Second language acquisition has an identity problem. It is a young field struggling to emerge from the parent fields of education and applied linguistics. In his new book, Problems in Second Language Acquisition, Mike Long proposes a way to help second language acquisition develop a systematic and coherent focus using the philosophy of science as the lens.
The volume is neatly organized into three parts--theory, research, and practice. This structure allows a focus on areas of SLA of interest to many in the field. These include theory proliferation and comparative theory evaluation; the Critical Period Hypothesis and negative feedback; and the practice of synthetic language teaching.
The controversial volume will be of interest to researchers, educators, and graduate students in second language acquisition, applied linguistics, TESOL, and linguistics programs. It may be recommended as additional reading for an introductory SLA course in order to stimulate class discussions.

Understanding how people learn and fail to learn second and foreign languages is increasingly recognised as a critical social and psycholinguistic issue. Second languages are vitally important to diverse groups of people, ranging from refugees to college students facing foreign language requirements. This book provides a synthesis of empirical findings on second and foreign language learning by children and adults, emphasising the design and execution of appropriate research.

This book provides a synthesis of empirical findings on second and foreign language learning by children and adults, emphasizing the design and execution of appropriate research.

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is an innovative approach to language teaching which emphasises the importance of engaging learners' natural abilities for acquiring language incidentally. The speed with which the field is expanding makes it difficult to keep up with recent developments, for novices and experienced researchers alike. This handbook meets that need, providing a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of the field, written by a stellar line-up of leading international experts. Chapters are divided into five thematic areas, and as well as covering theory, also contain case studies to show how TBLT can be implemented in practice, in a range of global contexts, as well as questions for discussion, and suggested further readings. Comprehensive in its coverage, and written in an accessible style, it will appeal to a wide readership, not only researchers and graduate students, but also classroom teachers working in a variety of educational and cultural contexts around the world.

The number of non-native students studying in English medium universities has increased over the past decade. Paralleling this growth is the interest in English for Academic Purposes (EAP). No one research-based volume has yet investigated the theoretical issues and pedagogical concerns of the area. This wide-ranging volume of specially commissioned articles from leading scholars in the field, aims to bring to the wider community current research in the field and its implications for pedagogy. This book offers a state-of-the-art representation of research in EAP and will help define the field in the coming years.

The studies in this volume explore needs analysis in the public, vocational and academic sectors, in contexts ranging from service encounters in coffee shops to foreign language needs assessment in the U.S. military. In each chapter, the authors explicitly discuss the methodology they employed, and in some cases also offer research findings on that methodology. Several studies are task-based. Contributions include work on English and other languages in both second and foreign language settings, as well as a comprehensive overview of methodological issues in needs analysis by the editor.