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RESEARCH METHODS
the teacher can take advantage of in the day-to-day classroom work." Besides
teachers being able to create better and more up-to-date EEL lessons, students
can also feel that their leisure time English activities are acknowledged as
useful and crucial for foreign language improvement. From the students’ per¬
spective, teachers’ encouragement to engage in EE activities could lead to an
increased frequency of these activities. In addition, if students are made aware
of the foreign language learning potentials of such EE activities, their foreign
language awareness could be raised. In the next sections, therefore, some of
the most efficient tools for investigating learners’ interests are discussed, and
their advantages and disadvantages are addressed.
3.1.1 Questionnaires
Questionnaires are one of the most popular methods of collecting quantitative
data in applied linguistics and can also be used to collect data on language
learners’ extramural interests. Sundqvist and Sylvén (2016) point out that
questionnaires can be more flexible and open than language diaries because
questionnaires may contain open-ended questions and closed-ended questions,
too, and learners are left with the freedom to answer the questions that are
relevant to them and leave out the irrelevant ones. For instance, some students
might not play video games or read English-language books; therefore, ques¬
tionnaires are ideal as students can leave sections blank if they do not engage
in certain activities. As in the case of the language diary, Sundqvist and Sylvén
(2016) emphasize the importance of tailoring the questionnaire to the learners’
ages as well.
In the context of EE activities, data collection through questionnaires has
plenty of benefits. Teachers and researchers can save a great deal of time and
effort by administering questionnaires to explore learners’ EE interests. If the
questionnaire is well constructed, a plethora of information may be gathered,
and the processing and statistical analysis of the data also do not require as
much time as opposed to other methods (cf. language diaries, interviews,
language portfolios). More importantly, this method can ensure the anonym¬
ity of the students, which may reduce the effect of the social desirability bias
(i.e., survey respondents’ tendency to answer survey questions in a way that
will be viewed favorably by others).
Questionnaires, however, have limitations, too. Overly long questionnaires
can ultimately yield unreliable data since students can easily get bored and
tired if they have to fill in long questionnaires (Denscombe 2014). No single
universal questionnaire covering all EE interests can be created and therefore,
they should always be modified and fine-tuned so that we can measure