Abstract
The relationship between the socioeconomic status (SES) of students and academic factors is an important issue in educational research. This contribution aims to investigate the relationship between the SES of English as a foreign language learners and their families' use of English while traveling abroad and communicating with friends.
We analyze data from 1,407 lower secondary students across the Czech Republic. For the purposes of our study, self-reported data about the possessions in students' homes served as a proxy for SES.
Our findings show that indices for all types of home possessions were significantly higher in the group of students who communicate in English while traveling and speaking with family friends. The biggest difference was found in terms of cultural possessions (e.g., works of art, books of poetry, etc.).
Further research should focus on the extent to which the socioeconomic background of Czech students indeed influences their learning of and the motivation to learn English as a foreign language and how this relationship is mediated or bolstered by family English activities and behaviors.