Within the language learning context -- both in L1 and in L2 -- the practice of reading has generally been regarded as having some connection to the development of writing skills. This has been reflected over the years by various pedagogical approaches, ranging in magnitude from integrated reading and writing programmes, such as the writing-through-literature programmes for college juniors in the United States, to precise and detailed course-book tasks which involve reading activities as pre-tasks for writing activities. There is, however, ``despite over two decades of assertions that the two modalities enrich each other" (Belcher and Hirvela 2001), surprisingly little experimental evidence for such a connection. Study of the cognitive processes underlying the skills of reading and writing would suggest that the two skills share cognitive resources. Using a variety of writing assessment procedures, I plan to investigate the effects, if any, of an extensive reading scheme on the writing output of secondary school students within an L2 context.