Bridging Extramural English and English Language Teaching

Abstract

In our entrepreneurial master's thesis, we developed a card game (Beyond the Classroom) for lower secondary school students (grades 8-10) in the English subject. The card game is a didactic product that helps teachers bridge students' extramural English activities with English language teaching. It can also bring authenticity into the classroom so students are motivated and engaged in speaking English. Our primary research question is:

How can our card game bridge lower secondary school students’ extramural English (EE) activities with English language teaching (ELT) while actively engaging and motivating students to communicate in English during class?

In addition, we have a secondary research question: Does the game design align with its intended functions?

The theoretical and scientific background in this master's thesis is based on prior studies on extramural English, motivation, gamification, and task design related to oral production. A thematic analysis combined with educational research design was used to develop our card game, which students in lower secondary school tested out in two cycles. For further development of the card game, we utilized observation notes and audio recordings during the testing of our game, followed by interviews with audio recordings after the testing. In the written part of our thesis, we have presented the findings and revisions of our card game through cycle 1 and cycle 2. The written presentation is supplemented by an oral presentation encompassing details about product development, a critical perspective on our research, and how the project's purpose aligns with the research questions.

Keywords: Extramural English, gamification, oral production, motivation, lower secondary school, English language teaching