Carter and Nunan (2001) discuss ways in which teachers can help students to learn vocabulary. These include decontextualized methods such as word lists, paired translation equivalents and semantic sets, as well as exposing learners to new words via reading and listening texts. Recent research on such methods has explored the relative usefulness of 'implicit' versus 'explicit' teaching methods, but the most active current debate is in the area of 'metacognitive strategies', where learners are thought to benefit by bringing explicit knowledge 'about' language to bear on their understanding and 'use' of new vocabulary items.

Perhaps the most important finding from a range of recent research is precisely that no one method works for every context: inferential strategies may be crucial for advanced learners, whilst rote memorization or translation may be more appropriate for beginners; explicit learning may be useful for concrete items, whereas more abstract items may need more implicit, exposure-based methods.

In view of this finding, it is perhaps just as important in teaching vocabulary to devote time to teaching our students how to learn words. Much is now known about individual learning styles and strategies (for a readable overview, see Oxford, 2001). We know, for example, that learning strategies are teachable and can have positive effects - see Module 12 (12.2). Strategy instruction needs to be relevant, to address our students' preferred learning styles, ie visual, auditory or kinaesthetic, and to be part of our normal classes. In order to advise our students on which strategies to use, we need to take into account such factors as age, gender, cultural background, motivation, prior language learning as well as the current learning environment. If, for instance, our students' previous educational experience has been in classrooms where pair and group collaboration has been the norm, we might advise interaction with other students on extra curricular projects. If, on the other hand, individual work has been the norm, it might be more appropriate to offer self-study exercises. There are questionnaires available to help us find out about our learners' preferences, eg Oxford's own Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (see Oxford, 2001, and Module 12, section 12.5).

Many coursebooks incorporate strategy suggestions. De Rome, in Italianissimo 1 (1992: 219), for example, has the following advice:

1. Be discriminating. Learn words for a purpose, because you feel they are relevant to your needs. Don't attempt to learn long lists of words which you might not use.
2. Set yourself some concrete situations, then target five to ten words which you feel are useful for the situation chosen.
3. Organize words into categories which are useful to you, such as travel, the home, etc.
4. Pin up short lists to refer to.
5. Record words - with a gap for the translation - and listen in the car or on public transport.
6. Test yourself regularly from Italian to English and vice versa.
7. Build up a word-file of small cards you can carry around: put the translation on the other side, with a short sentence in which the word is used.
8. Associate words. You often learn words best in groups which have something in common. The links can be phonetic or grammatical as well as semantic. Make your own associations, eg 'lezione' can be linked to 'stazione' and 'televisione' or to 'classe', 'imparare', 'studiare', etc.

We might add to this list the use of mnemonics, often in rhyme, eg ''i' before 'e' except after 'c'' for spelling, or 'when two vowels go out walking, the first one does the talking' for pronunciation. We might also mention the key word method of making a visual bilingual association, such as the German word, 'ei', with the similar sounding English word, 'eye', by making a drawing of an egg with an eye in its centre.