Dieser Artikel stellt sich die Frage wie eine Informations- und Arbeitsumgebung einer (Fern)Universität gestaltet sein muss, um den veränderten technischen und personalen Lebensumwelten Fernstudierender gerecht zu werden. Im Mittelpunkt steht die Entwicklung eines Community-Konzeptes als zentrales Element der Lehre im Fernstudium. Dazu wird zunächst die Notwendigkeit einer solchen Community-Umgebung als Unterstützung für zukünftiges virtuelles Studieren Lernen und Lehren in der Fernlehre belegt, mit dem Ziel, ein geeignetes Community-Konzept zu entwickeln. Nach einer kurzen Einführung wird die aktuelle Situation der FernUniversität dargestellt. Es folgt die Bestandsaufnahme der Bedürfnisse der Studierenden mit entsprechenden Schlussfolgerungen für ein Anforderungsprofil. Darauf aufbauend soll das Konzept der zukünftigen Umgebung vorgestellt. Dieses Konzept kann nicht in der Kürze dieses Artikels dargestellt werden, daher soll eine exemplarische skizzenhafte Darstellung der fertigen Umgebung einen Eindruck über die tatsächliche Nutzung der Umgebung vermitteln. Wichtiges Hilfsmittel zum Entwurf sind neben bestehenden Forschungsergebnissen die Ergebnisse einer eigenen Erhebung unter Fernstudierenden sowie Erfahrungen aus verschiedenen Lehrveranstaltungen. Diese Studie ist gerade erst abgeschlossen und noch nicht im Detail ausgewertet, es lassen sich allerdings bereits Trends feststellen, die bereits im Artikel eingearbeitet sind. Die Ergebnisse der Studie (Virutelle Communities im Fernstudium) sind zum Konferenzvortrag fertig ausgewertet.

The digital age has re-shaped the landscape of creative writing. One example of the changes that have taken place is the way in which millions of young people, globally, now write and share stories as online fanfiction. This is an out-of-school leisure pastime that can also help improve language skills (Aragon & Davis, 2019; Black, 2008). English taught as a second language (i.e. L2) in schools can be less authentic, less motivational and engaging than English used in free-time situations (extramural English, Sundqvist, 2009); thus, there is a need to “bridge the gap” between the English taught in the formal setting of school and the English encountered in informal settings (Swedish Schools Inspectorate, 2011). This licentiate thesis focuses on extramural English creative writing and aims to raise understanding about the ways it can motivate and engage. Also, the issue of L2 English is addressed in relation to pupils’ perspectives of their informal learning as well as their insights into creative writing and challenge in the school subject of English. The participants in the study were thirteen teenage pupils of Swedish secondary and upper-secondary schools who write creatively in English in their free time. Their writing included stories, comics, poems and songs, and some of this work was published online. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews, and it was analysed using qualitative content analysis. The findings confirm that writing can be closely related to reading, as participants were motivated by stories they wished to imitate and adapt. Also, the results show how teenage creative writers were able to use networked communication to access a large global readership. There was a strong motivation to write for pleasure – for oneself – and this writing, and enjoyment, could subsequently be shared with others. The free-time writing activity was fun, playful and imaginative, and also aided understanding of the participants’ own experiences and emotions. The state of flow (Csíkszentmihályi, 1990) was an aspect of the pupils’ engagement with creative writing as well. The activity was rewarding as it brought praise, enabled role-play, involved social contacts, and opened the way to new affiliations and friendships. Moreover, the pupils considered that their language learning was enriched through their free-time creative writing. Finally, the participants offered valuable insights into aspects of English as a school subject: there was some creative writing in English lessons, but there was a need for both more creative writing and more challenge.

The present study examines possible effects of extramural English (EE) on oral proficiency (OP) and vocabulary (VOC). The study is based on data collected from Swedish learners of ESL in grade 9 (aged 15-16; N=80; 36 boys, 44 girls) over a period of one year. EE was defined as linguistic activities that learners engage in outside the classroom in their spare time. EE was measured with the help of a questionnaire and two language diaries, each covering one week. In the diaries, the learners recorded how much time they had spent on seven given EE activities (reading books, reading newspapers/magazines, watch­ing TV, watching films, surfing the Internet, playing video games, listening to music). There was also an open category. Speech data were collected with the help of five interactional speaking tests; learners were in random dyads on each occasion. Each student performance was assessed by three raters with the help of a profile scheme, resulting in an overall grade. Based on these grades from the tests, a mean grade for OP (the OP grade) was calculated for each student. OP was defined as the learner’s ability to speak and use the target language in actual communication with an interlocutor. Learners’ VOC was measured with an index variable based on the scores on two written vocabulary tests. For a selection of ten learners, additional analyses were made of oral fluency and the use of advanced vocabulary in speech. A mixed methods research design was used, but the lion’s share of data was analyzed using inferential statistics. Results showed that the total amount of time spent on EE correlated positively and significantly (p < .01) both with learners’ level of OP and size of VOC, but that the correlation between EE and VOC was stronger and more straightforward than the one between EE and OP. The conclusion drawn was that although EE impacts both OP and VOC, the causal relationship is more salient in the case of VOC. Results also showed that some activities were more important than others for OP and VOC respectively; i.e., the type of EE activity mattered. EE activities that required learners to be more productive and rely on their language skills (video games, the Internet, reading) had a greater impact on OP and VOC than activities where learners could remain fairly passive (music, TV, films). An important gender difference was identified. Boys spent significantly more time on productive EE activities than girls; therefore, EE had a greater impact on OP and VOC for boys than for girls. Four background variables were also studied. The conclusion was that EE is an independent variable and a possible path to progress in English for any learner, regard­less of his or her socioeconomic background.