those which can help them retain the words they have encountered. Since the onset of learning strategy research three decades ago, there is a consensus in this field that strategy training warrants time and effort both in and out of the classroom (see, among others, Fan , 2003; Macaro,2001; Takeuchi et al, 2007). There are not yet clear insights from research studies to inform teachers what they should do to best help their learners improve their foreign language vocabulary knowledge.
Conclusions
This paper has tried to demonstrate how vocabulary teaching is viewed in each teaching and how a new approach has emerged due to the deficiencies and impracticalities of the previous ones. Vocabulary teaching has not yet reached the level of consistency and systematicity that the teaching of other language skills enjoy such as grammar, although it has recently gained much attention in second language acquisition research. Further studies may help recognize what are the most effective procedures for vocabulary teaching. For the time being the most plausible approach for a language teachers is to cautiously experiment the kind of activities available in the course-book and to measure their usefulness in assisting learners in acquiring vocabulary and also to try to involve the learners in their own learning and to make them responsible for their own vocabulary development.