Both adult literacy students and English as a Second Language students can benefit from a picture dictionary for adults.
Pictures help to convey what your are saying, reading, and can help to jog the student's memory. They can also give students an image to help them explain what they are talking about.
Picture dictionaries for adults usually include quite detailed scenes and images that reflect the adult life. There are images of jobs, shopping, driving, sports, etc. There are many action verbs that are demonstrated in these types of scenes.
When I was working with various ESL students, they could point to a picture to show me what it was they were wanting to know about. Some of my ESL students could easily decipher words and "read" but didn't know what all the words actually meant. The picture dictionary was a big help, and I didn't have to act out a lot of charades.
The Oxford Picture Dictionary has a lot of scenes and situations that covers a wide range of activities that are relevant for the adult literacy student.
It also has forms that adults may have to fill out, such as school registration. (The version that I had before, had forms, I see that a new version is out, so hopefully, it also shows forms too.)
If you are a tutor, the scenes can also be used for conversation starters, writing activities, spelling activities, and more. This book is pretty comprehensive.
If you want a picture dictionary that is smaller and lighter weight, then I recommend the The New Oxford Picture Dictionary (English-Spanish Edition). Although it also includes the Spanish translation, it can be used by English speaking adult students too. It is not as comprehensive as the above dictionary, but still includes a lot of pictures and scenes to help with your adult literacy students.
Cheryl Paton
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