Indonesian Tesol Journal, 3(2), 1-150 (2021) e-ISSN: 2622-5441(Online) Journal homepage: https://ejournal.iainpalopo.ac.id/index.php/ITJ/index 1 Qualitative Research into Reading in English as a Foreign Language in Indonesia – Quo Vadis? Harits Masduqi 1 , Fatimah 2 , Arif Subiyanto 1 1 Universitas Negeri Malang, Indonesia 2 The University of Sydney, Australia Abstract: Reading is a multidimensional, intellectual activity, which requires specific skills and strategies. Indonesian researchers have conducted research addressing various issues in reading in the domain of English as a Foreign Language/EFL. This article reviews the current development of theories and models of EFL reading and qualitative research into EFL reading in Indonesia. Through discussion of theoretical and practical perspectives, the writers expect that EFL reading researchers and teachers in Indonesia are interested in promoting and conducting studies not only on the effectiveness of intensive reading, but also of extensive reading in their academic institutions. In this way, their students will have sufficient opportunities to gain competence in both types of reading and will develop the capability of using their knowledge of English to capitalise on the advancement of science and technology in the global world. Keywords: EFL reading, extensive reading, intensive reading, models of reading INTRODUCTION Reading is a multidimensional, intellectual activity which requires specific skills and strategies. Many researchers in reading are, therefore, keen to clarify what reading actually is. Defining reading is anything but easy, although such a definition is of paramount importance for the sake of the profundity of the discussions in this article. A basic definition of reading might be an ability to acquire meaning from printed texts and interpret them properly. In The Literacy Dictionary (Harris & Hodges, 2005, p. 207), reading is defined as “intentional thinking during which meaning is constructed through interactions between text and reader”. Urquhart and Weir (1998, p. 22) state that “reading is receiving and interpreting the information encoded in language form via the medium of print”. These definitions seem too myopic and fail to cover the complexity of reading which ranges from various processes involved in reading (e.g., word recognition, syntactic parsing, semantic proposition, background knowledge activation, and discourse organisation) to different purposes for reading (e.g., reading for general comprehension, reading for specific information, and reading for learning). Grabe (2009) states that defining reading necessitates addressing a complex combination of processes, including a rapid and efficient reading process, a comprehending process, an interactive process (between reader, text, and writer), a strategic process, a purposeful process, an evaluative process, a learning process, and a linguistic process.