Vocabulary notebooks are frequently advocated as a way for students to take control of their vocabulary learning (Fowle, 2002), with the added benefit of improvements in vocabulary learning (Schmitt and Schmitt, 1995;Laufer and Nation, 1999). The study described in this article attempts to lend empirical support to these claims, by investigating the effect of vocabulary notebooks on EFL students' vocabulary acquisition. Students in three lower intermediate EFL classes participated in the study. A vocabulary notebook program was implemented in one class over a 4-week period, with the remaining two classes acting as control groups, following the same curriculum with the same materials but without keeping vocabulary notebooks. Receptive and controlled productive vocabulary tests revealed significantly greater learning of the target words in the treatment group. In addition, students in the treatment group demonstrated a greater tendency to use the target words in free writing compositions. However, a positive impact on learner autonomy -as has been reported in previous studies (McCarthy, 1990) -was not observed. These findings lead the authors to conclude that vocabulary notebooks can be an effective learning tool in EFL classrooms, but positive impacts on learner autonomy may not be seen in the absence of appropriate motivation for language learning.

This article examines research in the area of instruction in the use of context to infer the meanings of unknown words. This issue is addressed initially from a first language perspective, in which approaches to teaching the use of context fall into three broad categories: general strategy instruction, context clue instruction, and the use of cloze exercises to increase awareness of context. Studies in second language vocabulary acquisition and the instruction of context are then examined, and the conclusion is drawn that, while the existing research demonstrates that students benefit from having their attention drawn to the use of context, the question of how, if at all, they should be taught to deal with context is still unanswered. The article concludes with suggestions for the direction and aims of future research in this area.

Agalactia and feed refusal are classical signs of poisoning by rye ergot (C purpurea), but this is the first time that sorghum ergot has been associated with a similar syndrome.

Second language researchers and trainers have met with some success in teaching language learners the skill of inferring meaning from context while reading, using a variety of teaching methods. This paper describes a study that attempts to compare the effectiveness of three teaching methods, on ESL learners' ability to infer from context and reading comprehension. The study investigated the effectiveness of (1) a general strategy, (2) recognition and interpretation of specific context clues, and (3) practice with feedback. Some limited effects for teaching method after six hours of instruction were found, but replication of the study is urged, with a greater number of participants, over a longer time period, and with the training incorporated into regular language teaching lessons.

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