Oldal 46 [46]
EXTRAMURAL ENGLISH ACTIVITIES AND INDIVIDUAL LEARNER DIFFERENCES
The model is set up along two axes. The horizontal axis shows to what extent
the learner initiated a certain activity independently. If the activity is closer
to the right end of the horizontal axis, it means that the learner engages in an
activity with more independence on their own than in the case of another
activity lies closer to the left end of the horizontal axis. An example of this
would be when a teacher tells their students to watch a movie and take notes
on the new vocabulary items. This would be positioned on the left-hand side
of the horizontal axis at “100% other-initiated English activity”, and it involves
predominantly intentional learning, where learners’ attention is focused on
language learning. On the other hand, if a student decides to watch a movie
in their free time at home, it is on the other end of the axis at “100% learner¬
initiated English activity”, involving potentially incidental learning with the
learner’s attention focused elsewhere and with language learning as a by¬
product (cf. DeKeyser 2008, Ellis 2008).
The vertical axis shows the learner’s physical location. At one end of the
vertical axis, the learner is at their desk in their English classroom in their
home country, whereas at the other end of the same axis, the learner is as far
from their desk as possible, for example, a Hungarian secondary school student
spending a school year in a secondary school in the USA (cf. naturalistic learn¬
ing). When an activity is located in the middle on both axes, it is, for instance,
an extracurricular activity in the learner’s school (Sundqvist—Sylvén 2016).
Depending on whether the learner is aware of their own learning, we may
call it incidental learning (the learner is not aware of the learning process) or
intentional learning (the learner is aware of the learning process). Most other¬
initiated English activities involve intentional learning since learners know
that they are involved in learning, especially because the activity they engage
in is initiated by someone else. On the other hand, learner-initiated activities
are more likely to be connected to incidental learning because they are not
necessarily initiated because of pressure or external motivation but very often
for pleasure (Sundqvist-Sylvén 2016). Based on these two variables (axes),
Sundqvist and Sylvén (2016: 12-13) identify eight different kinds of activities:
A. Learner-initiated English activity outside the classroom; learner alone; for
the purpose of entertainment;
B. Learner-initiated English activity in the home; learner alone; for the purpose
of entertainment;
C. Learner-initiated English activity in the home; learner alone; for the purpose
of learning English;
D. Learner-initiated English activity in the home; learner and others online;
for the purpose of entertainment;
E. Teacher-initiated English activity in the home; learner alone; accessing the
Internet for the purpose of learning English;
+ A4 +