The Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teacher Education Editors: Anne Burns & Jack C. Richards, Cambridge University Press, 2011, ISBN: 978-1-107-60982-2 by Muhammad Asim Khan* Much of the impetus to writing the review of this book lies into my own experience as a growing academic researcher. While doing literature review for my own thesis in the field of Second Language Teacher Education (SLTE), it was a difficult task to find sources directly related to teacher education for language teachers, because most often I ended up finding sources related to teacher education in general except for some other sources dealing with English language teaching strategies and theories of language teaching. This dearth of SELT resource has been voiced in the preface to the book when the editors highlight the need of such a collection as “in organizing the course content around selection of key readings on second language teacher education (SLTE), we realized that there were very few volumes available that presented a collection offering a broad and contemporary overview of current debates in this field.” (P. vii) A collection this kind is certainly an asset for those reading and working in the field of SLTE and applied linguistics as the book presents a whole range of contemporary approaches, debates and practices from SLTE. The key themes cater to all kinds of interested reader from those studying SLTE at an undergraduate level to specialized readers and new practitioners. An introduction to the related chapters at the start of each section orients the reader towards the range of content the book has covered. Burns and Richards argue that the field of SLTE has developed in its response to two key issues. First, “internally initiated change”- the changed understanding of what teaching and teaching profession is over time- and all The debates and discussions around this issue have come been originated by the linguists and specialists within the field of second language teaching and teacher education. Second, “external pressures”, the debates related to this issue have been triggered by globalization and demand of English as a language of international trade and communication and demand for changes in policies and standards. However the chapters in this collection are relevant to the earlier issue. The book is a collection of literature which presents an overview of current debates in the field of SLTE. The 30 original chapters have been categorized into seven broad themes, forming seven sections. In Section 1, the first chapter sets the momentum for other debates in other sections by tracing the history and growth of scope in SLTE in the last five decades followed by identification of major trends in SLTE. The discussion is taken up on to the sociocultural perspectives in chapters 3 and 4 in which the need for “critical” SLTE for empowerment through educational change, and the need to shift the paradigm of SLTE to a more ‘de-centered’ approach in response to the spread of English in the world are emphasized. The chapters in Section 2 focus on another key issue of development of professionalism in language teaching profession. Therefore chapter 5 attempts to define professionalism in SLTE, and other related issues such as certification and qualification, development of standards in SLTE and the complexity of assessment of teacher knowledge and practices are discussed in the subsequent chapters. A very important issue of Nonnative English- speaking (NNES) teachers and teacher educators who are in majority around the world, their language proficiency in teacher preparation programs has been discussed in chapter 8. Finally, the development of language teacher educators or trainers is discussed which is a different phenomenon from language teachers. Authors in Section 3, provide variuos perspectives on pedagogical knowledge in SLTE including SLTE curriculum, the knowledge required by language teachers and concepts about language such as SLA besides a few more related issues. In section 4 the discussion jumps to language teacher “identity, cognition and experience in teacher learning”. The five chapters in this section cover debates of teacher’s identity shaped by their experiences, belief and the context of teaching, surveys of research in the field of language teacher cognition, followed by the survey of the role of language teacher identity which is marked by a shift from academic to a more social view of identity, and concludes into understanding the notions of novice and expert teachers. Section 5 presents a collection of papers highlighting the role of context in teacher learning. These contexts range from the course room of language teacher education, to school-based experience as a learning context, to distance learning as a context for teacher learning and the role of technologies in SLTE. Section 6 explores the concept of collaboration for teacher learning and development- the collaboration not only among language teachers but also with mentors and supervisors. The last section is dedicated to research and practice for language teacher development in the long term. Chapter 28 offers a survey of classroom research with reference to quantitative and qualitative approaches. The following chapter compares the intervention based action-research with other approaches. The last chapter explores the concept of reflective practices which attempts to link theory with practice through an exploration of classroom process. Burns and Richards believe that this volume builds on the earlier collection of similar nature by Richards and Nunan 1990 and suggest to be taken as a companion to the Cambridge Guide to TESOL (Nunan and Carter 2001). The Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teacher Education reveals the painstaking efforts of the editors in dealing with this complex topic with many of its ramifications in a single collection. The novice readers are likely to get familiars with the breadth of the field of SLTE and the book likely to equally serve well the specialist reader with a variety of themes. The book is replete with literature for students writing their thesis and with ideas for further research in the field of second language teaching and teacher education. About the Reviewer: *Lecturer, Department of Humanities, NED University of Engineering & Technology, Karachi, Pakistan, Email:asimwakeel@hotmail.com