The present chapter provides an overview of the book by introducing its main tenet, advancedness, a term coined by Ortega and Brynes (2008), in the context of higher education. It also conceptualizes L2 learners as actors on a global stage, emphasizing the importance of their views of language use and of their own identity as L2 learners. It then provides an overview of the book. Through quantitative and qualitative analyses, Part I examines L2 Spanish learners’ beliefs about, and assessment of, advanced-level oral Spanish in social and cognitive contexts, and posits hypotheses about L2 learner identity. Part II taps into language ideologies of professionals working in the field of foreign/second languages in higher education. Quantitative and qualitative analyses yield individual as well as institutional biases about bilingualism and the “ideal” L2 speaker. Finally, Part III addresses assessment of advancedness through the lens of critical language awareness and L2 learner identity using mixed methodologies. The book’s last chapter presents conclusions based on the findings of its studies and makes a call to continue investigating advancedness from a sociocognitive perspective.

Advancedness--high-level language use sophisticated enough to adapt to a variety of sociocultural contexts--encapsulates essential elements of L2 learners’ identity. Advanced proficiency, on the other hand, refers to learners’ communicative ability as determined by formal assessments via pre-established criteria (Brown, Thompson, & Cox, 2021). In addition, the term ‘advanced’ has been erroneously defined by non-experts as being ‘fluent’ or ‘bilingual.’ Conflicting definitions reflect varying perspectives among professionals involved in language programs, which could hinder the establishment of curricula and appropriate assessment metrics. After reviewing the most commonly-used assessment scales (ACTFL, CEFR, and ILR), the chapter focuses on what research has found regarding sociocultural and psycholinguistic individual differences, such as study abroad as well as extracurricular habits and behaviors, pre-tertiary education, age of onset, aptitude, motivation, perseverance, and L2 grit. Other facilitating factors are also mentioned, such as equity in accessing extracurricular opportunities; better academic advising, and acknowledgment of the learners’ construction of an L2 identity.