Language Teaching Research Quarterly

While extensive research has explored Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition (SLVA) acquisition, there has been a lack of comprehensive bibliometric analysis on this topic. This study addresses this gap by investigating research trends and collaboration networks in SLVA over the past 24 years. Publications on SLVA were retrieved and analysed using data extracted from the Web of Science, a widely-used research database. Using CiteSpace software, we analysed bibliographic details, including countries, institutions, authors, and keywords, and created interactive visualizations. A total of 3905 publications were identified as of April 2, 2024. The United States led in productivity with 1079 publications, while Radboud University Nijmegen was the most prolific institution with 55 publications. Stuart Webb emerged as the most active author, contributing 29 publications. ‘Vocabulary’ was the most frequent keyword, appearing 1033 times, highlighting its centrality in research developments. The analysis of scientific network maps and keywords revealed significant changes and emerging trends in SLVA research. These results provide meaningful insights and highlight several promising avenues for future exploration in SLVA research.