This volume in honor of Susan M. Gass focuses on interaction in second language acquisition from multiple perspectives. International experts in the field of SLA contribute insights and explanations on the interaction approach's compatibility with other theoretical approaches, key empirical studies, interaction in specific contexts, and future directions. Readers will find an enriching discussion of how the interaction research tradition is viewed in a wide range of different appraoches to learning and teaching second languages.

Alison Mackey is Professor of Linguistics and Head of Applied Linguistics Programs at Georgetown University.

Charlene Polio is Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages, and Director of the MA Program in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at Michigan State University.

Introduction Alison Mackey and Charlene Polio The psycholinguistics of the interaction approach Nick Ellis A Variationist perspective on the interaction approach to SLA Elaine Tarone Languaging in collaborative writing: Creation of and response to expertise Lindsay Brooks Merrill Swain Creating pressure in task pedagogy: The joint roles of field, purpose, and engagement within the interaction approach Martin Bygate Virginia Samuda Motivational processing in interactional tasks Zoltán Dörnyei Wen-Ta Tseng How young is too young? Investigating negotiation of meaning and feedback in children aged five to seven years Rhonda Oliver Interaction research in second/foreign language classrooms Nina Spada Patsy M. Lightbown Recasts in multiple response focus on form episodes Shawn Loewen Revealing the nature of SCMC interaction D. Bryan Smith Interaction and attention to form in L2 text-based computer-mediated communication Lourdes Ortega Epilogue: Exploring the intricacies of interaction and language development Jenefer Philp