Extensive reading (ER) is widely regarded by many educators and researchers as an effective means in improving students’ language knowledge and skills. This action research aimed to examine the impact of ER strategies on English Foreign Language (EFL) students’ English reading and writing abilities in a Vietnamese university. The study involved 35 EFL university students. The research was conducted through three cycles in three months in which ER strategies were applied to foster EFL students’ reading interests. The data were collected from a questionnaire, follow-up interviews, students’ diaries and classroom observations. The findings indicated that participants rated ER as beneficial for improving their background and linguistic knowledge. The majority of participants were motivated towards reading in terms of reading frequency and time duration. The test scores of the final test improved significantly, compared to other classes which did not do ER. From the results, many pedagogical implications were put forth for enhancing the quality of English learning and teaching process in EFL context.