The introductory chapter puts the content of the book in context. It explains that the book discusses results from a large-scale research programme, High-Level Proficiency in Second Language Use, in the various investigations of which a crowd of more than one thousand people in all participated. Participants had Swedish as their L1 and English, French, Italian or Spanish as their L2, or Spanish as their L1 and Swedish as their L2. Theoretically, the book is framed in psycholinguistic, or cognitive, as well as sociolinguistic approaches to second language acquisition and bi-/multilingualism. The chapter points to the fact that research on second language acquisition, until recently, has been less engaged with the most advanced or near-native stages of second language development than initial or intermediate stages. It underscores that the most advanced stages are decisive for second language theory, as this is where theoretical assumptions can be ultimately put to test. It engages particularly with the notions of native and near-native speaker. For language teaching practice, the book provides new insights into the teaching of languages at the most advanced stages, which is indeed much desired. The chapter, naturally, also comprises a brief summary of the chapters of the book.

The chapter addresses pragmatic features in the speech of highly proficient Swedish users of L2 English, French, Italian and Spanish in comparison with native speaker production. Three domains of pragmatic competence representing an increasing scope are the focus: use of pragmatic markers, implementation of specific speech acts, and variation with regard to socio-cultural alignment. Two aspects are highlighted: which is the role played by transfer in L2 performance, and which of the three domains represents the strongest challenge to the learner. Results concerning pragmatic markers show that, although sophistication increases with higher proficiency, the level of native use is hardly ever attained even in near-native users. Regarding speech acts, the L2 users closely resemble their native counterparts, except in one respect: the L2 users tend to make less conventional choices. With regard to socio-culture, alignment to native speaker behaviour clearly increases with cultural proximity. While transfer stands out as an essential factor in explaining how high-proficient L2 users deal with the pragmatic challenges of their target language, no support can be lent to the hypothesis that high-scope domains are less effectively acquired than low-scope domains.