Exposure to English outside the Classroom

Abstract: This study attempts to outline the exposure to English language students between the ages of 14 and 16 experience in Swedish schools. Due to the relatively small scope of our study we have limited our parameters and concentrated on two schools with predominantly Swedish pupils. The aim was to establish the nature of English influence on teenagers in Swedish schools and then to examine whether this naturally occurring acquisition of knowledge is utilized in the more formal language learning environment of the classroom.We used a survey to get an overview of our topic and to help us establish patterns and trends of English language exposure amongst our target students. In order to further analyze our topic we conducted two group interviews.Our research shows that English has a great influence on Swedish children though perhaps not as much as we had first anticipated. While receptive acquisition is high, chances to actively produce the language remain low. It is also noted that while different types of English media is in fact utilized in the classroom, it may not be relevant or interesting to the students.