The eleven essays in this book cover a wide range of topics from the role of 'interlanguage' and the influence of external factors on the process of language learning, to the development of syntax and the methodology of error analysis. Collectively they provide a valuable perspective on the learning process, which both enriches our theoretical understanding of the processes underlying second language acquisition and suggests ways in which teaching practice may best exploit a learner's skills.

Part one Introductory; Chapter 1 The Study of Learner English, Jack C Richards, Gloria P Sampson; Chapter 2 The Significance of Learners' Errors, SP Corder; Part two Towards Theories and Models; Chapter 3 Interlanguage, Larry Selinker; Chapter 4 *This paper represents the development of ideas formulated with Francis Juhasz while at Columbia University some years ago. John Lotz and William W. Gage of the Center for Applied Linguistics have contributed significantly to these ideas and to their presentation here without, however, incurring responsibility for defects in either. An earlier version was published in: Studies L The Jugoslav Serbo-Croatian English Contrastive Project, Zagreb, 1969, pp. 3-12., William Nemser; Chapter 5 Social Factors, Interlanguage, and Language Learning, Jack C Richards; Part three Developmental Studies of Second Language Acquisition in Children; Chapter 6 You Can't Learn Without Goofing, Heidi C Dulay, Marina K Burt; Chapter 7 Language Acquisition in a Second Language Environment, Roar Ravem; Chapter 8 *I am indebted to my superior, Dr Terence Moore at the Language Centre, University of Essex, for critical comments and advice on this paper. He is, however, not responsible for the views expressed and my possible misinterpretation of Professor Brown's views., Roar Ravem; Part four Error Analyses of Adult Language Learning; Chapter 9 Idiosyncratic Dialects and Error Analysis, S P Corder; Chapter 10 *This article is based on a paper presented at the TESOL convention held at San Francisco in March 1970. I am grateful to William F. Mackey, Bernard Spolsky and John Macnamara for comments on earlier versions of it., Jack C Richards; Chapter 11 * This is a revised version of a paper written in June 1969 for the Department of Applied Linguistics, University of Edinburgh. I am grateful to Larry Selinker of the University of Washington for comments on earlier versions of it; to P. H. G. Gibbs and L. H. M. Clift of the British Council for comments on this version., MP Jain;