Promoting autonomy and independence (A & I) has for years been an accepted goal of Western education in general and has more recently joined such aims as developing “communicative competence” or using “authentic materials” in the canons of second language teaching and learning. As is the case with other pedagogical bandwagons we have jumped aboard, too little attention has been paid to its underlying theoretical bases and assumptions, and too few calls for empirical evidence of learning outcomes have been made. Benson and Voller offer a thought-provoking collection of papers that, although strongly endorsing the A & I movement in general, bring several of its implicit assumptions and values to conscious scrutiny and explore both apparent paradoxes and issues for debate.

Much of the existing literature on the bilingual language acquisition of preschool children consists of single-child case studies conducted by parents who are trained linguists. Such parents had usually made special efforts to cultivate bilingualism in their children.

The domains of tense and aspect have received considerable attention in the past two decades. Both the perceptual and linguistic meanings that are involved in expressing temporality have been focused on, and investigators have set out to discover the linguistic forms used to express these meanings. Tense and Aspect in Discourse aims at providing a better understanding of the textual and contextual interplay between aspectual meanings, linguistic forms, and their discourse functions. It provides a variety of very useful discussions of pertinent issues in this area.

The purpose of this book is to provide language teachers with insights and tools for understanding some of the reasons why their adult students often encounter less-than-smooth sailing when trying to learn another language. The book explores a variety of case studies that involve real students, thus bringing to life the human dimension of the learning difficulties presented. Although some examples of ESL students are provided, the major focus is on foreign language learners. Ehrman's felicitous writing style ensures that the book reads like an extended and intellectually stimulating conversation with the author.

Lynch, drawing on his experience of evaluation, in particular the Reading English for Science and Technology (REST) Project, aims to provide a “thorough theoretical background for the evaluation of language education programs” and “the necessary range of theory and practical techniques” (p. xi), and he highlights contributions for “program evaluation . . . in the development of applied linguistics as a field of research” (p. x).

“Hablamos los dos. We speak both (p. 1).” A statement offered by a 9-year-old girl defines the principle assertion of this book: Bilinguals have available to them at least two distinct repertoires of language that they are able to manipulate and mix to achieve their unique discourse needs and to express their multicultural identities. This book explores the network of relationships of 20 Puerto Rican families in a low-income neighborhood called el bloque in New York City. Zentella, herself a Nuyorican (New York Puerto Rican), has provided us a window on a world as only an insider can. She follows the families in and out of el bloque for 13 years, monitoring their bilingual behavior and the sociolinguistic factors that contribute to maintenance or loss of bilingual ability.

The edited volume of the Proceedings of the 1994 Child Language Seminar has a scope both broad and ambitious. Not all participants have contributed to the volume and only one featured guest speaker's paper, A. Radford's “The nature of children's initial clauses” (co-presented with H. Clahsen) is included, so we only get a tantalizing glimpse of the conference.

This book is dedicated to “all those working for the liquidation of sociolinguistics as we know it” (p. 6). One of the dominant themes of this book is a conservative skepticism about institutional claims to a knowledge of Indian sociolinguistics—western scholars and their “Indian cohorts” (p. 31, and passim) claiming to know the multilingual complexities of India. The nine essays, most previously published, are assembled in an attempt to deconstruct some of the established paradigms of Indian sociolinguistics, especially those that authors believe are guided by western models. The authors' dissatisfaction with the use of western parameters in interpreting the social realities of India is shared by most, if not all, linguists active in research in Indian linguistics; this book presents, in one volume, critiques of the works done in the past. After reading the book, whether or not one agrees with its stated agenda or its reinterpretation of the data, it is a brilliantly provocative, sometimes polemic, revisionist account of the multilingual realities of South Asia. The first nine essays offer critiques of studies in both micro- and macro-sociolinguistic traditions. The last two essays review two books: Gumperz's (1982) Language and social identity, and Bhatia's (1987) A history of the Hindi grammatical tradition.

This book is a longitudinal study of negotiation of meaning in interactions among foreign language learners (FLLs) of Spanish at a Dutch university, and interactions between those students and native speakers (NSs) of Spanish.

American Sign Language (ASL), both as the focus of scholarly study and as an increasingly popular foreign-language option for many secondary and university level students, has made remarkable strides during recent years. With respect to the linguistics of ASL, there has been a veritable revolution in our understanding of the nature, structure, and complexity of the language since the publication of William Stokoe's landmark Sign Language Structure in 1960. Works on both theoretical aspects of the linguistics of ASL and on the sociolinguistics of the Deaf community now abound, and the overall quality of such works is impressively high. Also widely available now are textbooks designed to teach ASL as a second language. Such textbooks vary dramatically in quality, ranging from phrasebook and lexical guides to very thorough and up-to-date works focusing on communicative competence in ASL.

Imagine my surprise when I received an SLA textbook by Rod Ellis to review, and it turned out to be a paperback weighing only 7 ½ ounces! Something must be different, and indeed it is: This new volume is intended for the novice student (or for others without academic engagement in linguistics). For such an audience, the volume opens up a fresh niche for SLA classes, one that is not all that common, at least at North American universities.

Social linguistics is now in its second edition and has been integrated into a series of publications edited by Allan Luke entitled Critical perspectives on literacy and education. Thoroughly revising his first edition, Gee offers researchers, teachers, and students a challenging compendium of theory and analysis of language use in society. He integrates social and political relations of power and dominance into his discussion of literacies, highlighting the potential ideological conflicts between non-mainstream communities and schools, conflicts rooted in divergent uses, and evaluations of language.

This book is an ethnographic study of literacy in the social, cultural, and political context of the Latino community in Carpinteria, California. Much of the book is written as a narrative about the community, its history, and its struggles with the schools. The book is also filled with the voices of the community members in Spanish (translated into English).

This volume contains edited versions of 13 of the papers presented at a 1994 University of Edinburgh conference entitled, “Issues and Perspectives in Language Learning: Scottish and Wider Dimensions.” The general topics include: I. The typical pattern of studies in language departments (four papers), II. The relationship of different parts of degree curricula (four papers), III. Languages in the working world; learners, their backgrounds and expectations (one paper), IV. Developments of new methods and using new technology (three papers), V. The particular place of language study in Scotland (one paper), and VI. A summary report of the Round Table discussions.

Many will question Bickerton's claim that only humans are capable of mental engagement with anything but the immediate present. However, the heart of his argument—that language did not evolve as a development from high intelligence but is instead what allowed that intelligence to develop at all—is undeniably compelling. Under this conception, the emergence of language, not just intelligence, was what allowed humans to conquer the world. In support, Bickerton notes that the appearance of modern civilization was preceded by eons by cultural stasis during which hominid brains were nevertheless increasing vastly in size, which suggests that something besides mere brain power created modern man. He also notes that if human-like intelligence allowed world domination, then at least some animals should by now have developed it, even without language. Instead, only humans can profoundly alter their surroundings, which suggests that language, the trait most unequivocally unique to humans, is indeed the key to our hegemony. Bickerton even equates language and thought, arguing that their foundation upon the same syntax leaves no motivation to separate them, and considers both to evidence a layer of abstract representation unique to humans. In turn, he proposes that this layer is able to “observe” the lower layer, thus creating “consciousness.” The uniqueness of consciousness to humans is thus explained by its roots in a layer of representation unique to humans.

This first volume in an Oxford series of introductions to language study aims to provide both the student of linguistics and the general reader with a broader overview of linguistic science. Widdowson attempts to present a coherent outline of the central issues in linguistics that is accessible to the novice yet not simplistic. Following the series format, the volume is divided into four sections: Survey, Readings, References, and Glossary.

Edelsky's With Literacy and Justice for All (2nd ed., original work published 1991) is a strong argument for a holistic approach to language and literacy teaching. Although this “theory-in-practice” is primarily intended for L1 literacy teaching, Edelsky makes clear connections to its applicability in L2 classrooms as well. Writing and second languages are language; therefore, they can and should be acquired as children acquire their L1s: in meaningful situations of use. The premise, however, is that the teacher genuinely believes in the Whole Language ideology, which entails equality and empowerment of all students.

The 15 short papers in this volume attempt to integrate the expertise and the rhetoric of language policy, sociolinguistics, language teaching, and translation in international administrative institutions.

This book presents and discusses efforts to develop Intelligent Computer Assisted Language Learning (ICALL) programs based on advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP). Sixteen of the book's 20 chapters provide descriptions of particular ICALL programs, divided into three categories: text-based language tutors and learning environments, dialogue-based language games, and graphics-based language tutors and learning environments. Four chapters at the end offer general commentary on ICALL from the perspectives of experimental psychology (by Brian MacWhinney), linguistics and AI (by Alan Bailin), second language acquisition theory (by Nina Garret), and educational theory (by Rebecca Oxford).

A Course in Language Teaching covers a wide variety of topics related to language teaching, from reading to testing to syllabus design. The book contains 22 modules organized into seven sections. Each module contains short bits of prose followed by tasks, questions, applications, or sample activities. Most of the modules have boxes of well-summarized information on a particular point (e.g., types of grammar practice, ways of presenting new vocabulary, learner difficulties in listening).