The state of second language acquisition research, particularly that which is classroom-oriented, is examined in a review of 50 empirical investigations undertaken over the last 25 years. The studies were analyzed according to the following dimensions: the environment in which the data were collected (classroom, naturalistic, simulated classroom, or laboratories); rationale of the research; research design and data collection; type of data collected (quantitative or qualitative); and type of analysis conducted (grammatical, statistical, and/or interpretive). It is concluded that while there have been considerable advances in the field, future research would benefit by incorporating: more contextualized (classroom-based rather than classroom-oriented) research; an extension of the theoretical bases of research agendas; extension of the range of research tools, techniques, and methods, adopting and adapting them where appropriate from content classroom research; re-evaluation of the distinction between process-oriented and product-oriented research; and a more active role for classroom practitioners in applied research. (MSE)