'...the book provides a set of accessible, issues-driven discussions of the "state of the art" in spoken language research and practice. It thus has something to offer researchers and practitioners working in a wide range of professional contexts.' - The Linguist

A collection of cutting-edge studies on spoken language and applied linguistics provided by leading scholars in the field, this volume combines lively, and at times challenging, theoretical debates with discussion of a more classroom-based nature. It takes the reader through questions of international English, ideology and attitudes to the spoken form, issues of prosody and conversational norms, spoken language in the ELT classroom and key questions in assessing the spoken form.