ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the learning of vocabulary, emphasising that this is much more than just picking up words through exposure. Although acquiring vocabulary in meaningful contexts is still the main way to recycle and embed it in students' memories, there are many tricks a language teacher can employ to enhance memory and exploit those vocabulary lists that are found in text books. The best teachers are able to make words memorable. The chapter shows how teachers do this. For words to be remembered, students need to see or hear them numerous times over a significant length of time. Words should preferably be seen or heard within longer chunks so that students get used to recognising word boundaries in the stream of sound. The chapter presents some means by which words can be made more memorable for students: phonological hooks, emotional associations, categorising by meaning and by word class, and word association.
