Abstract
The aim of this research paper was to examine the impact of translation and pictorial methods on Iranian EFL learner’s vocabulary learning and retention. Vocabulary learning is central and essential in the process of second/foreign language learning. One of the challenges facing the second language learner is how to learn a large vocabulary in order to speak, listen, read and write the target language effectively, and communicate successfully and properly with others. In this research, the total number of 60 Iranian elementary students participated from a secondary school in Bushehr, Iran. The learners were studying in two different classes of the seventh grade in "ALI school" in Bushehr state. All the students in our sample were of the same age group (12 years old) and they were male. Persian language is the medium of instruction in all Iranian schools. In addition; English language used as foreign language for Iranian students. In this study, fifty concrete words drawn from Prospect book (one book) and Iranian teachers have been using it for instruction for the Iranian elementary students in the seventh grade in the secondary schools in Iran. In this study, three tests such as translation test, picture test, and context-embedded test administered to the Iranian EFL learners. The outcome of this research paper showed that all the hypothesizes were rejected.