Academic reading has been less emphasized compared with academic writing as a site of research inquiry. Although some studies have examined reading strategy use in academic reading (e.g., Block, 1986; Plakans, 2009), these studies used short passages only, and there have been a few studies that have focused on the mental representation constructed…

In many African countries, English is the medium of instruction in higher education even though students may not always be entirely familiar with "standard" English. This study aimed at investigating the relevance of English language competencies for teaching and learning from the perspective of students and lecturers. The study was…

This paper reports on the piloting of podcasts created to support Anglophone French Immersion (FI) students in academic listening. The authors developed a series of seven English language podcasts grounded in metacognitive and L2 listening theory to provide FI students with strategies to enhance L2 listening ability and note-taking skills for…

Listening is the most important of the four language skills and is used most often in everyday communication. Teachers need innovative ways to address the particular listening problems emerging in their own contexts. "Teaching Listening: Voices From the Field" shares successful practices employed by teachers at different levels of education around…

Follows six non-native-speaker college students through an authentic essay-writing task. Finds that note-taking behaviors facilitated learning from text, but that depth of processing and the students' self-positioning in the discourse community were more important than their were overt behaviors. Concludes that students' notes were useful as a…

Research with ESL students has begun to show that Chinese students experience particular challenges in English academic listening. This study focuses on their challenges as reported by Chinese ESL students in understanding English lectures. Seventy-eight Chinese ESL students at an American university participated in this study. This paper focuses…

Research with ESL students studying at North American universities has indicated that Chinese students have difficulties in understanding academic lectures, taking notes, writing assignments, and giving presentations although they have obtained high TOEFL scores. The study investigates their English academic listening challenges as reported by…