The Routledge Handbook of Language and Professional Communication. Edited by Vijay Bhatia and Stephen Bremner. London, UK: Routledge, 2014. 584 p. $204 (ISBN 978-0-415-67619-9)

The contributors in this single-volume handbook thoroughly examine the pedagogic and practitioner interpretations of language and professional communication, as well as the theoretical frameworks of related disciplines: business communication, management communication, workplace communication, corporate communication, and organizational communication. Further, the handbook “is an attempt to introduce current research and practice in the field of language teaching and learning in professional contexts to a wider audience” (xvi).

The thirty-five chapters tend to be quite lengthy—some extending to over twenty pages and contain standard sections such as, “Related topics,” “Key readings,” and “Bibliography.” Four major sections organize the handbook: “Approaches to Professional Communication,” “Practice,” “Acquisition of Professional Competence,” and “View from the Professions,” which contains interviews with practitioners from the banking, law, accounting, and public relations fields. The handbook concludes with a handy index. All the chapters are jam-packed with useful references for further research.

Contributors to the handbook include both international scholars and practitioners. The information in the handbook is highly technical and may not be as accessible to the traditional undergraduate student; hence, the introduction notes that the audience for the handbook are “newly initiated professional communicators, teachers, and trainers, but also researchers in the field of professional communication” (xvi).

The Routledge Handbook of Language and Professional Communication differs from other works such as the Encyclopedia of Communication Theory (SAGE, 2009) in that it is not a browseable encyclopedia that provides quick overviews of communication theories and thus may not appeal to a general audience. Instead, this handbook is exceptionally specialized and will appeal to only those who are scholars or practitioners in the professional communication realm. Recommended for reference collections of academic libraries with graduate programs in professional communication or linguistics.—Colleen Lougen, Electronic Resources Librarian, SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, New York