A new generation of proficient EFL users and the impact of their engagement with extramural English on their receptive vocabulary
Agata Wolanin
Uniwersytet Komisji Edukacji Narodowej w Krakowiehttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8513-2154
Анотація
The new generation of language users engage in a variety of different types of extramural activities outside the formal education context. The study involved 120 young adults (aged 20–26) who agreed to fill in a questionnaire and complete a vocabulary size test. The questionnaire inquired about the participants’ engagement in different types of extramural English activities. Moreover, ten participants volunteered to take part in the qualitative stage of data collection, by completing a language diary and participating in an interview. The collected data allowed to get a closer look at the unique linguistic landscape of the new generation of EFL users in the Polish context. The participants engage with a wide variety of extramural activities, predominantly with the use of new media, such as YouTube, streaming platforms and social media. Statistical analysis of the collected data revealed that it is not the time spent on a given activity, but rather the type of its modality that most often correlates with vocabulary size. It was observed that the participants’ exposure to YouTube, gaming and their habits of reading online have an effect on the size of their receptive vocabulary.
Ключові слова:
informal exposure to language, extramural English, receptive vocabulary, new mediaПосилання
Arndt H.L., Woore R. (2018): Vocabulary learning from watching YouTube videos and reading blog posts. “Language Learning & Technology” 22(1), pp. 124–142.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Azzolini D., Campregher S., Madia J.E. (2022): Formal instruction vs informal exposure. What matters more for teenagers’ acquisition of English as a second language? “Research Papers in Education” 37(2), pp. 153–181.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Benson P. (2011): Language learning and teaching beyond the classroom: An introduction to the field. [In:] Beyond the language classroom. P. Benson, H. Reinders (eds). Basingstoke, pp. 7–16.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Craik F.I.M., Lockhart R.S. (1972): Levels of processing: A framework for memory research. “Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior” 11, pp. 671–684.
Crossref
Google Scholar
De Wilde V., Brysbaert M., Eyckmans J. (2020): Learning English through out-of-school exposure: How do word-related variables and proficiency influence receptive vocabulary learning? “Language Learning” 70(2), pp. 349–381.
Crossref
Google Scholar
De Wilde V., Eyckmans J. (2017): Game on! Young learners’ incidental language learning of English prior to instruction. “Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching” 7(4), pp. 673–694.
Crossref
Google Scholar
d’Ydewalle G., Van de Poel M. (1999): Incidental foreign-language acquisition by children watching subtitled television programs. “Journal of Psycholinguistic Research” 28(3), pp. 227–244.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Elgort I., Warren P. (2014): L2 vocabulary learning from reading: explicit and tacit lexical knowledge and the role of learner and item variables. “Language Learning” 64(2), pp. 365–414.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Hannibal Jensen S. (2017): Gaming as an English language learning resource among young children in Denmark. “CALICO Journal” 34(1), pp. 1–19. Google Scholar
Kuppens A.H. (2010): Incidental foreign language acquisition from media exposure. “Learning, Media and Technology” 35(1), pp. 65–85.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Kuure L. (2011): Places for learning: Technology-mediated language learning practices beyond the classroom. [In:] Beyond the language classroom. P. Benson, H. Reinders (eds). Basingstoke, pp. 35–46.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Laufer B., Hulstijn J. (2001): Incidental vocabulary acquisition in a second language: The construct of task-induced involvement. “Applied Linguistics” 22(1), pp. 1–26.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Lindgren E., Muńoz C. (2013): The influence of exposure, parents, and linguistic distance on young European learners’ foreign language comprehension. “International Journal of Multilingualism” 10(1), pp. 105–129.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Muńoz C., Cadierno T. (2021): How do differences in exposure affect English language learning? A comparison of teenagers in two learning environments. “Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching” 11(2), pp. 185–212.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Nation P. (2012): The Vocabulary Size Test. Online: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/lals/resources/paul-nations-resources/vocabulary-tests/the-vocabulary-size-test/Vocabulary-Size-Test-information-and-specifications.pdf Google Scholar
Niitemaa M.L. (2020): Informal acquisition of L2 English vocabulary: Exploring the relationship between online out-of-school exposure and words at different frequency levels. “Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy” 15(2), pp. 86–105.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Reinders H., Wattana S. (2012): Talk to me! Games and students’ willingness to communicate. [In:] Digital games in language learning and teaching. H. Reinders (ed.). Basingstoke, s. 156–188.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Rokita-Jaśkow J., Wolanin A., Król-Gierat W., Nosidlak K. (2023): Bridging the ‘dual lives’: school socialization of young bi/multilinguals in the eyes of EFL teachers. “International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism” 26(4), pp. 395–410.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Schwarz M. (2020): Beyond the walls: A mixed methods study of teenagers’ extramural English practices and their vocabulary knowledge. University of Vienna. Google Scholar
Sockett G., Toffoli D. (2012): Beyond learner autonomy: A dynamic systems view of the informal learning of English in virtual online communities. “ReCALL” 24(2), pp. 138–151.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Sundqvist P. (2009): Extramural English matters: Out-of-school English and its impact on Swedish ninth graders’ oral proficiency and vocabulary. [Doctoral dissertation, Karlstad University]. Google Scholar
Sundqvist P. (2024): Extramural English as an individual difference variable in L2 research: Methodology matters. “Annual Review of Applied Linguistics”, pp. 1–13.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Sundqvist P., Olin-Scheller C. (2013): Classroom vs. extramural English: Teachers dealing with demotivation. “Language and Linguistics Compass” 7(6), pp. 329–338.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Sundqvist P., Sylven L. (2012): World of VocCraft: Computer games and Swedish learners’ L2 English vocabulary. [In:] Digital games in language learning and teaching. H. Reinders (ed.). Springer, pp. 189–208.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Sundqvist P., Wikström P. (2015): Out-of-school digital gameplay and in-school L2 English vocabulary outcomes. “System” 51, pp. 65–76.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Sylvén L.K., Sundqvist P. (2012): Gaming as extramural English L2 learning and L2 proficiency among young learners. “ReCALL” 24(3), pp. 302–321.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Thorne S.L. (2008): Transcultural communication in open Internet environments and massively multiplayer online games. [In:] Mediating Discourse Online. S. Magnan (ed.). Amsterdam, pp. 305–327.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Unsworth S., Persson L., Prins T., de Bot K. (2014): An investigation of factors affecting early foreign language learning in the Netherlands. “Applied Linguistics” 38(5), pp. 1–24.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Wolanin A. (2025): In the webs of the Internet: Generation Z and their informal exposure to English. “Neofilolog” 64(2), pp. 325–345.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Uniwersytet Komisji Edukacji Narodowej w Krakowie
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8513-2154
Ліцензія

Ця робота ліцензується відповідно до Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.