A model of L2 vocabulary learning and retention

Vocabulary is an essential component of language. It is central to reading ability, writing ability and listening ability, and the most important aspect of second-language (L2) knowledge for academic achievement. The aim of this paper is to investigate quantitatively some of the factors that make some L2 words more difficult to learn and retain over time than others. It builds upon similar research carried out by Milton and Daller which investigated the relationship between word difficulty and frequency, cognateness and word length, but differs from it in the type of test used to measure word difficulty and the ways in which cognateness and word length were operationalised. Notes 1. The VST is freely available at http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/staff/paul-nation/nation.aspx.