Acknowledgements Introduction Part 1 Background 1. Language Use, Holistic Activity and Second Language Learning 2. Holistic Tasks in an Educational Context: Some Key Issues 3. Holistic Tasks in a Research Context: Some Key Issues 4. Tasks in Second Language Pedagogy 5. Defining Pedagogic Tasks: Issues and Challenges 6. Engaging Learning Processes: Implications for the Use of Second Language Tasks 7. Researching Second Language Pedagogic Tasks Part 2 Interactions between Research and Practice 8. Task Research from a Pedagogical Perspective 9. Pedagogic Perspectives on Second Language Tasks Part 3 Exploring Tasks 10. Research Directions Part 4 Resources 11. Further Resources References Name Index Subject Index