This book provides an overview of the main strands, perspectives and debates in current thinking and practice in the field of ESOL. Combining historical, sociolinguistic and cross-cultural analysis of the language needs of adult immigrants, this book critically addresses issues related to the learning and teaching of ESOL in Great Britain. It is probably the first comprehensive empirical study of the attitudes and motivation of adult ESOL learners. It re-examines Gardner and Lambert's theory and tries to establish a broad-based interpretation of their core concept of instrumental and integrative motivation. This book provides a framework to understand bi/multilingual learners' desire to acquire proficiency in English without compromising their commitment to their heritage languages.