| dc.description.abstract | In the Netherlands, there are Eibo primary schools (Engels in het basisonderwijs, English in primary education), which offer English education only in the last two years of primary education, and Vvto primary schools (vroeg vreemdetalenonderwijs, early foreign language education), which offer English education from the first year. It is important to research the effectiveness of Vvto, as much money is invested in this type of education. Bureau ICE in Culemborg, the Netherlands, contributes to this by creating the IEP Eindtoets Engels. This test measures pupils’ English language proficiency in levels according to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR; Council of Europe, 2001) at the end of primary school, and thus can be used to research possible differences in Eibo and Vvto pupils’ CEFR levels, as Vvto pupils, who have had more English education than Eibo pupils, are expected to achieve a higher CEFR level than Eibo pupils. There are many factors which might play a role in pupils’ English language proficiency levels, other than early vs. late exposure, however, such as their extracurricular exposure to the English language. Much research has been done on the influence of extracurricular gaming, which can be seen as extracurricular exposure to English, on learners’ English language proficiency. The current study researches to what extent there is an influence of extracurricular gaming on Eibo and Vvto pupils’ CEFR levels for English language proficiency. In particular, the study focuses on the time spent on playing English-language games, the games which are played by most pupils, the pupils’ CEFR levels for English language proficiency, and a possible correlation between the mean number of minutes spent on gaming and the pupils’ CEFR levels. Although the sample size was small, there seemed to be no significant relation between the pupils’ CEFR levels and the time they spend on playing English-language games. There was, however, a statistically significant difference in the time spent on playing English-language games between the Eibo and the Vvto pupils. More generalizable results could be given if a future study took into account each Eibo and Vvto school which have taken the IEP Eindtoets Engels, as a larger sample size would make the outcomes of statistical tests more reliable. A positive correlation between playing English-language games and pupils’ CEFR levels for English language proficiency for both Eibo and Vvto pupils, would perhaps be found. | |
