The last thirty years have witnessed considerable research in the fields of second languageacquisition (SLA) and second language teaching (SLT). However, most of this research has beenconcerned with second languages such as English, Spanish, French, and German. There has beencomparatively little research on the less commonly taught second languages such as Hindi andother South Asian languages. As the editor states in the preface, enrollment in courses on SouthAsian languages has rapidly grown in universities in the United States and there is an urgent needfor a careful examination of the issues relevant to the teaching and learning of these languages.The purpose of the book is to fill the existing gap and to generate an interest among bothresearchers and practitioners in the teaching and learning of South Asian languages.