Vocabulary development includes learning to recognize, comprehend, and produce alternative ways of communicating a word, an image, or a concept. Instruction in such language alternatives can increase the effectiveness of students' communication skills, making their vocabulary usage more appropriate, precise, descriptive, and interesting. Alternative language includes the following forms: figurative language, such as simile, metaphor, analogy, and idiom; affective language, such as connotation, imagery, euphemism, and sexism; and confusing language, such as visually confusing words, homophones, homographs, multiple-meaning words, and words that vary in space and time. Each type of alternative language has its own special factors affecting difficulty levels. (Appendixes include examples of the various types of language discussed.) (DF)