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

Table 2.

Theme: Reasons to participate in Extracurricular Activities

	Reasons to participate in Extracurricular Activities
Student 1	Feeling Comfortable speaking English
	Baseball coach made sure directions were cleared
	Feeling included
Student 2	Personal motivation

	Reasons to participate in Extracurricular Activities
	Feeling motivated to join the dance club because the teacher speaks Spanish.
	Self- motivation to get incorporated into the culture and learn English.
Student 3	Socialize with other students
	Create good school memories
	Practice the English language and improve it

Student 1 was born in the United States and felt more comfortable conducting the interview in English. During the interview, the student mentioned that he started his education in the country not knowing the language, and it took him several years to finally decide to join an activity outside the classroom. He mentioned that the main reasons that made him comfortable to join baseball and band were feeling that his language skills were enough to participate, and how the coach was very determined to make sure everyone in the team, including English Learners understood the directions. The coach used other Spanish speakers to translate the information to the English Learners. This practice made the student feel confident joining the team.
Student 2 arrived in the United States three years ago, and self-motivation has been the main reason for her determination to join the swim team and the dance club. She states that she first joined the dance club because the advisor is a Spanish teacher and knew she would feel comfortable asking clarifying questions. Also, the club is founded to celebrate mainly Latin music and many of the participants speak Spanish which made her feel comfortable joining the club. Driven by the desire to learn how to swim, she also joined the swimming team this year. She mentioned that she loves spending time at the beach, but ironically no one in her family knows how to swim. Finally, she felt that in order for her to acclimatize to the school culture and the language, she needed to be part of the activities outside the classroom. She mentioned that

conversations, friendships, and even romantic relationships with English speakers has helped her develop her language skills, so she wanted to use the incorporation of extracurricular activities to her advantage.

Student 3 is a newcomer and has not participated in extracurricular activities. However, she mentioned that she eventually would like to participate in extracurricular activities to socialize and form new friendships with other students, create good memories in the school, and finally practice and improve her English language skills.
During the interview, students also expressed their reasoning behind choosing not to participate in extracurricular activities. Table 3 summarizes the comments made by the students about why they abstain from participating in extracurricular activities.