"In this he has succeeded, and for this reason the book would be a valuable addition to the libraries of teachers interested in theoretical concerns that underlie teaching practice." (JALT Journal, 1 November 2012)

"Particularly appreciated may be the care with which he locates this scholarship within broader intellectual histories, outlining major debates in the field, and making suggestions for interested readers about where to go for further study." (Applied Linguistics, 30 November 2012)

"This book has two major strengths. First, Young argues for the importance of con¬text in the study of language learning and teaching. Second, he provides a useful review of the development of approaches to the understanding of language in context." (Discourse Studies, 2011)

"On the whole, the book works extremely well as an introduction to discourse practice. It provides compelling arguments for its use as a tool for analysing language in use." (Linguist, October 2010)"Richard Young's book provides a wonderfully comprehensive account of discursive practices and social context in second language acquisition that synthesizes important theoretical and empirical insights from sociolinguistics, sociocultural theory, systemic functional grammar, and conversation analysis. This is a must read!" (Numa Markee, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)