ABSTRACT
Although the acquisition of grammar has received substantial attention in instructed second language (L2) acquisition research, learning vocabulary is also an essential part of L2 acquisition, and learners need large L2 vocabularies to communicate successfully. Schmitt states that ‘the first step in the vocabulary acquisition process is establishing an initial form-meaning link’, and indeed much vocabulary research has focused on this aspect of learning. The chapter explores the aspects of vocabulary knowledge. Unlike grammar, vocabulary does not consist primarily of rules that learners may hold consciously or unconsciously; nonetheless, there are aspects of vocabulary knowledge, for example word frequency or collocations, which may be implicit for learners. The chapter considers these and other issues of acquisition that are at the forefront of vocabulary learning in the classroom.
