126231 VK MEd 01A/B: VK Specific Issues in Language Learning and Teaching (2026S)

In today’s digitally mediated world, learners of English increasingly engage with the language for entertainment and personal interest, such as engaging in social media content, streaming series and films, writing fanfiction, and playing video games. These digital practices fall under the broader concept of extramural English (EE) (Sundqvist & Sylven, 2016), which refers to learners’ self-directed use of English in recreational contexts where learning occurs incidentally. While such informal, digitally driven language use offers rich opportunities for language development, it can also create challenges for formal English education. This underscores the need to explore how classroom instruction can meaningfully interact with EE (Schurz & Sundqvist, 2025).

This course aims to enhance student teachers’ awareness of the diverse nature of EE activities learners may engage in, their effect on different areas of language learning, and the need to consider these aspects in instruction. The course provides student teachers with evidence-based insights into learner needs arising out of EE use and equips them with tools to develop teaching materials that effectively bridge the gap between informal language use and formal education. To cover these contents, teacher input will be combined with group, pair, and individual work, including weekly readings and discussions, the development and presentation of teaching material and a classroom research project.