This volume will be a welcome addition to those who believe, as does Cook, that second language (L2) users should be studied for what they are and can do on their own terms, rather than in comparison to native speakers. However, the book might be less appealing to readers who do not share Cook's L2 user viewpoint, which is reiterated throughout the text. Instead of viewing L2 users as deficient native speakers, this book reflects a significant departure from traditional SLA research by accounting for L2 users' performance independently from that of monolingual native speakers. Cook proposes that this outlook will enable SLA researchers to examine the factors making L2 users what they are, instead of focusing on the reasons for which they have failed to become what they are not—that is, native speakers.

Using the L2 user as the unifying theme throughout, noted scholars in the field address theoretical and methodological perspectives of the following wide-ranging issues: the mental lexicon and processing (de Groot), phonology (Major), Universal Grammar syntax (Flynn & Lust), the development of functional use (Perdue), the cognitive processes of young children (Bialystok), childhood bilingualism (Genesee), neurolinguistics (Fabbro), individual differences (Dewaele), language attrition (de Bot & Hulsen), social identity (Pavlenko), the rights of L2 learners (Gomes de Matos), and language teaching methodology (Cook).

In his introductory chapter, Cook provides a useful background to L2 users, emphasizing multilingualism over monolingualism—that is, the worldwide prevalence of multicompetent users of two or more languages over monocompetent speakers of one. He also highlights the important distinction between the terms learner, which suggests a speaker with incomplete knowledge, and user, which implies an accomplished individual who functions competently in L2 environments.

The remaining 12 chapters examine different topics through an L2 user perspective. In chapter 2, de Groot discusses a psychological approach to understanding the manner in which the same mind accommodates the vocabularies of two distinct languages. Major (chapter 3) presents L2 users' phonological systems as unique through a discussion of voice onset time as evidence for a balance between first language (L1) and L2, as well as universals characteristic of the human mind. Flynn and Lust (chapter 4), redefine initial state, with initial being task specific rather than the state preceding all experience. In chapter 5, Perdue further demonstrates L2 user independence through the similar grammars they construct, regardless of the language. In response to the question of whether L2 users and monolinguals possess the same concepts, Bialystok (chapter 6) posits a model that embraces analysis of representational structure and control of attention, the latter being age sensitive. Chapter 7, by Genesee, addresses issues regarding young children's concurrent acquisition of two languages. He asserts emphatically that L2 users should be judged on their own merits, and not in comparison to monolinguals.

The brain becomes the focal point of chapters 8 and 9. First, Fabbro discusses how the L2 user's brain functions distinctly from that of the monolingual's. Next, Dewaele studies the brain through recent techniques treating (dis)fluency not as a failure but as a temporal variable of discourse (e.g., speakers' speed, hesitation, and pauses) among L2 users. In chapter 10, de Bot and Hulsen view attrition as gain rather than loss when exploring what happens to the L2 users' languages over time. Pavlenko (chapter 11) presents a poststructuralist approach underscoring the self-created identity of L2 users separate from those associated with native speakers. Gomes de Matos examines L2 users' educational rights as independent individuals in chapter 12. In chapter 13, Cook focuses on the effects of an L2 user perspective on teaching methodologies and syllabi. In an attempt to move away from native-speaker comparisons, the final chapter suggests the following modifications in teaching: an adoption of multiple standards for measuring L2 user varieties, the incorporation of successful L2 users as role models, the inclusion of L2 elements in the features of languages that are taught, the setting of internal educational goals in language instruction, and the emphasis of L1 importance in the classroom.

This volume would be of interest to students and researchers in the fields of L2 acquisition and use, language teaching, psychology, bilingualism, and linguistics. Cook's helpful introductory chapter and brief introductions to the subsequent chapters clarify and synthesize material derived from a variety of sources and fields. Useful references appear at the end of each chapter.