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STUDY ONE Other patterns were also found, but these were related to one of the categories above; therefore, after the final coding, the closely related themes, if they could be appropriately connected, were merged. There were activities, however, which were similar but were not merged. For instance, the difference between ‘watching videos’ and ‘using social media in English (excluding videos, even those on social media such as Instagram)’ could appear vague at first as it is virtually impossible to use Instagram and TikTok without videos. The reason for creating separate categories for them was that they are done on different smart device applications and are, therefore, worth measuring the engagement in these EE activities separately (cf. Study Two). In this section, the patterns are discussed in detail. 4.5.1 Different techniques and strategies when studying English at home The first theme concerned the techniques and strategies students apply when preparing for their in-school English lessons, as all students were asked to elaborate on their habits of preparing for EFL lessons (e.g., doing homework) and preparing for EFL tests at school. The reason for eliciting such information was to obtain insights into whether participants use any external help, such as learning applications or visiting websites supporting language learning, etc. All the participants mentioned that they get homework from their EFL teacher on a regular basis, from lesson to lesson. As a result, and as anticipated, participants mostly elaborated on how they do their homework or how they prepare for tests and vocabulary quizzes. As for preparing for grammar and vocabulary tests only some participants use applications for smart devices supporting language learning, such as Quizlet and Memrise, and most participants only check the explanations in the coursebook. This is, however, not a learning approach that is most suitable for a successful acquisition of a grammatical phenomenon, as it does not allow for a contextualized use of the particular L2, the importance of which is underlined in the literature (cf. functional practice emphasized by Bialystok 1981). One of the participants claimed that sometimes it is not enough for him to check the grammatical explanations in the book, but he also checks them on the Internet. He pointed out that “there is always a summary of a certain grammatical phenomenon in our book, I read it, but I prefer to check it on the Internet because it’s explained in a different way there, and it’s easier for me to understand it” (Christian). He also added that when it comes to grammar, he prefers explanations in Hungarian and, therefore, visits websites that provide a grammatical overview in Hungarian, and then he likes to do interactive +7] »
