This volume by Ferris will attract the attention of second language (L2) teachers, particularly those who teach writing classes. The book is divided into two sections. Part 1 reviews research into response given to L2 writers, and part 2 examines the practical issues of responding to student writing. Although the title of the book refers to “second language students,” the focus is on students learning English as a second language (ESL). In fact, most of the research into response has been conducted with the ESL student population at the college level. That being said, this volume would certainly be an excellent supplemental text to assign for a teaching of ESL class in teaching writing or for in-service training. It is also a useful guide for L2 teachers who must decide how to respond to student writing.

Part 1, “Research,” begins with an overview of first language (L1) composition research. Chapter 2 moves into L2 writing and critically reviews studies of teacher feedback by asking some important questions such as: What form does teacher feedback take? How does teacher feedback affect revision and improvement in student writing? The chapter also considers methodological issues, including a brief mention of the difficulty of measuring improvement in student writing. More thorough consideration of this issue would have strengthened the chapter. In fact, there are measures of development that can be used, including measures of fluency, accuracy, and complexity (Wolfe-Quintero, Inagaki, & Kim, 1998). L2 teachers and researchers should be made aware of these types of measures.

In recent years, Ferris has engaged in the debate over the effectiveness of correcting student errors, and this is her main research interest. In chapter 3, “Error Correction,” the author provides a framework for analyzing error correction studies and summarizes her findings in table format covering three areas: basic parameters, instructional procedures, and research design. Although she avoids making strong claims that error correction works, her analysis seems somewhat skewed in support of her side of the debate. For instance, she reviews Kepner's (1991) study that concluded “the futility of error correction” (p. 63). Ferris “reanalyzes” these findings and determines that Kepner's tables actually show that error correction improves student accuracy. However, no information is given about how the tables were reanalyzed. At the end of the chapter, Ferris admits “that there are many questions in error correction of student writing that have not been adequately researched” (p. 67). Polio (1997) called for the use of accurate linguistic measures to assess the development of student writing, but until more work of this type is carried out to investigate the effects of error correction procedures, the question of effectiveness remains.

The last chapters in part 1 consider two relatively well researched areas in ESL writing: research on peer response and student views on response. Each chapter includes user-friendly tables so that readers can easily refer to these studies and their findings.

Part 2, “Practice,” will be of most interest to practicing teachers. Chapters 6–8 cover the following areas: preparing teachers to respond to student writing, suggestions for error correction, and implementing peer response. Each chapter refers to real examples from ESL student papers and includes an appendix of sample materials such as a teacher feedback sheet and a peer response form. Ferris gives helpful guidelines in each chapter and discusses how to use different types of feedback and how to strike a balance between them. In terms of error correction, she offers suggestions regarding giving direct and indirect feedback, structuring feedback according to error type, coding feedback, using error logs, and giving “mini grammar lessons.” Ferris is one of the most qualified people in the field to give advice in this area, and she does a fine job. The final chapter on how to implement peer response is also valuable, given that this instructional technique works successfully only when teachers adequately prepare students to engage in peer feedback activities.

This book will be most useful for ESL teachers, particularly those teaching writing in an academic setting. However, the research findings can be related to the teaching of other L2s, and the practical guidelines will help any instructors who are grappling with the question of how to respond to their students' writing. It is important for L2 instructors to develop both practical skills for response and a philosophy about their own approach. Ferris's book will support both these types of teacher development.