This paper reports on an exploratory cross-sectional study of native Japanese EFL learners' development of English pragmatic skill. Japanese university students participated in a series of discourse completion tasks, which were designed to elicit requests. This study adds to the small, but growing, body of research on using pragmatic routine focused on in the instructional treatment viz, gambits, discourse strategies and speech acts.
A number of developmental patterns were identified, particularly in the choice of request strategy and frequency of supportive moves. Part of the data suggest learners' sensitivity to situational variation or pragmatic transfer from Japanese. This study has successfully clarified how interlanguage pragmatic competence develops.

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When advanced learners write in English, it is important to have a good knowledge of formal English. However, in my own teaching experience, it seems that even advanced learners are limited to the use of over-colloquial words. Although advanced learners have a fairly large vocabulary for decoding, due to the difficulty of encoding, writing English is more difficult than reading English.
In consideration of this difficulty, the purpose of this paper is to illustrate the usefulness of the intensifying adverb “extremely” and suggest its use as a gateway to advanced English encoding.
First, the descriptions in the pedagogical dictionaries based on corpus data are examined in regard to synonyms for “extremely.” Second, the collocations of the other intensifying adverbs in the dictionaries are compared with the collocation of “extremely” itself through actual corpus data. Finally, referring to a t-score analysis, the frequent collocates of “extremely” are presented.
As a result, “extremely” is interchangeable with many of the other intensifying adverbs. Therefore, as a step towards advanced English encoding, the use of the intensifying adverb “extremely” should be suggested in academic settings.

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With the bombardment of new demands and technological changes upon students and educators associated with second language acquisition in this new millennium, it is necessary to adapt to these differing needs of society, and for one to be able to find inner peace. Due to the widely diverse aims and programs of the field, goals and values will remain unfocused until a clear image of our values and purposes is developed. Cultivating a workable philosophy will help allow those affected to meet the various challenges. Although wisdom in these matters is slow in coming and difficult to attain, arriving at a philosophy will benefit everyone involved in institutionalized programs. This paper will examine some of the philosophies of second language acquisition and their relationship to classical thought.
JAPE Journal readers, and others interested in the practical usage of English, will be able to ascertain the relationship of pragmatic thought to other major philosophies. Some of the following information may be incorporated to devise tools for development of problem-solving skills requisite to practical usage. Also, introspective analysis is possible by relating the concepts of philosophy to practical behavior, and thus determining the efficiency of progress toward goals.

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