Extramural English in Teaching and Learning: From Theory and Research to Practice

“These choices, whether made by the learners themselves, parents, or teachers, reflect a significant source of FL input beyond the classroom (IBC; learning outside class is sometimes described as ‘extramural’ as in ‘extramural English’; e.g. Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016).”

“Recently, English language teaching (ELT) scholars have begun acknowledging how language learners engage in learning activities beyond their formal classroom using a range of digital devices (Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016).”

“This paper will use the term extramural language learning as opposed to informal language learning or naturalistic language learning because, as Sundqvist and Sylvén (2016) put it, this kind of language learning is not initiated by teachers or other people working in educational institutions; the…”

“Extramural English involves both incidental and intentional learning that takes place in spare time outside of school (Sundqvist, 2009; Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016).”

“…language skills in the adolescent population more generally, research has shown a connection between the use of English-related on-line activities and English language ability (Sylvén & Sundqvist 2012, Sundqvist & Wikström 2015, Sundqvist & Sylvén 2016, Sylvén 2019, Sundqvist 2019, Warnby 2021).”

“There is thus a need for developing methodo-logically sound principles for teaching English to YLs based on the learners’ extra-mural interests (Sundqvist and Sylvén 2016).”

“As the term originates in Scandinavia, Sweden, there is a plethora of research carried out in that region (Piirainen-Marsh & Tainio, 2009; Simensen, 2010; Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016) and in other regions, such as Belgium (Kuppens, 2010) and Germany (Grau, 2009).”

“This will likely require both motivation (to initiate and maintain out-of-class exposure) and self-regulation skills (e.g., to find and evaluate different types of out-of-class inputs, see next sections; Richards, 2015; Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016).”

“Extramural English activities like reading (Sundqvist and Sylvén 2016) and gaming (Enayat and Haghighatpasand 2019) in English have shown to be pertinent for L2 English learning (Hannibal Jensen 2017; Puimège and Peters 2019; Sylvén and Sundqvist 2012a).”

“Since the English language has a high status in The Netherlands and is widely available, the children in this study were most likely exposed to English outside instruction or classroom leading to incidental vocabulary learning (Peters 2018; Sundqvist and Sylvén 2016).”

“However, in Norway, English is everywhere (Cabau 2009; Rindal 2014) and central to people’s life worlds (Brevik and Holm, forthcoming; Sundqvist and Sylv é n 2016).”

“There are subcomponents under each type of exposure, such as whether informal language learning is incidental or intentional (see Sundqvist and Sylvén 2016), but these were beyond the scope of the current study, which homed in on the amount of formal and informal exposure.”

“English is commonly used in the media and many workplaces in Sweden, and many children receive abundant English input through online media and gaming (Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016).”

“Nevertheless, English has great presence and prestige in Swedish society, and it is taught in school beginning at an early age (see Hult 2012; Sundqvist and Sylvén 2016).”

“…more researchers such as Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and CALL practitioners are interested in IDLE-oriented topics in various EFL contexts, particularly many scholars in Denmark, Sweden, France (Chik & Ho, 2017; Lai , 2017; Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016; Richards, 2015).”

“Extramural English means that the language learners interact with the language outside formal education, and this interaction is voluntarily initiated by the learners (Snoder, 2019).”

“These practices have been often defined as extramural language learning (ELL) (Hsu, 2023; Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016) and informal digital English learning (IDEL).”

“Positive results in language education can still result from activities initiated by learners outside of academic institutions that are not explicitly designed to facilitate language acquisition (Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016).”

“For instance, “extramural English” (Sundqvist & Sylven, 2016; Sundqvist & Olin-Scheller, 2013), “online informal learning of English” (Sockett, 2014; Sockett & Toffoli, 2012; Toffoli & Sockett, 2015), and “IDLE” (Lee, 2019b, 2019c; Lee et al., 2022; Lee & Dressman, 2018; Lee & Lee, 2021) denote the…”

“…age (e.g., Muñoz, 2020a) and that boys and girls prefer different types of out-of-classroom activities, with boys spending more time on gaming and girls spending more time on watching films or on online communities such as Facebook (Hannibal Jensen, 2017; Muñoz, 2020a; Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016).”

“Young learners in Sweden are exposed to, and in many cases use, English in their lives outside school – through social media, television, music and gaming (referred to as extramural English by Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016).”

“Sundqvist [6] also notes that sometimes students are at a loss and do not know what to do or why they take English as a major at the first place.”

“When referring to the background questionnaire, all of these learners had received extra-curricular lessons, a finding that reflects the need to control for extramural exposure practices (Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016).”

“Several participants showed a willingness to speak in English, which supported Sundqvist and Sylvén (2016) study that extracurricular exposure to English positively contributes to speaking confidence and overall fluency.”

“This aligns with research on extramural English activities and their impact on language proficiency (Sundqvist, 2009; Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016).”

“…acquiring the language properly, and most of researchers have emphasized the significance of involvement in practicing English outside the classroom independently (Benson, 2013; Benson & Reinders, 2011; Grau, 2009; Nunan, 2012; Ranta, 2010; Sundqvist, 2009; Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016; Olsson, 2016).”

“Consequently, this gaming activity can accidently lead them to learn English beyond the traditional classroom setting, which can be called as Extramural English Activity (Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016).”

“…such as “ online informal learning of English ” (Toffoli and Sockett, 2015), “ out-of-class autonomous language learning ” (Lai, 2019), “ extramural English ” (Sundqvist and Sylvén, 2016), “ the digital wilds ” (Sockett, 2023), and “ informal digital learning of English (IDLE) ” (Zhang and Liu,…”

“Because EE encompasses a wide range of activities, it can be situated within several influential theories of second language acquisition (SLA; see Sundqvist & Sylve´n, 2016; Toffoli & Sockett, 2010).”

“…2016), self-regulated out-of-class language learning with technology (Lai et al., 2015; Lai & Gu, 2011), extramural English (EE) (Sundqvist, 2009a; Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2014, 2016; Sundqvist & Wikström, 2015; Sylven & Sundqvist, 2012), online informal learning of English (OILE) (Sockett, 2013,…”

“Sundqvist and Sylvén (2016) further explained that activities that students do outside the classroom are for recreational reasons or their own personal desires.”

“…English activities has been referred to with different terms, such as “informal”, “self-instructed” (Benson, 2011; Benson and Reiders, 2011), “extramural English” (Sundqvist, 2009; Sundqvist and Sylven, 2016) or “online informal learning of English” (Toffoli and Sockett, 2010, Sockett, 2012).”

“…and utilising English informally through a variety of digital resources, including social media, virtual communities, language study apps, and large multiplayer online roleplaying games (MMORPGs) (Dressman & Sadler, 2019; Lai, 2017; Sauro & Zourou, 2019; Sockett, 2014; Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016).”

“Hellekjær’s (2005) research showed that a high proportion of Norwegian students entering higher education were lacking in adequate reading skills and proficiency to cope with the demands of reading English texts at that level, arguing that this was a consequence of limited reading input of English in school.”

“People face English from all over the world, and even across the globe, English is part of life, has a specific range of uses, not just science, but also as education [28].”

“…learning of English (Sockett, 2013, 2014; Toffoli & Sockett, 2015; Yurieva et al., 2021), extramural English (Sundqvist & Olin-Scheller, 2013; Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016; Sylvén & Sundqvist, 2012), autonomous out-of-class language learning with technology (Lai, 2017, 2019; Lai & Gu, 2011), and…”

“Early notions such as “out-of-class learning” and “extramural English” highlighted authentic input, natural contexts, and spontaneous use beyond the classroom (Reinders & Benson, 2017; Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016).”

“…articles and book chapters, interested readers should not overlook relevant monographs and edited volumes, such as Benson and Reinders (2011), Nunan and Richards (2015), Sockett (2014), Sundqvist and Sylvén (2016), Dressman and Sadler (2020), plus additional collections mentioned in the timeline.”

“Informal exposure provides authentic, low-stakes opportunities to practice English in socially meaningful contexts, reducing anxiety and fostering persistence (Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016; Sockett, 2014).”

“These results are in line with research by Sundqvist & Sylvén (2016), which found that applications such as Duolingo offer a fun and independent learning experience, although the content often does not always match advanced academic needs. d.”

“…technology in informal learning of English (Lee, 2019a, 2019b, 2019c), and extramural digital English denotes students' initiative to learn a language in an out-of-class context and not related to educational one (Soyoof et al., 2021; Sundqvist & Sylven, 2016; Sundqvist & Olin-Scheller, 2013).”

“This is possible, because several studies on the behavior of eastern people who tend to be interdependent, focus more on social, interpersonal, and relational styles (Snoder, 2019).”

“According to Sundqvist (2016), as cited by Opsahl and Levin (2022), EE can be highly beneficial for learners because it allows for the natural acquisition of the language, as it is not forced and is initiated by the learners themselves.”

“It might be beneficial to reinforce the learning outcome that students have concurrently gained from classroom education through extracurricular activities (Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016).”

“As an umbrella term, engagement in extramural English is used ( Sundqvist & Sylv é n, 2016 ), or simply extramural L n , indicating any L2 ( Sundqvist, 2019 ).”

“These findings are related to the Extramural English (EE) (Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016) as the concept that gives unlimited opportunities in English activities.”

“Due to the rapid advancement of technology, English Language Teaching (ELT) has gradually started paying attention to how teachers and students learn and practice English through various digital devices and the latest technologies (Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016).”