Extramural English

Sammanfattning: In light of the staggering technological development we have witnessed over the last decade when it comes to connectivity and access to the internet, compounded by the new entertainment trends online, this study intends to examine students’ consumption of English in their spare time, and their view of the benefit it brings them in their language development. Through a quantitative survey the study tries to pinpoint how much English students at a secondary school in southern Sweden consider they consume in their spare time. Furthermore, to what degree do students believe their English spare time activities have helped them in school, and in their own English development. The results showed a broad consumption of English in the spare time, and a high opinion among students regarding the help their spare time English provide them in school. However, the reversed, that school helped them in the spare time, had a much lower appreciation. The study also looked at specific spare time activities, like playing games, to see if a pattern of more fruitful activities for English development could exist, which the results and previous research seem to indicate toward. Finally, a better understanding of this subject could inspire teachers views of spare time activities, and how to tie students interests and previous experiences in to the language classroom.