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EXTRAMURAL ENGLISH ACTIVITIES AND INDIVIDUAL LEARNER DIFFERENCES findings of a research project that only uses the gualitative research paradigm. Furthermore, the findings of a gualitative study are not suitable for comparison with the findings of other gualitative, let alone guantitative studies. Another reason for choosing the mixed-methods research paradigm was thatit includes both gualitative and guantitative research methods. Ihe former, suitable for the exploratory nature of this research project and based on the "tabula rasa" approach, enables the researcher to map a previously unknown domain, Hungarian secondary school EE interests. Ihis approach means that the researcher aims to investigate a phenomenon without any (or as few as possible) preconceptions allowing for a real investigative approach where data emerges on its own, thus explaining the phenomenon (Richards—Morse 2013), which can later enable the researcher to develop theories and generate hypotheses; thus, the data collected through qualitative methods can later serve as a basis for further qualitative or quantitative research (Cohen et al. 2018). Finally, another reason for mixing methods was to ensure data source and method triangulation, which in social sciences means using more than one data source and one method to gather data, such as interviews and questionnaires. This guarantees a deeper understanding of the issue investigated. According to Cohen et al. (2018: 265), triangulation is an “attempt to map out, or explain more fully, the richness and complexity of human behaviour by studying it from more than one standpoint.” This was achieved by combining data sources: qualitative and quantitative methods were used to investigate Hungarian secondary school students’ EE interests. This combination of qualitative and quantitative methods also helps maximize the research’s internal and external validity (in the qualitative paradigm, credibility, and transferability, respectively) (Dôrnyei 2007). The next sections outline possible methods to map Hungarian EFL learners’ EE interests. The two research methods introduced are subsequently examined from the point of view of researchers as well as EFL teachers, providing an account of both the advantages and disadvantages of using them to collect data for research purposes and for mapping EFL interests for teaching purposes. 3.1 MAPPING LEARNERS’ EE INTERESTS Exploring and, therefore, obtaining a better understanding of learners’ EE interests can be beneficial for researchers and, more importantly, for practicing EFL teachers. First of all, from EFL teachers’ perspective, they will be able to hold more interesting and motivating EFL lessons catering to the needs of their students as EFL teachers will be able to include their students’ EE interests in their teaching; as Sundqvist and Sylvén (2016: 154) point out: “students’ spare-time activities are no longer unknown territory, but rather something + 56 +
