Approaches to the learning and teaching of vocabulary are the subject of Module 10. Here we shall be concerned more specifically with the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and the L2 reading process.

The scale of the problem facing L2 learners in acquiring sufficient vocabulary to be able to read with relative freedom becomes clear when one considers that in a typical 12-year period of schooling, L1 learners encounter 100,000 different word meanings (Nagy and Anderson, 1984), while L2 learners are unlikely to come across more than 3,000-4,000 using standard textbooks. In an effort to bridge this gulf, traditional (behaviourist-influenced) views on the role of reading in L2 learning emphasized language practice through 'simplified' texts and graded readers. Subsequently, however, there was a move away from controlling the lexis and structures of reading material towards discovering the type of difficulties L2 readers usually came up against, with a view to helping them develop appropriate strategies.