and one of the main tools for independent language learning (Carrell & Grabe, 2002), reading has occupied a prominent place within language classrooms since the very onset of systematic language teaching and learning dating back to 4,000 years ago (Fotos, 2005). However, the conception of one's competence to read in the target language has been redefined over the course of time. Once perceived as mere decoders of images imprinted on a page (Carrell, Devine, & Eskey, 1988), readers have taken a more active role and efficient readers are now deemed constructively responsive readers (Pressley & Afflerbach, 1995), "strategic meaning-makers" (Lawrence, 2007, p. 55), and self-regulated readers (Nash-Ditzel, 2010). Reading started being viewed as a psycholinguistic game (Goodman, 1967) in which meaning is deciphered by relying on the text, context, and background knowledge (Pritchard, 1990) in the process of fluent and strategic reading (N. J. Anderson, 2003a), with the former usually seen as the aim of the instruction, and the latter as a means of gaining it. It soon became evident that a thorough understanding of the text is not gained automatically, especially in the case of second and foreign language learners, but it entails using controlled deliberate acts, that is, reading strategies (Afflerbach, Pearson, & Paris, 2008). Through extensive research it has been demonstrated that planning, monitoring, and evaluating the whole process of reading differentiates skilled from unskilled readers (Pressley & Afflerbach, 1995; Sheorey & Mokhtari, 2001), contributing greatly to a considerable increase in their reading proficiency. Thus, the awareness of those acts, which correlates with the use of metacognitive strategies (MS), is believed to eventually lead to an efficient learning process (N.

Being notably absent from many classrooms and largely unaware of by many language learners, metacognitive reading strategies have attracted a keen interest of scholars and have been extensively researched in very diverse contexts. Thus, the primary goal of this research is to determine the overall usage of different types of metacognitive reading strategies by non-native English language speakers at International Burch University. For that purpose, the Metacognitive Reading Strategies Questionnaire (MRSQ) was employed. The research sample was composed of 140 university-level students studying in two different fields, namely the field of English Language and Literature and Management. The analysis revealed that gender, grade level and study field have a significant effect on the use of metacognitive reading strategies, whereas the effect of nationality on the overall use of metacognitive reading strategies as well as on both of their subtypes is insignificant. Such research findings might largely contribute to a better understanding of different factors impacting reading strategy usage and might help teachers control them and act accordingly. Thus, some possible causes of such results are further explored in the current study and recommendations and directions for similar future field-related research are offered.

With the number of world Englishes steadily increasing, the impact of ‘core’ English varieties is weakening. However, the influence of two varieties, namely standardised American English and standardised British English, seems to be dispersed across all areas, in particular across peripheral varieties. Due to the difference in their demographic weight and the institutional support they receive, these two varieties do not secure a balanced representation in the peripheral layer. The current study investigates whether 132 university‐level Bosnian learners of English report using particular items of American or British English at the levels of pronunciation, spelling, grammar and vocabulary.

The importance of applying cooperative learning and aiming toward an increase in motivation to maximize the effectiveness of the learning process has not sparked an intense research interest in the Bosnian EFL context. Thus, the current study, conducted among 211 high-school participants, explores the impact of gender and grade level on students’ cooperative learning and motivation for EFL learning and aims to determine whether any cooperative learning components are significant predictors of students’ motivation and their EFL achievement. The findings showed no significant gender and grade level differences in cooperative learning and motivation. Additionally, the results revealed that individual accountability and interpersonal skills are significant predictors of participants’ motivation and that promotive interaction and interpersonal skills are significant predictors of their EFL achievement. The research points to the importance of incorporating cooperative learning strategies and motivation-strengthening activities into EFL teaching, which will eventually lead to the improvement in students’ EFL achievements.

Learning efficacy can be substantially improved through the frequent use of learning strategies, whose practicality has been confirmed through extensive research. Thus, the purpose of the current study is to contribute to this wealth of research by determining whether learning strategies are significant predictors of students’ achievement in learning English as a foreign language (EFL) as well as by exploring strategy awareness and variations in strategy use by gender, grade level, and overall grade point average (GPA) among 206 high school students. The results indicated that cognitive strategies are significant positive predictors, while memory and affective strategies are significant negative predictors of students’ achievement in foreign language learning. Moreover, the findings revealed a significant impact of overall GPA and an insignificant impact of gender and grade level on the use of strategy subtypes, with the most frequently used strategies being metacognitive and the least frequently used being affective strategies. Furthermore, this research highlights the importance of incorporating strategies-based instruction methods into foreign language curriculums in the Bosnian context and also aims to raise teachers’ awareness of the importance of their application in the classroom milieu.