Vocabulary Learning in a Second Language: Person, Task, Context and StrategiesAbstractThis paper reviews empirical research on vocabulary learning strategies in a second/foreign language. A tetrahedral model of person, task, context, and strategies is first proposed to foreground the review. Next, empirical research along task, person, and contextual dimensions is reviewed. Specifically, the review focuses on task-dependent guessing strategies, dictionary strategies, note-taking strategies, rote rehearsal strategies, and encoding strategies. Instead of searching for the best strategies that produce the best results, the author argues that the choice, use, and effectiveness of vocabulary learning strategies depend on the task, the learner, and the learning context. The paper ends by calling for a diversification of effort in both top-down theory building that provides clearer guidance to future research and more bottom-up empirical research that goes beyond the presentation and retention of words. IntroductionPsychologists, linguists, and language teachers have been interested in vocabulary learning strategies for a long time (Levenston, 1979). Numerous studies have been conducted comparing the retention effects of different vocabulary presentation strategies. In fact, the vocabulary field has been especially productive in the last two decades. We have seen a number of classic volumes on theories (e.g., Carter, 1987; Carter & McCarthy, 1988; McCarthy, 1990; Nation, 1990), research (e.g., Arnaud & Bejoint, 1992; Gass, 1987; Meara, 1989; Nation & Carter, 1989), and practical tips (e.g., Gairns & Redman, 1986; McCarthy & ODell, 1994). Recent volumes, especially the CUP volumes, that shed significant light upon different aspects of vocabulary acquisition include Huckin, Haynes, and Coady (1993), Harley (1995), Hatch and Brown (1995), Coady and Huckin (1997), Schmitt and McCarthy (1997), Atkins (1998), Wesche and Paribakht (1999), Read (2000), Schmitt (2000), and Nation (2001). This article aims to provide a digest of recent research on vocabulary acquisition and to pinpoint areas that need further exploration. To this end, the article focuses on one area, i.e., vocabulary learning strategies, the purposeful analysis of the vocabulary learning task, the planning, deployment, monitoring, and evaluation of learning behaviors in order to acquire the vocabulary of a second language1 . It is argued that despite the impressive amount of recent research on vocabulary acquisition, a person-task-context-strategy perspective that is presented here is needed in order to anchor existing research in a larger framework and to point to areas for future efforts. -1-Person, task, context, and learning strategiesWhen a person approaches a relatively challenging task, s/he adopts certain strategies to solve the problem. This problem-solving process is constrained by the learning context where the problem is being tackled. Language learning in general and vocabulary acquisition in particular are such problem-solving tasks at different levels of complexity. The strategies a learner uses and the effectiveness of these strategies very much depend on the learner him/herself (e.g., attitudes, motivation, prior knowledge), the learning task at hand (e.g., type, complexity, difficulty, and generality), and the learning environment (e.g., the learning culture, the richness of input and output opportunities). Theorists and researchers have presented the same framework in slightly different ways. Williams and Burdens (1997) social constructivist model outlines four aspects of the teaching-learning process, i.e., teachers, learners, tasks, contexts. Cohen (2001) focuses on learners and discusses the intersection of learning style preferences, learner strategies, and language tasks. Flavells (1979) conception of the three components of metacognitive knowledge, i.e., person, task, and strategy, also applies in the language learning field (Wenden, 1987). Brown, Bransford, Ferrara, and Campione (1983) include learning activities, characteristics of the learner, criterial tasks, and nature of the materials as the four aspects of their framework for exploring problems of learning. The person-task-context-strategy model outlined here can be viewed as a synthesis of this body of knowledge, specifically for the purpose of analyzing research work on language learning strategies. Person. The learner brings to the language learning situation a wide spectrum of individual differences that will influence the learning rate and the ultimate learning result. The most widely reported learner factors include age, sex, language aptitude, intelligence, prior knowledge, motivation, self-concept/image, personality, and cognitive and learning style. These person-dependent factors are relatively stable, and determine to a large extent how a learner approaches a task.Task. A learning task is the end product in the learners mind. It can be as b