Dictionaries for Adults in Literacy Programs

A Bibliography of Resources Available from North Carolina Community

College Literacy Resource Center
February 2002

Recurring questions from literacy educators sent us to our catalogs to locate dictionaries that
might be appropriate for students in adult literacy programs. While the list is not inclusive, it
provides options for beginning, intermediate and advanced students. We’ve provided call
numbers for dictionaries that are available from North Carolina Community College Literacy
Resource Center.

Basic Dictionaries

Finding a basic dictionary for adults in literacy programs requires careful effort. Entries should be
words adults use and definitions should include adult references. The language must be
straightforward, with features that are helpful without being overwhelming. While there is no
single dictionary that meets all adult requirements, here are several that adults might find helpful.

These dictionaries could be used by beginning and intermediate students.

The New Oxford Picture Dictionary New Readers Press, PO Box 131, Syracuse,
NY,13210.

Perhaps the only picture dictionary designed for adults, The New Oxford Picture
Dictionary includes color illustrations for over 2,400 words and is widely used with
beginning learners either as an independent resource of as a component of a
vocabulary development program. Bilingual editions, available in eight languages,
include second language words beside English words.

PE 1628 The Dictionary of Essential English. American Guidance Service, 4201 Woodland
.M33 Rd, PO Box 99, Circle Pines, MN, 55014-1796, 1987.
1987
Includes some 5,000 of the most frequently used English words. The dictionary has
short, clear definitions, simplified respellings to aid pronunciation, and readable
print.

PE1628 The Everyday American English Dictionary. National Textbook Company, 4255
.E92 West Touhy Avenue, Lincolnwood, IL, 60646-1975, 1994
1986
Includes 5,500 basic English words from everyday life (food, clothing, sports,
government, school). Its brief, clear definitions and readable print should be
appropriate for most adults.

These dictionaries could be used by more advanced students.

PE 1628 The New Horizon Ladder Dictionary of the English Language Revised Edition
.S48 Signet, Penguin Books USA, 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY, 10014, 1990.
1990
Contains over 6,000 words divided into "ladders" based on frequency of use.
Definitions are clear and accompanied by interesting sentence examples. Print is
extremely readable and the dictionary looks like an adult paperback book.

PE1628.5 The Fearon New School Dictionary Globe Fearon, 4350 Equity Drive, PO Box
.F44 1987 2649, Columbus, OH, 43216, 1987.

Contains over 70,000 entries. Its compact size makes it easy to use by adults who
are fairly comfortable with reference books.
Webster's New World Dictionary, Second Concise Edition Globe Fearon, 1982.
Webster's School Dictionary Globe Fearon, 1989.

The New World Dictionary is a hard cover, comprehensive dictionary with terms
from business, arts and sciences, slang and informal words. The School Dictionary
contains the same words in soft cover. It includes standard phonetic respellings and
lists word derivations.

Spelling Dictionaries
Many adults are concerned about spelling correctly. For them, spelling dictionaries can be a
welcome resource.
Spellex Word Finder Curriculum Associates, 5 Esquire Rd., PO Box 2001, N.
Billerica, MA, 01862-0901.

Word Finder is a small soft cover book containing over 3,000 base words commonly
used in writing, along with common suffix forms. It can be used to verify spelling
and to select the appropriate form of a word for a particular situation.

PE 146 Spell It Right National Textbook Company, 1992

.D836
1992 Spell It Right contains over 7,000 commonly misspelled words and more than 7,000
ways in which they are likely to be misspelled. An adult can look up his or her "best
guess" and find correct the spelling of a word.

Electronic Dictionaries

Franklin Learning Resources (FLR 122 Burrs Road, Mt. Holly, NJ, 08060) produces electronic
books that include a number of spelling aids. Two of them add oral pronunciations to visual
displays. They also contain educational games, a prefix/suffix matching feature, and store 250
personal words.
LRC The Speaking Ace contains 80,000 words in its database. The leaner types in a
word and presses Enter. The Speaking Ace verifies correct spelling, displays
correctly spelled options, and pronounces words. Among its added features are
prefix/suffix matching, 4 levels of word ranking from elementary to advanced, and
SAT prep words.
The Speaking Dictionary Companion consists of an electronic book plus a hard
cover Merriam Webster Basic English Dictionary. The 50,000 words in its database
match those in the dictionary. Like the Speaking Ace, the Speaking Dictionary
Companion verifies and corrects spelling, and pronounces words. It also includes
page-finder access to the dictionary and a rhyming feature.

Related Resources

Three interesting books that, strictly speaking, are not dictionaries address issues of interest to
adults.
PE 2827 The Beginners Dictionary of American Usage National Textbook Company,
.C65 1989.
1986
Provides usage features as well as definitions for some 4,000 words.

The Spellex Thesaurus Curriculum Associates).

Lists 1,250 words from The Spellex Word Finder (c.f. spelling dictionaries, above)
giving part of speech, 3-5 synonyms, and a contextual sentence for each.

PE 2839 The American Idioms Dictionary National Textbook Company, 1994.

.S64 Contains 8,000 common idioms plus a phrase finder to help locate them.
1994