LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHER EDUCATION: A SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH. Margaret R. Hawkins (Ed.). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Pp. ix + 204. $89.95 cloth, $39.95 paper.

This book, according to the editor, “took shape from discussions among language teacher educators” who were interested in “reconceptualizing and redefining their practices” (p. 3) in order to reflect a shift from viewing language learning as an object to be dissected on paper to a view of language learning as discourses embedded in and shaped by situated social situations. It was, therefore, not surprising to discover that the chapters in this edited volume are all framed within a common sociocultural perspective that views language not as monolithic but as composed of many different social languages or discourses. Traditionally, language instruction, whether it be the teaching of traditional foreign languages, English as a foreign language or English as a second language, has focused on teaching grammatical structures and has been centered around teaching one correct form.