Gamers. surfers and social media users: The role of interest to prevent droput

Gamers, surfers and social media users: The role of interest to prevent dropout

Associate Professor Lisbeth M. Brevik, Department of Teacher Education and School Research, University of Oslo, Norway

The typical student at risk of early school leaving – or dropout – in OECD countries is a boy under the age of 25, who attends vocational education and training (VET). Statistically, there are large differences between dropout rates in general studies and VET. The report Education at a Glance, published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2016), shows that ten times more students drop out of vocational studies compared to general studies (GS); with 2% dropout in GS and 20% in VET (OECD, 2016).

Since one in seven young adults across all study programmes leave education and training too early, the quest for reduced share of dropout is intensified. In 2010, the average dropout rate was 15%, and the European Commission (EC) has expressed the policy target of reducing dropout to 10% by 2020 (EC, 2010; OECD, 2016). The report highlights the seriousness of student dropout:

One of the challenges facing education systems in many OECD countries is students’ disengagement and consequent dropout from the education system, meaning that they leave school without an upper secondary qualification.

(OECD, 2016, p. 46)

It should come as no surprise that the dropout rates vary extensively between OECD countries/partners. For example, in 2014 Lithuania was ahead of the policy target both in general studies (GS) and in VET (4% in GS and 6% in VET), while Portugal was close (2% in GS and 12% in VET). In comparison, some OECD countries fulfil the policy target in GS only, while the dropout rate in VET is clearly higher, such as in Norway (3% in GS and 41% in VET), Denmark (4% in GS and 47% in VET), and Ireland (2% in GS and 56% in VET). These rates illustrate how important it is to reduce early school leaving.

Rich and poor countries alike

Reducing dropout is an initiative that relates closely to social inclusion, interest, and skills. Students who experience social exclusion drop out of school more frequently than others, and so do students who lack interest in school or lack reading skills (OECD, 2016; World Bank, 2013). Such dropout profiles are found both in poor and rich countries. For example, in the PISA assessments, all participating countries have a sizable share of low performers (OECD, 2016). In fact, as much as a quarter of all 15-year-olds have poor reading skills, and students who perform poorly at the age of 15 face a risk of dropping out of school altogether (EC, 2010; OECD, 2016).

Based on these numbers, developing reading skills and reducing dropout rates are matters of urgent concern. The report Education at a Glance links such poor school results to motivation: “Students’ lack of motivation can be the result of poor performance at school, which can, in turn, lead to further disengagement, creating a vicious circle” (OECD, 2016, p. 46). The role of motivation or interest should, therefore, not be underestimated.

The role of interest

This article will focus on a group of students, who are statistically at risk of dropping out of school. Most of these are boys in vocational education and training.

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Their stories of what makes them interested in developing their reading skills – despite the fact that they are poor readers – are powerful, and their skills are mainly developed in their leisure time. I identified and investigated this group of students in three studies.

In the first study (Brevik, Olsen, & Hellekjær, 2016), I discovered these students among 10,331 Norwegian 16-year-olds who participated in national reading tests; one in their first language (Norwegian) and one in their second language (English). First, I found evidence that three quarters of the students read almost equally well (or poorly) in Norwegian as in English. This was somewhat surprising for students in Norwegian schools, who usually read more Norwegian than English. Even more unexpected was the fact that another, smaller, group of students were among the poorest readers in Norwegian (20% score or less) and simultaneously among the best readers in English (60% score or more). Most of them had Norwegian as their mother tongue. Based on this unexpected profile, we labelled this group of students “Outliers”.

In order to find out why the Outliers were such good readers of English, I invited two schools to participate in a new research project called VOGUE (Vocational and General students’ Use of English in and out of school). The aim was to find out whether their interests had anything to do with their remarkable English reading skills. In the second study (Brevik, 2016) and in the third study (Brevik, forthcoming), I again identified students who were poor readers in the Norwegian test and simultaneously good readers in the English test. Together at the two schools, I identified 26 students who fit the Outlier profile. 20 of them were boys in vocational studies, one boy in general studies, two girls in vocational studies, and three girls in general studies. All of them were poor readers in their first language, and good in English as the second language. The question was why.

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Students’ language use in leisure activities

When interviewing these 26 Outliers, they explained that their English reading skills were related to their use of English in leisure activities, see Figure 1.

These Outliers read novels, cartoons, lyrics, the news and their Facebook newsfeed in both languages, but most of them read these in English. The clearest difference between the two languages concerned online games, and TV series and films,

20

15

10

5 In Norwegian In English

0

Novels & cartoons Lyrics News Facebook Online games TV series & films

Figure 1. The 26 students’ use of languages in leisure activities

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in which very few used Norwegian, while all of them used English in one or both of these activities. Based on interviews, surveys, and logs from these Outliers, a master student and myself identified three profiles that illustrate and help explain how important interests are to them, and how these interests have helped them become very good readers in English, although they are poor readers of Norwegian. In other words, their interests have helped them improve their reading skills in their second language despite being poor readers in their first.

Outlier profile I: The Gamer

The largest Outlier group fits the Gamer profile, and all of them are boys in vocational studies (Brevik, 2016, forthcoming; Garvoll, 2017). What characterizes this profile is that the Gamers explain their English skills mainly by gaming in their leisure time. They explain that they play online games between three and eight hours each day, depending on how much leisure time they have. While gaming, they participate in written and oral chat, which means that the Gamers are potentially exposed to large amounts of English by playing these online games (see Figure 2). While playing, they read assignments and instructions, as well as manoeuvring their avatar/character around the game. The Gamers practice reading, writing, speaking and listening skills while gaming, and are in other words highly communicative. The Gamer skims the instructions in the game, or read these closely, depending on the type of game and the action. They explain that, «If we don’t understand English, we die – in the game». While playing, the Gamers learn to solve problems, to analyse, and to make inferences – competencies that are highly sought after in education and society at large. Most importantly, however, in addition to developing their skills, they are part of a society, which means social inclusion.

Outlier profile II: The Surfer

The second largest Outlier group fits the Surfer profile, all of them are boys, both in general and vocational studies (Brevik, forthcoming; Garvoll, 2017). Even though the Gamer and the Surfer both spend time playing online games, the amount of time spent on the different activities separate the two profiles. The Surfers spend less time each day gaming, as their English use is also related to music, TV-series and movies, Facebook, news and general internet use (see Figure 2).

Written chat fuction (English) 21%

Oral chat function (English) 30%

Skimmed instructions (English) 22%

Read most instructions (English) 21% Gaming 11%

Music 22% News 5%

Facebook 21%

TV-series/ movies 22% Internet 19%

The Gamer

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The Surfer

Figure 2. Profiles of a Gamer and a Surfer (Garvoll, 2017)

In other words, the Surfer uses English for several different platforms, and it is difficult to express a specific use of English for the Surfers. However, what is essential for this profile is that the Surfer often seeks authentic language situations. This is why learning and using the English language is so important to the Surfers.

Outlier profile III: The Social Media User

The smallest Outlier group fits the Social Media User profile, and in contrast to the Gamers and the Surfers, these are girls only, both in general and vocational studies (Brevik, forthcoming; Garvoll, 2017). What characterizes this profile is that the Social Media User can be divided into two sub-profiles: the consumer and the producer.

The Social media consumer typically listens, reads, and watches English in her leisure time (see Figure 3), but very seldom (if at all) produces her own oral or written texts. As one of the girls explained, “A life without Netflix does not exist”. The Social media producer, on the other hand, uses the English language actively, especially by using Skype to communicate with friends and family in other countries. This is an important aspect of their social inclusion, and at the same time, they develop their skills.

Conclusion

The challenge for educators is how to include social inclusion and interest for developing skills in school, to prevent dropout. While interest seems to be key, teachers, youth workers, and the students themselves need to focus on how to bridge these realities – the school reality and the leisure reality; the virtual reality and the physical reality.

In this article, I have argued that we need to make education relevant to young adults who are at risk of becoming earl school leavers. We need to identify what they already master, whether in school or in their leisure time, particularly skills that are crucial but often overlooked. We also need to help young people make the connection between education and their interests, to help them bridge these contexts. Otherwise, it is easy to overlook their strengths and instead risking disengagement and potential dropout.

Music 41% Facebook 27%

TV-series/ movies 32%

The Social Media Consumer

Figure 3. Profile of a Social Media Consumer (Garvoll, 2017)

References

Brevik, L. M. (forthcoming). The gamer, the surfer and the social media user: Unpacking the role of interest in developing English language learning. Brevik, L. M. (2016). The Gaming Outliers: Does out-of-school gaming improve boys’ reading skills in English as a second language? In Elstad, E. (Ed.). Educational technology and Polycontextual bridging (pp. 39–61), The Netherlands: Sense Publishers. Brevik, L. M., Olsen, R. V., & Hellekjær, G. O. (2016). The Complexity of Second Language Reading: Investigating the L1-L2 Relationship. Reading in a Foreign Language, 28(2), 161–182. Retrieved from http://nflrc. hawaii.edu/rfl/October2016/articles/brevik.pdf European Commission [EC]. (2010). Europe 2020. A European strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Communication from the commission. Garvoll, K. K. (2017). The Gamer, the Surfer and the Social Media Consumer. Vocational students’ English use in and out of school. (Master’s Thesis). University of Oslo, Oslo. OECD. (2016). Education at a Glance 2016: OECD Indicators. Paris: OECD Publishing. World Bank. (2013). Inclusion Matters: The Foundation for Shared Prosperity. New Frontiers of Social Policy. Washington, DC: World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/16195 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.

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