This volume sprang from the desire to “ofrecer los contenidos necesarios para la comprensión del proceso de adquisición de una lengua no nativa, tanto desde la perspectiva del docente como desde la del aprendiz” [“to offer the necessary contents to understand the process of the acquisition of a non-native language, from both the teacher and the learner's perspective”] (p. 14). In her work, Pastor attempts to make matters of learning and teaching accessible to university students and foreign language teachers interested in applied linguistics.

The 10 chapters of the text begin within the wide frame of applied linguistics and finish in the reality of the classroom. Chapters 1 and 2 form an introduction about applied linguistics in general and second language (L2) learning in particular: its birth, its main branches, and the specific study of the teaching and learning of L2s.

In the following three chapters, which make up the second part of this handbook, the author considers the theoretical and methodological fundamentals of learning and teaching. The first of these chapters is devoted to SLA research, concerning models of data analysis, theories, and elements that affect a learner's success. The second chapter in this section is a monograph about language teaching methodology that covers the methods prior to the 20th century up to the current communicative approach, including structuralist and humanist methods and the cognitive approach. This second part of the book ends with a chapter about the concept of communicative competence, describing its development and subsequent formulations as well as its application to the teaching of foreign languages.

After this theoretical presentation, Pastor moves on to teaching considerations (chapters 6, 7, and 8). She starts by dwelling on the linguistic content and skills developed in the L2 classroom. At the same time, attention is devoted to the learning of phonetics, vocabulary, and culture as well as a reflection on the communicative teaching of grammar. Chapter 7 deals with basic resources for teachers, such as the drawing up of materials, the use of handbooks and real texts in the classroom, plays, games, and audiovisual aids. This leads us definitively to the reality of the classroom in chapter 8. Here we find the way to plan courses and classes, issues of assessment, the role of the teacher, the learning autonomy, and the teaching of strategies.

The last part of the book analyzes new perspectives in the study of SLA (chapters 9 and 10). Pastor points out the importance of teaching for specific purposes; particularly, professional and academic purposes. She also includes a very interesting section about the teaching of immigrants.

The book ends with “Present and Future of Second Language Teaching,” which emphasizes, at the beginning, the advisability of providing training courses to language teachers. The author considers, among other topics, the recent development of teacher-research in action in relation to the involvement of the teacher in the classroom and, specifically, the success of what is known as focus on form. As expected, the last section is devoted to the use of new technologies in the language classroom, complemented with a specific index of internet resources for foreign language learning.

Through this short summary, the reader can get an overview of the scope of this book, which covers numerous aspects of the learning of L2s. On the one hand, the text offers just an introductory approach to the field because it was primarily conceived for university students but not for experts. This means that it contains key concepts, examples, and explanations about many areas, but does not describe all studies, theories, and burning issues in detail. It is rather a general vision of the field and, as such, is a preliminary step toward more advanced readings. On the other hand, each chapter provides a detailed discussion of an issue or perspective. Pastor balances linguistic theory and teaching experience—referring to both English (pioneering language in this kind of research) and Spanish studies—and always takes account of the most recent works. From past to present, from theory to practice, this volume will become an essential handbook for SLA research classes, training courses, and teaching staff interested in applied linguistics. Moreover, it is comparable to the classics of the field; this time, written in Spanish.