Engagement with English beyond the classroom: A qualitative study with middle school Austrian students

Although there has been growing interest in researching engagement within the language classroom, comparatively less is known about how learners interact with and use the target language outside the classroom. To understand how learners in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) setting engage with English across different contexts of their lives, this qualitative interview study explored behavioural, emotional, and cognitive engagement with English beyond the classroom among 31 Austrian middle school students aged 11 to 14. The findings from thematic analysis suggest that emotional engagement played a crucial role in supporting behavioural engagement with English outside the classroom, while active involvement created opportunities for conscious reflection and noticing. While most students did not explicitly intend to enhance their learning through out-of-class English activities, their engagement was motivated by their enjoyment of and interest in them. Nevertheless, participants still identified learning gains from their involvement. The findings also highlight the balancing act required by educators who need to become aware of learners’ needs and interests to motivate them to engage with the language, but also need to ensure that students do not feel that the activities they enjoy are being turned into yet another school chore.