Introduction: Vocabulary Learning and Teaching in a Second Language

Vocabulary knowledge in a second language (L2) is fundamental to the development of L2 proficiency. How this knowledge is acquired and what conditions favour its development are key questions that are now increasingly commanding research attention in a wide variety of language learning settings across the world (e.g.,Arnaud Harley, 1995; Huckin, Haynes, Meara, 1987, 1992; Nation, 1990). These are the questions that motivated the present set of original articles on L2 vocabulary learning. Each of the 12 studies in this issue examines L2 vocabulary learning from a particular angle, focusing for example on the assessment of progress in vocabulary knowledge, the approaches and strategies that learners use in decoding, comprehending, and learning unfamiliar words, the relevance of context for vocabulary learning, the role of learner factors such as age, proficiency, and first language (Ll) background, and the merits of different instructional practices for developing lexical proficiency in the L2.