本书的主题为“早期二语学习者”( Younger Second Language Learners )，共包括15篇文章，对与早期二语学习者有关的理论和方法进行了分析和实证性研究，指出了有关理论与方法中的优缺点，并对将来的研究方向提出了前瞻性的看法，值得国内研究者学习借鉴。

艾丽森·麦琪，Alison Mackey，美国Georgetown大学和英国Lancaster大学的双聘教授。《剑桥应用语言学年度评论》主编。研究方向：二语习得。

总序
导读
1. Exploring the Uniqueness of Child Second Language Acquisition (SLA): Learning, Teaching, Assessment, and Practice
2. A Critical Review of Bilingual Education in the United States: From Basements and Pride to Boutiques and Profit
3. The Effects of Specific Learning Difficulties on Processes of Multilingual Language Development
4. What Makes a Child a Good Language Learner? Interactional Competence,Identity, and Immersion in a Swedish Classroom
5. Review of Child Second Language Acquisition (SLA): Examining Theories and Research
6. Pragmatic Development During Study Abroad: An Analysis of Spanish Teenagers' Request Strategies in English Emails
7. Early Bilingualism Through the Looking Glass: Latino Preschool Children's Language and Self-Regulation Skills
8. The Use of Models as Written Corrective Feedback in English as a Foreign Language (EFL)Writing
9. Specific Referential Contexts Shape Efficiency in Second Language Processing: Three Eye-Tracking Experiments with 6- and 10-Year-Old Children in Spanish Immersion Schools
10. Children's Second Language Acquisition of English Complex Syntax:The Role of Age, Input, and Cognitive Factors
11. Tracing Trajectories of Young Learners: Ten Years of School English Learning
12. Challenging Linguistic Purism in Dual Language Bilingual Education:A Case Study of Hebrew in a New York City Public Middle School
13. Validating the Power of Bilingual Schooling: Thirty-Two Years of Large-Scale, Longitudinal Research
14. Three Theories of the Effects of Language Education Programs: An Empirical Evaluation of Bilingual and English-Only Policies
15. Progressions of a New Language: Characterizing Explanation Development for Assessment with Young Language Learners
16. Assessing and Exploring the Oral Proficiency of Young Mandarin Immersion Learners