Valerie Pellegrino Aveni, Study abroad and second
language use: Constructing the self. Cambridge, United Kingdom:
Cambridge University Press, 2005. Pp. xii, 188. Hb $75, Pb $32.99
Aveni's book is the result of her experiences in Russia as a
coordinator and researcher with a cohort of 76 American students in a
study abroad program during the 1995–1996 academic year. The volume
consists of four chapters and three appendixes. Focusing on the
construction of “the self,” Aveni's study examines the
social and psychological factors that affect language learners'
spontaneous use of a second language (L2) and the ways in which learners
exploit and avoid spontaneous speaking opportunities (p. 2).