Extramural English: What is it and how does it affect young learners' proficiency?

I investigate the quality and quantity of extramural contact with English for young Danish learners of English. The focus is on whether proficiency is affected by extramural use and whether this is consistent across age groups (1st thru 5th grade). I also investigate whether some extramural activities are more supportive of language learning than others, i.e. gaming, watching television, music, etc. Finally, a qualitative gaming study will be carried out to explore what goes on linguistically when very young children game in English together: type of interaction between players and with the game and if this interaction can be seen to support their English language learning. Preliminary results indicate that although children use / are exposed to English in a range of different contexts and through a variety of modalities (internet, console/PC games, music etc.), the one activity that seems to have the most impact on children’s English learning is gaming.