The effectiveness of explicit instruction, within the context of strategy development in learners, has been widely accepted for several years. However, the methods used within explicit vocabulary instruction are varied and comparatively few studies have directly compared methods. This study investigates the type of instruction (in a visual or written context) as well as the timing of the activity (before or after the main activity). Seventy Arabic learners of English were tested in a 2 × 2 design. Results showed a positive effect for pre-teaching vocabulary in a visual condition. We conclude that this pre-emptive multimodal approach heightens the learners' ability to notice vocabulary items thus providing an effective strategy to increase vocabulary intake.