Pia Sundqvist
Biographic Data
| ID | 1201176 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Pia Sundqvist |
| GIVEN NAMES | Pia |
| FAMILY NAME | Sundqvist |
| SIGNATURE | SUNDQVIST P |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Oslo |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0511-4624 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 28 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 27 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 28 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Learning English outside of school
This study aims to explore the relationship between young English language learners’ (YELLs) extramural English (EE), grammar knowledge, and writing proficiency in English before the start of formal English instruction. Data were collected from 458 YELLs (aged 11–12) in Flanders, i.e. the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, by means of a grammaticality judgement test and writing test, a learner questionnaire and a parental questionnaire. The results …
Digital practices in CLIL across Romance- and Germanic-language contexts
Research on digital practices has grown substantially thanks to recent technological advancements. Using data from the COST Action CA21114 Digital Literacies Teacher Survey (DLTS) and Student Survey (DLSS), where Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) classrooms are focused, this study has a twofold aim: to describe how teachers (from primary to upper-secondary level) in Romance- (Italy and Spain; n = 92) and Germanic- (Austria and Swede…
Language Learning in the Digital Wilds
Language learning in the digital wilds takes place outside educational institutions and puts emphasis on the unpredictable and erratic—yet dynamic—character of technologies used in learning, and in particular technologies that are not designed for language learning purposes. Learning in the digital wilds can shortly be defined as learning that occurs in non‐instructionally oriented settings that support social activity and promote learner agency …
Extramural Vocabulary Learning
Extramural vocabulary learning is about informal learning of foreign or second language (L2) vocabulary outside (Lat. extra ) the walls (Lat. murus ) of the classroom. It is always self‐initiated and encompasses both incidental and intentional learning. Although not a new phenomenon per se, extramural vocabulary learning has gained traction in vocabulary research in the 2000s, and especially so regarding L2 English due to its status as a global l…
Extramural English and social interaction
Research shows that adolescents learn English as a foreign/second language (L2) extramurally, but few studies have explored the connection between extramural English (EE), speaking, and interactional competence (IC). This exploratory mixed-methods study investigates 21 10th-grade L2 English learners in Norway and Flanders who answered an EE questionnaire and participated in a video-recorded speaking test (National English Speaking Test, NEST). Th…
Conceptualising Idle Within Primary School English Language Teaching
Introducing and Evaluating a Measure of Lexical Diversity Across Word Classes
Lexical diversity (LD) has been shown to be a strong predictor of second language (L2) proficiency. However, most current indices combine all word classes into a single measure and thus only capture the broadest patterns of lexical variation. In addition, researchers interested in examining usage patterns across word classes currently lack access to measures of LD that are both more linguistically interpretable and robust to text length. In respo…
Research agenda
The prevalence of digital technologies, augmented by the emergence of generative AI, expands opportunities for language learning and use, empowers new modes of learning, and blurs the boundaries of in-class and out-of-class language learning. The language education community is challenged to reconceptualize the paradigm of language learning and utilize the affordances of technologies to synergize in-class and out-of-class language learning. To ac…
Considering extramural English in class
Extramural English (EE), referring to English-mediated leisure activities, has become a core part of English learning in many contexts. This prompts the need to explore how informal learning can best interact with English language teaching (ELT). To investigate possible ways of linking EE and ELT, we asked secondary school teachers in Austria, Finland, France, and Sweden in a survey to illustrate an activity they would do with students making ext…
Extramural English in Türkiye
Extramural English (EE) has been linked to foreign/second language (L2) English proficiency, but most research studies rely on broad questionnaires, limiting the scope of robust analyses. Although validated EE scales exist in several contexts, none of them have been developed for Türkiye, where EE research remains scarce. This article addresses these gaps through two studies: (1) the development and validation of a Turkish EE scale, and (2) an ex…
Young learners’ receptive L2 English vocabulary knowledge in relation to extramural English exposure at the onset of formal instruction in Norway
Some young foreign/second language (L2) learners of English hardly know a single English word when starting school instruction. Others know many thanks to extensive English use outside of school, extramural English (EE). By investigating young L2 learners’ vocabulary knowledge at the onset of formal instruction, we can explore what roles EE may have for incidental learning prior to instruction. To date, research has shown that music, digital game…
Teachers’ reported beliefs and practices about multilingualism
An increasingly globalised world has led to great language diversity in institutional settings. Sweden is no exception; 3 of 10 students in compulsory school have a migrant background. Increased diversity may result in challenges, e.g. knowing how to balance the use of the target language with other languages represented among the students to facilitate learning and interaction. As educational policy documents for Swedish schools offer little gui…
The effects of extramural English reading on phraseology in L2 writing
Foreign/second language (L2) learners worldwide are increasingly exposed to English outside the classroom through self-initiated, extramural English (EE) activities. Among the diverse types of EE activities, reading stands out as a particularly important activity for students. In particular, it has been shown to foster L2 learner's phraseological knowledge (e.g., phrasal verbs and collocations). This study explores whether the effects of EE readi…
Extramural English as an individual difference variable in L2 research
In light of findings from research on informal foreign/second language (L2) learning, with a focus on English as a target language and using the concept of extramural English (EE), this position paper argues that learners’ engagement in EE (through activities such as watching television or films or playing digital games) constitutes an important individual difference (ID) variable that needs to be included in studies that aim to measure L2 Englis…
Extramural English in Scandinavia and Asia
This article comprises two international studies. Study 1 aimed to develop a scale to measure the frequency of learners' voluntary, informal, out‐of‐school engagement with English, so‐called Extramural English (EE) activities. It involved three stages – pilot study, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis – followed by measuring the test–retest reliability and known‐groups validity of the scale. L2 English learners ( N = 907…
Exploring the effects of target-language extramural activities on students’ written production
Frequent engagement in English extramural activities (i.e., activities that take place outside the classroom) has been found to have a positive impact on EFL learners’ vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension. In the present study, we aim to extend our knowledge of the possible impact of extramural activities into the realm of second-language writing. Specifically, we investigate the relationship among a number of English extramural activit…
Effects of Word Definitions on Meaning Recall
Vocabulary experts recommend first language (L1) translation equivalents for establishing form-meaning mappings for new second language (L2) words, especially for lower proficiency learners. Empirical evidence to date speaks in favor of L1 translation equivalents over L2 meaning definitions, but most studies have investigated bi- rather than multilingual learners. In our study, we investigated instructed English vocabulary learning through an int…
Connecting Extramural English with ELT
Today, we globally observe a sharp increase in learners’ engagement in extramural (out-of-class) English (EE; Sundqvist 2009). This undoubtedly affords new opportunities for, but also challenges to, English language teaching (ELT) and learning. To our knowledge, this study is the first to explore this topic from a cross-national perspective. Upper secondary English teachers (N = 534) from Austria, France (‘dubbing countries’), Finland, and Sweden…
Language Practices in English Classrooms
English is taught in classrooms across the globe to learners of all ages, from very young learners in primary school to older learners who have reached retirement and occupy their time in the so-called third age by studying English
Policy in Practice
Assessment of foreign/second language (L2) oral proficiency is known to be complex and influenced by the local context. In Sweden, extensive assessment guidelines for the National English Speaking Test (NEST) are offered to teachers, who act as raters of their own students' performances on this high-stakes L2 English oral proficiency (OP) test. Despite guidelines, teachers commonly construct their own NEST scoring rubric. The present study aims t…
The teacher as examiner of L2 oral tests
The present paper looks at the issue of standardization in L2 oral testing. Whereas external examiners are frequently used globally, some countries opt for test-takers’ own teachers as examiners instead. In the present study, Sweden is used as a case in point, with a focus on the mandatory, high-stakes, summative, ninth-grade national test in English (speaking part). The national test has the typical characteristics of standardized tests and its …
Motivational Strategies and the Reframing of English
Motivational strategies are underresearched, and studies so far conducted have been in sociolinguistic contexts where English is not extensively encountered outside the classroom. Given also that little is known about strategies relating to the design and content of classroom activities, the purpose of this study is to identify and critically evaluate strategies focusing on activity design and content in classroom activities that, in a setting wh…
Code-switched repair initiation
Despite a long-standing interest in repair practices, much is yet to be learned about participants’ selections of components of the repair operation, and their systematic variation across contexts and languages (Hayashi et al., 2013b, Kitzinger, 2013). The present paper targets the initiation of self-repair through examination of a particular discursive object, the Swedish conjunction eller (‘or’), located in repair-prefacing position in a corpus…
Extramural English in Teaching and Learning
This book is unique in bringing together theory, research, and practice about English encountered outside the classroom – extramural English – and how it affects teaching and learning. The book inv ...
Testing L2 Talk
In this review article, empirical studies published from 2004 through 2014 on second‐language (L2) oral proficiency testing are analyzed, with a specific focus on discourse and social interaction in such tests. Taking three common test setups, oral proficiency interviews (OPIs), paired peer tests, and group peer tests as an organizing principle for the studies examined, recent developments in L2 oral proficiency testing research are situated, rev…
Out-of-school digital gameplay and in-school L2 English vocabulary outcomes
Motivational Strategies and the Reframing of English
Motivational strategies are underresearched, and studies so far conducted have been in sociolinguistic contexts where English is not extensively encountered outside the classroom. Given also that little is known about strategies relating to the design and content of classroom activities, the purpose of this study is to identify and critically evaluate strategies focusing on activity design and content in classroom activities that, in a setting wh…
Extramural English in Scandinavia and Asia
This article comprises two international studies. Study 1 aimed to develop a scale to measure the frequency of learners' voluntary, informal, out‐of‐school engagement with English, so‐called Extramural English (EE) activities. It involved three stages – pilot study, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis – followed by measuring the test–retest reliability and known‐groups validity of the scale. L2 English learners ( N = 907…
Code-switched repair initiation
Despite a long-standing interest in repair practices, much is yet to be learned about participants’ selections of components of the repair operation, and their systematic variation across contexts and languages (Hayashi et al., 2013b, Kitzinger, 2013). The present paper targets the initiation of self-repair through examination of a particular discursive object, the Swedish conjunction eller (‘or’), located in repair-prefacing position in a corpus…
Effects of Word Definitions on Meaning Recall
Vocabulary experts recommend first language (L1) translation equivalents for establishing form-meaning mappings for new second language (L2) words, especially for lower proficiency learners. Empirical evidence to date speaks in favor of L1 translation equivalents over L2 meaning definitions, but most studies have investigated bi- rather than multilingual learners. In our study, we investigated instructed English vocabulary learning through an int…
Policy in Practice
Assessment of foreign/second language (L2) oral proficiency is known to be complex and influenced by the local context. In Sweden, extensive assessment guidelines for the National English Speaking Test (NEST) are offered to teachers, who act as raters of their own students' performances on this high-stakes L2 English oral proficiency (OP) test. Despite guidelines, teachers commonly construct their own NEST scoring rubric. The present study aims t…
Gaming as extramural English L2 learning and L2 proficiency among young learners
Today, playing digital games is an important part of many young people's everyday lives. Claims have been made that certain games, in particular massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) provide L2 English learners with a linguistically rich and cognitively challenging virtual environment that may be conducive to L2 learning, as learners get ample opportunities for L2 input and scaffolded interaction in the L2. In this paper, we p…
Classroom vs. Extramural English
The present article explores challenges facing EFL classrooms in Sweden due to new informal out‐of‐school language learning settings created by the current media landscape. A recent Swedish national evaluation identifies that a problematic situation in secondary school EFL classrooms has emerged. EFL teachers find it difficult to bridge the gap (cf. Olsson 2011) between the English used in school and the English used outside of school, extramural…
Out-of-school digital gameplay and in-school L2 English vocabulary outcomes
Extramural English in Teaching and Learning
This book is unique in bringing together theory, research, and practice about English encountered outside the classroom – extramural English – and how it affects teaching and learning. The book inv ...
Testing L2 Talk
In this review article, empirical studies published from 2004 through 2014 on second‐language (L2) oral proficiency testing are analyzed, with a specific focus on discourse and social interaction in such tests. Taking three common test setups, oral proficiency interviews (OPIs), paired peer tests, and group peer tests as an organizing principle for the studies examined, recent developments in L2 oral proficiency testing research are situated, rev…
Code-switched repair initiation
Despite a long-standing interest in repair practices, much is yet to be learned about participants’ selections of components of the repair operation, and their systematic variation across contexts and languages (Hayashi et al., 2013b, Kitzinger, 2013). The present paper targets the initiation of self-repair through examination of a particular discursive object, the Swedish conjunction eller (‘or’), located in repair-prefacing position in a corpus…
The teacher as examiner of L2 oral tests
The present paper looks at the issue of standardization in L2 oral testing. Whereas external examiners are frequently used globally, some countries opt for test-takers’ own teachers as examiners instead. In the present study, Sweden is used as a case in point, with a focus on the mandatory, high-stakes, summative, ninth-grade national test in English (speaking part). The national test has the typical characteristics of standardized tests and its …
Motivational Strategies and the Reframing of English
Motivational strategies are underresearched, and studies so far conducted have been in sociolinguistic contexts where English is not extensively encountered outside the classroom. Given also that little is known about strategies relating to the design and content of classroom activities, the purpose of this study is to identify and critically evaluate strategies focusing on activity design and content in classroom activities that, in a setting wh…
Policy in Practice
Assessment of foreign/second language (L2) oral proficiency is known to be complex and influenced by the local context. In Sweden, extensive assessment guidelines for the National English Speaking Test (NEST) are offered to teachers, who act as raters of their own students' performances on this high-stakes L2 English oral proficiency (OP) test. Despite guidelines, teachers commonly construct their own NEST scoring rubric. The present study aims t…
Connecting Extramural English with ELT
Today, we globally observe a sharp increase in learners’ engagement in extramural (out-of-class) English (EE; Sundqvist 2009). This undoubtedly affords new opportunities for, but also challenges to, English language teaching (ELT) and learning. To our knowledge, this study is the first to explore this topic from a cross-national perspective. Upper secondary English teachers (N = 534) from Austria, France (‘dubbing countries’), Finland, and Sweden…
Language Practices in English Classrooms
English is taught in classrooms across the globe to learners of all ages, from very young learners in primary school to older learners who have reached retirement and occupy their time in the so-called third age by studying English
Exploring the effects of target-language extramural activities on students’ written production
Frequent engagement in English extramural activities (i.e., activities that take place outside the classroom) has been found to have a positive impact on EFL learners’ vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension. In the present study, we aim to extend our knowledge of the possible impact of extramural activities into the realm of second-language writing. Specifically, we investigate the relationship among a number of English extramural activit…
Effects of Word Definitions on Meaning Recall
Vocabulary experts recommend first language (L1) translation equivalents for establishing form-meaning mappings for new second language (L2) words, especially for lower proficiency learners. Empirical evidence to date speaks in favor of L1 translation equivalents over L2 meaning definitions, but most studies have investigated bi- rather than multilingual learners. In our study, we investigated instructed English vocabulary learning through an int…
Extramural English as an individual difference variable in L2 research
In light of findings from research on informal foreign/second language (L2) learning, with a focus on English as a target language and using the concept of extramural English (EE), this position paper argues that learners’ engagement in EE (through activities such as watching television or films or playing digital games) constitutes an important individual difference (ID) variable that needs to be included in studies that aim to measure L2 Englis…
Extramural English in Scandinavia and Asia
This article comprises two international studies. Study 1 aimed to develop a scale to measure the frequency of learners' voluntary, informal, out‐of‐school engagement with English, so‐called Extramural English (EE) activities. It involved three stages – pilot study, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis – followed by measuring the test–retest reliability and known‐groups validity of the scale. L2 English learners ( N = 907…
Considering extramural English in class
Extramural English (EE), referring to English-mediated leisure activities, has become a core part of English learning in many contexts. This prompts the need to explore how informal learning can best interact with English language teaching (ELT). To investigate possible ways of linking EE and ELT, we asked secondary school teachers in Austria, Finland, France, and Sweden in a survey to illustrate an activity they would do with students making ext…
Extramural English in Türkiye
Extramural English (EE) has been linked to foreign/second language (L2) English proficiency, but most research studies rely on broad questionnaires, limiting the scope of robust analyses. Although validated EE scales exist in several contexts, none of them have been developed for Türkiye, where EE research remains scarce. This article addresses these gaps through two studies: (1) the development and validation of a Turkish EE scale, and (2) an ex…
Young learners’ receptive L2 English vocabulary knowledge in relation to extramural English exposure at the onset of formal instruction in Norway
Some young foreign/second language (L2) learners of English hardly know a single English word when starting school instruction. Others know many thanks to extensive English use outside of school, extramural English (EE). By investigating young L2 learners’ vocabulary knowledge at the onset of formal instruction, we can explore what roles EE may have for incidental learning prior to instruction. To date, research has shown that music, digital game…
Teachers’ reported beliefs and practices about multilingualism
An increasingly globalised world has led to great language diversity in institutional settings. Sweden is no exception; 3 of 10 students in compulsory school have a migrant background. Increased diversity may result in challenges, e.g. knowing how to balance the use of the target language with other languages represented among the students to facilitate learning and interaction. As educational policy documents for Swedish schools offer little gui…
The effects of extramural English reading on phraseology in L2 writing
Foreign/second language (L2) learners worldwide are increasingly exposed to English outside the classroom through self-initiated, extramural English (EE) activities. Among the diverse types of EE activities, reading stands out as a particularly important activity for students. In particular, it has been shown to foster L2 learner's phraseological knowledge (e.g., phrasal verbs and collocations). This study explores whether the effects of EE readi…
Learning English outside of school
This study aims to explore the relationship between young English language learners’ (YELLs) extramural English (EE), grammar knowledge, and writing proficiency in English before the start of formal English instruction. Data were collected from 458 YELLs (aged 11–12) in Flanders, i.e. the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, by means of a grammaticality judgement test and writing test, a learner questionnaire and a parental questionnaire. The results …
Digital practices in CLIL across Romance- and Germanic-language contexts
Research on digital practices has grown substantially thanks to recent technological advancements. Using data from the COST Action CA21114 Digital Literacies Teacher Survey (DLTS) and Student Survey (DLSS), where Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) classrooms are focused, this study has a twofold aim: to describe how teachers (from primary to upper-secondary level) in Romance- (Italy and Spain; n = 92) and Germanic- (Austria and Swede…
Language Learning in the Digital Wilds
Language learning in the digital wilds takes place outside educational institutions and puts emphasis on the unpredictable and erratic—yet dynamic—character of technologies used in learning, and in particular technologies that are not designed for language learning purposes. Learning in the digital wilds can shortly be defined as learning that occurs in non‐instructionally oriented settings that support social activity and promote learner agency …
Extramural Vocabulary Learning
Extramural vocabulary learning is about informal learning of foreign or second language (L2) vocabulary outside (Lat. extra ) the walls (Lat. murus ) of the classroom. It is always self‐initiated and encompasses both incidental and intentional learning. Although not a new phenomenon per se, extramural vocabulary learning has gained traction in vocabulary research in the 2000s, and especially so regarding L2 English due to its status as a global l…
Extramural English and social interaction
Research shows that adolescents learn English as a foreign/second language (L2) extramurally, but few studies have explored the connection between extramural English (EE), speaking, and interactional competence (IC). This exploratory mixed-methods study investigates 21 10th-grade L2 English learners in Norway and Flanders who answered an EE questionnaire and participated in a video-recorded speaking test (National English Speaking Test, NEST). Th…
EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning (16 works) · Psychology (16 works) · Second Language Learning and Teaching (16 works) · Mathematics education (13 works) · English language (9 works) · Linguistics (9 works) · Second Language Acquisition and Learning (9 works) · Computer Science (8 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (6 works) · Sociology (6 works)