Out-of-the-classroom English Input and informal Second Language Acquisition: A longitudinal study of Italian university students

The present dissertation explores out-of-the-classroom English input and informal second language acquisition among a sample of Italian university students. According to informal second language learning (ISLL), second language acquisition results from leisure-oriented activities taking place outside educational settings, independent of formal frameworks for learning or testing, and directed by the learners themselves, motivated by personal interests rather than language learning purposes (Reinders, Benson 2017). While ISLL has proved a fruitful field for investigation in Europe (Sockett 2014; Sundqvist, Sylvén 2016; Kusyk 2017; Arnbjörnsdóttir, Ingvarsdóttir 2018; Dressman, Sadler 2020), extensive research on the issue is still scant Italy (Pavesi, Ghia 2020). By means of a questionnaire, the study first offers an overall picture of students’ current habits and motivations when accessing English informally in out-of-school contexts. Moreover, a longitudinal study observed participants’ L2 oral development measured by complexity, accuracy, and fluency, to investigate any relation among frequency, intensity, and type of exposure to informal English input. Findings shows that Italian students access English informally to quite a considerable extent, through a variety of input, and out of personal interest and motivations. Prolonged exposure to informal English input arguably affects L2 development; however, development is complex and dynamic, as multiple individual factors such as learners’ identity and beliefs also play a key role when analysing learner language.