SYNTHESIZING TRAIT DEVELOPMENT VIA SELF-REFERENCING STRATEGY: DEVELOPMENT OF EFL LEARNERS’ VOCABULARY ABILITY AND LEARNER AUTONOMY Gholam-Reza Abbasian1 and Nafiseh Rezaee2 ABSTRACT This study investigated the possibility of applying a synthetic approach to the development of EFL learners’ vocabulary ability and learner autonomy through employing self-reference strategy. To this end, a group of 60 Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners participated in the study. The instrumentation included the KET proficiency test, a researcher-made diagnostic as pretest and another achievement test along with Zhang and Li’s (2004) Learner Autonomy Inventory. Two equal groups in the form of an experimental and a control group were exposed to vocabulary instruction; conventionally categorized as Experimental and Control groups, the former received a 12-session instruction employing self-referencing strategy (SRS), while the latter one followed the conventional path. The respective statistical analyses reveal that SRS has significant impacts on a synthetic development of the target traits, i.e., vocabulary learning and retention and developing learner autonomy. Findings suggest teachers foster SRS in order to strengthen target traits in the process of language learning in general and skill gaining in particular. KEYWORDS: vocabulary learning and retention, self-reference learning strategies, learner autonomy