Over the last 20 years, there has been an enormous body of research exploring various issues in second language (L2) classrooms. Ellis presents a timely and comprehensive review on the most up-to-date L2 classroom research, particularly focusing on the role of instruction in interlanguage development from cognitive-interactionist and sociocultural perspectives. The volume is organized into 11 chapters, and, at the end of each chapter, a concise summary outlines key findings and implications from the studies examined. Besides the four main topics identified by Chaudron (1988; i.e., teacher talk, learner behavior, teacher-student interaction, and learning outcomes), Ellis’s volume adds four more topics—namely, comparative method studies, task-based teaching, form-focused instruction, and the role of individual differences on the effects of instruction.
Chapter 1 is an overview of the entire volume that indicates the scope and the organization of issues addressed and offers a brief history of language teaching research, noting seminal articles published in major journals. A range of research traditions and methods employed in L2 classroom research are described in chapter 2. The next chapter is a discussion of comparative method studies that examines the most effective methods for developing linguistic proficiency. There is a useful table that synthesizes 16 sample studies with the author’s critical comments on the methodological limitations and inconsistencies of the findings; this table provides an excellent account of why the field has entered the era of “post-methods” (Kumaravadivelu, Reference Kumaravadivelu1994) and why there is no one-size-fits-all model in language teaching.
In chapter 4, Ellis discusses the studies on classroom discourse that employ interaction analysis, discourse analysis, or conversation analysis, and comments on their strengths and limitations. The examination of the studies that draw on sociocultural theory and language socialization is a valuable addition to classroom discourse research. Chapters 5 and 6 focus on the use of the learner’s first language (L1) in classrooms. Chapter 5 addresses teacher-talk, teacher questions, teacher use of the learner’s L1, and corrective feedback. The discussion on the pros and cons of L1 use in terms of affective and instructional benefits reflects the complexity of classroom practice. The research on teachers’ cognition also offers interesting insight into the complex picture of teacher beliefs, revealing inconsistencies between teachers’ declarative beliefs and their actual practices. A thorough review of a number of studies regarding the learner’s use of the L1 follows in the next chapter. Rightfully, Ellis notes that the focus of longitudinal studies of L2 learners has been shifted from their linguistic development to the ways learners socialize to become a member of a target community and develop their interactional competence.
Chapter 7 investigates how students engage in classroom tasks, working in pairs or small groups. Beginning with different definitions of task proposed by Long, Skehan, and Ellis, the author presents a thorough examination of the research on task-based language teaching (TBLT). He identifies misunderstandings about tasks and TBLT and notes that the current status of the research findings on focus-on-form episodes indicates that learners do attend to form while engaging in meaning-focused language use.
One of the most critical constructs in SLA and language education, interaction, is extensively discussed in chapter 8. Ellis’s attempt to clarify the differences and the commonalities between the cognitive-interactionist and sociocultural researchers’ perspectives on the role of interaction in the process of language learning deserves attention whether or not one agrees with his comparison of these two different paradigms. Chapter 9 centers on form-focused instruction, which is defined as L2 instruction deliberately teaching particular linguistic forms. Ellis explains a variety of instructional options, such as input-based instruction, explicit instruction, production-oriented instruction, and corrective feedback.
The next chapter is dedicated to the discussion of individual differences concerning aptitude, working memory, anxiety, willingness to communicate, and motivational factors. Notable additions to motivation research are flow theory (Csikszentmihalyi, Reference Csikszentmihalyi1990) and the role of instructional resources such as teacher, learner, facilities, classroom activities, and learner training. In the final chapter, Ellis concludes the volume by addressing several methodological issues concerning research design, theoretical constructs, data collection, and analysis and emphasizes that the role of classroom research should be to serve as a “resource for raising awareness about teaching” (p. 348).
This book provides a comprehensive, state-of-the-art review of L2 classroom research covering a wide range of issues in SLA and language education. There are a number of useful tables and figures that present concise syntheses of complex issues. Although the volume addresses little about the development of specific language skills, it should be an essential read for teachers and researchers who wish to browse the major findings of empirical studies that inform language classroom practice.
