Informal digital learning of English : the case of Kazakhstani pre-service teachers of English /

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Student Theses

2022

Zadorozhnyy, Artem

Hong Kong : The Education University of Hong Kong

Thesis

In recent years, interest in understanding how students use technology outside the classroom has grown (Lai & Gu, 2011; Lee & Lee, 2018). The shift towards informal ways of learning occurred for various reasons, for which the main rationale may be connected with the resistance of classroom practices to be refocused, the unpreparedness of teachers to implement technology in entertaining ways to boost the interest of students and the scarcity of technology in various contexts. Compared with prior studies conducted in connection with formal classroom environments (Dincer et al., 2019; Noels et al., 2016), research addressing the impactful factors of language-learning activities beyond the classroom remains relatively scarce. To fill this gap, in this study, we capture the role of social environments and motivational determinants in affecting student engagement in informal second language (L2)- learning activities. Based on the analysis of prior research, we adopt motivational theory of self-determination (Ryan & Deci, 2016), which seems relevant for analysing the relationship between learners of English as a foreign language and ‘significant others’ (i.e. language instructors, peers and target language community members; Noels et al., 2019) and its impact on student engagement in informal L2-learning activities.Owing to the gaps in existing studies, we aim to address the beliefs about the phenomenon of informal digital L2 learning and actual informal learning experiences among individuals enrolled in undergraduate programmes at multiple Northern and Southern Kazakhstan higher education institutions, who may be described as balancing and negotiating their language-teaching and language-learning beliefs. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to explore how preservice teachers of the English language in the Kazakhstani context utilise online digital resources to develop their English language capacity in out-of-class settings. Additionally, we examine the extent to which satisfaction of basic psychological needs in formal and informal digital learning environments (Ryan & Deci, 2017a) determines student engagement in informal practices and predicts English language outcomes. Finally, we determine the extent to which participation in informal digital L2-learning activities, in conjunction with the factors mentioned above, influences the formation of future nonnative foreign language instructors.We employ an explanatory sequential mixed-methods research design to analyse the quantitative (N = 472) and qualitative (N = 32) data. According to the research findings, Kazakhstani EFL students are part of a global community of informal L2'acquirers' with various degrees of regularity. The results of this study support earlier studies indicating the prevalence of written over verbal communication patterns and receptive over productive IDLE activities. Our study extends prior claims and underlines the preference for short-span multimodal content that can be consumed rapidly (e.g. short videos, news posts and social media content) over prolonged activities that require a considerable amount of time and concentration. Our quantitative and qualitative findings support a positive link between informal learning activities and various L2 proficiency aspects. In addition, by adopting SDT, we produced empirical findings about the impact of social aspects that, depending on the perceived contextual support, can either encourage or discourage students from engaging in informal language-learning activities. At last, given the efforts the students devoted to informal learning experiences, our participants verified our prediction by indicating the development of their L2- teaching beliefs on the basis of the intersection of their personal L2-learning route and acquired knowledge of foreign language-teaching methodology.Overall, using our findings as foundation, we attempt to contextualise our research findings by considering the dichotomous distinction of cultural variations proposed by De Mooij and Hofstede (2010) and discuss possible research pathways. Similarly, we offer a number of suggestions and directions for future research to those who wish to comprehend behavioural participation in informal learning activities, its antecedents, and its implications

LG51.H43 Dr 2022eb Zadorozhnyya

https://educoll.lib.eduhk.hk/records/zCDg9QcJ