This volume examines the area of second language vocabulary studies from three broad perspectives: description, acquisition and pedagogical context. The fifteen chapters are grouped together to achieve a balance between descriptions of what vocabulary is and how it behaves, how the mind learns and uses new vocabulary, and the pedagogical issues of teaching and testing L2 vocabulary. Some of the specific topics addressed in these three general areas include word frequency and vocabulary size, multi-word units, variation between spoken and written language, models of lexical acquisition, first language influences on second language vocabulary acquisition, vocabulary learning strategies, vocabulary and the syllabus, trends in teaching and testing vocabulary, lexical reference sources.