Book excerpt: Drawing on video recordings and transcripts from a wide range of L2 teaching contexts, The Practical Nature of L2 Teaching presents a comprehensive examination of eight sets of specialized actions and action sequences involved in whole group instruction. Each of the chapters highlights in exquisite detail the sophisticated, real-world accomplishment of L2 teaching. The purpose is not to impose a vision of how L2 teaching should be done. Instead, it is to illuminate its complexities and, in so doing, reveal informative differences between idealized understandings of L2 teaching and its lived realities. The book is essential reading for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers studying and working in the areas of classroom interaction, L2 teaching, and L2 teacher education.