The volume offers the first book-length treatment of second and foreign language learners' acquisition of pragmatics. Previous edited collections have focused on pragmatics in second language use and on instruction in pragmatics, whereas reports on interlanguage pragmatic development have been confined to the journal literature. Beginning with a survey of the significantly better developed field of first language developmental pragmatics, this book provides a comprehensive discussion of developmental interlanguage pragmatics, presenting an up-to-date account of research findings and covering such central issues as the theoretical and empirical approaches to L2 pragmatic development, the relationship of pragmatic and grammatical development, and the influence of learning contexts, instruction, and individual differences.