This series of volumes published by Edinburgh University Press takes a contem-porary view of Applied Linguistics. As such, it is useful to academics, students and all those working in fields relating to Intercultural Communication, Language Education and TESOL who wish to develop a richer theory-informed understanding of the field, particularly given the possibilities opened up by increasing interdisciplinarity.

A specific focus of the series is to make ongoing provision for the wide range of interests in contemporary Applied Linguistics which are provided for at master's level.

Master's postgraduate courses evolve in line with developments and shifts that bring diverse aspects of language teaching and learning and language in use into sharp relief. This has two simultaneous effects:

• 1. The emergence of similarities across educational programmes in Applied Linguistics facilitates the identification of certain core content.

• 2. The growth in the range of specialisms, as is the case for any developing discipline. Educational programmes (and professional needs) vary in the extent to which these specialisms are included and taught.

Some volumes in the series address the first development noted above, while others explore the second. As a whole, the series aims to provide students beginning postgraduate courses in Applied Linguistics, as well as language teachers and other professionals wishing to become acquainted with the subject, with a robust introduction for them to develop their own thinking in Applied Linguistics and to further enrich their understanding of specialist areas of their own choosing.

The Edinburgh Textbooks in Applied Linguistics series seeks to theorise approaches to practical experience in the language professions. It is concerned with the problems, the processes, the mechanisms and the purposes of language in use and it draws on theories to explore and explain these. These theories are in turn themselves illuminated by practical experience. This two-way relationship between theory and practice continues to strengthen the theoretical foundations of the field, and this series of textbooks aims to bring these developments to readers.

The volumes in the series are all premised on a view of Applied Linguistics as a discipline with its own distinct theoretical grounding. At the same time, volumes in the series may and do draw on interdisciplinary approaches, recognising their potential for enriching the discipline.