Presentation for the Seventh Annual Extensive Reading Seminar, Sunday September 28, 2014 Keisen University, Tokyo Japan.

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“If you want a quality, act as if you already have it” (William James, 1884) This is the As If principle (AIP), and research shows that it applies to many kinds of behaviors.

To apply the AIP in ER, students participated in a photo contest, acting as if they liked reading by taking pictures of themselves enjoying books. They wrote captions on the pictures promoting reading, and they rated the pictures for the contest.

Pre-post questionnaires suggest students might gain reading motivation by doing this activity. Authors will summarize their results and discuss the implications of AIP research in ER.