Responding to a lack of attention to language in transfer pedagogies, this study examines the potential effects that direct language-level instruction has on the metalinguistic awareness of students who were enrolled in stretch and corequisite courses at two four-year, public universities. Informed by a functional view of language, the instruction made explicit the connections between conventional language-level features and the related socio-rhetorical practices of academic discourse and provided metalanguage for students to describe these connections. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participating students to determine the extent to which the metalanguage from the instruction aided their ability to articulate their awareness of these connections. The findings suggest that the instruction cultivates a metalanguage that helps students verbalize their metalinguistic awareness. When considering the role that such awareness has on the transfer process, these findings indicate that functional language-based instruction can prepare students to transfer their writing strategies across contexts.