This article reports on a small-scale study of the effect of metacognitive instruction on listeners' comprehension. Twenty adult, Japanese, advanced level EFL learners participated in a task sequence, or "pedagogical cycle", of predicting, monitoring, problem identification, and evaluating in each of five listening lessons aimed at promoting their…

Suggests that the notion of "normal" English as opposed to "literary" English leads to a considerably oversimplified view of how language is used. Suggests that courses be designed to increase the understanding of stylistic variation by advanced students of English so that they can improve their receptive and productive skills. (SED)

Translation can be useful in teaching advanced students to make decisions about structure, assess the communicative consequences of those decisions, assess perceptions of language contrasts, and increase feelings for communicative appropriateness. Two methods are suggested: word-for-word or "spoof" translation, and back translation. (Author/MSE)

A small ethnographic study determining the writing strategy preferences of advanced English as a second language students (N=48) found that students' most common preferences were hierarchical treeing or planning. Open-ended exploratory techniques were also popular. The least common preference was for systematic heuristics. (Author/CB)