This research paper aims to investigate if the incorporation of students’ extramural English (EE) activities, such as watching movies or playing computer games, into the English classroom affect their motivation. This research was inspired by The School Inspectorate’s (Skolinspektionen, 2011) conclusion that too many Swedish students find English lessons un-motivating as well as boring. Partly to blame for this problem is the lack of perceived authenticity in the English classroom when compared to the activities that the students are engaged in outside of school (EE). Since this gap between school English and out-of-school English is creating un-motivated students in the classroom, this paper aims to describe learner motivation towards the English language, and whether incorporating students EE activities can increase their motivation. This is done with the support of different theories of motivation as well as the current globalized landscape, with English being considered a global language. One teacher and 25 of her students were interviewed to hear their thoughts on whether the incorporation of extramural English activities into the classroom would increase motivation. The study came to the conclusion that students wanted to learn English in order to become participants in the globalized world. Also, both teacher and students wanted to incorporate extramural English activities into the classroom and stated that this would increase their motivation in school. However, they also explained that it had to be incorporated, or ‘schoolified’, in a way that increased the students’ knowledge and proficiency, and was in line with the curriculum and its knowledge requirements.

This literature review explores the use of Extramural English in the classroom and its effects on students’ language acquisition. Through a systematic analysis of different studies on EE activities such as video games, the Internet, gaming, and other activities, this paper will investigate the possible positive or negative effects of EE activities on students’ performance. The results of this literature review show that students who are more exposed to EE activities have a better result with regard to the acquisition of English than their peers because the language of communication in Extramural activities is mainly English.  The results also show that by incorporating EE in the classroom, teachers will be able to define the student’s strengths and weaknesses through eliciting the learning evidence when learning English as a second language.

Digital games are often considered a pastime activity with little to no real or tangible benefits. This, however, is contrary to studies on the usefulness of digital games in second language (L2) learning. There are several aspects of L2 learning that are affected positively by gaming, as well as other extramural English (EE) activities. One of these aspects is vocabulary, which has been proven to be substantially improved by gaming through incidental learning.  Collocations are often referred to as word pairs that co-occur more frequently than any other two words. The definition of a collocation is a contested subject, making research and theories around collocations widespread and varied depending on what definition a given author subscribes to. In the present study Howarth’s (1996) definition of collocations has been used. The hard-to-define nature of collocations extends into the act of teaching - collocations are rarely taught because they follow no set rule or pattern. This means that L2 learners must acquire their collocation knowledge incidentally, either in the classroom or through EE activities.   The present study aims to investigate the relationship between EE activities, primarily gaming, and the collocation knowledge of 87 Swedish teenagers in upper compulsory school and upper secondary school. This was done through a Productive Collocation Test (PCK) as well as a questionnaire. The results of the study show that students who engage in EE activities are more knowledgeable in terms of collocations than those who do not. Additionally, out of the EE activities included in the questionnaire gaming seems to be the best way to acquire collocation knowledge.   The present study concludes that there is a connection between EE activities, especially gaming, and collocation knowledge. Informants that claimed to spend more time per week playing digital games generally scored higher on the collocation test. This was also true for the students who claimed to spend a considerable amount of time on visual media per week. These informants also had knowledge of collocations that very few of the respondents knew, particularly the students who partake in gaming. The findings of the present study suggest that digital games could be used as a tool for teaching collocations. However, more research is required to carry this idea further.

Extramural English (EE) engagement is common amongst young English as a foreign language (EFL) learner in Sweden. However, the ESL students engage in EE activities to varying degrees and their English proficiency could be positively affected by the amount of time spent on EE activities. The present study therefore aims to increase knowledge about grade 6 students’ EE engagement and its possible correlate with the students’ English grades in a Swedish context. Additionally, the study explores which types of EE activities: receptive, productive, and interactive, the students engage most in, and if there is some correlation between type of EE activity engaged in and English grade. This was investigated through mixed-method research, conducting both a quantitative digital questionnaire with 30 participant sixth graders and two qualitative focus group interviews with a total of five sixth graders participating. The findings show that the grade 6 students with high English grades engage most in interactive EE activities, whereas low-grade English students mostly engage in receptive EE activities. Additionally, the qualitative results indicate that grade 6 students perceive benefits of learning English through EE engagement. However, the present study cannot prove any statistically significant correlation between number of hours spent on EE activities per week and English grades. The present study suggests that EFL teachers consider and incorporate the increasing EE engagement of their students in the didactic choices made for English language teaching (ELT). To comprehensively explore the effects that young ESL learners’ EE engagement has on their English acquisition and grades, further research should focus on longitudinal studies, representing a greater variety and number of students participating.