Today’s primary school pupils encounter English in a wide variety of ways through the use of various forms of media. This thesis aims to research how the very youngest pupils in the Swedish primary school encounter the English language in their time outside of school and whether or not it has any impact on how they relate to the subject in school. Teachers’ views on their pupils’ habits will also be compared, as well as whether they see encounters outside the classroom as having any visible effects on the pupils. Through the use of interviews with both seven- to eight-year-old pupils and teachers, it was possible to find common forms of extramural English (EE) among the pupils, but little evidence it contributed to their views on English at school. Teachers were largely aware of their pupils’ interests and were positive towards using EE content in class, but did not feel it was possible to do so. / <p>Engelska</p>

In Sweden today, the English language is a part of our everyday lives. This means that from very young ages, children encounter the language in many different ways, media being one of the most common. This thesis aims to research if and how teachers in F-3 include this type of English in their teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL). In particular, the focus is to gain knowledge of how music/songs are being used in the classroom, and if the teachers incorporate the music that the pupils listen to in their spare time when working with music/songs. Their attitudes towards doing this is what this thesis is interested in. An empirical study was carried out with the use of interviews as data collecting method. A total of six lower primary school teachers (grades 1-3) spread out geographically in Sweden were interviewed. The results show that teachers report that they are aware of the many places where pupils encounter English, but only one of the teachers incorporate this in teaching EFL. However, the others do seem positive towards working with this and they mention many benefits in doing so. When it comes to music and songs, all teachers work with this in the subject, but once again five out of six do not include the songs that the pupils listen to, except when they in some cases pick something up in the moment. Again, even though some difficulties are mentioned, they seem positive towards this and they believe there is a possibility in including this in their teaching of EFL. However, as seen in the conclusion, time seems to be a big issue for doing so. / <p>Engelska</p>

Children today encounter the English language on a wide scale, even outside the school walls. As they are exposed to various forms of English language input, they inevitably pick up a certain level of proficiency, which they can later use on their own. This study aims to more precisely research through which mediums English learners in primary school worldwide tend to encounter English the most, as well as how engaging in English activities outside the classroom might affect their English proficiency. By studying prior research on the subject through content analysis, it was found that, while there are some regional differences in terms of prevalence, children mainly encounter English through television, music, and computer games. It was also found that many children who had never before received any English training still possessed a level of English proficiency. These findings shed light on the importance of input for language acquisition as well as how children’s extramural interests can be of importance in the classroom setting.