14 Behaviour, thoughts, and feelings
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Henriette L. Arndt
Abstract
This chapter provides an introduction to task engagement as a framework for better understanding how individuals participate in and learn from second language activities in their leisure time. Although the concept is relatively new to second language acquisition research, engagement has been extensively studied in educational science, as a way of operationalising different aspects of students’ participation in learning activities (Christenson, Reschly and Wylie 2012). Engagement is most commonly defined in terms of behavioural, cognitive, and affective dimensions, referring broadly to the way in which students act, think, and feel in educational contexts (Oga- Baldwin 2019). In order to explore the nature of engagement in informal second language learning (ISLL), the current chapter reviews prior research and presents a selection of novel findings from a large-scale mixed-methods study of engagement in informal activities among students of English as a foreign language in German secondary schools (Arndt 2019). Whereas prior ISLL research focused primarily on behavioural engagement, that is, the quantity and diversity of second language activities in which learners participate in their leisure time, the current study also considered affective and cognitive engagement, or the ways in which students think and feel about informal second language activities. To increase the applicability of the engagement framework to the study of language learning (both in- and outside of the classroom), an additional linguistic engagement dimension is proposed, referring to the extent to which learners consciously focus on processing linguistic features they encounter and improving their language skills. The findings suggest that these four engagement dimensions play different roles in the informal language learning process and that they are highly complex and dynamic, in that engagement can vary between students (alongside, for example, their personal interests and L2 proficiency) and different types of informal activities (depending on the medium, linguistic difficulty, narrative complexity, etc.).
Abstract
This chapter provides an introduction to task engagement as a framework for better understanding how individuals participate in and learn from second language activities in their leisure time. Although the concept is relatively new to second language acquisition research, engagement has been extensively studied in educational science, as a way of operationalising different aspects of students’ participation in learning activities (Christenson, Reschly and Wylie 2012). Engagement is most commonly defined in terms of behavioural, cognitive, and affective dimensions, referring broadly to the way in which students act, think, and feel in educational contexts (Oga- Baldwin 2019). In order to explore the nature of engagement in informal second language learning (ISLL), the current chapter reviews prior research and presents a selection of novel findings from a large-scale mixed-methods study of engagement in informal activities among students of English as a foreign language in German secondary schools (Arndt 2019). Whereas prior ISLL research focused primarily on behavioural engagement, that is, the quantity and diversity of second language activities in which learners participate in their leisure time, the current study also considered affective and cognitive engagement, or the ways in which students think and feel about informal second language activities. To increase the applicability of the engagement framework to the study of language learning (both in- and outside of the classroom), an additional linguistic engagement dimension is proposed, referring to the extent to which learners consciously focus on processing linguistic features they encounter and improving their language skills. The findings suggest that these four engagement dimensions play different roles in the informal language learning process and that they are highly complex and dynamic, in that engagement can vary between students (alongside, for example, their personal interests and L2 proficiency) and different types of informal activities (depending on the medium, linguistic difficulty, narrative complexity, etc.).
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Author biographies VII
- 1 Introduction to Language Learning and Leisure 1
-
Section 1: The nature of informal second language learning
- 2 Toward an anthropology of Informal Digital Learning of English (IDLE) 21
- 3 Does informal mean implicit? 43
- 4 Smart devices and informal language learning 69
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Section 2: Language outcomes
- 5 Informal second language learning and EFL learners’ spoken use of discourse markers 91
- 6 Influence of television series on pronunciation 121
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Section 3: Learner activities
- 7 Mapping space, leisure and informal language learning in the lives of international students in Australia 143
- 8 Learner perspectives on informal L2 vocabulary learning 159
- 9 Mediation in informal language learning activities outside of the classroom 185
- 10 Linguistic risk-taking and informal language learning in Canada and Austria 207
-
Section 4: Psychological dimensions
- 11 Why does IDLE make EFL learners gritty? 241
- 12 Preservice English language teachers and informal digital learning of English (IDLE) in Kazakhstan 269
- 13 Learner profiles and ISLL trajectories 291
-
Section 5: Engagement
- 14 Behaviour, thoughts, and feelings 327
- 15 Learner engagement and learner change under lockdown 359
- 16 Engaging with L2 Netflix 379
- 17 Conclusion 409
- Index 425
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Author biographies VII
- 1 Introduction to Language Learning and Leisure 1
-
Section 1: The nature of informal second language learning
- 2 Toward an anthropology of Informal Digital Learning of English (IDLE) 21
- 3 Does informal mean implicit? 43
- 4 Smart devices and informal language learning 69
-
Section 2: Language outcomes
- 5 Informal second language learning and EFL learners’ spoken use of discourse markers 91
- 6 Influence of television series on pronunciation 121
-
Section 3: Learner activities
- 7 Mapping space, leisure and informal language learning in the lives of international students in Australia 143
- 8 Learner perspectives on informal L2 vocabulary learning 159
- 9 Mediation in informal language learning activities outside of the classroom 185
- 10 Linguistic risk-taking and informal language learning in Canada and Austria 207
-
Section 4: Psychological dimensions
- 11 Why does IDLE make EFL learners gritty? 241
- 12 Preservice English language teachers and informal digital learning of English (IDLE) in Kazakhstan 269
- 13 Learner profiles and ISLL trajectories 291
-
Section 5: Engagement
- 14 Behaviour, thoughts, and feelings 327
- 15 Learner engagement and learner change under lockdown 359
- 16 Engaging with L2 Netflix 379
- 17 Conclusion 409
- Index 425
