Abstract :
Though vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) have drawn continuous attention in
SLA research in the past three decades, there remain many unanswered questions,
many unknown caveats and many unexplored regions. Quite a few historical reviews
of vocabulary learning strategies have been undertaken by researchers over the
past years, tracing its growth over the years. However, no research until now
has captured the VLS profi le of learners from diverse ESL/EFL backgrounds and
presented an analysis from a geographical point of view. This study aims to capture
the VLS profi le of the diverse learners and takes up the task of the geographical
review of vocabulary learning strategies landscaping the VLS research over many
countries. For this purpose, the researcher has chosen specifi cally the research
happening in the backdrop of ESL/EFL contexts. Fourteen papers have been selected
for review belonging to Philippine, Turkey, Algeria, Iran, Malaysia, Congo, China,
India, Sudan, Libya and The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A detailed analysis reveals
not only the juggling between the experiential and traditional modes of vocabulary
learning but also the reasons behind the insuffi cient vocabulary size of the learners
in myriad contexts.
Keyword :
ESL/EFL background, experiential and traditional methods, strategy research, vocabulary learning.