Teaching English as a Second Language by Shirley O'Neil and Annabelle Gish is a comprehensive, user-friendly practitioner handbook for the ESL/EFL profession. The authors cover a range of topics including theories of language acquisition, options for curriculum design and assessment, and strategies for creating a positive language learning environment. This content is supplemented by the inclusion of case studies, critical incidents, and reflection questions to stimulate engagement with the concepts and theories discussed.

A distinguishing feature of this text is the theme of language as sociocultural practice. This notion first appears in chapter one where O'Neil and Gish outline the various contexts in which English is taught in the global climate of the twenty-first century. The authors address the impact of culture on patterns of discourse organisation, attitudes to language learning, and variations in classroom communication styles.

In addition, chapter one includes an overview of Hofstede's cultural dimensions and a collection of case studies to stimulate critical reflection on the role of culture within the language teaching/learning process. Through a discussion of the oral language practices of Indigenous Australian cultures, the authors illustrate the need for teacher awareness of a wide range of linguistic practices. This is shown to be vital to understanding student approaches to language learning and to the incorporation of a range of linguistic approaches in the classroom. Throughout their text, O'Neil and Gish uphold the notion of additive bilingualism; that the learning of additional languages should complement rather than replace first language practices.