This chapter summarizes the main findings of the present research project,
followed by the pedagogical and theoretical implications of the findings. Fi¬
nally, possible directions for further research are outlined, along with the
limitations of the research project.
7.1 THE MAIN FINDINGS OF THE RESEARCH PROJECT
The research project adopted a mixed methods research design, which meant
that both qualitative and quantitative methods were combined in order to map
the context of EFL learning through EE activities at the secondary education
level in Hungary. Another important feature of the research was that the dif¬
ferent research phases (Study One, Study Two, and Study Three) informed each
other, i.e., the results of the different phases were not only related to each
other, but all research instruments were designed and prepared based on the
results of the studies preceding them within the framework of this project. The
results of this research aim to fill an important research gap by adding findings
to the very little such research in Hungary (cf. Lajtai 2020), in this way contrib¬
uting to a better understanding of EFL learning through EE activities.
The main aim of the research was, on the one hand, to map Hungarian
secondary school students’ EE interests and, on the other hand, to examine
the impact of these EE activities on the different foreign language learning
individual variables. The exploration of these relationships was carried out
using different statistical methods (inferential statistics). In the following
sections, the main findings of this research project are presented for each
research question.
RQ1 What extramural English activities do Hungarian secondary
school EFL learners engage in?
Hungarian secondary school students’ EE interests were examined using both
qualitative and quantitative methods. As I did not have any insights into the