MLJ Reviews
Edited by JUDITH E. LISKIN–GASPARRO
University of Iowa
MLJ Review Policy
The MLJ reviews books, monographs, com-
puter software, and materials that (a) present re-
sults of research in—and methods of—foreign
and second language teaching and learning;
(b) are devoted to matters of general interest to
members of the profession; (c) are intended pri-
marily for use as textbooks or instructional aids in
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literatures, and cultures are taught; and (d) con-
vey information from other disciplines that relates
directly to foreign and second language teaching
and learning. Reviews not solicited by the MLJ can
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terials that are not reviewed in the MLJ cannot
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THEORY AND PRACTICE
BURNS, ANNE, & JACK C. RICHARDS. (Eds.).
The Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teacher
Education. New York: Cambridge University Press,
2009. Pp. viii, 325. $43.00, paper. ISBN 978–0–
521–75684–6.
The Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teacher
Education is a must-have for those involved in
the research on and pedagogical training of
second language teachers. Written by leaders
in the field of second language teacher educa-
tion (SLTE) working and researching today, its
30 chapters are divided into seven thematic
sections: “The Landscape of Second Language
Teacher Education”; “Professionalism and the
Language Teaching Profession”; “Pedagogical
Knowledge in Second Language Teacher Edu-
cation”; “Identity, Cognition, and Experience in
Teacher Learning”; “Contexts in Second Lan-
guage Teacher Education”; “Teacher Education
Through Collaboration”; and “Teacher Develop-
ment Through Research and Practice.” The edi-
tors have written an overview of the chapters in
each section, making it easy for the reader to de-
cide which sections or chapters to focus on accord-
ing to personal interest or research area. Indeed
the chapters need not be read in a linear fashion,
as they reinforce each other.
Each chapter synthesizes current practices, dis-
cusses theoretical insights, and offers future di-
rections for research and suggestions for further
reading. Key chapters for acquiring a general
overview of the epistemological bases and evolv-
ing perspectives of language teacher preparation
and its research are Johnson’s “Trends in Sec-
ond Language Teacher Education,” Graves’s “The
Curriculum of Second Language Teacher Educa-
tion,” and McKay’s Second Language Classroom
Research.” Moreover, readers will find a discus-
sion of past and ongoing research in the areas
of action research and reflective practice (whose
theoretical underpinnings were already well es-
tablished in the 1980s), in addition to chapters
that focus on mid- to post-1990s fields of inquiry,
such as trainer development, acquiring discourse
conventions in teacher education, and teacher ed-
ucation by distance. Most practical for the reader
are the chapters on professionalism, with topics
such as standards, certification, and assessment,
which provide necessary information for National
Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Educa-
tion (NCATE) reviews. Thus, the volume is de-
signed to present the broad scope and trends
in SLTE together with specific areas that con-
stitute the dimensions of theory, research, and
practice that are significant to the field today.
Although the book’s primary context and refer-
ences are in the field of English as a foreign
or second language, it will appeal to a wide au-
dience in language education and applied lin-
guistics while being most useful for faculty as
well as master’s and doctoral students in these
fields.
Several chapters acknowledge the tremendous
growth in research in the field of English lan-
guage learning and teaching over the last five
decades, coupled with the worldwide growth in
the number of English learners. With such growth
456
must come critical reflection on where the pro-
fession is headed and where the profession is
most in need, particularly with regard to future re-
search but also for curricular decisions for teacher
preparation. These reflections may include re-
thinking and repositioning the notions of native-
versus nonnative-speaking teachers or, as in the
case of the chapter on critical second language
teacher education (Hawkins & Norton), a con-
cern for social action and empowerment through
educational change or, as Golombek’s chapter
“Personal Practical Knowledge in L2 Teacher Ed-
ucation” contends, a greater recognition of the
impact of teachers’ personal practical knowledge
on their decision making.
Unfortunately, both institutional and profes-
sional background information about the chapter
authors have been left out of the book. Although
more than half of the authors were familiar to
me, many others were not. I believe that readers
would benefit from knowing more about the au-
thors’ professional engagement as a backdrop to
the positions they advocate in the volume. The
editors envisaged this book as a companion to
The Cambridge Guide to TESOL (2001). The pub-
lication of this book nearly a decade later offers
an important compendium of the key issues and
debates in the field of second language teacher
education.
JOANNE BURNETT
The University of Southern Mississippi
LEOW, RONALD P., HÉCTOR CAMPOS, &
DONNA LARDIÈRE. (Eds.). Little Words: Their
History, Phonology, Syntax, Semantics, Pragmatics,
and Acquisition. Washington, DC: Georgetown
University Press, 2009. Pp. x, 246. $49.95, paper.
ISBN 978–1–58901–254–7.
This well-conceived volume contains a diverse
selection of 19 articles from the 2007 meeting
of the Georgetown University Round Table au-
thored by researchers in Europe, Asia, Canada,
and the United States. The articles are organized
into six sections: “History,” “Phonology,” “Syntax,”
“Semantics,” “Pragmatics,” and “Acquisition.”
There is not enough space in this review to dis-
cuss them all, and it would be unfair to highlight
only some of them. Therefore, this review serves
to help disseminate this work and to focus on the
concept of little words, rather than to discuss the
individual articles in depth.
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
The volume shows that all areas of linguistics
can be analyzed from the perspective of a unify-
ing element—little words—a term that includes
clitics, pronouns, articles, and the like. One may
think of this unifying element as a device or an
exploratory craft to go anywhere into human lan-
guage. In the “History” section, Lazorczyk and
Pancheva open this exploration with the Slavic lit-
tle word oba, giving a new account of its historical
development. Elsman and Holt provide a histor-
ical account of the grammaticalization of lexical
words into function words. In the “Phonology”
section, Lord, Berdan, and Fender analyze read-
ing fluency to distinguish function words from
content words in English in terms of duration,
intensity, and pitch. Rochman presents a descrip-
tion of the reasons, in English, that floating quan-
tifiers occur only in one position instead of other
possible positions.
Five articles comprise the “Syntax” section. Sáez
discusses the behavior of accusative pronominal
clitics in Spanish through a group of verbs he la-
bels “ayudar -verbs.” In the second article, Gergel
focuses on the Romanian de, claiming that this lit-
tle word “serves as a morpho-syntactic exponent
in degree constructions” (p. 76). In the third arti-
cle, Taylor describes the microsyntax of the com-
plementary the in comparative correlatives that
appear in two types of clauses in English, suggest-
ing that the be treated as a complementizer of the
two clauses in which it appears. Progovac theo-
rizes that little words that are not present phys-
ically in certain syntactic objects may be found
in the roots of these syntactic units, a proposi-
tion that situates syntax in an evolutionary frame-
work. In the last article of this section, Velázquez-
Mendoza and Aranovich offer an account of
Spanish personal a in ditransitives that leads them
to conclude that Spanish may be in a process of
becoming—or may have already become—a pri-
mary object/secondary object language.
Beaver opens the “Semantics” section with
a new analysis of the role of adpositions and
obliques in cases using Japanese data and their
translation into English. In Beaver’s interpreta-
tion, these cases determine argument realizations
across languages. Next, Thomas and Michaelis
model Krifka’s (1998) approach with their anal-
ysis of aspectual adverbials, especially the tempo-
ral adverbial by, which operates in sequences of
causally connected states. In the following arti-
cle, Park studies the puzzling distribution of the
plural marker –tul in Korean, proposing a more
general description of –tul that combines syntac-
tic and semantic approaches. The “Pragmatics”
section starts with a study by Peller, who examines
Reviews
the French discourse markers donc and alors; she
claims that these little words are in complemen-
tary distribution with no functional overlap be-
tween them. Alba-Juez studies pragmatics markers
in Peninsular Spanish and in British English, com-
menting on various facets of cultural and stylis-
tic uses of these markers. Biesenbach-Lucas closes
the section with an analysis of face-to-face and e-
mail interactions in U.S. academic contexts, which
shows a tendency in e-mails toward less formality
without necessarily greater informality or less def-
erence.
The last section of the book centers on lan-
guage acquisition. The first article, by Bowles and
Montrul, is a study of acquisition of the Spanish
personal a among native speakers of English in
a setting of form-focused instruction with cor-
rective feedback. They conclude that these in-
termediate second language students learn to
differentiate grammatical from ungrammatical
sentences. Then, de la Fuente investigates the in-
structed discourse of advanced learners of Span-
ish and concludes that explicit teaching and
metalinguistic awareness may be necessary to
learn discourse markers in Spanish. Kupisch,
Anderssen, Bohnacker, and Snape analyze arti-
cle omission in early child speech in English,
German, Norwegian, and Swedish. They argue
that prosodic models of article omission, despite
their limitations, are better predictor tools than
nominal mapping parameters. Finally, Dye offers
a description of first language acquisition of aux-
iliaries in child French, in which she suggests that
children may have greater knowledge of auxil-
iaries than previously assumed, given that her data
show a continuum in surface realization, counter-
evidence to analyses that focus on presence or
absence of these auxiliaries.
The editors and authors of this book use little
words as a lens through which to explore the uni-
verse of human language. I have not found a defi-
nition of the term little words in this book. Rather
than propose a definition, the editors seem to pre-
fer a list of little words. In this list, they were care-
ful to separate the concept of function words from
little words. Using a list of terms is a strategy that
allows for precision, but at the same time the lists
of little words and function words share the same
members. We know that function words are de-
fined as grammatical particles with relatively little
semantic content, given that their main function
is to specify the relations among linguistic units in
general. The areas of linguistic study that give me
particular difficulty with this general definition of
function words are phonetics and phonology, in
the general account of word stress.
457
Traditionally, theoretical linguistics distin-
guishes between function words and content
words in terms of their semantic content: Func-
tion words do not have stress, whereas content
words do. In my view, this distinction is more eas-
ily applied to languages such as English, in which
the majority of words are monosyllabic, and is less
easily applied to a language like Spanish, in which
words are mainly bisyllabic. The publication of
this volume offers a motivation to revise this no-
tion by saying that function words that do not
have phonemic stress are words with one syllable.
Function words with two unreduced syllables, or
more than two syllables, may require a different
account.
In linguistics, we are used to classifications that
give a false interpretation of what we study, al-
though we know that classifications are artifacts.
For instance, the division of vowel and consonant
systems has no clear boundary; vowels and conso-
nants exist on a continuum with their prototypes
on either extreme. In the center of the contin-
uum, it is difficult to distinguish between the two
systems. Likewise, the attempt to separate func-
tion words from content words should also take
into account that going from one class of these
words to another is nothing more than a shift
along a continuum. The solution of calling little
words “phonetically and phonologically smaller
function words” is helpful. If I dared to suggest
a definition for little words, I would say that it is
a general term for one-syllable word specifiers of
grammatical relations.
ANTÔNIO R. M. SIMÕES
University of Kansas, Lawrence
LEUNG, YAN–KIT INGRID. (Ed.). Third
Language Acquisition and Universal Grammar.
Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters, 2009.
Pp. xviii, 219. $119.95, cloth. ISBN 978–1–84769–
131–6.
Although research concerning third language ac-
quisition (L3A) is a relatively new branch of lan-
guage acquisition studies, looking at L3A from
a generative viewpoint is an even more recent
development. This book is a selection of pa-
pers representing some of the current trends in
third language (L3) research related to Univer-
sal Grammar (UG). While deeming previous L3
research as descriptive, the book attempts to “seek
458
explanatory adequacy in (adult) non-native lan-
guage acquisition research by adopting the UG
framework” (p. xiii). As pointed out by several
L3 researchers, it can be misleading to treat L3
(or additional languages) as just another case of
second language (L2) acquisition. Studies on
transfer from first language (L1) and L2 to L3
indicate that a chronologically true L2 and addi-
tional languages are qualitatively different. There-
fore, this book is a welcome addition to the gen-
erativist study of language acquisition.
Almost all of the chapters return to funda-
mental L3 research questions, such as which lan-
guage (L1 or L2) L3 learners prefer as a trans-
fer source, and the respective roles of typological
proximity (between L1 vs. L2 and L3) and profi-
ciency level. The first contribution in the volume
is Bayona’s “The Acquisition of Spanish Middle
and Impersonal Passive Constructions from SLA
and TLA Perspectives.” Results from two studies
are reported: one traditional L2 acquisition study,
where the L1 is mainly English and where no
concern is taken about previously acquired for-
eign languages, and one L3 study, where infor-
mants had L1 English and L2 French. No obvi-
ous L1 transfer was found, but a tendency was
found in the second study to select the “typologi-
cally closer” (pp. 25–26) French L2 as the transfer
source.
The next chapter, by Chin, “Language Trans-
fer in the Acquisition of the Semantic Contrast in
L3 Spanish,” concerns learners with L1 Chinese
and L2 English. Transfer from both L1 and L2
was found, although the main source of transfer
was English L2, which is typologically closer to
Spanish, in the sense that both English and Span-
ish mark the perfective and the imperfective as-
pect with tense–aspect morphology, whereas Chi-
nese uses only aspectual markers.
In “Multilingual Universal Grammar as the
Norm,” Cook extends the logical problem for lan-
guage acquisition from the monolingual child’s
capacity to acquire language from defective in-
put to the capacity of those who grow up in
bilingual or multilingual settings to separate two
languages from input that is not tagged as Lan-
guage A or Language B. Continuing with ar-
guments and facts from sociolinguistic and psy-
cholinguistic studies on bilingualism and multi-
lingualism, he concludes that multilingualism is
the norm and that monolingualism is a subcate-
gory, and he discusses the implications of this view
for UG.
In the next chapter, “UG and L3 Acquisition:
New Insights and More Questions,” Flynn builds
on studies on the acquisition of the relative clause
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
in English L1, L2, and L3. Those studies indicate
that experience from any prior language (L1 or
L2) can be drawn upon in L3A, supporting the
Cumulative Enhancement Model. Furthermore,
Flynn argues for the Constant Model, a model for
the initial state of language acquisition, equivalent
to the Strong Continuity Hypothesis, where UG is
distinct from, but continuously available in the
construction of, specific grammars.
In “Transfer in L3 Acquisition: The Role of
Typology,” Foote is able to distinguish between
factors such as language status and typology,
thanks to well-designed data collection. The ac-
quisition of aspect is explored in three learner
groups: L1 English–L2 Romance–L3 Romance,
L1 Romance–L2 English–L3 Romance, and L1
English–L2 Romance. Results suggest that either
L1 or L2 can transfer into L3, depending on lan-
guage typology (in the form of shared features
and feature values).
In “L3 Enhanced Feature Sensitivity as a Result
of Higher Proficiency in the L2,” Jaensch investi-
gates whether a previously acquired L2 helps in
the acquisition of an L3, relating her study to pre-
vious research on cognitive advantages found in
bilinguals, especially those with a high proficiency
level in both of their languages (the Threshold
Hypothesis), and to studies that indicate that pre-
viously acquired languages have a positive effect
on the learning of an L3. Interestingly, both seem
to be the case, even in the acquisition of a fea-
ture that is present in neither the L1 nor the
L2. Jaensch comes to this conclusion by look-
ing at the acquisition of DP gender agreement in
German in learners with Japanese L1 and English
L2, and she suggests that the advantage for L3
learners, found especially in those who have a rel-
atively high proficiency level in their L2s, is moti-
vated by better lexical knowledge, as well as supe-
rior metalinguistic and cognitive abilities.
Jin’s “Third Language Acquisition of Norwe-
gian Objects” reports on the status of null objects
in the interlanguage grammars of both L2 English
and L3 Norwegian of a group of learners with L1
Chinese. Although participants rejected ungram-
matical sentences in L2 English, they failed to do
so in L3 Norwegian. Hence, little trace of transfer
from L2 to L3 was found, and Jin claims strong L1
transfer to L3.
In “Null Objects in L1 Thai–L2 English–L3
Chinese: An Empiricist Take on a Theoretical
Problem,” Na Ranong and Leung investigate the
interpretation of null objects in L3 Chinese. Com-
paring the results with a group of English na-
tive speakers who learn Chinese as their L2 and
finding no significant differences between the
Reviews
groups, they argue that L1 has a privileged role
in both L2 and L3 acquisition of null objects and
that typology plays a strong role.
Finally, in Tsang’s “The L3 Acquisition of Can-
tonese Reflexives,” native speakers of Tagalog with
L2 English were tested on Cantonese reflexives.
No transfer from L2 was found, but there was pos-
sible influence from L1 Tagalog. Tsang discusses
the results from the perspective of the sociolin-
guistic status of a language.
In sum, the book brings new insights about L3
syntax, but gives a slightly disjointed impression.
It is not obvious whether previously acquired lan-
guages always have a positive effect in the learning
of an additional language, although some of the
studies point in that direction (e.g., Flynn, Jaen-
sch). The importance of typological proximity, es-
pecially when languages are related and similar
at a general level, however, is convincingly argued
out by several of the authors. Many new studies
will be undertaken in this expanding field of study,
and with the right language pairings and mirrored
control groups, new answers will be provided.
CAMILLA BARDEL
University of Stockholm
MACKEY, ALISON, & CHARLENE POLIO.
(Eds.). Multiple Perspectives on Interaction: Second
Language Research in Honor of Susan M. Gass.
New York: Routledge, 2009. Pp. vi, 281. $115.00,
cloth. ISBN 978–0–8058–6458–8.
This collection of articles in honor of Susan Gass is
an exploration of the influence of the interaction
approach on current thought in second language
acquisition (SLA) and underscores the impact of
this approach. Consisting of an introduction fol-
lowed by 10 chapters and an epilogue, this book
brings together articles on such disparate topics
as cognitive theory, motivation, and computer-
assisted language learning, among others. Each
chapter is written by a different researcher or team
of researchers. Although several of these authors
are scholars who do not focus their research on
interaction, each relates his or her work to the
interaction hypothesis and demonstrates its rele-
vance to a theory of SLA integrated by the study
of interaction.
The introduction, written by Mackey and Polio,
gives a brief history of the progression of Gass’s
thinking about interaction and its development
into a comprehensive theory of SLA.
459
In the first chapter, Ellis explains the cognitive
approach to SLA, that learning a language con-
sists of acquiring the form–meaning relationships
characteristic of the target language by noticing
patterns in the input and forming associative net-
works. Since more recent psycholinguistic models
of learning are taking into account the social situ-
ations within which these associative networks are
embedded, psycholinguistics research and tradi-
tional interaction studies are becoming comple-
mentary.
In chapter 2, Tarone argues that to under-
stand L2 acquisition, we need to take the social
context of interactions into account. She calls
for studies of language learners across the so-
cial spectrum, as opposed to the educated learn-
ers in classroom or laboratory settings that have
been the focus of most studies of interaction.
Tarone also believes that the SLA research agenda
should include studying output in different so-
cial contexts to observe the quantity and qual-
ity of language that learners produce in each
situation.
In the third chapter, Brooks and Swain report
on a study conducted within Vygotsky’s socio-
cultural framework. However, although Vygotsky
wrote about expert–novice relationships, Brooks
and Swain looked at peer relationships. They
found that students constructed zones of proxi-
mal development in their interactions as they en-
gaged in pair work on a collaborative writing task.
This interaction helped them to reach higher lev-
els of expertise in English.
In chapter 4, Bygate and Samuda note that
although interaction using the target language
seems to be necessary for language learning to oc-
cur, engaging in classroom conversations does not
necessarily lead to gains in language proficiency.
This phenomenon may be because classroom
tasks do not always elicit the kinds of involvement
that foster language learning. The researchers ex-
amine the qualities of task-based learning (field,
purpose, and engagement) and how tasks can be
constructed to maximize opportunities for acqui-
sition.
In the fifth chapter, Dörnyei and Tseng exam-
ine the construct of motivation and its role in in-
teraction. Using a tripartite model of motivational
processing that includes a learner’s appraisal of
his or her progress toward a goal, they conclude
that accurate appraisal processes are important
for keeping students motivated to complete the
pedagogical task. Although their study is focused
on vocabulary learning, these findings can be ap-
plied to the dyadic activities that underlie interac-
tion.
460
In chapter 6, Oliver looks at young (5–7 years
old) second language learners to determine
whether or not the features that characterize inter-
action among these children are similar to those
of older students. She found that young learners
engage in and benefit from interaction much as
older learners do with two exceptions (that may
depend on developmental stages). First, young
children are more concerned with self-regulation
than other-regulation; second, they are not in-
hibited by the directions for completing a task,
adding, for example, items to a picture to be de-
scribed instead of describing what appears in the
picture.
In the seventh chapter, Lightbown and Spada
review the evolution of the interaction hypothe-
sis since the 1970s. They conclude by calling for
replication of past studies and for future research
on the social context of interaction and the kinds
of tasks that are assigned, among other topics.
In chapter 8, Loewen looks at recasts in form-
focused negotiations in meaning-based lessons.
He concludes that more research investigating the
role of this kind of feedback on students’ learning
needs to be undertaken.
In the ninth chapter, Smith proposes syn-
chronous computer-mediated communication
(SCMC) as a vehicle for examining interaction.
He notes that chatscripts, which record every
keystroke learners make (as opposed to tran-
scripts of chats after they have been sent), reveal
much of the learners’ mental processing of lan-
guage. For example, learners often backspace to
make word-level corrections and sometimes aban-
don messages they are composing to respond to
incoming messages from their partners.
In chapter 10, Ortega reviews SCMC research
on the interaction hypothesis since 2000, focus-
ing on studies that explore constructs like negoti-
ation for meaning, negative feedback, and atten-
tion to form. She concludes that although some
studies are encouraging, others are problematic
and that, at this point, we cannot say that SCMC is
better than face-to-face interaction for language
learning.
In the epilogue, Philp notes the progress that
has occurred in research on the interaction hy-
pothesis from early descriptive studies to more
recent explanatory research. She identifies three
directions for future study: cognitive processes, so-
cial perspectives, and interactions in instructional
contexts.
This collection, which relates insights from dif-
ferent areas of SLA to the interaction hypothesis,
may be construed as a step toward the articula-
tion of a theory of SLA integrated under the con-
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
struct of interaction. Such an integrated theory
would provide a framework for research in lan-
guage learning and could serve to identify central
themes to be explored from different perspec-
tives. With supplementation, this book could serve
as a text in a graduate course on SLA; however, if
the book were used this way, the instructor might
want to assign chapter 7, which reviews research
on interaction, first, and chapter 10, which re-
views SCMC research, before chapter 9. Overall,
this book provides interesting research on various
aspects of the interaction hypothesis and advances
our understanding of language learning.
MARY EMILY CALL
Montclair State University
SHRUM, JUDITH L., & EILEEN W. GLISAN.
Teacher’s Handbook: Contextualized Language In-
struction. 4th ed. Boston: Heinle, 2010. Pp. xviii,
510. $105.99, paper. ISBN 978–1–4130–3321–2.
In the fourth edition of Teacher’s Handbook the au-
thors have introduced five notable changes. The
first change expands potential users of the vol-
ume. The previous editions focused on pre- and
in-service teachers and, as a result, were less rel-
evant for language instructors in postsecondary
contexts, such as graduate teaching assistants and
college and university faculty. The authors now
use a marginal icon to signal sections of greatest
relevance for this population. A second change is
the inclusion of a “Techno Focus” section in every
chapter. Although one chapter is dedicated solely
to technology, the inclusion of material related
to technology in every chapter demonstrates the
importance of this topic. The authors have pro-
vided suggestions for the use of various techno-
logical media, such as blogging, cell phones, and
YouTube, among others. This addition strength-
ens the textbook, as technology is highlighted in
most methods courses.
Third, new themes appear in the “Conceptual
Orientation” section that begins each chapter
and, thus, are repeatedly woven into the topics
treated in the book. These include language pol-
icy, research on brain-based learning, sheltered
and dual language instruction, genre-based writ-
ing, and dynamic assessment. Also, this edition
enhances topics introduced in previous editions
with more in-depth treatment and additional
research, a change that will be of particular inter-
est for those who teach in postsecondary contexts.
Reviews
The fourth change focuses on the “Implemen-
tation” sections, which follow the theoretical com-
ponent of each chapter. These sections are de-
signed to apply theory to practical issues encoun-
tered by language instructors. The authors intend
that readers investigate, reflect, and discuss the
issues. These sections embody the handbook fo-
cus of the text. The fourth edition expands the
number of case studies, with some designed with
postsecondary readers in mind.
The fifth change is found on the book’s com-
panion Web site. Already a positive component
of the textbook, the Web site now includes ad-
ditional resources, many supplied by practicing
teachers. The resources are all nicely packaged
in one location, so that readers do not have to
search for appropriate materials, research-based
data, and links that will benefit both preservice
and in-service teachers.
Overall, the changes are positive. Considerable
focus has been given to postsecondary students
and faculty, a change needed because the pre-
vious editions had a limited focus on this level.
Those who have used the text at the undergrad-
uate level may not welcome these additions, but
the postsecondary sections are identified with an
icon and can be easily omitted should the instruc-
tor choose to do so. The important factor is that
nothing was taken away from the other levels; in-
stead, additional material was presented.
Teacher’s Handbook consists of 12 chapters with
an extensive range of topics that include contex-
tualized and integrated language instruction, lan-
guage learning in elementary and middle schools,
the three modes of instruction (interpersonal, in-
terpretive, and presentational), grammar instruc-
tion, assessment, and technology. This compre-
hensive range of topics would certainly satisfy
requirements for most foreign language or En-
glish as a second language (TESOL) methodology
courses.
Each chapter is divided into three sections:
“Conceptual Organization,” “Implementation,”
and “Discuss and Reflect.” “Conceptual Organiza-
tion” provides the backbone of the chapter with
ample research and theory. A positive note is
that this section is both well documented and a
straightforward read. The language is concise and
comprehensible, even for readers new to the field.
The authors have provided in-depth background
and theory for each concept that is addressed in
the text. The “Implementation” section is impres-
sive, especially for students and in-service teach-
ers seeking applicable substance for their obser-
vations and classes. Each episode lists the NCATE
standards for foreign language and TESOL that
461
the activities address. This section provides am-
ple opportunity to assess if the students have un-
derstood the chapter. Additional case studies and
reference to the Teacher’s Handbook Web site com-
prise the “Discuss and Reflect” section. This sec-
tion could be used for independent work or in-
corporated into class time.
A final note for each of the chapters is that the
main terms or objectives are listed at the begin-
ning of the chapter, and an impressive list of cita-
tions concludes each chapter. It is obvious that the
authors have put into practice what they articulate
throughout their text.
The downside of Teacher’s Handbook may be that
it could be somewhat daunting for the undergrad-
uate student who is just beginning a teacher edu-
cation program or a first-level practicum course.
Its abundance of material may lend itself to be-
ing used over two methods courses, or instruc-
tors may wish to assign only some of the chap-
ters, according to the level of the students. The
positive aspects of the text far outweigh any neg-
atives. Teacher’s Handbook is a user-friendly text-
book for both the instructor and the students. It
provides a plethora of research-based theory that
supports the content of each chapter, the writing
is clear and concise, and the information is pre-
sented in an easy-to-read format. Once the theory
and research have been presented, the opportu-
nity to apply what has been learned is provided
and, finally, further reflection and discussion is
made available for those who choose to expand
on the concepts presented in a given chapter.
Teacher’s Handbook is an impressive textbook that
should be considered for a methods course and
should be found on teachers’ shelves as a fun-
damental and practical resource to help current
and future teachers succeed in a second language
classroom.
TERRI A. GEBEL
University of Iowa
ARABIC
MCLOUGHLIN, LESLIE. Colloquial Arabic (Lev-
antine): The Complete Course for Beginners. 2nd ed.
New York: Routledge, 2009. Pp. vi, 227. $31.95,
paper. ISBN 978–0–415–44857–4.
In Colloquial Arabic (Levantine), McLoughlin sets
out to accomplish the following: “(a) exhibit lan-
guage features acceptable throughout the Levant;
462
(b) display natural, idiomatic and correct speech;
and (c) present speech not particular to a village
or area” (p. 6).
Prefaced by a list of abbreviations, an introduc-
tion, and an “Introduction to Arabic Pronunci-
ation,” the book comprises three parts. Part 1,
entitled “The Units,” is the longest. It is divided
into 11 sections displaying Levantine colloquial
features, although it includes at times a mix of
Modern Standard and Classical Arabic (CA) fea-
tures. Part 2, ambitiously entitled “All the Things
You Have to Know in Order to Have a Meaning-
ful Conversation in Arabic,” is divided into eight
sections, including religious terms and festivities;
values, including those relating to honor, fate,
marriage, and divorce; instructions on how not
to learn Arabic; courtesy expressions; terms of ad-
dress; proverbs; idioms; and topics like numerals,
gender designations, telling time, dates, trades,
professions, colors, and shapes. Part 3 consists
of five appendices: a grammar index, a glossary,
notes on the Arabic script, countries in the Arab
League, and a bibliography. A key to the exercises
is also included.
The preface offers a concise and informative
introduction, ordering topics logically from gen-
eral to specific. It starts with “Arabic Language
in the World,” proceeds to “The Arabic Written
Language,” “The Varieties of Spoken Arabic,” and
then moves to the specific features of “Levantine
Arabic,” followed by “The Structure of Arabic.”
This last section presents with simplicity, for the
benefit of beginners, the 10 (according to the au-
thor) most important features common to written
and spoken Arabic.
The weakness of the preface is the looseness
with which some information is conveyed. Thus,
one may take issue with the oversimplification of
some of the language features described in points
6 through 8 (pp. 10–11). First is the statement that
“the two tenses in Arabic can render any tense we
use in English” (p. 10), without the author men-
tioning the need, at times, of an auxiliary, and the
statement that female singular verb endings are
marked by the sound –ee without stating that this
feature pertains only to the past tense. He also
uses fee Kitaab as an illustration of an equational
sentence without qualifying it as a dialectal and
not a classical Arabic form. Moreover, feature 10
on intonation (p. 12) does not describe to stu-
dents how it works, but gives the general advice to
pay attention to it.
The strengths of the “Introduction to Arabic
Pronunciation” are partly due to the detailed in-
formation and to contrasting the Arabic sounds
with English for additional clarification. However,
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
there are numerous flaws. The letter thaa’ E is
presented for pronunciation at the end position
of the word, an anomaly when all of the other
27 letter sounds are presented in initial positions,
a decision that will confuse novice learners. The
letter identified in writing as zay (p. 15) is incon-
sistent with its pronunciation zaa (CD 2–4). The
sounds of two letters, Saad W and Daad Q,
on the CD are not pronounced in words, as is
the case with all of other letters. The letter qaaf
R is transcribed as faaf (p. 16), and the kasra
vowel is transcribed as kesra. Finally, one ques-
tions the justification for maintaining the liaison
(transcribed, p. 17) of proper names with initial
sun letters, numbers 14, 19, 33, 34; for example,
9abdun-naaSir , but not with initial moon letters 2,
36–39; for example, ameer al-kuwait, even though
liaisons are reflected in oral speech with sun and
moon letters.
Part 1 does manage to compress a wide array
of language structures in 111 pages. It contains
communicative expressions, structures expressing
possession, types of verbs (the tri-consonantal, the
derived patterns, the assimilated, and the defec-
tive, including their tenses), the participles, the
relative pronouns, and more. However, both the
formatting and content are problematic. Each
unit has a different layout, and there are no ad-
vance organizers or lists of learning outcomes,
which would facilitate use of the text for the
novice. The titles vacillate between expressions
of grammar forms (units 2, 3, 5, 7) and functions
(1, 4, 6, 8, 9) and often do not indicate what one
should anticipate in the unit. The title of unit
10, “Four-Letter Words,” refers to the causative
verbs but may be unintentionally offensive to na-
tive speakers of English. Moreover, the exercises
reflect a long-gone traditional method of trans-
lation, which displays lists of discrete sentences
that the learners are to memorize or render into
English.
Although the dialogues in part 1 are interac-
tive and exhibit natural, communicative language,
they are fraught with inconsistencies that occur in
every dialogue, namely between the written tran-
scripts and their oral counterparts, indicating a
lack of careful proofreading of the manuscript.
Specifically, the written transcriptions reflect ei-
ther the Modern Standard form or a different
dialect pronunciation from the one that is being
recorded.
Part 2, despite its presumptuous title “All the
Things You Have to Know in Order to Have a
Meaningful Conversation in Arabic,” is the most
spirited. Section 13, entitled “O My Teacher!,”
Reviews
deals successfully with terms of address, although
it is somewhat limited. McLoughlin emphasizes
the contextual particularities of terms of ad-
dress in Levantine societies, conveying this salient
feature of this social group. The spectrum, from
most formal to more informal, that a student
would most likely utilize and encounter when visit-
ing that region, is well chosen and well explained.
Unfortunately, McLoughlin fails to provide ade-
quate information about the local color of these
terms in this wide region.
In this connection, this reviewer takes issue with
the lumping together of the linguistic features of
Jordan and the rest of Levantine Arabic. Despite
the fact that Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Jordan
comprise geographically what is referred to as the
Levant, the dialect of Jordan spoken by the origi-
nal inhabitants of the area is more akin to that of
the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula, which
McLoughlin does not address.
In closing, it is quite surprising that the sec-
ond edition is not much different in methodol-
ogy from the first edition of 1982. The author
and publisher appear to remain oblivious of the
changes that have taken place in foreign language
teaching and learning in the last three decades.
AMAN M. ATTIEH
Swarthmore College
CHINESE
BAI, JIANHUA. Chinese Grammar Made Easy:
A Practical and Effective Guide for Teach-
ers. 150 ◦ New Haven, CT: Yale Uni-
versity Press, 2008. Pp. xix, 315. $45.00, paper.
ISBN 978–0–300–12279–4.
In producing this volume, Bai and his colleagues
at the renowned Middlebury Chinese School have
provided the Chinese teaching profession with a
marvelous new pedagogical tool that bridges the
gap between the precise structural linguistic de-
scriptions of traditional grammar reference books
and the pedagogical needs of communication-
based classroom teaching to English-speaking
learners. Although not comprehensive in its cov-
erage of Chinese grammar, it offers clear analysis
and creative teaching approaches to many com-
mon or problematic grammatical constructions.
Except for the acknowledgments page and a
translation of the introduction, the book is en-
tirely in Chinese; it is intended for teachers, not
463
for students. (Thankfully, the subtitle makes this
clear because it would be unfortunate if beginning
students ordered the book online, only to discover
that it was far beyond their reading ability.) Be-
sides the introduction and a 1-page bibliography
of useful grammar references and dictionaries,
the book consists of 150 treatments of important
Chinese grammatical items, each of which is 1–2
pages in length.
All of the treatments follow the same format.
Each one begins with a brief semantic and func-
tional description of the construction, with cita-
tions of some of the standard grammar references
for readers who want to delve further. In cases
where grammatical constructions are near syn-
onyms (or, more relevant, where Chinese makes
a distinction that English does not make), key
points of contrast are often (but not always)
pointed out, along with American students’ com-
mon errors. These descriptions are models of clar-
ity and brevity. The focus is on pedagogical practi-
cality, rather than on the descriptive comprehen-
siveness found in grammar reference works.
Next appears a table showing the structure of
model sentences. Example sentences are well cho-
sen for their typicality and for content that illus-
trates the meaning and grammatical function of
the construction in question.
Finally, four to five exercises are presented,
starting with a sample Socratic question-and-
answer dialogue designed to lead students to an
understanding of the construction. The remain-
ing exercises move from teacher-controlled exer-
cises (expansion, transformation, sentence com-
pletion) to lower-control exercises (circumlocu-
tion, open-ended questions), ending with rela-
tively free usage by students (discussion, debate,
role-play). The guiding principles behind the ex-
ercises are that it should not be necessary to resort
to English explanations, that focus is always on the
meaning rather than on only the structure, and
that more practice is always better than more ex-
planation.
Organization by individual grammatical pat-
tern makes the book a very valuable reference
tool. A teacher looking for a new way to explain
a certain pattern or looking for appropriate com-
municative exercises to replace structure drills or
translation can simply flip to the relevant page and
find useful ideas. In this way, it is as easy to use as a
dictionary. However, this organization prevents a
holistic view of the grammar, and the book is not
intended as a substitute for the sequenced intro-
duction to grammar that a textbook provides. In
fact, the scope of coverage seems to be limited by
the format. The introduction states that “the items
464
we identified are the most fundamental and most
frequently used grammar items that students need
to learn in order to communicate successfully and
effectively” (p. xv), but a grammar item seems usu-
ally to involve a particular lexical item used as a
grammatical or discourse marker, whereas some
of the most basic (and difficult) grammatical phe-
nomena do not easily fit that description. For ex-
ample, relative clauses, resultative complements,
potential complements, and the aspectual system
are not covered.
The aforementioned lack of comprehensive-
ness by no means negates the value of this book.
I believe it deserves a spot on every Chinese
teacher’s bookshelf, not necessarily instead of the
reliable grammar references, but as a guide to
action, putting their theory into practice in the
classroom.
MARK HANSELL
Carleton College
BAI, JIANHUA, JUYU SUNG, & JANET ZHIQUN
XING. Beyond the Basics: Communicative Chinese
for Intermediate and Advanced Learners. 2nd ed.
Boston: Cheng & Tsui, 2009. Pp. xix, 393. $49.95,
paper. ISBN 978–0–88727–623–1.
Taking the national standards for foreign lan-
guage learning in the 21st century as the guid-
ing principles, this textbook for intermediate and
advanced students of Chinese as a Foreign Lan-
guage (CFL) at the college level aims to develop
CFL learners’ communicative competence with
an emphasis on speaking proficiency. It incorpo-
rates relevant research findings and adopts new
ideas and techniques in the text organization and
exercise delivery, all of which shows that the au-
thors know what students need and what should
be done to improve CFL learning and teaching
effectiveness. With an appealing storyline and au-
thentic texts, the book is culturally rich, linguis-
tically appropriate, and fun to read. Except for
lesson 1, all the lessons are in the form of con-
versations contextualized in varied social cultural
settings, such as dining out, voting and elections,
pains and gains in telemarketing, music and film,
homelessness and poverty, and challenges and
predicaments in school life. These themes are
related to students’ real-life experiences and fit
the ACTFL assessment criteria for speaking at the
level targeted by the book, which is, as stated in the
preface, for students who have studied Chinese
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
for at least 2 years in a regular college program
(p. xi).
In the United States, Chinese is learned as a
foreign language (i.e., not as the tool of societal
communication); thus, it shares many common-
alities with other foreign languages. First, in a
foreign language context, authentic linguistic in-
put is typically not available, so the instructor and
the teaching materials become the major source
of target language input. Thus, it is imperative
for CFL pedagogy to bring real-life experience
into the classroom and to build an environment
conducive to students’ target language use and
engagement in meaningful communication. Sec-
ond, most CFL classrooms in the United States
must accommodate two types of students: those
with a Chinese family background, and those with-
out. With a mixed student population in the class-
room, it is essential for CFL instruction to closely
attend to individual learners’ needs and address
them appropriately. Beyond the Basics shows full
awareness of such issues and, in response, pro-
vides a wide range of discussion questions and
learning activities, as well as a large pool of sup-
plementary vocabulary (p. xi).
Beyond the Basics consists of 15 lessons. Ex-
cept for lesson 15, which is a review designed
to help students practice extemporaneous speech
(p. xiii), all of the lessons are conversations, which
are, by complexity in tasks and functions, grouped
into categories: (a) narrative; (b) descriptive;
(c) narrative with abstract concepts; and (d) nar-
rative with abstract concepts and debate. The nar-
rative strand contains two lessons (1, 6) with text
titles (‘Childhood’) and (‘Dining Out’);
the descriptive strand includes three lessons (2–
4) with text titles (‘Describing a Person’),
(‘Master Salesperson’), and (‘Var-
ious Professions’). The abstract-concept strand
contains two lessons (8, 14) with the text ti-
tles (‘Crime’) and (‘Movies’), while
the last strand includes five lessons (9–13) with
the text titles (‘Love and Romance’),
(‘The Poverty Problem’), (‘Culture Discus-
sion’), (‘Happiness’), and (‘Political Elec-
tion’). Moreover, each lesson consists of a model
dialogue, discussion questions, a list of new words,
a list of supplementary words, notes on sentence
patterns and useful expressions, and a set of multi-
category homework assignments. Collectively,
they provide optimal opportunities for students
to practice and use the language for meaningful
communication.
Pedagogically, the book demonstrates a num-
ber of strengths. First, most of the texts are
two-party debates on controversial issues with
Reviews
challenging information gaps and intelligent ar-
guments, which will be attractive and stimulat-
ing to students and general readers. Second, the
notes on sentence patterns and useful expres-
sions are well written and are contextualized in
conversations, which will be easy for students to
understand and for teachers to explain. Third, the
homework is comprehensive, which in most cases
includes multiple-choice vocabulary and sentence
exercises, sentence completions, fill-in-the-blank
sentences, written discourse composition, oral dis-
course writing, and supplementary activities. Such
a wide range of tasks gives students abundant
opportunities to review and practice what they
have learned. Finally, the discussion topics and
written activities are well directed and contextual-
ized, which teachers will find easy to implement in
class.
Compared with the other CFL textbooks used
in the United States and elsewhere, this book of-
fers a distinctive and innovative approach. How-
ever, CFL is an emerging field in which research
on pedagogy is embryonic, and there are not
many models to follow for textbook writing. It
would, therefore, be impractical to expect the
book to be flawless. From the perspective of a
CFL researcher and teaching practitioner, I point
out some areas that would benefit from improve-
ment. First, the language model provided in the
texts does not correspond well with some of the
after-class tasks. Specifically, given that the texts
are, except for lesson 1, conversations, each les-
son gives the students writing tasks in written
discourse, either paragraphs or essays. For in-
stance, although the text of lesson 2 is a con-
versation on Deng Xiao-Ping, the late Chinese
head of state, the after-class activity asks students
to write two letters, of 200 characters each, with
one describing a female and the other a male.
Ample discourse research demonstrates that writ-
ten and oral discourses differ from each other
in, among other aspects, lexicon, sentence pat-
terns, conjunctions, connectors, and discourse
markers. Recent CFL research also shows that
learners, heritage and non-heritage alike, do not
have the ability to convert oral discourse to writ-
ten discourse without access to model texts in
their teaching materials. Next, although the book
presents detailed notes on sentence patterns and
useful expressions, it does not have a grammar sec-
tion that explains Chinese-specific linguistic fea-
tures, such as zero pronouns, frequent omission of
sentence constituents, and topic-prominent con-
structions, to name just a few. Finally, some text-
related background knowledge is lacking that
could help students comprehend the texts and
465
have a model at hand when composing written
discourse. To create the best-fit textbook for CFL
learners at the intermediate and advanced lev-
els, it is essential to foster their intra- and inter-
sentence analytical skills and to provide them with
the needed Chinese linguistic and background
knowledge.
YUN XIAO
Bryant University
EVERSON, MICHAEL E., & HELEN H. SHEN.
(Eds.). Research among Learners of Chinese as a For-
eign Language. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i
Press, 2010. Pp. 200. $20.00, paper. ISBN 978–0–
9800459–4–9.
This book is the fourth volume in the monograph
series sponsored by the Chinese Language Teach-
ers Association to disseminate empirical research
results to guide Chinese as a foreign language
(CFL) pedagogy. It is comprised of three sections:
(a) the editors’ introduction; (b) eight chapters,
each of which presents one empirical study on a
key issue in CFL learning; and (c) biographical in-
formation about each contributor to the volume.
In the editors’ introduction, Everson and Shen
explain the purposes of the volume and briefly
describe each chapter’s research focus, research
design, and major findings.
Chapter 1 reports on a mixed-methods study
by Du on adult English-speaking CFL learners’
acquisition of the ba construction. Using both
quantitative and qualitative data, the study ex-
amined whether CFL learners at different profi-
ciency levels acquired the complexity constraints
of the ba construction in resultative causative
constructions and of le, and what developmen-
tal trends were revealed during the acquisition
process. Chapter 2 reports on a study by Tseng
that examined CFL learners’ self-assessed attrition
rate in grammar, listening, and reading skills af-
ter a 3-month summer break. In chapter 3, Shen
reports on a study that employed both quantita-
tive and qualitative approaches to investigate how
CFL learners acquire radical knowledge and how
they perceive the importance of radical knowl-
edge in learning Mandarin characters. Chapter 4
is a quantitative study by Lü that examined the
effects of word-knowledge depth, part of speech,
and proficiency level on word associations among
learners of Chinese in Beijing. Chapter 5 reports
on Chang’s research examining the correlation
466
between college-level CFL learners’ proficiency
level and their usage of cognitive and metacogni-
tive reading strategies. Chapter 6 follows up with
a study by Liu employing descriptive statistics to
examine the factors that affected the free
recall performance of Japanese learners of Chi-
nese. Chapter 7 presents Xiao’s study, in which she
analyzed both non-heritage and heritage college-
level CFL learners’ discourse features and uncov-
ered developmental trends in CFL writing over
one academic year. Chapter 8 is a survey study
conducted by Tasker that investigated CFL dis-
tance learners’ perception and beliefs about CFL
learning and their attitudes toward CFL distance
learning.
This book is a great contribution to the fields of
Chinese as a second language acquisition (CSLA)
research and CFL pedagogy. Its contributions are
reflected in three major areas: the topics, the re-
search designs, and the pedagogical implications
covered in the studies. First, the studies inves-
tigated a broad scope of CFL, issues including
the acquisition of radical knowledge, word asso-
ciation, grammar structures, reading strategies,
writing discourse features, language attrition in
grammar and receptive skills, as well as CFL dis-
tance learning from the student perspective. The
literature review and research findings in the stud-
ies provide invaluable and bountiful information
to researchers in the field of CSLA and connect
the research on CSLA to SLA in general. Sec-
ond, the majority of the studies in this volume
adopted the mixed-methods approach to quanti-
tatively and qualitatively analyze students’ learn-
ing outcomes. The studies in chapters 1, 3, 4, 5,
and 8 also investigated developmental trends by
comparing the performance of CFL learners at
different proficiency levels. The methodological
endeavors enable a broader and deeper under-
standing of CSL development as well as provide
great examples for novice and experienced re-
searchers in CSLA.
The third contribution of this volume is the
thoughtful pedagogical implications provided in
each study. Facing the urgent need to expand and
strengthen Chinese language programs at various
levels and a relatively small pool of empirical re-
search providing reliable and concrete guidance,
CFL pedagogy, particularly at the college level,
can benefit greatly from all the well-thought-out
and scientifically verified findings provided in the
book.
Despite its values, this book is limited by a lack of
comprehensiveness in the topics, theoretical per-
spectives, and research approaches in the studies.
First, it is apparent that the contributions are ar-
ranged based on the linguistic units and particular
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
skills CFL learners need to acquire: vocabulary,
grammar, reading, and writing at the discourse
level. The exclusion of attention to the acquisi-
tion of listening and speaking skills will disappoint
readers. Second, the majority of the studies fo-
cus on CFL learning outcomes from a traditional
psycholinguistic perspective, rather than on the
learning process. None of studies adopt other SLA
theoretical perspectives, such as sociocultural the-
ory and the ecological perspective, which focus
on learners’ learning process by investigating the
relationship between learners and their discursive
social-cultural contexts. This limitation constrains
the volume’s theoretical and empirical influences.
Third, limited by one dominating theoretical per-
spective, most studies in the volume, despite their
adoption of a mixed-methods approach, empha-
size the quantitative analysis of the correlation be-
tween various potential factors and learning out-
comes rather than a meticulous qualitative analy-
sis of learners’ dynamic learning process.
In all, this volume provides a much-needed
and valuable resource for CFL researchers as well
as language educators. The studies included in
the volume are thoughtfully selected. The infor-
mation reviewed and discovered as well as the
research approaches adopted in the studies are
very resourceful and thought provoking. How-
ever, readers of this volume should be aware that
most of the studies are guided by a psycholinguis-
tic perspective, in which language learning is an-
alyzed and interpreted through a traditional cog-
nitivist lens. In addition, listening and speaking
skills development is not addressed in the volume.
Researchers interested in other theoretical frame-
works and in CFL learners’ listening and speaking
skills may not find this volume as helpful.
LI JIN
DePaul University
XIAO, RICHARD, PAUL RAYSON, & TONY
MCENERY. A Frequency Dictionary of Mandarin
Chinese: Core Vocabulary for Learners. New York:
Routledge, 2009. Pp. x, 390. $35.95, paper. ISBN
978–0–415–45586–2.
This publication details a lexicography project us-
ing statistical and grammatical analyses that are
based on scientific, linguistic, and pedagogical
theories. It provides the rationale for a frequency
dictionary, the structure of the corpus used in
the project, a review of various frequency dictio-
naries of Chinese, explanations for the selection
Reviews
of words and Chinese characters based on their
frequencies and distributions in different regis-
ters, and the organization of this dictionary with
examples of lexical entries. Prospective users of
the dictionary can also benefit from reading a
brief introduction to Mandarin Chinese, touch-
ing on issues such as simplified and traditional
Chinese characters, pinyin (i.e., the romanized al-
phabetical system of Mandarin Chinese), the def-
inition of Chinese wordhood, and the approach
the dictionary takes in deciding what constitutes
a word in the corpus. In particular, the authors
classify formulaic expressions such as ‘have
to,’ ‘that is to say,’ ‘meanwhile,’ and
‘cannot help but’ as words, noting that such
commonly occurring expressions are useful for
learners. Such an approach seems to corroborate
Chinese word processing on computers. When
one inputs the above expressions in pinyin, the
correct simplified or traditional characters appear
most of the time.
The corpus itself is the crux of the dictionary.
It consists of data extracted from the Lancaster
Corpus of Mandarin Chinese and the UCLA Writ-
ten Chinese Corpus, in addition to various types
of publications and oral communications, for a
total of approximately 73 million Chinese charac-
ters, which make up almost 50 million words in
the corpus. The written text in the corpus consti-
tutes the bulk of the data, and it is categorized into
news, fiction, and non-fiction, with the news cate-
gory exceeding the other two categories by a slight
margin. The transcribed speech in the corpus ac-
counts for approximately only one-fifteenth of the
data, and it consists of various genres, ranging
from casual face-to-face conversations and tele-
phone calls, to formal public lectures and radio
broadcasts.
The main portion of the volume consists of a
full page devoted to the part-of-speech annota-
tion scheme, followed by four indices of varied
lengths. Unfortunately, the page number of the
former, which is 19, is misprinted as page 190
in the table of contents. The first three indices
comprise words arranged by frequency, by alpha-
betical order, and by part of speech, respectively.
Chinese characters that make up the words are
arranged by frequency in the last index. In the
frequency index, there are a total of 5,004 entries
ranging from the most frequently occurring word
to the least frequently occurring word
Each entry consists of simplified and traditional
Chinese characters, pinyin, part of speech, En-
glish gloss, an illustrative example in simplified
characters, English translation for the example,
and so forth. In the alphabetical index, the fre-
quency rank that accompanies each word is par-
467
ticularly useful for cross-referencing with the fre-
quency index. The part-of-speech index expounds
the functions of certain entries, e.g., how the dif-
ferent classifiers (measure words) and sentence-
final particles are used. Finally, the character fre-
quency index consists of 2,112 entries. It lists all
of the Chinese characters in the corpus by rank,
from the most frequently occurring character
to the least frequently occurring character . In
each entry, words in which the character occurs,
as well as their ranks, are listed. These words are
a particularly attractive feature for self-study.
To stimulate learning authentic Mandarin
Chinese in a meaningful context, a series of 30
vocabulary lists are interspersed throughout the
frequency index in embedded tables, and they
are organized by themes such as matters related
to living and activities, the Chinese people and
culture, and the commonly used words in spoken,
fiction, non-fiction, and news registers. The major-
ity of the lists include simplified and traditional
Chinese characters, pinyin, and English gloss.
Most of the words are arranged by frequency rank,
and the rest are arranged in alphabetical order or
some other logical order. Sociolinguists may find
the English loanword list to be of particular inter-
est, whereas students of Chinese may find useful
grammatical terms in the language learning list.
The last four lists of the series, which consist of
commonly used words in the spoken and written
registers, are a little different in that the words are
arranged by statistical salience, although their fre-
quency ranks are also provided. An obvious short-
fall is the absence of pinyin for each word. With-
out the accompanying pinyin, nonnative speakers
of Mandarin Chinese will not know how to pro-
nounce the words, which is an important part of
language learning. Another shortcoming of the
thematically organized vocabulary lists is the un-
predictable order in which they are embedded in
the frequency index. The words in each list do not
necessarily correspond to the words in the index
that are presented on the same page. Since it is
not feasible to arrange the lists in an ideal logical
order in the index, it is more efficient to consoli-
date them and place them altogether in a separate
index, which would make it easier for readers to
view them at a glance. In fact, such an index could
be a valuable tool for learners to acquire themat-
ically related vocabulary, especially because it is
. currently common for schools to teach across dif-
ferent subjects based on a common theme.
In sum, this dictionary applies corpus linguis-
tics to lexicography and Chinese language ped-
agogy using authentic text and speech, and the
practical approach it takes is conducive to the ac-
quisition of frequently occurring vocabulary and
468
grammar in real situations. It is hoped that users
will be able to learn the language with a fraction
of the time and effort, at least in the theme of
their interest. Additionally, this dictionary will be
an effective reference for teachers and students of
Mandarin Chinese and Chinese linguistics. Over-
all, the authors deserve praise for carrying out this
detail-oriented and time-consuming project.
KYLIE HSU
California State University, Los Angeles
FRENCH
BOOTH, TRUDIE MARIA. A Complete French
Grammar for Reference and Practice. New York: Uni-
versity Press of America, 2010. Pp. ix, 488. $49.95,
paper. ISBN 978–0–7618–4971–1.
This volume provides a new French comprehen-
sive grammar guide intended to hone learners’
writing, reading, and speaking skills. Booth envi-
sions the text for the intermediate and advanced
levels, as well as for self-study and reference.
With an anticipated readership of Anglophone
students who hope to improve their written and
spoken French, the principal goal of the man-
ual is to provide a “useful reference and practice
tool for students and teachers alike . . . and help
learners acquire proficiency in oral and written
French” (p. ix). Secondary goals include increas-
ing student cultural competence and expanding
vocabulary knowledge.
The volume contains 30 chapters; the first be-
gins with numbers, telling time, days of the week,
months, seasons, dates, and fractions. In chap-
ters 2 through 10, Booth progresses to various
types of verbs. The tenses covered include the
present indicative (including pronominal verbs),
imperative, passé composé, imperfect, pluperfect,
passé simple, passé antérieur , close and simple
future, present and past conditional, and present,
imperfect, and pluperfect subjunctive. Later
chapters focus on personal pronouns, negative
expressions, the infinitive, the present partici-
ple, articles, nouns, adjectives, pronouns, adverbs,
comparisons, superlatives, question formation,
prepositions, conjunctions, direct and indirect
speech, and false cognates. At the end of most
chapters is a section entitled “Translation Difficul-
ties” that treats expressions and grammatical con-
cepts that are difficult to translate from French
to English and vice versa. Moreover, phonetic
transcriptions using the International Phonetic
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
Alphabet are often provided to show the proper
pronunciation of difficult words. The volume con-
cludes with a French–English and English–French
glossary.
In her preface, Booth maintains that this man-
ual covers French grammar more thoroughly than
other grammar reference guides. Topic compre-
hensiveness is the book’s major strength. Despite
the number of grammatical structures reviewed, it
is easy to locate particular grammar topics, thanks
to the well-organized table of contents and com-
plete index. The organization of the book is clear
and logical. In addition, the last chapter on false
cognates is particularly helpful for advanced stu-
dents wanting to improve their writing skills.
The strongest features of the book are the de-
tailed grammar explanations and the use of En-
glish for the explanations. In contrast, the direc-
tions for all of the exercises following the gram-
matical explanations are in French, which is one
reason that the exercises are the weakest feature of
the book. In the preface, Booth states that the “nu-
merous oral and written exercises include trans-
lations, suggestions for communicative activities
with a partner, as well as topics for written com-
positions” (p. ix). Although it is true that the ex-
ercises are numerous, there is little variety; the
majority are translations. There are few commu-
nicative activities, and the infrequent oral exer-
cises mostly entail asking a list of questions to a
partner. Thus, it is unclear how this book could
be used to refine speaking skills.
In addition to the limited directions provided
for the exercises, there are other major prob-
lems. First, the exercises are not contextualized.
In many instances, the only instruction given is
the singular word “Translate.” Although the ex-
ercises focus on the grammatical concepts cov-
ered in their respective chapters, the vocabulary
is random. For example, in an exercise reviewing
the definite article, students are directed to fill
in the blank with the proper definite article. The
first six nouns listed are: femme ‘woman,’ beurre
‘butter,’ université ‘university,’ histoire ‘history or
story,’ hors-d’oeuvre, and honte ‘shame’ (p. 210).
The accompanying vocabulary is not taught in the
chapter, and the book does not have a vocabulary
section other than the glossary at the end. Thus,
to complete the exercises throughout the manual,
a dictionary is required. Lacking proper context,
it is difficult to see how learners may be expected
to retain new vocabulary.
The preface is also misleading when it
states that “poems and other authentic French
texts . . . such as an excerpt from ‘Le Petit Nicolas’
illustrate the grammar aspects discussed” (p. ix).
These literary examples are few and far between.
Reviews
Although an excerpt from the aforementioned
short story is used to review the passé composé and
the imparfait where students are asked to fill in
the blank with missing verbs, only a few poems
are included in the chapters, and most are sim-
ply printed in the manual without accompanying
questions, exercises, or activities. Thus, their in-
tended function is unclear. The preface also mis-
leads the reader when it claims that students will
be able to refine their writing skills through the
inclusion of topics for written compositions. The
suggested composition topics are minimal and dif-
ficult to locate.
For students to benefit from the exercises in this
book, they would most likely need to have studied
French for a number of years so that they already
have a substantial vocabulary base. If the book is
to be used for self-study or reference, as Booth
suggests, there is one major flaw: An answer key
is not included. There is no way for students to
check their answers, and although in the preface
it says that an answer key is available through the
author, no order form is provided, either online or
in the manual. Furthermore, there are no online
components or ancillaries to this guide.
Still, as the title indicates, this is a complete
French grammar reference guide with clear and
detailed explanations that covers virtually every
aspect of French grammar. In this respect, the
manual is excellent and would serve its readers
well. However, if the book is to be used effectively
for practice, in particular for self-study, several
essential components are lacking: a wider variety
of grammar exercises, the inclusion of more
oral activities, prompts for compositions, and an
answer key.
MOLLY KRUEGER ENZ
South Dakota State University
PORTUGUESE
PIRES, ACRISIO, & JASON ROTHMAN. (Eds.).
Minimalist Inquiries into Child and Adult Lan-
guage Acquisition. Case Studies across Portuguese.
New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 2009. Pp. viii, 354.
$168.00, cloth. ISBN 978–3–11–021534–2.
This anthology comprises 12 papers by 22 con-
tributors from Brazil, Portugal, and the United
States. Its two parts include six studies on first lan-
guage (L1) acquisition of Portuguese and a sec-
ond section with another six studies on additional
469
language (L2, L3) acquisition of Portuguese by
adults. Four of the studies examine European
Portuguese (EP) and eight deal with Brazilian
Portuguese (BP). This volume is the first entirely
dedicated to generative analyses of L1, L2, and L3
Portuguese acquisition.
Lightfoot’s succinct foreword carefully delin-
eates the wide-ranging nature of the studies (di-
achronic and synchronic research, child language
acquisition, adult language acquisition, experi-
mental and corpus-driven data based). In his dis-
cussion, Lightfoot points out that in the study
of language acquisition “evaluation models are
driven directly by E[xternal]-language [ = individ-
ual linguistic input data for models of I-language
construction, pp. 11–12] phenomena while cue-
based models take E-language as a source of
cues and are therefore more I[nternal]-language
[ = language cognition, p. 11] driven” (p. 3).
In their introduction, Pires and Rothman pro-
vide an excellent overview of the issues raised
in the 12 core studies. They point out that
Portuguese is indeed a world language, a result
of Portuguese imperialism (p. 17). Its two most
studied dialects are European and Brazilian Por-
tuguese, a fact that is reflected in this volume.
Nevertheless, it is also an official language in seven
other countries (Angola, Cape Verde, East Timor,
Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique,
and São Tomé and Principe). Furthermore, it is
spoken in Goa (India) and Macau (China), and
it ranks seventh worldwide in the total number
of speakers, with the second largest number of
native speakers of the Romance languages (after
Spanish). Moreover, in the recently released MLA
report (“Enrollments in Languages Other Than
English in United States Institutions of Higher
Education, Fall 2009,” 2010), Portuguese ranks
thirteenth overall with a significant enrollment
increase of 10.8% during the period 2006–2009.
Pires and Rothman recapitulate the two ma-
jor goals of linguistic theory; namely, to explain
the properties of the underlying cognitive devices
possessed by all humans that allow them to ac-
quire language, and to explain how people pro-
ceed from an initial state to later stages of linguis-
tic competence (p. 5). The authors describe the
purpose of this dual quest as “explaining language
cognition and explaining the path of linguistic devel-
opment” (p. 6, italics in original).
In their discussion of the contents of this vol-
ume, the co-editors subscribe to Chomsky’s Min-
imalist Program with its theoretical focus on
methodological minimalism and substantive, or
ontological minimalism, neither one of which
is incompatible with earlier linguistic models,
470
including the Principles and Parameters model
(p. 7). The authors of the 12 studies in this volume
use one or the other of these approaches. In terms
of methodology, production and comprehension
data are considered with either experimental or
corpus-based data. Likewise, various techniques
(elicited task production, picture selection tasks,
act-out tasks, and truth-value tasks) are employed
(p. 21).
Sicuro Corrêa (part 1, ch. 1) reports on the is-
sue of bootstrapping, or how children initiate the
identification of the grammar of a given language
(p. 35). Her study examines the identification of
phi-features (gender, number, person) in the ac-
quisition of BP. In two chapters, Costa and Lobo
(part 1, ch. 2) and Madeira and Xavier (part 2,
ch. 5) address the acquisition of clitic pronouns
in EP in L1 and L2 respectively. Another five chap-
ters study empty category acquisition: (a) Vascon-
cellos Lopes (part 1, ch. 4) analyzes L1 acquisi-
tion of null objects in BP; (b) Santos (part 1,
ch. 6) studies child VP ellipsis in EP; (c) Mon-
trul, Dias, and Thomé-Williams (part 2, ch. 6) ex-
amine the acquisition of subjects in L2 BP; (d)
Cabrelli-Amaro, Iverson, and Judy (Part 2, ch. 1)
analyze nominal ellipsis in L3 BP compared to L2
steady state in BP; and (e) Iverson (part 2, ch. 3)
studies nominal ellipsis in the initial state of two
groups of L3 BP learners. Next, Fruit Bell (part
2, ch. 2) examines the syntax–discourse interface
in the acquisition of focus and its prosodic con-
figuration in L2 EP by L1 Anglophones. Grolla
(part 1, chapter 3) considers the acquisition of
wh-questions in children’s BP. Kato, Cyrino, and
Reche Corrêa (part 2, ch. 4) examine matters re-
lated to variation and language change between
EP and BP with respect to the recovery of lost cli-
tics. Finally, Pires and Rothman (part 1, ch. 5) seek
to determine if BP children acquire inflected in-
finitives in late adolescence and the implications
for syntactic theory and language change.
Pires and Rothman aptly observe that “the
studies collected in this volume cover the
acquisition of a wide gamut of morphosyntactic
properties in native and non-native Portuguese
acquisition, providing valuable evidence that tran-
scends the questions pondered by the individual
studies themselves” (p. 28). To be sure, the two va-
rieties of Portuguese studied (EP and BP) demon-
strate that morphosyntactic change is rapidly oc-
curring, and these shifts can provide additional
information for acquisition theory. As Pires and
Rothman note, the research in each chapter re-
veals a wide range of L1, L2, and L3 data, which
point to the assortment of issues that require fur-
ther research (p. 28).
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
In his laudatory assessment of the twelve essays
in this collection, Quicoli’s afterword enumerates
the areas of acquisition research noted above (fi-
nite agreement, infinitive agreement, null sub-
jects, clitics and null objects, Nominal and VP
ellipsis, focus, wh-questions, phi-features), all of
which require further theoretical knowledge in
acquisition in general, and for Portuguese, in par-
ticular. He provides excellent recommendations
for further empirical investigation.
Notes and references appear at the end of
each chapter. A list of contributors, an author
index, and a subject index appear at the end.
This volume should be on the shelves of every
major research library in the United States and
abroad.
FRANK NUESSEL
University of Louisville
RESEARCH METHODS
LICHTMAN, MARILYN. Qualitative Research in
Education: A User’s Guide. 2nd ed. Los Angeles,
CA: Sage, 2010. Pp. xxi, 265. $49.95, paper. ISBN
978–1–4129–7052–5.
This volume provides a practical introduction
to qualitative research in education that has
been designed to accommodate the typical needs
and interests of post-baccalaureate (or advanced
undergraduate) education majors across social
science disciplines. The book consists of 14 chap-
ters organized into three major sections that re-
flect a logical sequence, from “Traditions and In-
fluences” (part 1), a presentation of historical
influences and traditions associated with quali-
tative research in education and the social sci-
ences; to “Gathering, Organizing, and Analyzing”
(part 2), an overview of techniques of qualitative
data collection and organization; and “Putting
It All Together” (part 3), a culminating synthe-
sis in which data analysis, interpretation, and
issues of research writing are addressed. A glos-
sary of terms is also included. Significant revisions
and updates in the second edition include a new
chapter (ch. 4) that addresses ethical issues in
qualitative research, in addition to recommended
links to useful online resources, major publica-
tions and chat venues, as well as a Student Study
Site (www.sagepub.com/lichman2estudy), where
ancillary materials may be accessed. The essen-
tial character of the first edition remains intact,
Reviews
however, to the extent that the author provides a
thorough yet accessible, student-friendly (in both
substance and scale) approach to a wide range of
relevant topics.
One strength is the author’s explicit treat-
ment of the qualitative versus quantitative de-
bate, where potential advantages and pitfalls
associated with major models of research are
rigorously examined. Although her general
enthusiasm for qualitative frameworks is evident
throughout, Lichtman successfully and tactfully
integrates current challenges into her discussion;
these include critical issues such as the impact
of No Child Left Behind on qualitative research
in doctoral programs, approaches to establishing
and implementing criteria for the fair and effec-
tive evaluation of qualitative studies, and the need
to strike a balance between an acceptance of new
models for conducting research and more tradi-
tional notions of what constitutes scholarship and
rigor in academic circles.
In particular, students and instructors of re-
search methodology in second language edu-
cation will find chapter 1 (“Introduction and
Overview of the Field”) useful, both for the his-
torical context it provides and for the detail with
which the qualitative versus quantitative debate is
contextualized and addressed (i.e., Table 1.1a on
p. 9 nicely summarizes key points). In addition,
the author’s “Ten Critical Elements of Qualitative
Research” provide a useful framework for help-
ing graduate students and novice consumers of
research to identify and evaluate key aspects of
qualitative studies.
Subsequent chapters also include information
and practical suggestions, exercises, and group
activities from which potential qualitative re-
searchers will greatly profit. With regard to eth-
ical issues in qualitative research, the (new to this
edition) chapter 4 contributes an ample, well-
synthesized overview of sample cases from pub-
lished studies to illustrate the kinds of problems
that arise as studies are carried out in the field.
Additional vignettes are drawn from the author’s
experience as a supervisor of graduate-level re-
searchers and director of research projects.
Initiation to the form and function of field-
specific research writing often comprises an im-
portant objective of initial coursework at the grad-
uate level. Whereas many introductory research
texts emphasize theoretical and empirical content
to the exclusion of writing process, Lichtman in-
corporates all of these issues into her textbook.
With regard to the writing process, chapters 8 and
12 (“The Role and Function of a Literature Re-
view” and “Communicating Your Ideas,” respec-
471
tively) draw attention to step-by-step frameworks
for conducting, organizing, and writing up pri-
mary and secondary research projects. Readers
are also guided in a process of self-editing through
a series of activities, strategies, rubrics, and check-
lists.
Although the sample studies she selects to il-
lustrate key concepts (e.g., Kidder, 1989; Liebow,
1967; Sacks 1985) categorically hit their mark, an
annotated bibliography of recent published re-
search at the end of each chapter would be a wel-
come addition that could significantly strengthen
the text as a source for introductory research
courses. In addition, an effort to ensure a careful
integration into the discussion of current studies
conducted in a range of educational content ar-
eas (and across levels and settings) would increase
readers’ perception of this text’s potential perti-
nence to a wider range of academic programs.
Overall, Lichtman’s second edition makes a
valuable contribution to the body of existing re-
sources and literature on the topic. In applied
linguistics and second language education, in par-
ticular, major textbooks on research either tend
to emphasize quantitative empirical studies and
traditions, or to focus too exclusively on the theo-
retical models and debates that underlie current
trends of primary research. Especially as research
within a sociocultural framework has come into its
own over the past 15 years and as classroom-based
ethnographies and case studies increasingly com-
pete in both number and quality with traditional,
quantitative and statistical projects in major pub-
lication venues, this superb User’s Guide can pro-
vide second language specialists with a timely and
thorough grounding in key aspects of qualitative
design.
CHARLES E. GROVE
West Chester University of Pennsylvania
MERTLER, CRAIG A. Action Research: Teachers as
Researchers in the Classroom. 2nd ed. Los Angeles,
CA: Sage, 2009. Pp. xxii, 265. $44.95, paper. ISBN
978–1–4129–6857–7.
Research savvy is a vital tool for present-day K–12
teachers. This volume serves as a training tool for
K-12 educators to engage in research to solve in-
structional problems, test instructional and assess-
ment techniques, and develop and test solutions.
The text is approachable even to the novice re-
searcher, elucidating the whys and hows of action
research through clear explanations and helpful
472
visuals that motivate readers to practice these re-
search techniques in their classrooms.
I work primarily with undergraduate, pre-
service teachers in a Teaching English to Speak-
ers of Other Languages (TESOL) program at an
institution that is nationally recognized for its
student/faculty collaborative research. I am well
versed in teaching quantitative and qualitative
research methodology along with their comple-
mentary data-gathering and analysis techniques
in a practical and non-threatening manner. I have
long sought a textbook that would explain re-
search methodology without verbose and com-
plex explanations that confuse and demotivate
undergraduates.
I began reading Mertler’s text with a jaded eye,
worrying that it would be typical of the breed.
I scanned the table of contents for comprehen-
sibility, probing to determine the presence of
requisite aspects and whether it would be lop-
sided in the methods it presented. Of course,
the text includes chapters to introduce action re-
search and describe the process. It includes sec-
tions on limiting the topic and conducting a lit-
erature review, which are frequently glossed over.
I became pleasantly inclined toward it because it
included common research paradigms and pro-
vided insights into practical design, data collec-
tion, and analysis. The coverage coup de grâce was
that it contained chapters on sharing the find-
ings and writing up the research, two vital ar-
eas that are not usually included in comparable
texts.
I was wowed while reading the preface by the
practical suggestions about fitting the textbook
content and the research activities into 15- or
10-week academic terms. I sensed my cold, cyn-
ical attitude melting when I read the first chap-
ter’s “Introduction to Educational Research” dis-
cussion. The passage described a classic scenario
of a teacher trying to determine the most effec-
tive instructional strategies to help a struggling
student. In the research-based methods era, it is
essential that teachers determine effective strate-
gies and validate them through research. Mertler
explained various approaches to solving prob-
lems and finding answers, stating research is one
way humans employ to seek answers. My under-
graduate students would understand and respond
to this idea, and it would help them be better-
informed teachers.
Mertler’s text continued to stir my admiration
through its clear explanations of processes with ac-
companying visuals and illustrative research por-
traits. The visuals placed throughout the text serve
as advance organizers and help clarify minute
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
differences in research processes and plans. The
text hosted a reader-friendly chapter on develop-
ing research plans, starting with hypothesis for-
mation, discussing which research paradigms an-
swer which questions, and then explaining basic
research design categories, like case or observa-
tional studies (qualitative) and descriptive and
correlational designs (quantitative). The chapter
concluded with a section on developing a research
plan, illustrated with three action research por-
traits and suggestions of websites for developing
research questions and designs.
The data collection chapter was as clearly and
approachably written as previous chapters, but it
was here that the text’s organization caused mild
frustration. Because each chapter ebbs and flows
between qualitative and quantitative paradigms,
I am concerned that my learners would blend
them. Employing this text, the instructor would
need to distinguish explicitly which data collec-
tion techniques are associated with which re-
search paradigm. This same consideration ap-
pears in the chapter on data analysis. Mertler
could have parsed the research paradigms with
the complementary data collection and analysis
techniques into separate chapters rather than dis-
cuss both in each chapter. However, this choice
could have been a practical one; learners in
a research course will have different projects
and will need to read the design, data collec-
tion, and analysis sections together while simul-
taneously carrying out the steps in their project
activities.
The text’s data analysis portion could have been
convoluted and complex, but Mertler again makes
the analysis section reasonable and clear. His dis-
cussion of qualitative coding and inductive anal-
ysis is brief, and it could have been improved by
some elaboration. When I endeavor to describe
these concepts, I find that learners tend to look
thunderstruck. It is not until they work with their
data that they understand it. Clearly, Mertler has
experienced this problem also, because he follows
his two-page description with three pages of step-
by-step examples. I worried that the text’s statisti-
cal analysis section would be oblique and intim-
idating to students weak in math, but Mertler’s
lucid explanations with stepwise examples were
far from frightening. The chapter also included
data analysis software.
The text ended with developing action plans
and writing the report. I appreciated the section
on developing an action plan and sharing the find-
ings with various district stakeholders, as this is a
delicate matter. The chapter on writing the re-
port dealt with all aspects from stylistics (person,
Reviews
voice, etc.) to conventions and formats. A must-
read for new researchers was the short section
entitled “Tentative Versus Definitive Statements.”
Mertler’s text even provided two models of
research reports to analyze and evaluate with
one’s students.
The strengths of Action Research strongly out-
weigh the minor negatives. It is a solid instruc-
tional tool for any education program. The text’s
minor drawbacks can be overcome in planning
and teaching by a mindful instructor. My evalu-
ation of this text can be summarized as follows:
“How and where can I include it in my courses?”
KATE MASTRUSERIO REYNOLDS
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
PUNCH, KEITH F. Introduction to Research Methods
in Education. Los Angeles, CA: Sage, 2009. Pp. xiii,
380. $49.95, paper. ISBN 978–1–84787–018–6.
Introduction to Research Methods in Education
overviews qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-
methods approaches to understanding, conduct-
ing, and writing about general educational re-
search with a focus on the novice researcher.
Punch’s easy-to-understand explanations lay the
groundwork for novice educational scholars to
write proposals, theses, dissertations, and articles.
Punch emphasizes sound design principles within
a conceptual framework to focus research ques-
tions that guide data collection and analysis. In
addition to presenting research jargon and con-
ceptual structures, this volume provides in-depth
analyses of shifting research paradigms, of the
roles of researchers and subjects (including eth-
ical considerations), and of critical evaluation of
research.
The first three chapters of this 15-chapter book
introduce the reader to types of research and data,
stages in the research process, the researcher’s
conceptualization of the project, and ethical is-
sues, especially in educational research involving
children. Readers are directed to professional or-
ganizations and institutions for codes of conduct.
Design and data collection are taken up in the
next two chapters. Punch demonstrates how to
focus research questions from the general to the
specific, with the research questions as frame and
focus for the project. Data collection is exam-
ined through quantitative and qualitative lenses,
including such means as gathering numeric
473
data, conducting interviews, and taking field
notes.
The review of secondary-source literature is ad-
dressed in chapter 6 and focuses on the needs
of thesis and dissertation writers. The author de-
scribes the role of empirical and theoretical liter-
ature and strategies for searching, screening, doc-
umenting, organizing, and synthesizing research
literature. Punch emphasizes evidence and locat-
ing research gaps, and he examines the genres
of published educational research while pointing
to useful resources, such as dissertation abstracts
and educational research reviews. A list of cau-
tions assists the novice writer in making informed
choices on how much to quote or how to select
timely sources. Sample titles of reputable journals
provide useful sources for literature reviews. Al-
most buried at the end of this chapter is a set of
tips for writing research proposals.
The following three chapters are devoted
to qualitative research, including case stud-
ies, ethnography, and application of grounded
theory within field experience. Qualitative re-
search is shown to be contextualized and al-
lowing for holistic interpretations. Feminist and
postmodern research perspectives with goals of
emancipation are addressed, and sociocultural
understanding and insiders’ viewpoints are em-
phasized. Research using grounded theory is
presented as unfolding with data collection and
analysis leading to new data collection and anal-
ysis cycles. Qualitative strategies from interview-
ing to observing to participant observation are
detailed. Qualitative analysis is shown as diverse
and includes coding and reducing, verifying, and
displaying data. Grounded theory using open cod-
ing systems to “break open” the data (p. 183) is
presented as a way to manage and organize data,
with axial coding and member checking used to
pull the data back together into theoretical cate-
gories. Other analytic approaches include literary
and semiotic narrative analysis, ethnomethod-
ological conversation analysis, and applied lin-
guistic and rhetorical discourse analysis. Useful
computer-assisted analysis tools are described.
Quantitative research is described in the next
three chapters with a focus on quasi-experimental
and non-experimental designs. Descriptive and
inferential statistics are explained from simple
means to complex correlations, multiple lin-
ear regressions, and factor analyses in data re-
duction. The role of control variables in man-
aging variance is addressed. Punch introduces
types of variables, measurement processes, and a
brief historic view of quantitative research in the
474
twentieth century. He addresses latent traits and
multiple indicators thereof. Pilot testing is em-
phasized in instrument design with careful con-
sideration of sampling. In terms of analysis, Punch
presents the logic, not the mathematics, of statis-
tical procedures while promoting Statistical Pack-
age for the Social Sciences (SPSS). He provides
references useful in learning SPSS, including one
appendix devoted to explanations of the soft-
ware’s features for carrying out the procedures
presented in the chapter.
Mixed-method designs are taken up in chap-
ter 13. Uses for gathering and analyzing multiple
data points demonstrate the flexibility of this ap-
proach. Punch uses this chapter to advocate for
grounded theory in what he calls “investigating
process” (p. 294). He points to an international
quarterly devoted to mixed-methods research and
examines the topics and scope covered by the
journal. Chapter 14 on evaluation is divided in
two parts: (a) a reconsideration of evaluative cri-
teria, procedures, and reliability, validity, and re-
activity (how research processes change the data);
and (b) program evaluation, common in educa-
tional research, to meet stakeholder needs and
justify political decision making. Program eval-
uation is viewed as empirical activity, and small-
scale projects are suggested as a starting place for
novice researchers.
The final chapter presents information for the
research writer on research proposals, thesis and
dissertation abstracts, and the projects themselves.
Choices the writer makes and the benefits of
combining qualitative and quantitative research
perspectives are examined. This chapter will be
especially helpful in early stages of research
writing. Other features of the book include a
useful summary and a detailed tables of contents,
a helpful glossary and index, and two appendices,
one focused on coding qualitative data and the
other on SPSS. Each chapter contains graphic
organizers, including conceptual charts, tables,
and figures; each one concludes with additional
readings and study questions, most of the reading
comprehension type. On the publisher’s website,
the author has posted helpful teaching notes on
each chapter.
Although I find the book useful as a textbook
in an applied linguistics research methods course,
I have three issues with the text or marketing
thereof. First, the book is marketed for both
undergraduate and postgraduate students, but it
seems best suited for postgraduate students very
early in the thesis or dissertation planning and
proposal writing stages. Second, with a focus on
general educational research, in an applied lin-
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
guistics research methods course the book would
need to be supplemented by journal articles and
other research documents to show how the gen-
eral concepts presented by Punch apply to studies
of language acquisition, teaching, and use. Third,
Punch states several times the role of secondary
literature within grounded theory “where the
literature coverage is deliberately delayed until
directions emerge from the early analysis of
data” (p. 69). I find that researchers need to play
an active role as critical consumers of research
during all of its phases, including the early ones,
so students would need to be reminded that
literature review has a role throughout inquiry.
SARAH RILLING
Kent State University
YIN, ROBERT K. Case Study Research: Design and
Methods. 4th ed. Los Angeles, CA: Sage, 2009.
Pp. xiv, 219. $41.95, paper. ISBN 978–1–4129–
6099–1.
Case Study Research is a classic. Originally pub-
lished in 1984, it has been through a revised
edition and three subsequent editions. The cur-
rent edition retains the forward written for the
first edition by the late Donald Campbell, a
scholar well known for his work in methodology.
Campbell praises the book “for attempting valid
inferences from events outside the laboratory
while at the same time retaining the goals
of knowledge shared with laboratory science”
(p. vii), and he assures readers that “it will become
a standard text in social science research methods
courses” (p. viii). This prediction has been a real-
ity for more than two decades.
As the debate continues regarding whether ap-
plied linguistics is a social science continues (see
Sealey & Carter, Applied Linguistics as Social Sci-
ence, New York: Continuum, 2004), it is imperative
applied linguists understand what is known—at
least about their areas of interest—to social sci-
entists, including methodological matters. In the
past two decades, scholars and students in applied
linguistics have carried out increasing numbers of
case studies, a research methodology common in
social science. Yin’s best-selling text on the case
study method, which continues to receive positive
reviews from a wide range of readers, will help
to broaden and deepen the methodological per-
spectives of applied linguists using or planning to
use the method to conduct research.
Reviews
As in the previous editions, the text comprises
six chapters and takes the reader through the pro-
cess of planning (ch. 1) and designing (ch. 2) case
studies, collecting (chs. 3, 4) and analyzing (ch. 5)
data, and reporting the studies (ch. 6). Yin shows
the iterative nature of this process graphically with
six circles, each representing one of the phases of
case study research, with arrows connecting the
circles (p. 1). The same graph appears at the be-
ginning of each chapter, and the phase discussed
in the chapter is enclosed in a jagged star. Fur-
thermore, the chapter’s main points are given in
short bulleted phrases. These points are then ex-
plained in a brief “Abstract” section before the
main text of the chapter begins. A “Tip” box is
placed at the beginning of the main text, which
serves as a knowledge check as it presents essential
questions and answers on what is covered in the
chapter.
Within the main text a number of boxes are
embedded, in which Yin cites actual case stud-
ies to illustrate the points he makes in the chap-
ters. There are a total of 46 such boxes scattered
throughout the book, and more than 50 different
case studies are cited. These studies range from
a 1929 study on the transformation of a small
town to a 1956 study on a labor union to a 2005
study on educational reform. Exercises—5 tasks
per chapter—are also embedded in the main text
to help consolidate the learning of the material
in the chapters. Several graphic representations
of ideas explained in the text are used to good
effect.
Furthermore, each chapter is structured to en-
hance readers’ inquiry process. Readers first focus
on a topic by looking at the graph at the begin-
ning of the chapter and reading a bullet-point
summary and an abstract. The boxed tip then
provides a quick self-test of prior knowledge of
the content of the chapter. As readers read the
chapter, they broaden and deepen their knowl-
edge through the illustrative case studies in the
boxes. Finally, they assess their understanding by
doing exercises.
All of these features make the book practi-
cal, user friendly, and effective. The book is also
written in accessible language, devoid of jargon,
which I believe is possible only for those who pos-
sess a complete grasp of the subject matter. Yin’s
explanation of what case study research is and
how to do it rigorously is sharp, refreshing, and
erudite. The book has depth that extends far be-
yond the realm of how-to guides for doing case
studies. This book is the product of many years
of the author’s dedicated work on conducting
case study research with rigor that will withstand
475
critical scrutiny by scholars of all disciplinary and
methodological leanings.
SUFUMI SO
George Mason University
SPANISH
BATCHELOR, R. E., & MIGUEL ÁNGEL
SAN JOSÉ. A Reference Grammar of Spanish. New
York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Pp. xviii,
553. $70.00, paper. ISBN 978–0–521–72875–1.
Approximately 500 million native and non-native
speakers of Spanish makes it the most spoken
language after English and Chinese. Statistically,
these numbers alone could necessitate the pub-
lication of a comprehensive grammar, aligned
to the multiple language functions among the
world’s Spanish-speaking population. Addition-
ally, increasing enrollment in Spanish language
study in colleges and universities gives rise to the
need for a thoroughly researched reference gram-
mar that is contemporary and detailed.
Batchelor and San José have written a detailed
reference grammar of Spanish, asserting that the
“principal aim of the book is to be as complete
and straightforward as possible, avoiding much
technical terminology that risks clouding the un-
derstanding of the linguistic processes of Spanish”
(p. xi). The book is organized into parts I–X span-
ning topics that include: register, spelling and
punctuation (part I); articles and gender (part
II); verbs, subordinate clauses and complex ver-
bal expressions (part III); subjunctive (part IV);
pronouns and possessive adjectives (part V); ad-
jectives (part VI); prepositions (part VII); demon-
strative adjectives, pronouns and indefinite pro-
nouns (part VIII); conjunctions, negative sen-
tences, measurement and comparative adjectives
(part IX); and, proper nouns, countries, foreign
and indigenous words (part X). Each part con-
tains sections that discuss and analyze the subject
matter in detail, prefaced by a topical reading se-
lection relevant to the topics to be discussed. For
example, the authors discuss and analyze verbs
and moods of verbs in sections 11.1, 11.2, 11.3,
and so forth in part III.
The end matter of the book consists of two ap-
pendices and a link to the publisher’s website,
where readers can access 11 short chapters on
prefixes, emphatic and affectionate expressions,
epistolary usage, abbreviations, forms of address,
476
exclamations, fillers, transition words, uses of sı́
and ya, and false cognates.
The thematic organization of the grammar
serves the content and scope well. Relevant ex-
amples, reflecting the multiple varieties of spo-
ken Spanish, are realistic, not contrived. True to
the authors’ assertion about the principal aim of
the book, technical terminology is minimal, al-
lowing for a clear and succinct explanation of
grammar concepts. A preliminary examination of
the book’s contents may lead readers to conclude
that the topical organization is somewhat loose.
However, closer examination of the sequencing of
topics allows the reader to correlate and integrate
multiple language functions within and across the
ten parts.
Of particular interest are the discussions in
part X about foreign and indigenous words as
reflection of an ever-growing awareness about
the linguistic origins of Spanish and signif-
icant relationships (Latinisms, Arabic terms,
Anglicisms, Gallicisms, Italianisms, Palenquero,
Náhuatl, Basque, Catalán) among words, culture,
and lexicon. Notably, and reflecting contempo-
rary language use, the authors present a section
in part II about the language of texting, complete
with examples and translated transcriptions. Sim-
ilarly, part IX contains a well-organized and de-
tailed section on diminutives and augmentations,
topics that often are embedded and minimally dis-
cussed with adjectives. The authors analyze these
topics admirably, albeit cautiously, calling atten-
tion to the pejorative tone that may accompany
the use of diminutives and augmentations. Sec-
tion 66 (part VII) includes well-explained and use-
ful analysis of the prepositions por and para.
Although the authors have presented their top-
ics thematically, it is worthwhile to question the
rationales for some of the groupings. Part I covers
the use of register, spanning extreme informality
to extreme formality, but lacks focus on language
functions within register. For example, it would
have been appropriate to include such sociolin-
guistic concepts as making requests, expressing
doubt, expressing regrets and apologies, taking
leave, and greetings. Similar observations could
be made about expressions used in personal or
business letters, memos, or other forms of written
communication. The authors do include links to
relevant web sources, but it would be preferable
to incorporate these often-used forms of commu-
nication in the main text. Additionally, parts III
and IV, sequentially themed topics about verbs
and moods, appear somewhat out of balance in
content. Part III covers more than 54 topics about
verbs, simple and compound tenses, clauses, reg-
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
ular and irregular conjugations, and other tem-
poral related topics, all of which focus on the use
of the Spanish indicative. Part IV contains only
one section about the Spanish subjunctive, delin-
eated into several subsections that analyze form
and use. Given that both indicative and subjunc-
tive provide a thorough grounding for speakers,
writers, and readers, perhaps elements of parts III
and IV could have been combined or analyzed
comparatively for readers.
In summation, A Reference Grammar of
Spanish joins the ranks as a well-developed and
well-written scholarly reference for researchers,
faculty, and Spanish language students around
the world. Given the spoken and written varieties
among the world’s Spanish speakers, a grammar
book should not be prescriptive or impose one
language variety over another. The role of a com-
prehensive grammar should be to assess and to
analyze what is spoken among constituents, not
to gauge against a stand-alone variant. Batchelor
and San José accomplish their goal well.
DONNA M. WILSON
University of Maryland University College
TESTING
KNOCH, UTE. Diagnostic Writing Assessment: The
Development and Validation of a Rating Scale. Berlin:
Peter Lang, 2009. Pp. 320. $80.95, cloth. ISBN
978–3–631–58981–6.
What if the results from a writing assessment were
not just a simple proficiency score on the usual set
of holistic band levels featured in most language
or literacy tests, but rather an informative, diag-
nostic description of a person’s ability to write,
pointing out specific areas of strength and weak-
ness and including personalized, recommended
steps for improvement that could guide test tak-
ers in their development as well as teachers’ or
tutors’ preparation of teaching materials? What
if such a writing assessment were grounded in
empirical evidence about a full range of char-
acteristics of written texts as well as current the-
ories about discourse and language acquisition,
validated through a systematic series of research
studies, and demonstrated to be practical for ex-
perienced assessors to administer? What if the
originator of this writing assessment were to pro-
duce a book that documents the development of
Reviews
the assessment supplemented by analyses of cur-
rent issues in writing assessment and recommend-
ing helpful steps for future inquiry?
Knoch has addressed all of these matters in
the book reviewed here. Although not all of her
aims were achieved, it is well worth knowing how
Knoch approached them, particularly for prac-
ticing assessors aiming to develop or refine writ-
ing assessments for language or literacy programs,
but also more generally for scholars, graduate stu-
dents, administrators, or other educators wanting
to make the information from formal tests useful
for learning as well as teaching.
Elaborating on her 2007 Ph.D. thesis from the
University of Auckland about the Diagnostic En-
glish Language Needs Assessment (DELNA) and
extending her research to her current work at the
University of Melbourne, Knoch makes a solid
contribution to current knowledge, as well as
several distinct advances in assessment practices.
The research project that forms the substance
of the book is a series of investigations address-
ing the assessment of writing in educational con-
texts. Knoch first conducted a thorough review of
relevant publications in search of appropriate in-
dicators of discourse to serve as criteria for the as-
sessment instrument. The updated reviews of the-
ories, practices, and other inquiry about writing
assessment that appear in the opening chapters
of the book are insightful and balanced. Second,
she analyzed a corpus of written scripts to prepare
a new rating scale and to judge the suitability and
feasibility of these indicators. Here, Knoch’s em-
pirical findings supersede other research of this
kind and point toward numerous robust indica-
tors of writing ability in English. Finally, she ap-
plied a refined set of scale descriptors to field-test
the instrument and to inquire into raters’ uses
and perceptions of it. She handles each phase ex-
pertly, makes use of a variety of discourse analytic
and statistical methods, and produces empirical
substantiation of the new rating scale.
Of notable interest are four themes that guided
but also result from Knoch’s analyses. These rep-
resent both exciting prospects and challenges for
assessment practices. The first theme concerns
moving writing assessment from the normative
basis of demarcating proficiency levels to provid-
ing more pedagogically useful diagnostic informa-
tion. Although this was Knoch’s principal aim in
this project, when it came to asking experienced
assessors to apply and evaluate the refined assess-
ment criteria, the assessors found it difficult to
shift from a perspective of evaluating proficiency
to a perspective of making pedagogically relevant
diagnoses. The second theme concerns the multi-
477
faceted and variable nature of writing ability, par-
ticularly in second languages. Knoch casts her net
wide in considering the many aspects that distin-
guish more or less effective written texts, includ-
ing constructs of accuracy, fluency, complexity,
mechanics, coherence, cohesion, reader/writer
interaction, and content. The measures that she
validates empirically for each of these constructs
on the DELNA will be particularly useful for fu-
ture research and other assessments. She is also
careful to acknowledge how these measures can
be expected to vary by task, context, and learner
population. A third, related theme concerns se-
lecting and using concrete indicators for assess-
ment purposes. For instance, Knoch found that
errors in spelling and punctuation bore no re-
lation to writing proficiency, but effectiveness of
paragraphing and uses of hedging phrases did,
at least for the tasks and subject populations she
studied. At a different level, assessors found it both
useful and problematic to reference the range
of students’ written vocabulary in relation to the
Academic Word List. The fourth theme involves
framing the validation of an assessment as an on-
going process phrased in the form of a hypothet-
ical argument based and evaluated on specific
claims and evidence, which Knoch has wisely done
to conclude the book.
Despite the value of this book, one minor fault
irritated me that must be blamed on the publisher
rather than author: Nearly every page has an in-
appropriately hyphenated word, seemingly aris-
ing from the correction then justification of line
breaks in the original proofs. For example, “proce-
dure,” “inter-national,” and then “or-ganization”
all appear on page 11. Surely someone at
Peter Lang must know how to handle and cor-
rect final copy or be able to use a word-processing
program that does.
ALISTER CUMMING
University of Toronto
MILTON, JAMES. Measuring Second Language Vo-
cabulary Acquisition. Clevedon, England: Multilin-
gual Matters, 2009. Pp. vii, 278. $43.96, paper.
ISBN 978–1–84769–207–8.
Measuring Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition
may be one of the most definitive works to date
on measuring second language vocabulary learn-
ing. In the introduction to the book, Milton
explains that his purpose in writing is threefold: to
478
explain how useful measurements of vocabulary
knowledge can be made; to explain the various
tests that have been used to measure vocabulary
knowledge; and to use this information to con-
firm or challenge current models of language ac-
quisition. In addition to these objectives, the book
offers an extensive and thorough review of pub-
lished research on vocabulary learning and the
ways in which it has been measured.
In relation to the first objective, Milton presents
different definitions of what counts as a word, in-
cluding lemmas (the various inflections of a word,
such as plurals of nouns, conjugations of verbs, or
comparative forms of adjectives) and word fami-
lies (all the related forms of a word in their various
parts of speech). He then reviews various studies
on how many words a learner must know to com-
prehend spoken and written texts. Next, Milton
discusses research on the factors that contribute
to the relative ease or difficulty of learning a word,
including the frequency with which it occurs, its
length and complexity, and its similarity to an
equivalent in learners’ first language. Although
the emphasis is mainly on the learning of En-
glish as a second language (given that much of
the existing research has been done in that area),
Milton mentions research on vocabulary learning
in foreign languages as well.
In relation to the second objective, Milton dis-
cusses measurements of vocabulary depth and
breadth, with attention to both receptive and pro-
ductive vocabulary knowledge. Subtopics in this
section of the book include phonological vocabu-
lary breadth, lexical diversity and sophistication,
and the relationship between vocabulary size and
the four language skills. Again, Milton offers a
thorough review of research in these areas, ac-
companied by multiple tables and graphs summa-
rizing the findings. Also included are occasional
sample items illustrating various vocabulary test
formats, although readers who are looking for
lengthy excerpts from vocabulary tests may be dis-
appointed, as the main emphasis seems to be on
providing general descriptions of these tests and
the findings they produce.
One significant contribution of the book is its
examination of the popular belief that “few words
are retained from those which are ‘learned’ or
‘taught’ by direct instruction” (p. 205). Milton
cites studies suggesting that “nothing could be
further from the truth” (p. 205), demonstrating
that learners do in fact learn a high percentage of
the words explicitly taught in language courses.
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
The book also examines research on incidental
vocabulary learning, and concludes that although
“learners may get very little from unfocused and
undirected work of this kind” (p. 218), they can
learn large numbers of words through informal,
out-of-class activities, provided that those activities
are well structured and focused.
The final chapter of the book discusses im-
plications for language learning and teaching.
Milton raises several interesting points, including
the fact that contemporary textbooks tend to in-
clude short, authentic spoken exchanges rather
than lengthy texts, which limits learners’ exposure
to the large quantities of lexical items needed to
achieve fluency, and the failure of most research
to account for individual variations in vocabulary
learning. The book concludes with several recom-
mendations for the practice of teaching vocabu-
lary, which include a repeated emphasis on the im-
portance of exposure to a large volume of words
and the role of explicit vocabulary study. The
chapter is surprisingly short—only 14 pages—and
reads somewhat like a list of recommendations for
further research. However, this approach may be
due to the author’s desire to call attention to what
is not yet known about the vocabulary learning
process.
Other useful features of the book include an
appendix containing examples of X–Lex vocabu-
lary tests in English, French, and Greek, as well
as a 13-page reference list of published works on
vocabulary learning.
The writing style is accessible and easy to read.
There are summaries of each chapter’s content
at the beginning of the chapter, as well as sum-
maries of major points in text boxes under the
heading “Rule of Thumb.” One such rule, for ex-
ample, states, that “the most frequent 2000 words
in English are likely to be the most useful to a
learner and knowing these words will enable the
learner to recognize about 80% of any normal
text” (p. 47). These summaries are helpful to the
reader in locating and recalling the information
presented.
Overall, Milton presents a thorough and au-
thoritative review of theory and research on mea-
suring second language vocabulary learning. In
the opinion of this reviewer, the book is a must-
read for anyone interested in the topic.
BLAIR BATEMAN
Brigham Young University