of the four chapters provide several sample tasksto illustrate their practical ideas.

The other two chapters in the third sectionstand out for different reasons. “Teaching byTelephone” discusses issues related to one-on-one(i.e., teacher–student) phone calls/conferences,group (i.e., teacher–students) calls, and group-to-group (i.e., group of native speakers–group ofnon-native speakers) calls. It was surprising to seespace given to such dated technology. Althoughone could see the value of a telephone conversa-tion with students (e.g., an individual conferenceabout performance in a distance course), it isdifficult to understand how one could effectivelyteach a course by phone or even have studentsinteracting with each other via phone. The otherchapter in this section dealt with face-to-faceteaching in blended contexts, and it visits thetopic of how face-to-face time can be used in ablended course. The authors of this chapterprovide ideas for using face-to-face time in atraditional classroom to introduce content tolearners who will then use that information topractice a lexical or grammatical item outside ofclass during their virtual work time. Alternatively,the authors indicate that face-to-face time mightalso be reserved for communicative practice witha concept that was previously presented tolearners outside of the physical classroom.

The fourth section of the book contains twochapters that focus on instruction in blendedcourses that target community (i.e., heritage) andindigenous languages in the UK. The first chapterexplains how heritage language learners canenhance the language learning experience forsecond language learners in a blended languagecourse. The second chapter in this section isdevoted to teaching Celtic languages in blendedcontexts and is therefore somewhat limited to itsapplicability outside the UK.

The final section focuses on the theme ofteacher development in blended contexts. Thechapters in this section highlight the knowledgeand skills that teachers need to be successful whenteaching blended language courses. Topics ad-dressed include teacher training and mentoringconcerns, being flexible with the diverse nature ofstudents who typically enroll in distance or fullyonline courses, and having time to learn aboutand experiment with the various technologicaltools.

Overall, this book providesmany useful tips andideas for teachers who are new to blendedlanguage courses. The book stays true to itsprimary goal by highlighting a number ofmethodological and practical concerns related

to language teaching in blended contexts. Inaddition, the short chapters—typically 15 pages inlength—are quite accessible. Any teacher educa-tor, language program director, or graduatestudent interested in learning more about howblended language courses are configured anddelivered will appreciate this volume.

JOSHUA J. THOMSUtah State University

PIENEMANN, MANFRED, & JORG–U. KEßLER.(Eds.). Studying Processability Theory. Philadelphia/Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2011. Pp. xii, 179.$49.95, paper. ISBN 978–90–2720301–4.

This short book on the origin, development,theoretical framework, and application of Pro-cessability Theory (PT) consists of twelve chaptersdivided into four parts: “The Facts,” “The Theo-ry,” “Applying PT to Other Contexts,” and“Practical Applications.” Most of the chaptersare written by the editors, sometimes in collabo-ration with others; the remainder are written bypeople who have applied PT in diverse contexts.Each chapter is preceded by an abstract, followedby a summary and a set of study questions, makingthe book particularly appealing for use as a text.

Part 1, “The Facts,” contains chapters 1 and 2, inwhich Pienemann describes two concepts that arefundamental to PT: developmental stages andvariability in second language (L2) acquisition. Inchapter 1, he uses the staged acquisition ofquestion formation to illustrate the idea ofdevelopmental stages in L2 acquisition. Piene-mann says that these stages result from thelearner’s dividing the learning task (here, theneed to ask a question in conversation) intomanageable pieces. He acknowledges that thesestages do not always produce well-formed targetsentences, but he also points out that ill-formedsentences do not necessarily indicate a lack ofprogress. Chapter 2 contains an explanation ofwhy the interlanguages of different learners varydespite their being governed by the samedevelopmental sequence. Pienemann attributesthis variation to individual solutions to problemsof communication, which may be influenced bylinguistic redundancy, conversational context,situational context, and grammar.

Part 2, “The Theory,” contains chapters 3through 7. Here, Pienemann (sometimes with acoauthor) sets forth the tenets of PT. In chapter 3,

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“The Psycholinguistic Basis of PT,” Pienemannexplains that his theory of language processing isbased on Levelt’s model of language production,which assumes that parts of an intended messageare sent to a grammatical component that, incollaboration with the mental lexicon, generatesan utterance. As a formal theory of grammar,Pienemann relies on Bresnan’s Lexical–Function-al Grammar, which posits three kinds of repre-sentation (argument, function, and constituent)and mechanisms for unifying features.

In chapter 4, “Explaining DevelopmentalSchedules,” Pienemann explains how the sixstages of language development he posits arerelated to underlying grammatical representa-tions. He gives examples drawn from ESL datathen goes on to discuss the fact that these stagesare related implicationally—that is, a learner atstage 4 can be assumed to have mastered thepreceding stages 1 through 3. Pienemann bolstersthese claims by discussing two studies that yieldedempirical data supporting his hypothesis.

Chapter 5, entitled “Explaining Learner Varia-tion” and written by Leibner and Pienemann,contains a discussion of the ways in whichlearners’ outputs are constrained by the Hypoth-esis Space available to them. The HypothesisSpace, which is defined by PT, allows for certainkinds of variation at each stage of development.The authors offer empirical evidence for thetheory of constrained variation.

In chapter 6, “L1 Transfer,” Pienemann de-scribes his Developmentally Moderated TransferHypothesis (DMTH), which posits that transferfromL1 occurs only when the learner is capable ofprocessing the structure. This runs counter totheories claiming that the totality of the firstlanguage is available to L2 learners. Pienemannpresents empirical evidence supporting theDMTH.

In chapter 7, “Research Methodology,” Keßlerand Pienemann discuss the best means for testinghypotheses about PT. They hold natural lan-guage, whether taken from corpora of spontane-ously occurring learner language or languageelicited through the use of a task, as ideal for thispurpose. They offer tips for the efficient elicita-tion of data, for transcribing data, and for usingimplicational scaling. They also set a form’semergence in interlanguage (as opposed to itsappropriate use in 80% of obligatory environ-ments) as the criterion for acquisition.

Part 3, “Applying PT to Other Contexts,”contains chapters 8 through 10, which examinethe role of PT in second language acquisition, inthe development of pidgin and creole languages,

and in bilingual first language acquisition. Inchapter 8, “Japanese as a Second Language,”Kawaguchi describes several studies in which sheused PT to account for the learners’ output inJapanese. In chapter 9, “Pidgins and Creoles,”Plag uses the notion of staged development toexplain the emergence of morphology andsyntax in creoles. Finally, in chapter 10, “BilingualFirst Language Acquisition,” Itani-Adams de-scribes a longitudinal study designed to test theSeparate Development Hypothesis in a childexposed to English and Japanese. PT was usedto compare the staged development of the child’stwo languages.

Part 4, entitled “Practical Applications,” con-tains two chapters. In chapter 11, “Diagnosing L2Developmental Rapid Profile,” Keßler and Lieb-ner describe Rapid Profile, a software programdesigned to indicate the developmental stage of aparticular learner. They include discussions aboutusing the program’s graphic interface and aboutdata elicitation. They advocate for trainingteachers to use the program, based on the notionthat lessons can be tailored to students’ individuallevels if their levels are known.

In chapter 12, “Teaching,” Keßler, Liebner, andMansouri describe the implications of PT forlanguage teaching and highlight the TeachabilityHypothesis, which posits that learners cannotlearn constructions for which they are notdevelopmentally ready. The authors also discusswhen and how teachers should correct errors andrecommend task-based learning as a teachingtechnique.

This book presents a clear explanation ofProcessability Theory in a textbook format. Inaddition to the aforementioned abstract, summa-ry, and study questions, each chapter containsclear topic headings, illustrative examples, andmany visual aids (charts and graphs). As with anyanthology, the chapters are uneven in quality.Part 1 gives almost too little information withrespect to the number of examples presented, butthe chapters in part 2, which describe the heart ofthe theory, are information-heavy and unleav-ened by sufficient examples. Part 3, which is theonly section in which neither editor contributes,contains one quite good chapter and anotherthat is quite sketchy. Overall, the book is agood presentation of Processability Theory andwould make a good supplemental text in a courseon current theories of second languageacquisition.

MARY EMILY CALLMontclair State University

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