Vocabulary Knowledge

Vocabulary knowledge is an intricate construct that involves the acquisition of multiple aspects of knowledge of words, including their pronunciation, spelling, form–meaning mapping, collocations or multiple meanings (Nation, 2020). This complexity has made vocabulary knowledge an elusive concept to describe and investigate (Milton & Fitzpatrick, 2014). In an attempt to explain such a multifaceted construct, three major theoretical models of what it means to know vocabulary have been proposed: networks, developmental, and dimensional. The conceptual foundation for these models relies on two historic distinctions in lexical knowledge: size vs. depth, and receptive vs. productive mastery. With a focus on second-language (L2) vocabulary knowledge, this entry offers an overview of what it means to know vocabulary, the main theoretical frameworks proposed to understanding the nature of vocabulary knowledge, and recent developments on the empirical evidence available in support of these conceptualisations of the construct.