What is language proficiency? How does it interact with culture, human development, learning, and schooling? How can teachers best support English language learners (ELLs) and speakers of different English dialects? What are the current views of literacy acquisition and best approaches to literacy instruction? And how can assessments eliminate bias based on language? In Volume II: Language, these questions and many more are addressed. All human beings have the desire to communicate, and this connection is achieved largely through language. In fact, as Fromkin and Rodman (1998) have observed, "Wherever humans exist, language exists" (p. 26). Given the universal nature of language, it might not appear to be worthy of study. But upon closer scrutiny, it is clear that language is an extremely complex sociocultural and cognitive phenomenon. Because language is at the heart of learning, development, and schooling, it bears investigation by teachers beyond the ways that it is usually presented in language arts courses. (Contains 8 tables, 22 figures, and 8 endnotes.)