Introduction

This book provides an entry into the field of theory and research into adult learning of additional languages, especially the learning of English by speakers of other languages (ESOL). It is for ESOL practitioners. This field of theory and research is a wide one, both geographically and socially. Research discussed in this book has been carried out in Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia. This research is about students who are learning in foreign language classrooms, refugees and asylum seekers in ESOL classrooms, and bilingual programmes and migrant workers informally acquiring the dominant language of their new country.