This book weaves together three ideas: second language identity, narrative, and study abroad. It provides case study narratives of one graduate, seven undergraduate, and two secondary students from Hong Kong studying overseas for periods ranging from ten days to two years. Unfortunately, it lacks "thick descriptions" of when the informants made their statements, who they were communicating with, how the data was coded, or even how the informants were selected. As such, I feel it is of limited value in terms of research methodology. However, this text does provide a useful overview of some of the theoretical ideas that are currently used to explain how (and why) many persons studying abroad change in terms of the ways they see themselves and the world around them. Let me briefly examine some of its core concepts, then evaluate the text overall.

It is widely recognised that teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) and teaching English as a second dialect (TESD) in remote Indigenous Australia have a history of repeated failure of both policy and practice. National language testing has been been forcefully attacked by TESOL specialists, producing strong debate amongst politicians and educators. Meanwhile, the teachers in these remote communities, usually female, non‐Indigenous outsiders, are not consulted and rarely remain in these teaching locations. This article tells the story of how we, as researchers, developed a narrative inquiry project to investigate the situated stories of three teachers. Most immediately we noted how the stories we heard were as shocking for their silences as for what they told us, and the “truth” they offered lay primarily in the magnetism of narrative itself through the vitality of the “self” that came to life within the teacher's story. Unpredictably, however, and of greater significance for our understanding, our project confronted us with our own complicity in the silencing technologies effected by both the methodological processes and textual products of narrative study. We came to conclude that there is an inherent paradox at the heart of narrative inquiry which must be addressed in all its complexity if its emancipatory and voice‐releasing goals are to be realised.

For ethnic minority groups, speaking a heritage language signifies belonging to their country of origin and enriches the dominant culture. The acculturation of major ethnic groups in AustraliaGreek, Italian, Chinese, Indian and Vietnamese -has been frequently studied, but a minor one like Indonesian has not. Through semi-structured interviews at various places and observations at cultural events, the study explores the contextual use, meaning and perceived benefits of Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian language) among Indonesian families and how this practice influences the young participants' (18-26 years old) identification with Indonesia, the origin country of their parents, and Australia, their current culture of settlement. The findings suggest that Bahasa Indonesia serves as a marker of ethnic and religious identity glued in family socialization. Parents believe that not only does the language signify their Indonesian ethnic identity, but also provides a means for socializing family values, and is beneficial for educational purposes and future career opportunities. However, parents face a dilemma whether to focus on ethnic or religious identity in socializing the use of Bahasa Indonesia. Interestingly, most young participants demonstrate a more global worldview by embracing both Indonesian and Australian values. How religious identity relates to more global worldview should be addressed more comprehensively in future studies.

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