Presents eight specially written chapters which provide a coherent survey of major issues in the study of language and communication, and which show how these are related to questions of practical concern in the learning and teaching of second and foreign languages. The issues discussed have been selected primarily for their relevance to applied linguistics, and there is a unifying interest in how language reflects the communicative functions it performs as well as in the process involved in using language for communication. Each chapter presents a self-contained survey of a central issue, is prefaced by an introduction linking the different perspectives, and is followed by discussion questions to aid effective use of the text in applied linguistics courses.