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

Chapter 3: Methodology

Participation in extracurricular activities has been connected to academic achievement and engagement. Children from immigrant families whose parents may be unfamiliar with American education may benefit from participation in structured after-school programs. ELLs may make positive cultural and linguistic changes due to their contacts with peers in this new context if schools encourage them to participate in extracurricular activities (Donroe, 2020). Extracurricular activities may help students perform academically and socialize, adapt to the school culture, and become more enthusiastic about learning English. Through socialization, individuals become fully integrated and develop different skills (Houghton, 2014).

Extracurricular activities provide ELLs with a secure learning environment in which they can build self-esteem. Students also develop better work habits and demonstrate social and intellectual confidence. (Park, 2015). Going beyond those disciplines is where students may find additional tools and experiences that will help them have a more meaningful educational experience and develop other skills that will serve them in their life after high school (Donroe, 2020). Thus, the researcher intends to answer the following research question:
To what extent do extracurricular activities affect the English language acquisition and social well-being of High School English Learners?
The following paragraphs detail the design, participants, setting, instruments, procedures, analysis, and the researcher's lens of cultural proficiency to analyze the research.

Design

The researcher used qualitative narrative research using interviews with volunteer participants to recognize and value the voice of the students who participated in the study. A qualitative technique was used because qualitative research emphasizes the participants'

experiences and viewpoints (Mertler, 2019). Individuals are studied through the collecting of their own experiences in narrative research, and the data is presented in chronological order (Creswell, 2007). In this way, the narrative research design reflects the participants' lived experiences and their experiences with extracurricular activities and English language acquisition.
The utilization of qualitative narrative research allowed the researcher to direct the focus of the study on a singular small group that formed part of a particular group, with the purpose of verifying the participant's voice in difficult discussions (Gay et al., 2009). In this way, qualitative narrative research is an appropriate choice for this study since it acknowledges and values students' voices and lived experiences while exploring participants' perspectives.