Vivian Cook is an emeritus Professor of Applied Linguistics at Newcastle University. His main current interests are how people learn second languages and how writing works in different languages, particularly in street signs. He is a founder of the European Second Language Association and co-founder and co-editor of the journal Writing System Research.

Preface: Teacher's Foreword. Chapter 1: Background to second language acquisition research and language teaching. Chapter 2: Learning and teaching different types of grammar. Chapter 3: Learning and teaching vocabulary. Chapter 4: Acquiring and teaching pronunciation. Chapter 5: Acquiring and teaching a new writing system. Chapter 6: Strategies for communicating and learning. Chapter 7: Individual differences in L2 users and L2 learners. Chapter 8: The L2 user and the native speaker. Chapter 9: The goals of language teaching. Chapter 10: General models of L2 learning. Chapter 11: Second language learning and language teaching styles. Coursebooks mentioned. References.

Second Language Learning and Language Teaching provides readers with a concise background in SLA research and its application to language learning without assuming previous knowledge of either topics. It offers an examination of how people learn particular aspects of the second language, the strategies they adopt in their learning, and second language learning in a broader context - the goals of language teaching and their roots in SLA research. This fifth edition builds on the comprehensive scope of earlier editions while also addressing more recent developments in the field, particularly multicultural approaches to language teaching.