This book explores the social practice of literacy, numeracy and language and its implications for teaching and learning adult basic skills. Leading international experts argue that literacy, numeracy and language are more than just a set of skills or techniques, but are shaped by the social and cultural context within which they are taking place; the meanings they have for users; and the purposes they serve. This shifts the focus from a narrow, functional and externally imposed definition of literacy, numeracy and language learning, to more open and numerous definitions that focus on what people do with their knowledge, understanding and skills in a range of contexts. This book shows how the social practice approach to learning and teaching can be used to develop more inclusive views of adult literacy, numeracy and language. Bringing together the views of researchers, policymakers and practitioners, it helps readers to develop an understanding of contemporary policy developments and encourages them to examine their own practice as adult basic education teachers, in order to respond more effectively to the needs of their students. Following an introduction entitled, Social Practice of Adult Literacy, Numeracy and Language, by Mary Hamilton, Yvonne Hillier, and Lyn Tett, this book is divided into the following five sections: (1) Literacies as Situated Social Practice (David Barton, Ursula Howard and Lyn Tett); (2) Literacy, Language & Multi-Lingualism (Elsa Auerbach, Celia Roberts, and Mahendra Verma); (3) The Politics of Numbers (Mike Baynham, Diana Coben, and Alison Tomlin); (4) Measuring and Assessing Adult Literacy, Numeracy and Language (Harvey Goldstein, Peter Lavender, and Jay Derrick); and (5) Crossing Boundaries: Facilitating Interactions (Yvonne Hillier, Juliet Merrifield, and Mary Norton). An afterword concludes the book.