Book excerpt: This is the first book that deals primarily with vocabulary learning strategies as a specific and integral subgroup of language learning strategies. Its aim is to define the concept of language learning strategies in general and their features on the basis of cognitive theory and relevant models of second language acquisition as the basis for empirical research. Furthermore, the book gives a survey of relevant research on vocabulary learning strategies and describes three original empirical studies. Thus, the book integrates the approaches of theories of second language acquisition, the theory and practice of instructed foreign (second) language learning, and the findings of current empirical research.