| If you are an English as a Second Language (ESL) | | | | 1) It has relevant vocabulary for all levels of students |
| teacher looking for the ultimate textbook to teach your | | | | (you can check out the table of contents on |
| students vocabulary, then you are going to love the | | | | Amazon.com). |
| Oxford Picture Dictionary (Monolingual English). This | | | | 2) Students and ESL teachers can begin on any page |
| textbook is perfect for any ESL student and any ESL | | | | at any time (so new students will not feel like they are |
| teacher. It can be used by students of all levels, and | | | | behind the class). |
| contains important English words or vocabulary. We | | | | 3) Pictures can be understood even if the student has |
| use this book at our ESL school, Hawaii Literacy's | | | | a very minimal level of English. |
| Drop In Center, because it can be used with any level | | | | 4) All levels of students find the book useful and |
| of student. As long as the student has learned their | | | | engaging. |
| basic ABCs and basics of English reading, they can | | | | 5) The teacher's manual and workbooks are excellent |
| learn from it effectively. | | | | and make teaching and learning much easier. |
| To understand the amazing adaptability of this ESL | | | | 6) It is inexpensive for most students (about $17) |
| textbook, I will discuss a little more about how it is used | | | | Of course, even with these many advantages, the |
| in our school. The Drop-In Center is a free ESL school | | | | book is a reference book...a picture dictionary. |
| for the local immigrant community of Hawaii, hence | | | | Therefore, in order to make it interesting to students, |
| student attendance is not consistent. Students are free | | | | the ESL teacher will need to integrate it into an |
| to come and go and thus it is difficult to have a | | | | effective classroom experience. |
| traditional lesson plan structure. In addition, since the | | | | For my class, I usually use the Teacher's Manual, which |
| school is mostly run by volunteers, there are often not | | | | already has ready made sample dialogues, lists of |
| enough ESL teachers to divide students into different | | | | sentences for dictation, discussion questions, related |
| levels. | | | | vocabulary and other suggested activities. I might |
| The Oxford Picture Dictionary offers many | | | | throw in a quiz or two to help the students check their |
| advantages for us: | | | | comprehension. |