TY - GEN
T1 - Extramural English engagement in a Danish context
T2 - A young learner perspective
AU - Hannibal Jensen, Signe
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - The present dissertation is part of a larger project entitled The younger, the better? A usage-based approach to the learning and teaching of English in Danish primary schools (Cadierno & Eskildsen, 2014) (henceforth (TYTB) financed by the Danish Council for Independent Research. The aim of TYTB is to investigate the importance of age for language learning also recognizing the importance of additional factors, such as, learner internal variables, and contextual variables such as the quantity and quality of English inside as well as outside the classroom. TYTB has tracked Danish learners who started learning English in the 1st and 3rd grade, respectively, from 2014 to 2017, providing a unique possibility of comparing children starting formal English instructions at different ages (1st grade = Early starters and 3rd grade = Later starters). Formal English instruction was lowered from the 3rd to the 1st grade in 2014.This dissertation is related to one of the variables of interest in TYTB, namely, outside school exposure in investigating young (7-11years of age) Danish children’s engagement in English-language activities outside school (henceforth EE, i.e., extramural English (see Sundqvist, 2009)). With the increasing digitalization of media and entertainment and this being mainly mediated in English, the global language of contemporary society (Henry & Cliffordson, 2015), it is becoming increasingly important to investigate the nature of engagement with EE, not least for children. Furthermore, it is a field where in only little research has been carried out (Wagner, 2015).The aim of the dissertation is to advance knowledge on a variety of aspects of young children’s engagement with EE and language learning from EE to obtain as broad yet detailed knowledge of the topic as possible. To this end, the dissertation employs a theoretical usage-based framework (Cadierno & Eskildsen, 2015) which is grounded in both cognitive (Ellis, 2007; Ellis, 2015) as well as poststructuralist theoretical notions (Pavlenko, 2002). This also means that the dissertation employs a mixed-methods framework (Dörnyei, 2007; Silverman, 2013). The dissertation draws on survey methodology through the use of language diaries (Bailey & Ochsner, 1983; Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016) and statistical analysis, ethnographic interviews (Spradley, 1979) analyzed through Activity theory (Leontiev, see Lantolf & Thorne, 2006), and naturalistic video-based observations (Silverman, 2013) analyzed with point of departure in discourse analysis (Gee & Green, 1998). With this mixed framework, the dissertation contributes to research within SLA which seeks to bridge the gap between theoretical standpoints that, within SLA research, have often been thought to be irreconcilable, that is, the cognitive and the social (Hulstijn et al., 2014)The research interests are investigated through the following research questions each addressed in individualstudies:RQ1: (addressed in paper 1)(a) What Extramural English activities do Danish YELLs (young English language learners) engage in, and to what extent? (b) Are there gender-related differences?(c) What gaming activities (in varying language modes) do Danish YELLs engage in, and to what extent? (b) Are there gender-related differences? (d) Is there a correlation between these gaming activities and vocabulary scores?RQ2: (addressed in paper 2)Which motives (social and cognitive) are children driven by in their use of English in L2 English-mediated activities? How do children engage with L2 English based on their motives? RQ3: (addressed in paper 3)How do young Danish children employ English productively as an affordance in the Extramural English (see below) space? How may this use be related to language learning?The findings in study 1 with a population of 107 children, shows that Danish children on average engage almost 6 hours weekly in EE. Results showed that boys engage significantly more than girls, especially in gaming. Boys preferred engaging in gaming whereas girls preferred listening to music. Gaming habits were registered according to the language mode of the games, i.e., whether the games were with English speak and English text (GEE), English speak only (GEZ) or English text only (GZE). Results showed that gaming with both oral and written English input (GEE) and gaming with only written English input (GZE) were significantly related to vocabulary scores, in particularly for boys. Whereas GEE gaming had a stronger effect for Early starter boys, gaming with only written English input showed a significant effect only for Later Starter boys. The study thus attests to the importance of frequency of input. Moreover, the study confirms speculations put forth in previous research (Kuppens, 2010; Lefever, 2010) of possible correlations between gaming and language proficiency for young users.While study 1 investigates the potentials of EE engagement through statistical methods and based on usagebased theoretical notions of the importance of frequency effects (Ellis, 2007; Ellis, 2015), study 2 investigates the specific nature of this engagement. Through ethnographic interviews (Spradley, 1979) and qualitative analysis (Activity theory (Leontiev, 1978. see, Lantolf & Thorne, 2006), the study investigates what 7-11-yearold Danish children (n = 15) make of the linguistic affordances (Van Lier, 2000) of the EE space based on their motives for engagement. Through the Activity theoretical analysis an exploratory examination was carried out as to the children’s underlying motives (Lantolf & Thorne, 2006) for engagement with English as well as exploration of the actual engagement. The children engaged in their favorite EE activities while being interviewed.Findings show that through motives such as finding English speakers and content very authentic and interesting, and more up to date than Danish content of the same nature, the children deliberately sought out English-language activities. Thus, they engaged in activities such as gaming, gaming chats, watching gaming inspired videos on YouTube, following people on social media and making comments on their threads, etc. Through their engagement, the children engaged with the affordances in many ways that are considered beneficial for language learning. Through their enthusiasm and active and invested engagement (Lantolf & Pavlenko, 2001; Norton, 2013) with the EE space, the children noticed linguistic details and used strategies for understanding unknown words (Gass & Mackey, 2007; Swain, 2000). Through the interesting social space, some engaged with other English-speaking users thus being willing to communicate and finding opportunities to practice their English through higher cognitive and social motives. Not all engaged as willingly in the English language space, preferring instead to engage in Danish. Findings also show that the children in general liked school but perceived of the EE space as very different and more authentic. The study adds insights into an underresearched area by providing an emic view of young users' engagement, called for by Ushioda’s (2008, p. 29).Study 3 investigates productive uses of English in the extramural English space by looking at two datasets. Dataset one consists of the interview conversations from the ethnographic interview study (above) and dataset two consists of naturalistic recordings of three Danish boys (ages 10-11) playing computer games together at home. The analysis is based on Gee and Green’s Discourse Analytical framework (Gee & Green, 1998). The study more specifically investigates which actions children carry out through their productive use of English. It was found that children primarily employ English for practical purposes and for styling valuable identities as competent members of the EE digital universe. The latter was often accomplished through the use of ludic language in the form of language play (cf, for example, Broner & Tarone, 2001; Cook, 2000). The study argues that through productive uses of L2 English in the extramural space, children co-create a social space for language learning, where valuable situated identities are carved out. Through their use of English, the children play with forms and meanings creating and showing awareness of language. The children also use English for practical purposes in that English is the mediational language of the EE universe and thus for purposes of transparency and avoiding misunderstandings, English is employed. The study adds new insights into the productive use of L2 in the wild where only few studies have been carried out (Wagner, 2015).In sum, the studies show that the EE space is highly motivational, leading to many language learning opportunities not merely based on the frequency with which the children encounter the input. In a thorough exploration of the nature of the children’s engagement in the EE space, it transpires that the children engaged actively with the input leading both to noticing and thus psycholinguistic data. Furthermore, the engagement is also to a large degree connected to the social realm and the motives the children have for engaging with EE (i.e., the EE space is seen as highly interesting, the content, the people, and, not least, the language are seen as very inspirational and up to date and for the latter, as very authentic). The children are thus motivated to invest in engaging with the language (Norton, 2013) leading to many affordances (Van Lier, 2000) for language learning.The implications are in particularly relevant in terms of recognizing the learning potential of the extramural space and to draw on this in the school space. This means recognizing children as users of English, merely than only learners (Sockett, 2014; Ushioda, 2008, 2009), i.e., drawing on the experiences they bring to the table while also recognizing that they bring different experiences and beliefs.The dissertation offers new empirical contributions to an area with only little existing research as well as theoretical and methodological contributions through the combination of usage-based cognitive and poststructuralist theoretical and methodological frameworks.
AB - The present dissertation is part of a larger project entitled The younger, the better? A usage-based approach to the learning and teaching of English in Danish primary schools (Cadierno & Eskildsen, 2014) (henceforth (TYTB) financed by the Danish Council for Independent Research. The aim of TYTB is to investigate the importance of age for language learning also recognizing the importance of additional factors, such as, learner internal variables, and contextual variables such as the quantity and quality of English inside as well as outside the classroom. TYTB has tracked Danish learners who started learning English in the 1st and 3rd grade, respectively, from 2014 to 2017, providing a unique possibility of comparing children starting formal English instructions at different ages (1st grade = Early starters and 3rd grade = Later starters). Formal English instruction was lowered from the 3rd to the 1st grade in 2014.This dissertation is related to one of the variables of interest in TYTB, namely, outside school exposure in investigating young (7-11years of age) Danish children’s engagement in English-language activities outside school (henceforth EE, i.e., extramural English (see Sundqvist, 2009)). With the increasing digitalization of media and entertainment and this being mainly mediated in English, the global language of contemporary society (Henry & Cliffordson, 2015), it is becoming increasingly important to investigate the nature of engagement with EE, not least for children. Furthermore, it is a field where in only little research has been carried out (Wagner, 2015).The aim of the dissertation is to advance knowledge on a variety of aspects of young children’s engagement with EE and language learning from EE to obtain as broad yet detailed knowledge of the topic as possible. To this end, the dissertation employs a theoretical usage-based framework (Cadierno & Eskildsen, 2015) which is grounded in both cognitive (Ellis, 2007; Ellis, 2015) as well as poststructuralist theoretical notions (Pavlenko, 2002). This also means that the dissertation employs a mixed-methods framework (Dörnyei, 2007; Silverman, 2013). The dissertation draws on survey methodology through the use of language diaries (Bailey & Ochsner, 1983; Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016) and statistical analysis, ethnographic interviews (Spradley, 1979) analyzed through Activity theory (Leontiev, see Lantolf & Thorne, 2006), and naturalistic video-based observations (Silverman, 2013) analyzed with point of departure in discourse analysis (Gee & Green, 1998). With this mixed framework, the dissertation contributes to research within SLA which seeks to bridge the gap between theoretical standpoints that, within SLA research, have often been thought to be irreconcilable, that is, the cognitive and the social (Hulstijn et al., 2014)The research interests are investigated through the following research questions each addressed in individualstudies:RQ1: (addressed in paper 1)(a) What Extramural English activities do Danish YELLs (young English language learners) engage in, and to what extent? (b) Are there gender-related differences?(c) What gaming activities (in varying language modes) do Danish YELLs engage in, and to what extent? (b) Are there gender-related differences? (d) Is there a correlation between these gaming activities and vocabulary scores?RQ2: (addressed in paper 2)Which motives (social and cognitive) are children driven by in their use of English in L2 English-mediated activities? How do children engage with L2 English based on their motives? RQ3: (addressed in paper 3)How do young Danish children employ English productively as an affordance in the Extramural English (see below) space? How may this use be related to language learning?The findings in study 1 with a population of 107 children, shows that Danish children on average engage almost 6 hours weekly in EE. Results showed that boys engage significantly more than girls, especially in gaming. Boys preferred engaging in gaming whereas girls preferred listening to music. Gaming habits were registered according to the language mode of the games, i.e., whether the games were with English speak and English text (GEE), English speak only (GEZ) or English text only (GZE). Results showed that gaming with both oral and written English input (GEE) and gaming with only written English input (GZE) were significantly related to vocabulary scores, in particularly for boys. Whereas GEE gaming had a stronger effect for Early starter boys, gaming with only written English input showed a significant effect only for Later Starter boys. The study thus attests to the importance of frequency of input. Moreover, the study confirms speculations put forth in previous research (Kuppens, 2010; Lefever, 2010) of possible correlations between gaming and language proficiency for young users.While study 1 investigates the potentials of EE engagement through statistical methods and based on usagebased theoretical notions of the importance of frequency effects (Ellis, 2007; Ellis, 2015), study 2 investigates the specific nature of this engagement. Through ethnographic interviews (Spradley, 1979) and qualitative analysis (Activity theory (Leontiev, 1978. see, Lantolf & Thorne, 2006), the study investigates what 7-11-yearold Danish children (n = 15) make of the linguistic affordances (Van Lier, 2000) of the EE space based on their motives for engagement. Through the Activity theoretical analysis an exploratory examination was carried out as to the children’s underlying motives (Lantolf & Thorne, 2006) for engagement with English as well as exploration of the actual engagement. The children engaged in their favorite EE activities while being interviewed.Findings show that through motives such as finding English speakers and content very authentic and interesting, and more up to date than Danish content of the same nature, the children deliberately sought out English-language activities. Thus, they engaged in activities such as gaming, gaming chats, watching gaming inspired videos on YouTube, following people on social media and making comments on their threads, etc. Through their engagement, the children engaged with the affordances in many ways that are considered beneficial for language learning. Through their enthusiasm and active and invested engagement (Lantolf & Pavlenko, 2001; Norton, 2013) with the EE space, the children noticed linguistic details and used strategies for understanding unknown words (Gass & Mackey, 2007; Swain, 2000). Through the interesting social space, some engaged with other English-speaking users thus being willing to communicate and finding opportunities to practice their English through higher cognitive and social motives. Not all engaged as willingly in the English language space, preferring instead to engage in Danish. Findings also show that the children in general liked school but perceived of the EE space as very different and more authentic. The study adds insights into an underresearched area by providing an emic view of young users' engagement, called for by Ushioda’s (2008, p. 29).Study 3 investigates productive uses of English in the extramural English space by looking at two datasets. Dataset one consists of the interview conversations from the ethnographic interview study (above) and dataset two consists of naturalistic recordings of three Danish boys (ages 10-11) playing computer games together at home. The analysis is based on Gee and Green’s Discourse Analytical framework (Gee & Green, 1998). The study more specifically investigates which actions children carry out through their productive use of English. It was found that children primarily employ English for practical purposes and for styling valuable identities as competent members of the EE digital universe. The latter was often accomplished through the use of ludic language in the form of language play (cf, for example, Broner & Tarone, 2001; Cook, 2000). The study argues that through productive uses of L2 English in the extramural space, children co-create a social space for language learning, where valuable situated identities are carved out. Through their use of English, the children play with forms and meanings creating and showing awareness of language. The children also use English for practical purposes in that English is the mediational language of the EE universe and thus for purposes of transparency and avoiding misunderstandings, English is employed. The study adds new insights into the productive use of L2 in the wild where only few studies have been carried out (Wagner, 2015).In sum, the studies show that the EE space is highly motivational, leading to many language learning opportunities not merely based on the frequency with which the children encounter the input. In a thorough exploration of the nature of the children’s engagement in the EE space, it transpires that the children engaged actively with the input leading both to noticing and thus psycholinguistic data. Furthermore, the engagement is also to a large degree connected to the social realm and the motives the children have for engaging with EE (i.e., the EE space is seen as highly interesting, the content, the people, and, not least, the language are seen as very inspirational and up to date and for the latter, as very authentic). The children are thus motivated to invest in engaging with the language (Norton, 2013) leading to many affordances (Van Lier, 2000) for language learning.The implications are in particularly relevant in terms of recognizing the learning potential of the extramural space and to draw on this in the school space. This means recognizing children as users of English, merely than only learners (Sockett, 2014; Ushioda, 2008, 2009), i.e., drawing on the experiences they bring to the table while also recognizing that they bring different experiences and beliefs.The dissertation offers new empirical contributions to an area with only little existing research as well as theoretical and methodological contributions through the combination of usage-based cognitive and poststructuralist theoretical and methodological frameworks.
M3 - Ph.D. thesis
PB - Syddansk Universitet. Det Humanistiske Fakultet
CY - Odense
ER -