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EXTRAMURAL ENGLISH ACTIVITIES AND INDIVIDUAL LEARNER DIFFERENCES scope of the present research project, it is defined, based on Ellis (2009) and Schmidt (1994), as a kind of learning which occurs as a by-product of engaging in another activity, in this case, a particular EE activity, and involves at least a certain degree of consciousness. On the other hand, intentional learning is also possible when engaging in EE activities, as learners may knowingly decide to engage in such activities to acguire English. Explicit learning, however, is less likely to occur in this context as it often involves teacher-led instruction, and EE activities are initiated by the learners, not their teachers. 2.3 EE ACTIVITIES AND SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING MOTIVATION It is important to highlight again that teenagers (and even adults) engage in EE activities for the purpose of being entertained or for the sake of pursuing a pastime activity; therefore, even though it is not excluded, when engaging in EE activities, learners place less emphasis on learning English than deriving satisfaction from these activities (Sundqvist, 2009). They spend hours watching their favorite TV series, such as Game of Thrones, or playing their favorite video games, such as World of Warcraft, where incidentally or intentionally, in a naturalistic environment, they learn English. As explained earlier, Henry (2013) points out that, as opposed to a classroom setting, extramural English activities provide more authentic and more interesting English content than the English encountered in a classroom, which Henry (2013) refers to as the authenticity gap. Learners will find the English encountered outside the classroom (cf. extramural English) more interesting and relatable than the English used inside a classroom, and, as previously underlined, this kind of engagement does not primarily happen for the purpose of language learning. As a consequence, learners may feel more motivated to learn English due to heavy engagement in extramural English activities, as they realize their understanding of a series or video game, or the news, etc., especially, when there is no translation of them into the L1 of the learners. Learners’ degree of enjoyment is highly dependent on their L2 competence, which may ultimately result in their being more motivated to learn English, i.e., the more proficient they are, the more motivated they may be to learn English. Moreover, as explained previously, extensive exposure to L2 is a key factor in incidental (and even intentional) learning, and EE activities create and cater to this naturalistic learning environment. The positive effect of EE activities on motivation has been demonstrated by an extensive body of research in the case of, for instance, reading (Al-HomoudSchmitt 2009, Feld-Knapp-Perge 2019, Kim-Hwang 2006), video games (Dickey 2011, Gee 2007, Molins-Ruano et al. 2014, Schrader et al. 2010, Van * 30°
