Out-of-school Contact with L2 English: Perspectives from Language Learners

Resumen

This paper aims at analyzing learners’ perspectives on the improvement of reading, writing, listening, speaking, 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 learners 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 mixed-methods approach has been followed. Findings indicate that the four groups perceived improvement in all skills but not in grammar and that 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 the loss of attention and learning incorrect grammar are the main disadvantages.