Extramural English

{{Short description|Language learning outside the school}}

In the field of second-language acquisition, extramural English (EE) is English that learners come in contact with or are involved in outside the walls of the classroom,{{Cite journal|last=Lee|first=Ju Seong|date=2019|title=Quantity and diversity of informal digital learning of English|url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/44675/1/23_01_10125-44675.pdf|journal=Language Learning & Technology|volume=23|pages=114–126}} often through streaming media and online games.{{Cite book|last=Olsson|first=Eva|title=On the impact of extramural English and CLIL on productive vocabulary|publisher=Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis|year=2016|isbn=978-91-7346-865-7|location=Gothenburg|pages=50–54}}{{Cite web|title=The science of language, community, and MMORPGs| date=13 October 2014 |url=https://www.engadget.com/2014-10-13-the-science-of-language-community-and-mmorpgs.html?guccounter=1}} It is an example of informal learning of English. EE includes using English-mediated media,{{Cite web|title=Using Western Media to Motivate Students to Learn English|url=https://www.destructoid.com/blogs/AndrewRoss/using-western-media-to-motivate-students-to-learn-english-330926.phtml}} listening to music, watching films or series, using social network sites, reading books and playing video games that require the use of English. EE includes both online and offline activities and is always initiated by the learner, not by the teacher.{{Cite book|last1=Sundqvist|first1=Pia|url=https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781137460479|title=Extramural English in Teaching and Learning: From Theory and Research to Practice|last2=Sylvén|first2=Liss Kerstin|date=2016|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|isbn=978-1-137-46047-9|series=New Language Learning and Teaching Environments|language=en}} EE activities can be carried out with or without deliberate intention to improve English language proficiency. Hence, EE encompasses both incidental and intentional language learning. EE research that centers on online activities is often viewed as computer-assisted language learning (CALL) research. EE is linked to the theory of learner autonomy.

The term extramural English was first coined in 2009 by Pia Sundqvist.{{Cite journal |last=Sundqvist |first=Pia |date=2009 |title=Extramural English Matters : Out-of-School English and Its Impact on Swedish Ninth Graders' Oral Proficiency and Vocabulary |url=https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A275141&dswid=1064 |journal=Unpublished PhD thesis}}{{Citation |last=Sundqvist |first=Pia |title=A Possible Path to Progress: Out-of-school English Language Learners in Sweden |date=2011 |work=Beyond the Language Classroom |pages=106–118 |editor-last=Benson |editor-first=Phil |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1057/9780230306790_9 |access-date=2024-05-03 |place=London |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |language=en |doi=10.1057/9780230306790_9 |isbn=978-1-349-32320-3 |editor2-last=Reinders |editor2-first=Hayo|url-access=subscription }} It refers to 'English outside the walls' (from Latin extramural, where the prefix, extra, means 'outside' and the stem, mural, means 'wall').{{Citation|title=extramural, adj.|url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/67115|work=OED Online|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en-GB|access-date=2021-01-25}}

Research studies report several learning benefits of EE, such as promoting vocabulary acquisition,{{Cite journal|last=Jensen|first=Signe Hannibal|date=2016-07-20|title=Gaming as an English Language Learning Resource among Young Children in Denmark|url=https://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/CALICO/article/view/29519|journal=CALICO Journal|volume=34|issue=1|pages=1–19|doi=10.1558/cj.29519|issn=2056-9017|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal|last1=Peters|first1=Elke|last2=Noreillie|first2=Ann-Sophie|last3=Heylen|first3=Kris|last4=Bulté|first4=Bram|last5=Desmet|first5=Piet|date=September 2019|title=The Impact of Instruction and Out-of-School Exposure to Foreign Language Input on Learners' Vocabulary Knowledge in Two Languages|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/lang.12351|journal=Language Learning|language=en|volume=69|issue=3|pages=747–782|doi=10.1111/lang.12351|s2cid=182047248 |issn=0023-8333}} fostering learner autonomy,{{Cite journal|last=Chik|first=Alice|title=Digital gaming and language learning: Autonomy and community|url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/44371/18_02_chik.pdf|journal=Language Learning & Technology|volume=18|pages=85–100}} increasing literacy development{{Cite journal|last1=Eisenchlas|first1=Susana A.|last2=Schalley|first2=Andrea C.|last3=Moyes|first3=Gordon|date=2016-03-03|title=Play to learn: self-directed home language literacy acquisition through online games|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13670050.2015.1037715|journal=International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism|language=en|volume=19|issue=2|pages=136–152|doi=10.1080/13670050.2015.1037715|hdl=10072/154670 |s2cid=141852222 |issn=1367-0050|hdl-access=free}} and encouraging self-regulated learning.{{Cite journal|last1=Kondo|first1=Mutsumi|last2=Ishikawa|first2=Yasushige|last3=Smith|first3=Craig|last4=Sakamoto|first4=Kishio|last5=Shimomura|first5=Hidenori|last6=Wada|first6=Norihisa|date=April 2012|title=Mobile Assisted Language Learning in university EFL courses in Japan: developing attitudes and skills for self-regulated learning|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/recall/article/abs/mobile-assisted-language-learning-in-university-efl-courses-in-japan-developing-attitudes-and-skills-for-selfregulated-learning/C511DFFF78A4FCC79E0C1F612BC02F55|journal=ReCALL|language=en|volume=24|issue=2|pages=169–187|doi=10.1017/S0958344012000055|s2cid=44865424 |issn=1474-0109|url-access=subscription}} To bridge learning English outside and inside the classroom some teachers use a 30-day challenge with a focus on EE activities.{{Cite web|title=30-day-challenge – extramural engelska i fokus|date=7 January 2015 |url=https://miasklassrum.wordpress.com/2015/01/07/30-day-challenge-extramural-engelska-i-fokus/}} This way of learning a language is not particular to English but can involve any target language. The overarching term referring to learning any target language is Extramural L_n.{{Cite journal |last=Sundqvist |first=Pia |date=2019 |title=Commercial-off-the-shelf games in the digital wild and L2 learner vocabulary |url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/e6ec2b94-ee53-420a-aaa0-dee66f956a5c/content |journal=Language Learning & Technology |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=87-113}}Bengtsson, A. (2023). The effects of extramural language: Relationships between engagement in Japanese language activities and general Japanese language proficiency. Doctoral Thesis, Stockholm University.