ZhaoHong Han is Associate Professor of Linguistics and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research interests are in issues of second language learnability,  teachability, and fossilization. Her research has appeared in journals such as Applied Linguistics, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, Language Teaching Research, and TESOL Quarterly.

The text gives a very detailed and comprehensive treatment to a significant aspect of adult SLA and is sure to be of great value for specialists, researchers and scholars. The review of literature, both current and past, is especially helpful.

• Preface 1 Introduction 2 What is Fossilization? 3 Behavioral Reflexes and Causal Variables 4 A Macroscopic Analysis: Critical Period Effects 5 A Macroscopic Analysis: Native Language Transfer 6 A Microscopic Analysis: Some Empirical Evidence 7 Second Language Instruction and Fossilization 8 Summary and Conclusion References Index