English Learners Outside the Classroom: The Effects of Participating in Extracurricular Activities

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY SAN MARCOS THESIS SIGNATURE PAGE
THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE MASTER OF ARTS IN EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION

TITLE: English Learners Outside the Classroom: The Effects of Participating in Extracurricular Activities

AUTHOR(S): Brenda Ornelas

DATE OF SUCCESSFUL DEFENSE: 08/03/2022

THE THESIS HAS BEEN ACCEPTED BY THE THESIS COMMITTEE IN

PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ^{ARTS IN EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION}

^{Theresa Meyerott} 7,fu,,,.a,ytr ^{Aug 3, 2022}
COMMITTEE CHAIR SIGNATURE DATE
Daniel Elizalde Aug 4, 2022
COMMITTEE MEMBER tttltURE DATE

COMMITTEE MEMBER SIGNATURE DATE

COMMITTEE MEMBER SIGNATURE DATE

English Learners Outside the Classroom: The Effects of Participating in Extracurricular Activities

Brenda Ornelas

Department of Educational Leadership, California State University, San Marcos EDAD 698C: Masters Culminating Experience

Dr. Theresa Meyerott August 3, 2022

Abstract

The implementation of extracurricular activities can be very beneficial for students. However, English Learners tend to wait to participate in activities until they feel more confident with the English Language. They tend to fear communication with peers and staff, so they abstain from extracurricular activities. Yet, English Learners could benefit from outside activities by socializing with teammates, which helps them develop their English skills and feel part of the school community. The researcher used interviews and a narrative research method to collect English learners' input. The responses serve to answer the research question: To what extent do extracurricular activities affect the English language acquisition and social well-being of High School English Learners? The study involves the participation of three Spanish native speaker high school students. Each student has a different level of English proficiency, which helped the researcher validate their perspectives and experiences. The researcher used holistic and in vivo coding to acknowledge the participants' voices and filter students' replies into relevant analyses. As a result, the data analysis was guided by student input. The findings reveal that students who participate in extracurricular activities feel socializing outside the classroom helped them improve their English skills and develop a positive attitude toward the school and its community. Based on the students' feedback, it is recommended that schools try to incorporate English Learners into extracurricular activities by providing more information in Spanish, such as giving announcements in both English and Spanish. Also, it is recommended to create a Bilingual Volunteer Program, where bilingual students can volunteer to translate for their teammates. This program will benefit all students by providing support to English Learners wishing to participate

outside the classroom, and volunteer students get community service credit in return, which they can use when applying to a college or university. These recommendations can help decrease what seems to be the main reason English Learners do not participate in extracurricular activities, which is the fear of being unable to understand and be understood.
Keywords: English Learners, extracurricular activities, social well-being, English acquisition.