Recently, proponents of learner-based teaching have promoted the idea of giving their students the tools and strategies to learn independently (O’Malley and Chamot 1990, Oxford 1990). In terms of vocabulary learning, one way of achieving this is to have them keep vocabulary notebooks. These do not replace other forms of vocabulary learning, such as extensive reading learning, implicitly through task work, or explicit classroom vocabulary exercises so much as supplement them by focusing on a limited subset of words. The use of vocabulary notebooks is widely advocated (Allen 1983: 50. Gairns and Redman 1986: 95-100, McCarthy 1990: 127-9) but many teachers are unsure how best to advise students on setting up well-organized and pedagogically- sound notebooks of their own. There are finding that show practical to give teachers practical advice on this matter, by highlighting findings from memory and language research. Suggesting how these can be applied to the design of a sound vocabulary notebook, and showing how this component can be added to a course. The following eleven principles need to be considered when designing any vocabulary programmed. Most come from general memory research (reviewed by Baddeley 1990), while others have been developed by language researchers.