Description: Language and language problems affect all of us and are an integral part of our social experience. In this foundational textbook, Professor Davies takes this simple fact as his starting point and sets out to show that applied linguistics is better understood by doing it than studying it or reading about it.
Brief description: Alan Davies is a long-term member of staff of the Department of Applied Linguistics in the University of Edinburgh. Now Emeritus Professor and Honorary Fellow, he is a former editor of the two journals Applied Linguistics and Language Testing and was for five years Director of the Language Testing Research Centre, University of Melbourne.
Review Quotes: Davies, with his impressive experience and knowledge has packaged this comprehensive coverage of the field in an original and yet accessible way. The book is a pleasure to read for its style, its theory and its weaving in ofexperience... As with the main text, the supporting features are meticulously presented. This handbook, by a tireless scholar, is recommended for professional and personal libraries.--Marilyn Lewis, Tthe University of Auckland "New Zealand Studies in Applied Linguistics"