enjoyment (Zhou, 2025), and satisfaction (Tabata-Sandom, 2023).Extensive Reading (ER), as championed by Richard R. Day, aligns seamlessly with these theoretical advancements by emphasizing the power of voluminous, pleasurable reading to build reading fluency, reading comprehension, and language proficiency.ER-an approach where learners read large amounts of accessible and enjoyable material in the target language (Bamford & Day, 2004)-is an effective way to provide rich English input, particularly in input-poor foreign language contexts, and to cultivate autonomous readers.Also known as "pleasure reading," "free voluntary reading," or "sustained silent reading," ER has been widely implemented in L2 settings and proven effective for developing reading skills (Jeon & Day, 2016;Waring & Puripunyavanich, 2025).Day and Bamford (1998) establish the linguistic, cognitive, and affective benefits of ER while providing practical guidance for implementation, such as curriculum integration, library setup, material selection, and assessment.ER encompasses several instructional approaches, including supervised ER, independent ER, and blended extensive-intensive reading models (Day, 2015).ER-the practice of reading large amounts of accessible material-offers crucial fluency development and fosters a positive attitude toward reading, which is often neglected in foreign language classrooms.This special issue seeks to honor Day's monumental contributions to ER while exploring its contemporary applications, challenges, and future directions.