Abstract Summary
This study aims to uncover five teenage gamers’ language use (L1+L2) intramurally (in the L2 English classroom) and extramurally (at home), and to offer comparisons. Multiple datasets were collected during two weeks and analyzed using mixed methods. Preliminary results indicate differences regarding oral L2 English use depending on setting (classroom/home).
Abstract :
Whereas studies of learner-initiated informal engagement with foreign/second languages (L2s) in out-of-school settings – extramural Ln (#_ENREF_7; #_ENREF_8) – have emerged as a research field in SLA, with empirical studies pointing to positive relations/correlations between extramural Ln and aspects of L2 proficiency (e.g., #_ENREF_1; #_ENREF_2; #_ENREF_3, #_ENREF_4; #_ENREF_6; #_ENREF_9), at present, very little is known about learners’ extramural L2 use compared with the same learners’ language use in the L2 classroom. A decade after Thorne and Reinhardt’s (#_ENREF_10) ‘Bridging Activities’, time is ripe for research zooming in on what is happening inside/outside the classroom in terms of language use. Drawing on multiple datasets collected from students (N=12; aged 16–17) in a vocational class in upper secondary school in Norway, in which students’ L1s included Norwegian, Albanian, and Arabic, although several reported English as the language they identified with, this study aims at uncovering and comparing students’ language use intramurally (at school) and extramurally (outside school). Data were collected during two weeks and include four consecutive video-recorded English lessons, screen recordings of students’ laptops during these lessons (n=8), student questionnaires concerning perspectives on the instruction (n=11), students’ texts (n=9), and interviews (n=6). Additionally, they responded daily to a survey targeting their intramural and extramural language use (n=7), and among these students, screen and audio recordings from online gaming in the home were collected (n=5). Adopting a mixed-methods approach (#_ENREF_5), this study focuses on the results specifically relating to the five gamers’ intramural/extramural language use. While the analytical work is currently ongoing, preliminary results indicate differences regarding oral and written L2 English use (intramurally vs. extramurally). In the presentation, results pertaining to the gamers are provided and implications for L2 English teaching are discussed.
