Today’s English students have a lot of exposure to the language outside of the classroom. By using the internet, social media, and other digital technologies, they can watch videos, hear music, and play video games in English.
今天的英语学生在课堂之外大量接触该语言。通过使用互联网、社交媒体和其他数字技术，他们可以用英语观看视频、听音乐和玩视频游戏。
But teachers are not so sure that digital exposure results in better English-speaking abilities. That is the finding of a new study on how teenagers learn English. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, a group that studies economic activities in large economies, supported the study.
但老师们并不确定数字化接触是否会带来更好的英语口语能力。这是一项关于青少年如何学习英语的新研究的发现。研究大型经济体经济活动的经济合作与发展组织（OECD）支持了这项研究。
The study is called “ How 15-Year-Olds Learn English. ” It provides case studies of teaching teenagers English from five countries: Finland, Greece, Israel, the Netherlands and Portugal. The researchers gathered information by visiting schools and observing English lessons in each country. They also interviewed teachers, students and school administrators.
这项研究名为“15 岁的孩子如何学习英语”。它提供了来自五个国家的青少年英语教学案例研究：芬兰、希腊、以色列、荷兰和葡萄牙。研究人员通过参观每个国家的学校和观察英语课程来收集信息。他们还采访了教师、学生和学校管理人员。
The study findings will be used to support the OECD’s 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), said Catalina Covacevich. She was one of the study’s main researchers. PISA studies the school systems of about 90 countries by measuring the performance of 15-year-olds in reading, writing and math. In 2025, PISA will aim to measure 22 of those countries’ English language skills for the first time.
Catalina Covacevich 表示，研究结果将用于支持 OECD 2025 年国际学生评估计划 (PISA)。她是该研究的主要研究人员之一。 PISA 通过衡量 15 岁学生在阅读、写作和数学方面的表现来研究约 90 个国家的学校系统。 2025 年，PISA 的目标是首次衡量其中 22 个国家的英语语言技能。
“It’s an obvious statement that English transcends classroom walls,” Christa Rawkins told VOA. She was another one of the researchers for the study.
克里斯塔·罗金斯对美国之音表示：“很明显，英语超越了教室的界限。”她是这项研究的另一位研究人员。
Teens spoke “about the ways they used English with people on those sorts of social networking sites and other media. But it was rarer that they were talking about sitting down to learn English via those platforms .”
青少年谈论“他们在社交网站和其他媒体上与人们使用英语的方式。但他们很少谈论通过这些平台坐下来学习英语。”
Some students in Greece said it is easier to search for English-language information on the internet because more of it is available. In the Netherlands, 15-year-olds described watching English YouTube videos. In a written opinion study, half of students in the Netherlands reported always using English when using digital tools.
一些希腊学生表示，在互联网上搜索英语信息更容易，因为可用的信息更多。在荷兰，15 岁的年轻人描述了观看英语 YouTube 视频的情况。在一项书面意见研究中，一半的荷兰学生表示在使用数字工具时始终使用英语。
Teachers however are unsure whether digital tools are improving students’ English knowledge. While teachers said using English platforms might increase students’ motivation to learn and help them get used to the language, the platforms “are not necessarily teaching them English,” Rawkins said.
然而，教师们不确定数字工具是否正在提高学生的英语知识。罗金斯说，虽然老师们表示使用英语平台可能会提高学生的学习动力并帮助他们习惯这门语言，但这些平台“不一定教他们英语”。
One teacher in Finland, for example, said students might get the false idea that they do not need to study English because of how often they use English outside of school.
例如，芬兰的一位老师表示，学生可能会错误地认为他们不需要学习英语，因为他们经常在校外使用英语。
“They think they know it better than I do because they use it in computer games and it’s present in their lives all the time,” the teacher said. “They think they don’t have to listen to me in English classes, I feel that is a challenge .
“他们认为他们比我更了解它，因为他们在电脑游戏中使用它，并且它一直存在于他们的生活中，”老师说。 “他们认为他们不必在英语课上听我讲课，我觉得这是一个挑战。
Rawkins said there is a “slight disconnect” between the kind of English students are learning outside of school “and the kind of English they're being asked to learn and study in classrooms.” Students might feel that “studying English at school is just about studying grammar whereas outside (of) school they can communicate and interact in the language,” the report said.
罗金斯表示，学生在校外学习的英语类型“与他们被要求在课堂上学习和研究的英语类型之间存在“轻微的脱节”。报告称，学生可能会觉得“在学校学习英语只是学习语法，而在校外他们可以用该语言进行交流和互动”。
A large part of OECD’s work with PISA, the researchers said, is examining inequities in education. Rawkins said there can be large inequities that arise from the kinds of out-of-school exposure kids get to English. Kids from wealthy families are able to travel to English-speaking countries or attend summer camps where they can speak English to international friends, for example. Some students can pay for private lessons.
研究人员表示，经合组织与国际学生评估项目 (PISA) 合作的很大一部分是审查教育领域的不平等现象。罗金斯说，孩子们在校外接触英语的情况可能会造成很大的不平等。例如，来自富裕家庭的孩子可以去英语国家旅行或参加夏令营，在那里他们可以与国际朋友说英语。有些学生可以支付私人课程的费用。
“Kids living in cities were more likely to be using English out and about in their daily lives compared to their counterparts in more rural areas,” Rawkins added.
“与农村地区的孩子相比，生活在城市的孩子在日常生活中更有可能使用英语，”罗金斯补充道。
There has been a big change in how students are exposed to English outside of school. But within the classroom, things “hadn’t really changed.” The report noted how digital technologies are used within the classroom, but traditional teaching methods, like textbooks, were still used in every school observed.
学生在校外接触英语的方式发生了巨大变化。但在教室里，事情“并没有真正改变”。该报告指出了数字技术在课堂上的使用情况，但观察到的每所学校仍在使用教科书等传统教学方法。
Teachers in all five countries said their students struggled the most with writing and speaking English rather than in reading and listening. Researchers noted that students might feel a lack of self-confidence when it comes to speaking. They might also be less likely to speak and write English outside of school.
所有五个国家的老师都表示，他们的学生在英语写作和口语方面遇到的困难最多，而不是阅读和听力。研究人员指出，学生在演讲时可能会感到缺乏自信。他们也可能不太可能在校外说和写英语。
“Outside school they're doing a lot of reading and listening to English because that's what the majority of their exposure is, particularly when it comes to digital technologies,” Rawkins said. “They're not doing so much speaking or writing.”
“在校外，他们会做大量的阅读和听英语，因为这是他们接触的大部分内容，特别是在数字技术方面，”罗金斯说。 “他们没有做太多的演讲或写作。”