Measuring Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition provides an examination of the background to testing vocabulary knowledge in a second language and in particular considers the effect that word frequency and lexical coverage have on learning and communication in a foreign language. It examines the tools we have for assessing the various facets of vocabulary knowledge such as aural and written word recognition, the link with word meaning, and vocabulary depth. These are illustrated and the scores they produce are demonstrated to provide normative data. Vocabulary acquisition from course books and in the classroom in examined, as is vocabulary uptake from informal tasks. This book ties scores on tests of vocabulary breadth to performance on standard foreign language examinations and on hierarchies of communicative performance such as the CEFR.

International scholars and researchers present cutting edge contributions on the significance of vocabulary in current thinking on first and second language acquisition in the school and at home. By pursuing common themes across first and second language and bilingual contexts, the editors offer a collection that tackles the most important issues.

Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,0 (A), University of Heidelberg, course: Second Language Acquisition, language: English, abstract: Interest in second language vocabulary (SLV) significantly increased in the late 1980s and a considerable number of books concerning themselves with it have been published since then. On the other hand, despite this changed condition, curricula in schools are still considering teaching vocabulary a marginal subject: It is scarcely an issue itself and quite often only mentioned casually when dealing with subjects that are thought to be more demanding and important. However, vocabulary is indeed both demanding and important. Thus, SLV research must not become a playground of linguists with little or no effect on the ‘real world’, which – from a teacher’s point of view – is the classroom. The findings of research can make teachers aware of important aspects of vocabulary and help them to impart these aspects in school. Therefore, this paper will take into account what SLV research is actually good for in school routine. A glance at the desired aims and possible restrictions of vocabulary teaching will provide the basis for a further examination of both the implicit and explicit approach, as well as the grey area in between.