The effectiveness of three teaching techniques used by native speakers with students of English as a second language was studied. The three techniques were presenting a word in isolation, in combination with a picture, and in a sentence. The study included a 24-hour interval between teaching and testing to determine which method was more effective in word retention. All subjects were Spanish-speaking adolescents and adults. The use of pictures facilitated the identification of target words in initial learning situations. However, for retention purposes, presentation of the new word in a sentence context was the superior method. Also for retention purposes, presenting the word in isolation was superior to presenting the word with a picture. It is suggested that teachers and curriculum designers should consider a combination of pictures and contextual presentation of new words for non-English speaking students. (RW)