Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition

Second language acquisition research has historically been influenced by the field of linguistics, not only in terms of theoretical inisghts, but also in terms of the emphasis placed on varioustopics. Within linguistics, the lexicon has taken on a secondary role in terms of theory construction; within second language acquisition, the rift between studies of the lexicon and theory construction seems to be even greater. While it is no longer possible to say that the lexicon is the ‘neglected component’ of second language acquisition research, it does appear to be the case that most lexical studies are not centrally concerned with the establishment of a theory of the lexicon; rather, the majority deal with descriptive aspects of the lexicon.