The major purpose of this study was to investigate the vocabulary teaching techniquesrnused by the English language teachers of Hawassa secondary and Preparatory school inrnorder to improve their student 's vocabulary mastery. This is because the students 'rneffective word learning highly depends on the effectiveness of the teachers ' way ofrnteaching.rnTo this end, the researcher adapted the questionnaire from previously conducted studiesrnby making the necesswy modifications and administered it for J 00 randomly selectedrnGrade J 0 students and all of the English teachers of the schoo!. Moreover, the researcherrnalso conducted twenty observation classes of the jive teachers (four classes in each case).rnIn analyzing the data, the researcher used both quantitative and qualitative methods forrnthe closed-ended and open-ended questions respectively. The data gathered through thernclassroom observation checklist was also analyzed together with the data obtained fromrnthe questionnaire. This is because the contents of the tools are similar.rnThe result of the study indicated that the teachers less emphasized the teaching ofrnvocabulary compared to other language skills. They employ few vocabulary teachingrntechniques repeatedly. In spite of this fact, the teachers believe they leach vocabularyrneffectively. On the contrwy, the sample students are hardly satisjied with the vocabularyrnteaching techniques used by the teachers. The researchers' observation result alsornrevealed students receive limited help from their teachers in order to improve their wordrnknowledge.rnAt last, based on the results of the study the researcher recommended the teachers givernthe proper emphasis for the teaching of vocabulwy by differentiating their instruction tornaddress the diversified needs of the learners. Moreover, they are also recommended tornequip the students with independent word learning strategies to promote theirrnindependent word learning ability.rnIIrn1 IrnIIrnorder to be able to use the language productively, students must know certain amount ofrnvocabulary, not only for communicating orall y, but also written.rnLearning a language means learning its vocabulary. We use words in communicationrneither in spoken form or written form. We try to send messages, share information andrnideas by using the language. In general, no language acquisition is possible withoutrnunderstanding the vocabulary, either in the first or the second language (Kweldju,rn2004: 18).rnThe process and the way that we go through in learning and using the target languagernusually take. hard effort especially in learning a foreign language. This is because arnforeign language is different from a mother language. The differences can be in the rulesrnof the sounds system (phonology), the word formation (morphology), the word structuresrn(syntax), the words' meaning (semantic), and the social context (sociolinguistic). Theserncan cause problems in learning a foreign language.rn;rn'. However, teachers of a foreign language should always motivate their students to keeprnpracticing using the language. They should use many methods that can interest theirrnstudents in using the target language in classroom communication since there are severalrngeneral principles for successful teaching, which are valid for different methods.rnSimilarly, teachers that are found in the present research setting i.e. Hawassa TaborrnSecondary and Preparatory School which is located in Southern Nations, Nationalitiesrnand Peoples' Regional State Sidama Zone Hawassa Town are expected to use theserneffective teclmiques and principles to enable the learners use the English languagerneffectively.rnAccording to Wallace (1988), the principles include: aim - what is to be taught, whichrnwords, how many, need - target vocabulary should respond students' real needs andrninterests, - fj'equent exposure and repetition, meaningful presentation, clear andrnunambiguous denotation or reference should be assured.rn2