Vocabulary is an important component of foreign/second language acquisition. Knowledgernof vocabulary is crucial for learning language skills in reading, listening, writing, andrnspeaking. Both language teachers and learners feel that learning vocabulary is a difficultrntask, because there are too many different vocabulary items in any language. Each item hasrndifferent meanings and these meanings are dynamic.rnThis thesis addresses the issue of vocabulary from the learner's point of view. It provides arndetailed analysis of strategies for English vocabulary acquisition by Ethiopian tertiary levelrnstudents. In doing so, it draws from two domains of second/foreign language learning,rnnamely, vocabulary and strategy. Within the framework of these two domains it focuses onrnL2 vocabulary acquisition strategies. It is primarily concerned with identifying strategiesrnlearners use at this level of learning.rnIt investigates two related aspects of the learning process- the interaction betweenrnsystemic(linguistic) and strategy knowledge in a classroom learning context. It is assumedrnthat the learning context may determine the rate and type of strategy use.rnProcesses involved in vocabulary acquisition are examined first, the concept of 'strategy' isrnsurveyed next as it is found along with other related concepts such as 'process' 'study habits'rnand 'techniques' or in learning and communication strategies. The concepts of bothrn'vocabulary' and 'strategy' are combined next through reviews of the literature.rnVocabulary acquisition strategies are investigated through a two st.-:.geand four phaserndesign where two sets of data (quantitative and qualitative) were collected at each stagernusing a multi-method approach comprising questionnaires, interviews and think-aloud. Atrnstage one data for the pilot study were collected and analysed. At stage two data for thernmainline study were gathered from 143 learners.rnThe data are analysed using quantitative and qualitative techniques. The results shed somernlight on learners' profile of strategy use, first, of the entire sample population, second, of twornachievement groups of students.