Language learning is a complex process influenced by many factors. In today’s world, we encounter English not only at school but everywhere, including during various activities where learning English is not a deliberate goal—for example, while reading books, watching movies, playing video games, listening to music, and so on. This is referred to as Extramural English. Numerous empirical studies have shown that students with out-of-school exposure to English learn the language faster and more easily and are more motivated to learn it. An important element in learning a foreign language is its active use in authentic communication, which is facilitated by various activities within the framework of Extramural English, including playing video games. In today’s world, video games are often associated with addiction and violence, but they also have positive aspects, such as foreign language learning and the development of social skills, critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving. In the empirical part of this master’s thesis, we used a mixed-methods research approach to examine the experiences and opinions of students and teachers regarding playing video games in English, differences based on gender and school type, perceptions of the positive and negative effects of video games, and their integration into English language instruction. The study included 296 students who were in the 6th grade during the 2025–26 school year and 26 English teachers from selected elementary schools in the Goriška, Obalno-kraška, and Primorska regions. We also conducted interviews with thirteen students who spend a lot of time playing video games. We found that most 6th-grade students play video games in English during their spare time and are thus exposed to English outside of school, a fact that their teachers also recognize. Students’ habits do not differ in a statistically significant way based on school type, while differences were found based on gender regarding the language used while playing and the type of video games. Students and teachers recognized the positive effects of video games primarily in vocabulary acquisition and reinforcement, language use, and creativity. A positive correlation was also found between playing video games in English and academic achievement, as well as certain aspects of motivation. Despite recognizing their potential, teachers rarely incorporated video games into their lessons due to a lack of knowledge about appropriate games, time constraints, and excessive screen time of students. Since there is a lack of research in this area in Slovenia, the results offer insight into out-of-school exposure to English through video games and the possibilities for incorporating video games into English language classroom.
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