Speaking is perhaps the least researched, most vaguely defined skill in teaching second-languages. This neglect makes this much-updated version of Teaching and Researching Speaking very welcome. It combines historical and current approaches to teaching speaking with clearly explained approaches to varied types of research. It fills a critically important niche in applied linguistics and teacher education. John M. ... Read moreLevis, Iowa State University, USA Anyone who is familiar with Rebecca Hughes' previous editions of Teaching and Researching Speaking will have eagerly awaited the publication of this third edition. In this volume she coauthors with Beatrice Szczepek Reed to broaden considerably the scope of the theoretical discussion of the phenomenon of speaking, using comprehensive and multifaceted empirical perspectives. Readers will also be rewarded with an up-to-date consideration of the implications of these analytical lenses for the teaching and assessment of speaking and coverage of the wide range of contemporary media which now inform both research and practice. The richness and diversity of the discussion in the volume are a testament to the authors' extensive experience of research in this field of applied linguistics. Anne Burns, University of New South Wales, Australia Show Less