Employing a wide variety of research methods and drawing on diverse theoretical approaches, the study of second language (L2) pragmatic development has entered into a diverse research domain (Kasper, Reference Kasper2007; Kasper & Rose, Reference Kasper and Rose2002). Researchers have investigated such topics as the relationship between L2 linguistic development and pragmatic development, developmental issues and problems related to pragmatic transfer, the effect of instruction on L2 pragmatic development, and pragmatic assessment. This timely work represents a significant contribution to the literature, as it integrates research on pragmatics in foreign language learning, teaching, and testing.

Consisting of a series of short essays from more than 15 internationally acclaimed experts, this insightful work is devoted to developmental pragmatics in the foreign language context and provides the reader with a solid foundation on which to build in the study of interlanguage pragmatics (ILP). The variety of the target languages (e.g., Japanese, Indonesian, English, and Spanish) as well as of the first languages (e.g., English, Finnish, Japanese, and Iranian) investigated and the different approaches adopted make this book extremely valuable for interlanguage pragmaticists and language educators. Organized in a clear and concise manner, this book is divided into three sections (in addition to the introduction), which focus on pragmatic learning, teaching, and testing, respectively. Each section starts with a theoretical discussion, and the remaining chapters in each section focus on empirical investigations.

Chapter 1 serves as the introduction, in which Solar and Martinez-Flor lay out a clear review of theoretical perspectives and empirical studies within ILP research. Chapters 2–6 complete Part 1 and include theoretical discussions on language socialization and the acquisition of pragmatics, social-interactional analysis of a classroom activity, learners’ cognition of address terms, content-based study, and computer-mediated learning, respectively. Along with the diversity of contexts investigated throughout the book, the chapters adopt a range of theoretical perspectives: language socialization (DuFon), approaches to interactional competence (Tateyama & Kasper; Gonzalez-Lloret), cognitive perspectives (Hassall), and sociocultural theory (Nikula).

Part 2 focuses on teaching—in particular, how pragmatics can be taught in a foreign language context. Chapter 7 is a theoretical discussion in which House develops this theme in relation to the potential use of translation. Kondo discusses the effect of awareness-raising instruction (chapter 8), and Eslami and Eslami-Rasekh investigate how an error-recognition task and a discourse completion task improved nonnative English-speaking teacher candidates’ pragmatic competence. The three chapters in Part 3 focus on pragmatic testing. Chapter 10 (Yamashita) explores how and through what instruments ILP can be assessed. In chapters 11 and 12, Brown discusses the design of a test for ILP and Roever investigates the effects of rater judgments, item difficulty, and candidate ability in discourse completion tasks, respectively.

This book discusses up-to-date research in the ILP literature and provides a valuable discussion of the pedagogical implications of such research. All chapters are well written and referenced, without excessive use of technical jargon and are very accessible for students of applied linguistics and those preparing to be English as a foreign language teachers. It is an informative and valuable book for language researchers, practitioners, and assessors. For those interested in theoretical inquiry of ILP development, it provides state-of-the-art research from different theoretical frameworks. For those engaged in foreign language teaching, it shows how pragmatic teaching can be used in day-to-day teaching and how different methods can be employed. For those dedicated to language assessment, it offers suggestions and implications for designing a valid test. Overall, this volume is highly recommended for students and researchers in applied linguistics as well as language teachers and educators.