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Assessing the relationship between extramural English and L2 writing

A CALF perspective

ORCiD logo with link | University of Washington
 | University of Vigo
Published online: 17 March 2026
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/itl.25022.fer
Abstract
This study examines the relationship between engagement in extramural English (EE) activities and second language (L2) writing among 96 high school learners of English. Participants completed an EE questionnaire and a writing task. Their texts were analyzed using measures of syntactic and lexical complexity, accuracy, and fluency. Watching audiovisual content with English captions or without subtitles showed the strongest positive correlations with multiple writing metrics, including fluency, complexity, and grammatical and lexical accuracy. Listening to music and gaming were linked to fluency and lexical diversity, respectively. Reading, writing, speaking face-to-face, and listening to non-musical audio showed weaker but significant correlations. No significant relationships were found for watching with L1 subtitles or speaking online. Findings highlight the potential of audiovisual EE input to support L2 writing development.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Informal second language learning and writing
  • Informal second language learning and syntactic and lexical complexity, accuracy, and fluency
  • The study
    • Setting and participants
    • Instruments and procedure
    • Data analysis
  • Results
    • Type and frequency of extramural English activities
    • Writing fluency, syntactic complexity, lexical complexity, and accuracy
    • Relationship between type and frequency of extramural English activities, and writing fluency, syntactic complexity, lexical complexity, and accuracy
  • Discussion
    • Type and frequency of extramural English activities
    • Relationship between type and frequency of extramural English activities and writing fluency, syntactic complexity, lexical complexity, and accuracy
  • Conclusions, limitations, and pedagogical implications
  • Acknowledgements
  • Note
  • References
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