Out-of-school contact with L2 English across four educational levels

Abstract

This paper aims at analyzing learners’ perspectives on the improvement of the four skills, vocabulary and grammar with out-of-school contact with L2 English, their interest in including out-of-school activities in the classroom, the type of activities they report doing out of-school and their perception of the advantages and disadvantages of using out-of-school activities in the classroom. Four groups of participants took part in the study (secondary education, baccalaureate, state language schools and university). A questionnaire has been used and quantitative and qualitative analyses have been conducted. Findings indicate that the four groups perceived improvement in all skills but not in grammar. All groups are interested in including out-of-school activities in the classroom, the activities they tend to practise out-of-the classroom involve mainly listening. Finally, improving their English skills, having fun and learning socially are the main advantages they report, while losing attention and learning incorrect grammar are the main disadvantages.