Norbert Schmitt

Norbert Schmitt (born 23 January 1956) is an American applied linguist and Emeritus Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom. He is known for his work on second-language vocabulary acquisition and second-language vocabulary teaching. He has published numerous books and papers on vocabulary acquisition.

Research Norbert Schmitt began his career in 1988 as an EFL teacher in Japan and quickly became interested in how language learners acquire their second languages. During his Masters study at Temple University, Japan, he began researching how students learn vocabulary in particular. He extended this interest in vocabulary through his PhD research at the University of Nottingham in 1994. Upon completion of his PhD in 1997, he joined the University of Nottingham staff, and taught there until his retirement in September 2020. He is now Emeritus Professor of Applied Linguistics. Prof. Schmitt has researched second language vocabulary issues for over 25 years, and his interests have broadened to all aspects of lexical study, including vocabulary testing, formulaic language, corpus-based research, and the interface between vocabulary knowledge and the ability to read and listen in English.

A number of his accomplishments include:

• The book Language Power which describes 100 language issues important to the general population

• Nine books on vocabulary and applied linguistics issues (plus two more forthcoming and one contracted)

• Over 60 international journal articles

• Over 100 total article and book chapters

• Introduction of new terminology in the field of vocabulary, including: word knowledge, mid-frequency vocabulary, engagement, form recall, meaning recall

• The introduction of psycholinguistic research techniques like eye-tracking into the study of formulaic language

• Co-development of a standard second language vocabulary test: the Vocabulary Levels Test

• Graduation of over 10 PhD students who are making their own important contributions to applied linguistics

Prof. Schmitt’s background and publications can be found on his personal website at

Publications Prof. Schmitt has published a number of books and many articles in major journals, including Applied Linguistics, Language Learning, Journal of Second Language Writing, Language Testing, System, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Language Teaching Research, Language Teaching, and Second Language Research.