STAGE - STarting AGe and Extramural English: Learning English in and outside of school in Norway and Flanders

The STAGE project, STarting AGe and Extramural English, aims to advance our understanding of the relation between language input and language acquisition by investigating the mechanisms underlying language learning among English-as-Foreign-Language learners who are exposed to large amounts of English language input outside of school (Extramural English, EE), but who have different starting ages for formal English instruction in school. The project is the first of size to investigate the impact of an early start in input-rich contexts. The regions involved are Norway, early start (grade 1, age 6-7), and Flanders, late start (grade 7, age 12-13, or grade 8, age 13-14). The main objective of STAGE is to provide new and crucial insights into the input-acquisition relationship by unraveling the relative contribution of formal instruction and EE to learners’ English proficiency.