Along with learning standard academic lessons, English as a Second Language (ESL) students must work to develop their English vocabulary so they can better understand information they encounter in print and oral communication. By engaging students in hands-on activities that allow them to practice their English vocabulary skills, ESL teachers can assist their students in adding to their lexicon, or personal dictionary.

Student-Selected Vocabulary
Allow students to direct their own vocabulary learning by creating student-selected vocabulary lists. Ask your ESL students to be on the lookout for words they don't know but would like to learn. When reading with your students, have them highlight or underline words that they would like to add to their personal vocabulary lists.

Compile a list of 10 to 20 words for each student, based upon the words that the student selected while reading. Have the class study these words in lieu of a standardized vocabulary list, making the lesson more specialized and interesting for your students.

Vocabulary Skits
Give your ESL students the opportunity to practice using the words they are learning through their English studies. After studying several lists of vocabulary words, divide students into group of three or four. Assign each group five to 10 vocabulary words from previous vocabulary lists. Ask the groups to compose skits in which they use these assigned vocabulary words.

Give students time to rehearse, then allow them to perform for their classmates, showing their peers how well they can use the vocabulary that they have recently learned.

Vocabulary Comics
Mix vocabulary words into comic strips by creating vocabulary comics. Clip several comic strips from your local newspaper. Using correction fluid, white out the original text in the speech bubbles. Photocopy the blank comics, giving one to each student.

Instruct the students to write new text for each speech bubble, integrating at least four vocabulary words into each comic strip. Give students the opportunity to swap their strips with their peers.

Personal Dictionary
Help your ESL student keep track of his newly learned words by working with him to create a personal dictionary. Provide a theme book or spiral notebook and have the student label pages with the letters A through Z, leaving several blank pages between letters.

Instruct the student to write the vocabulary words that he recently learned in his dictionary on the appropriate pages. This should become a regular activity for students, adding new words after each class or once a week to create a comprehensive list.