Chapter 17 focuses on Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), a teaching approach that has strong alignment with empirical findings in second language acquisition research. Bryfonski and Mackey describe TBLT and outline the various phases of implementation needed to adopt it in a new teaching context. The defining characteristics of tasks as well as a practical example of a task that fulfills all four criterion are included so that readers can develop their own tasks.

When firms interact with foreign markets, they have to deal with challenges not faced on the domestic market as transport- and interaction costs are higher. This holds for all types of interactions, such as geographical, socio-economic, cultural and institutional distance. When interacting with foreign markets, firms have to overcome this liability of distance and foreignness. An illustration of its importance is the dominance of nearby trade- and investment flows, as shown by the gravity model. We also review the decision of firms to interact via trade flows or multinational activities, where scale economies, transport costs, market size and local production costs all play a crucial role. The proximity versus concentration trade-off explains the choice of exporting versus horizontal FDI. The difference in production costs versus transport costs explains the choice of producing at home versus offshoring (vertical FDI). We conclude with a brief review of the global economic system.

Chapter 9 offers insight into how second language acquisition researchers have understood the concept of language aptitude and its impact on language development. Bryfonski and Mackey describe several of the most commonly used sub-components of language aptitude including phonetic, reasoning, and memory abilities. By drawing connections between these sub-components and instructional practices, this chapter offers ways in which teachers can understand how learners may experience language learning.

Spirituality, religion and a sense of the sacred can be important areas for creativity and the re-imagining of social work. This chapter explores this arena, arguing that acknowledging and drawing on spirituality and sacredness are significant parts of social work and that to ignore them is to deny an important dimension of humanity. However, spirituality and sacredness are experienced and manifested in different ways and can be affected by dominant narratives in different cultural and political contexts and at different historical times. This chapter avoids making any claims as to the truth or otherwise of any forms of religion or spirituality and instead considers the role that a sense of the sacred and the spiritual can play in the re-imagining of social work.

This chapter analyses global value chains. First, we explain how globalisation leads to fragmentation of production and dispersion of activities. Global value chains consist of nodes, where each node represents the value added received from the previous node. Countries can now specialise in activities and functions – nodes of the global value chain – rather than in the whole production of certain goods. Second, we discuss how to measure global value chains, which is challenging. Recent efforts allow us to estimate so-called forward- and backward linkages. Third, we provide a framework to map the governance configuration of global value chains based on the complexity of the knowledge to be exchanged in a transaction, the ease of codifying information about the transaction, and the capability of the supplier with respect to the specificities of the transaction. Fourth, we describe some possible sources of inefficiencies in global value chains (taxation, rent-seeking, contracts and trade costs).

Chapter 12 discusses if, how, and why to address pronunciation challenges that arise in a language classroom. To answer these questions, Bryfonski and Mackey make connections between first language acquisition and second language acquisition research, providing an accessible overview of what linguists have found to be true about our ability to percieve and produce new sounds throughout our lifetimes.

This chapter reviews the origins of the internet and its evolution from a few university labs in the 1970s to a global channel of mass communication and commercialization to the ubiquitous high-speed wireless connectivity by 2020. This overview sets the stage for thinking about future evolution of communication networks and opportunities for innovation therein. While exploring the historical precedents, we will also investigate which design principles have facilitated the growth and impact of the internet. We will argue that the breathtaking dynamism forced the creators of these communication networks to focus on long-term issues rather than concurrent societal problems. They also built the networks to be capable of rapid change and growth, accommodating a very large scale. Constant change and large-scale connectivity also meant that very diverse needs and interests were brought into the online sphere. The network itself thus had to be able to accommodate myriad ideas that generated additional innovations and activities to pursue. The internet was open ended and extremely generative – capable of facilitating follow-on innovation.

Digital platforms are marketplaces where a variety of participants gather to exchange goods, information, or services. This chapter examines what makes digital platforms special kinds of marketplaces. Platforms create value by allowing users to connect with each other and interact or transact in some way. The additional benefits include improved matching, trust, and liquidity, and lower costs of search and transaction. Digital platforms may thus create exceptionally efficient markets. However, the market for platforms themselves is anything but competitive and efficient. The benefits of scale in markets are not surprising, but the ability of digital markets to scale globally is much more recent. After platforms achieve critical mass, there is often no point for a rival to even enter, at least if the entrant offers no radical innovation. As a result, network effects allow platforms to concentrate vast market power.