This book is part of the Oxford University Press series in Applied Linguistics. In the preface, Ellis explains that his goal was to produce a book that “attempts to examine ‘task’ from a variety of perspectives,” noting he was striving in particular for “a rounded, balanced account of how tasks have figured in both SLA and language pedagogy” (p. ix). As Ellis also notes, the book is not a “how to” guide for the teacher or researcher but rather a text that informs about current research and practice on task-based second language research and teaching.

The topic of tasks in second language research and pedagogy is timely and important for the field of SLA. There is currently a great deal of interest in the construct of tasks from second and foreign language researchers, teacher trainers, language professionals, and classroom teachers. In the past few years, most of the major applied linguistics journals have published papers relating to some aspect of tasks and most of the recent SLA conferences have hosted presentations on tasks. A quick survey of the Internet suggests that the topic of task-based language learning and teaching is increasingly appearing on syllabi for graduate classes. Recent edited collections that present research on tasks have quickly found their way onto many researchers' and students' bookcases (e.g., Bygate, Skehan, & Swain, 2001) together with work by researchers who developed and shaped ideas about task-based learning and teaching (Long, 2000; Skehan, 1998). With all this interest, there is a clear need for work that contributes to current knowledge about tasks.

This book includes 10 chapters, each focusing on tasks and their rationale, design, and implementation. In chapter 1, definitions and features of tasks are discussed, together with a brief description of the role of tasks in SLA research and language teaching. Chapter 2 focuses on tasks that promote listening comprehension. Chapter 3 describes tasks as promoters of interaction as well as discussing the classification of tasks according to features such as type of information exchange, outcome, and cognitive complexity. Research on factors affecting the implementation of tasks, such as task repetition and interlocutor familiarity, are also discussed. With a related focus, chapter 4 outlines tasks that promote language production. Chapter 5 discusses focused tasks, and chapter 6 examines the use of tasks within sociocultural approaches to SLA. The remaining four chapters are more pedagogically oriented. Chapter 7 addresses the important topic of the design of task-based language courses, task-based teaching methodologies are described in chapter 8 and task-based assessment in chapter 9, and chapter 10 focuses on the evaluation of task-based pedagogy.

One of the main strengths of the book is the fact that it makes explicit connections between theory and practice. Although space precludes a comprehensive review of all the positions Ellis describes, many of the chapters address topics of fundamental importance for current task research and pedagogy. For example, in the thought-provoking final chapter, Ellis summarizes different research positions supporting the use of tasks in research and pedagogy, calls for more empirical research evaluating tasks, and reviews objections to task-based perspectives on teaching. He concludes the chapter by arguing that, although tasks are increasingly seen as an important tool for language teaching, task-supported rather than task-based teaching may be the ultimate outcome.

The book covers a wide range of topics in task-based language teaching and learning, and the coverage of some of the topics is more up to date than others. Many researchers are interested in the relationship between interaction and communicative tasks. Chapter 3 aims to relate the theoretical constructs of input and interaction to pedagogical and practical issues in instructed SLA. However, for a 2003 text, the characterization of the interaction hypothesis is somewhat limited. Despite this criticism, the book clearly achieves its goal of bringing together the fields of SLA and language teaching, using each to inform the other, and the majority of the chapters describe the current state of the art in our knowledge about tasks.

In summary, this book presents a broad range of important issues in task-based language teaching and learning. It will be read with great interest and much profit and seems destined to become one of the standard references on tasks.