Since the early 1970s an exciting new discipline of second language acquisition research has been emerging. This innowvative, wide-ranging volume represents the first linguistiesbased introduction to this new area, providing a critical account of its methodology and goals. Linguistics and Second Language acquisition considers the sequence in which people learn second languages, the controversial Input Hypothesis, the ways in which second language learning is related to pidgins, the links with current ideas of syntax, the significance of the Universal Grammar model of language acquisition, and the relevance of psychological processing, It provides a factual outline of each area and a critical evaluation of it within an overall argument about the contribution of theoretical linguistics to second language acquisition research. Vivian Cook is Reader in Applied Linguistics at the University of Essex.