This book is a unique dictionary for intermediate level students who want to expand their vocabulary and improve their writing skills. From just 600 basic words - such as 'useful' - students can learn thousands more - such as 'invaluable', 'handy' and 'versatile'. Expand your vocabulary: from 600 basic words or concepts like 'walk', 'decide' or 'angry', students can learn thousands more. Updated Colour Word Banks help students learn words by organising them by common essay topics, such as books & literature. There are clear definitions and plenty of natural examples help you choose the right word every time Write essays that impress. New to this edition: Check your own writing against model essays on common topics - from environment to technology ; Learn how to structure your essays correctly, using the Writing Tips ; A wide range of exercise types, from 'Choose the Right Word' to full guided essay writing practice with model essays and feedback ; Interactive Grammar and Communication guides to find the correct words, phrases and grammar.

Do your intermediate students need to build their vocabulary? Do they need help with writing skills? If so, the Longman Essential Activator gives them just the help they need. It expands their vocabulary by building on simple words they already know, and the Longman Writing Coach CD-ROM improves their writing skills.

Whether we grow up with one, two, or several languages during our early years of life, many of us will learn a second, foreign, or heritage language in later years. The field of Second language acquisition (SLA, for short) investigates the human capacity to learn additional languages in late childhood, adolescence, or adulthood, after the first language --in the case of monolinguals-- or languages --in the case of bilinguals-- have already been acquired. Understanding Second Language Acquisition offers a wide-encompassing survey of this burgeoning field, its accumulated findings and proposed theories, its developed research paradigms, and its pending questions for the future. The book zooms in and out of universal, individual, and social forces, in each case evaluating the research findings that have been generated across diverse naturalistic and formal contexts for second language acquisition. It assumes no background in SLA and provides helpful chapter-by-chapter summaries and suggestions for further reading. Ideal as a textbook for students of applied linguistics, foreign language education, TESOL, and education, it is also recommended for students of linguistics, developmental psycholinguistics, psychology, and cognitive science. Supporting resources for tutors are available free at www.routledge.com/ortega.