Readingandlisteningaretwomaininputprocessesoflearningalanguage.Ifthereisnotenoughinput,itiscertainthatlanguagelearnerscan’tmakeexcellentoutput.ChinesecontemporaryEnglishteachingexpert,HuChundong,fromBeijingNormalUniversity,emphasizedinthefirstInternationalAnnualEnglishTeachingConference“AndhereIwanttostresstheimportanceofreadinginEnglishlearning.InChinapeopleoftenusetheworld“reading”insteadof“learning”.Thisisapopulartruth.ItisalsotrueforEnglishlearningandteachingfrombeginningtoend.Ofcourse,readingmustbeincombinationwithlistening,speakingandwriting.”ButChineselearnerscan’thavefullaccesstotheEnglishenvironment.Thusreadinghasalwaysbeenconsideredtobethemainapproachtoinputandoftenpromotedasasolutiontotheinformationexplosionandasanaidtoeffectivestudying.Readingabilityalsoinfluencestheformationanddevelopmentoftheabilitytolisten,speak,writeandtranslate.Therefore,readingplaysanimportantroleinEnglishlearning.

　　However,inclassthereisnoabundanttimetoguidestudentstodomuchreading,inwhichcase,extracurricularreadingbecomesanecessaryapproachtomakelearnersbeexposedtomoreinput.

　　ItisgenerallybelievedthatalargeamountofEnglishreadingafterclasscanlayfoundationtotheacquirementofanewlanguage.JustasHeHuibin(2004)says:“Itisreasonabletofocusmostofalearner’senergyonthebasiclinguisticknowledgeatthebeginningstageoflearning.”ReadingnotonlyenablesalearnertolearnEnglishknowledgefrombooksbutalsohelpsthemconsolidatetheirvocabularyandgrammar.ThesevocabularyandgrammararethebaseofimprovingtheotherfourEnglishskills—speaking,writing,translation,andlistening.Whatismore,itisalsothebaseoflanguageapplication(ZhuFengyun,2004).SoreadingcanpromoteEnglishlanguageknowledgetobemastered.Oneofthemostimportantpurposesofextracurricularreadingistoopenalearner’seyesthroughtheintroductiontothewesternculture.Readingisavitallanguageinputandcollectiveresource…andinformation…Readingisamoreefficientandfirmwaythanlisteninginput(DongYafen,2003).

　　Accordingtomanyscholars’researches,byextracurricularreading,onecanadvancetheirEnglishbackgroundknowledgeandbroadenhisorhervision,inspirehisthought,buildtheva1ues,trainthecreativeperformanceanddevelophisintelligence.IfapersonmastertheEnglishreadingskil1s,formagoodreadinghabitandhaveautonomouslearningability,heorshecanbeamasterofEnglishforever.Therefore,educatorsshouldsparenoeffortstoguidestudentstodoasmuchextracurricularreadingaspossibleandinthiswayhelpthemtounderstandhowtolearnEnglishautonomously.