Students, teachers, and researchers in the field of instructed SLA and language teaching education will be pleased with this addition to the Blackwell Handbook of Linguistics series. Divided into 9 parts with a total of 39 chapters spread over more than 800 pages, The Handbook of Language Teaching reflects the rich and complex nature of the language teaching field.

Part 1 is an overview that includes only one chapter, in which Long provides a synopsis of the current situation of the language teaching profession. Part 2 addresses social, political, and educational contexts and comprises three chapters. McKey and Rubdy address how the sociolinguistics and the sociology of language influence language teaching, and Phillipson and Skutnabb-Kangas review the complex issues of language policy, in chapters 2 and 3, respectively. Although focused on the situation of English in the world, they present it in a way that shows the complexities of the social and political issues of language teaching in general. Musumeci gives a fascinating account of the history of language teaching that, although situated mainly in the Western world, greatly enhances our understanding of how languages are taught today.

Part 3 focuses on psycholinguistics and second language (L2) learning phenomena from a cognitive perspective. In chapter 5, Baretta offers a new addition to the teaching field, addressing the preliminary stages of development of neurolinguistics as a theory-driven discipline. Ortega presents current accounts on the nature of patterns and processes in L2 learning. Her five generalizations are very relevant for classroom practitioners. Ringbom and Jarvis address the critical role that linguistic similarities play in facilitating language learning. DeKeyser’s chapter 8 examines the various components of L2 knowledge, and Ellis addresses the importance of optimizing the input in chapter 9. Part 3 may be challenging for readers not familiar with this psycholinguistic perspective, but it offers a well-informed account of terms common in teaching circles, such as the critical period, fossilization, and monitoring.

Part 4 examines designs of five different programs. Cummins examines the sociopolitical contexts of immersion and bilingual programs. Relatively new in this area is the situation of heritage language programs, and Montrul presents the findings of recent research developments. In chapter 12, Hyland addresses specific purpose programs and the role they play in language teaching today. Another innovative area is addressed in chapter 13, in which Collentine presents an overview of study abroad program design, and the directions of research in this growing area. Gor and Vatz examine teaching less commonly taught languages. In the last chapter, Rivers and Golonka address the differences between bilingual L2 acquisition and L3 acquisition.

Part 5 centers on course design and materials and comprises five chapters. Chapter 16, by Dean Brown, is perhaps one of the most practical chapters, presenting a comprehensive explanation of how to carry out a needs analysis. Robinson examines different types of syllabi and, motivated by theories of cognitive processing, advocates a task-based syllabus. In chapter 18, Waters focuses on the major English as a second language (ESL) textbooks, discussing issues of authenticity and language practice. Flowerdew provides an account of the applications of corpus linguistics to language teaching. Brett and González-Lloret close this section with a resourceful chapter on technology-enhanced materials.

The lengthiest part of The Handbook, not surprisingly, is Part 6, on teaching and testing. Long discusses the shortcomings of teaching methods and offers instead 10 methodological principles to guide language teaching. One of the attractive features of The Handbook is the inclusion of issues on testing in most of the chapters in this section. This feature is useful given the fact that teachers are often informed with best teaching practices but not with a counterpart for testing. Vandergrift and Goh provide a review of teaching listening in chapter 22, and Bygate addresses speaking in chapter 23. Two chapters are dedicated to reading. Grabe draws connections between the reading construct and effective ways of teaching reading, and Koda explores reading in new writing systems. Polio and Williams examine how current research has influenced L2 writing methods. In chapter 27, Larsen-Freeman addresses approaches to teaching grammar, including several innovations in grammar assessment. Nation and Chung offer answers on vocabulary teaching and testing. Roever’s chapter is dedicated to pragmatics. Perhaps because of its emphasis on cognition, The Handbook focuses on one single teaching approach, and in chapter 30, Norris describes task-based teaching. The remaining chapters discuss radical language teaching (Crookes), diagnostic feedback in language assessment (Kunnan & Eunhee Jang) and computer-assisted language teaching (Chapelle).

Part 7, on teacher education, has only two chapters. Jourdenais examines the current situation of language teacher education, and Van den Branden discusses the implementation and assessment of the multitude of innovations with which teachers have been confronted in recent years.

Assessment and evaluation is the focus of Part 8, which begins with Mitchell, who provides a very informative historical overview of classroom research. Bailey follows with an examination of the various issues in language teaching evaluation. One of the chapters of the book that is particularly relevant for novice teachers and emergent L2 learning scholars is chapter 38, by de Graaff and Housen, in which they present a framework to investigate the role of instruction in L2 acquisition. The volume ends with chapter 39, in which Ross addresses issues in language program evaluation.

The Handbook offers state-of-the-art research-based analysis on what is currently known about language teaching. The inclusion of new and fast-growing issues as well as the variety of topics is indeed one of its strongest features. Readers who, guided by the title, approach the book expecting to find a great deal of information on suggestions for everyday teaching issues will be disappointed. The Handbook is not focused on such information, and it only tangentially touches on topics such as L2 learning strategies and L2 learner (and instructor) beliefs, in spite of the vast research in these areas and their relevant roles in language teaching. In that sense, perhaps the title could have been one that better reflected the cognitive approach of the book (perhaps The Handbook of Instructed SLA?). However, for the reader interested in how L2 acquisition phenomena can inform language teaching, The Handbook will meet and even exceed his or her expectations. It is an excellent resource for those concerned with language teaching.