Individual papers presented at the 2007 Second Language Research Forum (SLRF), held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, were selected based on peer reviews for publication in this volume. Each of the selected papers, in one way or another, makes a solid contribution to the field of second language (L2) studies and, together in this volume, are representative of the range of theoretical and empirical issues encountered in SLA. In the foreword, the editors state that the papers reflect the “diverse areas of interest encompassed by SLRF itself” (p. v); however, the volume seems to be somewhat more devoted to the theoretical study of SLA, as 13 out of the 19 papers are influenced by linguistic theory in the areas of either L2 morphosyntax or phonology. Note that none of the papers in this volume pertains solely to language pedagogy, which may be due to the fact that SLRF tends to be more theoretically oriented than other conferences in the field (e.g., Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages); on the other hand, the nature of these articles may also reflect the editors’ interests, or a combination of the two.

This volume is divided into six sections, each representing a different thematic area. Whereas the first section includes two papers on L2 morphosyntax in a nominal domain, the second section contains five papers on L2 morphosyntax with a focus that extends to the sentential domain. The issues addressed in these papers on L2 morphosyntax vary from an investigation of adult accessibility to L2 representational features (specifically, the Spanish determiner phrase) to an investigation of how early and late Korean English bilinguals interpret the exempt binding of Korean local anaphors. The third section includes four papers that investigate the acquisition of L2 pragmatics, such as the use of conventional expressions of thanking, apologizing, and refusing. The fourth section consists of three papers on L2 phonology, each with very different foci. One paper, for instance, reports on the prosodic constraints in the acquisition of English primary stress, and another paper discusses social, experiential, and psychological factors affecting L2 dialect acquisition. The fifth section is composed of two papers on awareness in SLA. A paper on the use of gesture in the foreign language classroom stands by itself in section 6, which is entitled “Conversation Analysis and SLA” because this was the research method used in that study. The final section of the volume includes two papers on the acquisition of morphosyntax by heritage language learners. The first article deals with the usage and interpretation of plural markers in Korean, and the second article investigates differential object marking by heritage learners.

All of the papers are well written and data in tables are frequently supplemented with diagrams and charts, which help to illustrate and summarize important information. Unfortunately, the editors chose not to include the selected papers’ abstracts. Consequently, the reader is unable to quickly survey the contents of the articles to decide whether a certain paper is of interest. On the positive side, however, most papers’ introductions provide sufficient theoretical background to make the research design and results accessible to the reader. It is also helpful that most of the selected papers include an appendix with the materials of the study, which will aid in future replication research.

Although the broad range of thematic areas typical for conference proceedings can be considered an asset, it can also be viewed as a potential drawback, as most scholars in L2 studies do not have expertise in the variety of fields included in this volume. Therefore, the proceedings, in its entirety, may not be of interest to scholars with specific areas of expertise. Relevant papers could be downloaded at http://www.lingref.com/cpp/slrf/2007/index.html. There are areas of current SLA research that are not included; for example, the areas of sociocultural theory relating to SLA, L2 assessment, and neuropsychology of SLA are not addressed. It is unclear whether this was due to the selections made by the editors or to the lack of submissions to this volume. The lack of comprehensive coverage, however, is inevitable, given the breadth of research currently being conducted in this quickly expanding field.

As the majority of the selected papers are linguistically rather than pedagogically oriented, the volume could very well serve as suggested reading in a graduate course on formal approaches to the study of SLA. Additionally, even though this volume is not perfectly balanced in terms of cognitive or linguistic and sociolinguistic approaches to the study of SLA, it succeeds in providing good examples of a variety of areas investigated and approaches employed in L2 research.