Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.31820/f.31.2.15
The Role of Informal Activities in Incidental Language Acquisition: The Relationship Between Language Use and Proficiency
Irena Bogunović
orcid.org/0000-0002-2956-7014
; Pomorski fakultet Sveučilišta u Rijeci
Jasmina Jelčić Čolakovac
orcid.org/0000-0002-1241-1283
; Pomorski fakultet Sveučilišta u Rijeci
Abstract
The English language is studied as a foreign
language in Croatia, and, apart from being included in formal education, it is
also present in everyday life. Daily exposure to English is measured in hours
and research has shown that many informal activities allow for incidental
language acquisition. This paper is aimed at identifying the activities in
which the Croatian student population spends most of their time using English
as well as at investigating whether a connection between exposure to English,
its use and prior knowledge of language can be established. Ninety-three participants
were included in the study, all students of the Faculty of Humanities and
Social Sciences at the University of Rijeka. The level of English knowledge was
determined by administering the Oxford Placement Test. Three groups were formed based on the results
obtained in the testing. Exposure to English and the students’ use of the
language were tested by means of a questionnaire in which the participants were
asked to approximate how much time they spent using English in the activities
listed in the questionnaire. The results showed that the participants spent
most of their time online and least in spoken communication. The differences between
groups with the lowest and the highest levels of knowledge were found to be
significant across all activities apart from reading for leisure, written, and
spoken communication. On the one hand, this study has managed to corroborate
the connection between language use and the level of language proficiency, and
on the other, it has indicated that the status of English is slowly changing on
both the global and individual level.
Keywords
language use; language exposure; incidental language acquisition; English
Hrčak ID:
230838
URI
Publication date:
24.12.2019.
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