This volume in the Language Learning and Language Teaching series illustrates diverse approaches to the study of second language (L2) interaction in the fields of SLA and applied linguistics. The volume includes 15 studies that examine L2 interaction in various educational settings, including classrooms, computer labs, test centers, and conversation groups. As such, the studies range from purely cognitive approaches to social investigation of L2 interaction.

The book is organized into three sections: (a) interactions in L2 classrooms, (b) interactions involving technology, and (c) interactions in other educational settings. The first section features research on L2 interaction in various classroom settings (e.g., Korean and Japanese English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms, English for academic purposes, L2 Spanish classrooms at U.S. universities). The first two research studies, Chapters 1 and 2, examine attention to form during L2 interaction, and the following chapter looks at the relationship between language task demands and the learners’ pragmatic moves. The fourth chapter also examines language tasks—specifically, the effectiveness of tasks and traditional language practice activities in an EFL class in Japan. The fifth chapter focuses on the acquisition of explicit L2 Spanish knowledge through guided small group and whole class interaction. The last chapter of the first section is titled “Classroom interaction and learning opportunities across time and space.” In this study, private and public interactions of learners were recorded, highlighting the emergent, complex nature of learning.

The second section of this volume focuses on L2 interaction involving technology. The first study reports on chats between language learners from Sweden and teacher trainees from the United States, showing how a chat-based classroom environment can foster attention to form. The second study in this section used eye-tracking to examine learners’ noticing of recasts during computer-mediated writing conferences. The following chapter examines L2 interaction using a unique corpus-based approach, and the last two studies in this section, Chapters 10 and 11, examine feedback in, respectively, a computer-assisted language learning context and a classroom context.

The third and final section of this volume includes studies on L2 interaction in other educational settings—that is, outside of classroom or technology-mediated settings. The section comprises four studies, starting with research on the interaction patterns of international engineering graduate students (Chapter 12), followed by a study on the effectiveness of interactive group orals for placement testing. Similarly, Chapter 14 examines the development of L2 conversational styles in conversation groups, and the last study looks at opportunities for language production during group interaction in conversation group settings.

One of the merits of this book is that all studies were conducted in real educational settings that had not been set up for research purposes. A further positive aspect is that the book highlights the many ways in which L2 interaction can be examined: in different contexts (e.g., interaction for testing purposes, conversation groups, classrooms, etc.), in different modalities (e.g., face to face or computer mediated), and between different interlocutors (e.g., between peers or between the learner and the teacher). Whereas many studies in this volume look at learners’ acquisition of certain language forms (e.g., morphology, syntax, lexicon, etc.), others simply examine the learners’ use of certain forms or the simple nature of interaction between learners or between instructors and learners.

I commend the editors for bringing together such diverse and methodologically sound studies, all examining L2 interaction from very different perspectives. This book is a valuable resource for scholars interested in L2 interaction. Potentially, this book could be used for graduate courses on L2 interaction or even for a course that provides an overview of the broad variety of SLA research. This volume is certain to provide inspiration for more—particularly more diverse—research on L2 interaction, and it should motivate follow-up and replication research.