Conditions for second language learning: Introduction to a general theory. By Bernard Spolsky. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989. Pp. x, 272.

Spolsky here examines the conditions under which languages are learned, and how learning related to teaching. His theory, set out in the form of a preference model, emphasizes the need to be precise and clear on the nature of the goals and outcomes of learning, and to recognize the complexity of the concept of knowing a second language.