The relation between out-of-school exposure to English and English vocabulary development in Dutch primary school pupils
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Claire Goriot
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate how often Dutch pupils from early-English and mainstream primary schools were exposed to English outside of school, and whether this exposure was positively related to their English vocabulary development. Parents of 263 primary school pupils aged 4 to 12 filled in a questionnaire about out-of-school exposure to English. Children performed the Peabody Picture Vocabulary test in English and Dutch to assess their vocabulary knowledge in both languages. It was found that pupils in the upper grades were more exposed to English than pupils in the lower grades. Pupils in the lower grades were also exposed to different activities than pupils in the upper grades. They engaged more in educational activities in English, whereas older pupils engaged more in gaming, subtitled activities and activities in English in which no subtitles were used and they had to listen actively. For younger pupils, educational activities in English, subtitled activities, and active listening activities were positively related to their English vocabulary. For older pupils, subtitled activities, active listening, gaming in English, and listening to English songs were positively related to English knowledge. These relations remained when taking Dutch vocabulary knowledge into account, and did not differ between pupils from early- English and mainstream schools. These results show that individual differences in out-of-school exposure to English are positively related to differences in English vocabulary knowledge, but that the extent of exposure and the kind of English activities pupils engage in, differ between older and younger pupils.
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate how often Dutch pupils from early-English and mainstream primary schools were exposed to English outside of school, and whether this exposure was positively related to their English vocabulary development. Parents of 263 primary school pupils aged 4 to 12 filled in a questionnaire about out-of-school exposure to English. Children performed the Peabody Picture Vocabulary test in English and Dutch to assess their vocabulary knowledge in both languages. It was found that pupils in the upper grades were more exposed to English than pupils in the lower grades. Pupils in the lower grades were also exposed to different activities than pupils in the upper grades. They engaged more in educational activities in English, whereas older pupils engaged more in gaming, subtitled activities and activities in English in which no subtitles were used and they had to listen actively. For younger pupils, educational activities in English, subtitled activities, and active listening activities were positively related to their English vocabulary. For older pupils, subtitled activities, active listening, gaming in English, and listening to English songs were positively related to English knowledge. These relations remained when taking Dutch vocabulary knowledge into account, and did not differ between pupils from early- English and mainstream schools. These results show that individual differences in out-of-school exposure to English are positively related to differences in English vocabulary knowledge, but that the extent of exposure and the kind of English activities pupils engage in, differ between older and younger pupils.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
- Learning disabilities as external individual differences in second language acquisition 9
- The role of memory in the acquisition of vocabulary and grammar in the first language and in English as a foreign language 31
- Individual differences and young learners’ L2 vocabulary development: The case of language aptitude and exposure to subtitled TV series 65
- ‘In love with English’: A mixed-methods investigation of Flemish children’s spontaneous engagement with out-of-school exposure 87
- The relation between out-of-school exposure to English and English vocabulary development in Dutch primary school pupils 109
- Lexical profiles of children and adolescent EFL learners in the semantic domain of animals 133
- The contribution of motivation and emotions to language learning autonomy in the Hungarian secondary school classroom: The results of a questionnaire study 155
- Effects of authentic communication experiences on linguistic self-confidence: Individual differences in perceptions among Japanese primary school students 177
- Emotion and motivation in younger learners’ second foreign language acquisition 203
- Secondary school pupils’ language choice satisfaction in the L3 classroom: The roles of teaching, motivation, language choice and language classroom anxiety 225
- Index 261
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
- Learning disabilities as external individual differences in second language acquisition 9
- The role of memory in the acquisition of vocabulary and grammar in the first language and in English as a foreign language 31
- Individual differences and young learners’ L2 vocabulary development: The case of language aptitude and exposure to subtitled TV series 65
- ‘In love with English’: A mixed-methods investigation of Flemish children’s spontaneous engagement with out-of-school exposure 87
- The relation between out-of-school exposure to English and English vocabulary development in Dutch primary school pupils 109
- Lexical profiles of children and adolescent EFL learners in the semantic domain of animals 133
- The contribution of motivation and emotions to language learning autonomy in the Hungarian secondary school classroom: The results of a questionnaire study 155
- Effects of authentic communication experiences on linguistic self-confidence: Individual differences in perceptions among Japanese primary school students 177
- Emotion and motivation in younger learners’ second foreign language acquisition 203
- Secondary school pupils’ language choice satisfaction in the L3 classroom: The roles of teaching, motivation, language choice and language classroom anxiety 225
- Index 261
