Compiled primarily for applied linguists and language teachers, this book seeks to integrate research on first language (L1) acquisition and development and second language (L2) acquisition and development. It represents an innovative approach, in stark contrast to the more received method that highlights the dichotomy between acquisition and development (Han, Reference Han2004; Plaza Pust, Reference Plaza Pust2000; see also Cook, Reference Cook2002). Language acquisition, defined as a restricted code attained for the purpose of communication, is differentiated from language development, which is characterized as an elaborated code (literacy skills) that enables the learner to function on a larger scale. Contributors to the book show that studies of how children learn to interact orally with their caregivers before developing literacy skills provide significant insights into how to train adults to optimize their verbal behavior and vice versa.

This work starts with a theoretical overview, laying the groundwork for the research studies in the second part. Of the eight chapters in Part 1, several explore ways of creating a L2 learning environment that resembles the setting in which children typically receive sensory input (see Foster, Reference Foster1990). Although both Masuhara and van Ginkel seek such a connection, van Ginkel discusses strategies to help L2 speakers develop reading skills using their L1. Arnold and Fonseca and Timmis explore the importance of instilling in adult learners an active and suitable attitude toward the target language and culture (Gardner & Lambert, Reference Gardner and Lambert1972). Other contributors discuss extending processes children typically use to acquire spoken language to adults, including inner voice and visual imagery (Tomlinson and Avila) and imitation (Lantolf and Centeno-Cortes). These discussions are developed in relation to Vygotsky's (Reference Vygotsky1996) theory of language, which posits that linguistic knowledge forms as biology and culture interact. Braber presents implications of linguistic debates (Pinker, Reference Pinker, Sorace, Heycock and Shillcock1999; Yang, Reference Yang2002) on the acquisition of regular-irregular verbal morphemes for normal children and adults with language impairments.

Part 2 consists of eight research chapters. Creative techniques to aid L2 learning were discovered in two cross-sectional studies: Ghosn found that children's literature can help improve L2 learners' vocabulary and writing, and Barnard highlighted advantages of a comprehension-based pedagogy over a production-oriented method in teaching Indonesian as a foreign language. In a longitudinal study, von Knorring investigates the notion of culture as perceived by English- and French-speaking students and the pedagogical implications of this perception. In another longitudinal study, Dat explores ways to counteract verbal reticence of Vietnamese students by promoting the understanding of local cultural underpinnings. There are three quasi-case-studies: Avila, implementing Tomlinson's research design on recasting, found positive effects with L2 Spanish and English in controlled settings; Prodromou reveals similarities and differences in idiomaticity between L1 and L2 speakers using corpus analyses; and Bacha describes how a blind L2 learner coped with various writing assignments in a mainstream environment.

This is an informative and valuable book for both practitioners and researchers. For those engaged in day-to-day teaching, it provides insightful and concrete suggestions on how to supplement traditional routines with more inventive techniques, and for those dedicated to theoretical inquiry of language and literacy development, it minimally exhibits what can be gained when familiar and often arbitrarily demarcated territory is surpassed. Given that most chapters are written without excessive use of technical jargon, they are also accessible to students of applied linguistics and those preparing to be teachers of English as a L2.