Real-World Task Guidelines:
EAL Literacy
CLB 1L
Health and Wellness
Possible Topics
This theme may include these topic areas:
And so on
Planning Context
Learners may require the following:
- Visual clues
- Topics that are related to immediate personal needs
- Face-to-face or one-on-one digital interactions
- Text that is clear, sparse and very easy to read
- Slower rates of speech
- Non-demanding contexts
Instructors may need to:
- Teach all concepts and vocabulary orally first
- Limit vocabulary to highly familiar words and phrases
- Speak slowly
- Use increased white-space, large font size, a literacy-friendly font and clear images
- Modify instructions to limit to 2 to 5 words
- Provide extensive scaffolding and support
Comprehending Information
Understand very simple information about highly familiar topics.
- Identifies a few obvious factual details, such as numbers, letters, times and dates.
- Identifies a few key words and short expressions.
Comprehending Instructions
Understand very short, simple instructions, commands and requests related to immediate needs.
- Identifies words or phrases that indicate positive or negative commands.
- Indicates comprehension with appropriate verbal or non-verbal requests.
Interacting with Others
Use and respond to basic courtesy formulas and greetings.
- Responds appropriately to common greetings, introductions, and leave-takings.
- Uses appropriate basic courtesy formulas.
Sharing Information
Give basic personal information in response to direct questions from a supportive listener.
- Answers simple questions about personal information.
- Uses alphabet to spell out words, such as own name.
Comprehending Information
Recognize names, numbers, and some basic details in very simple short texts related to everyday situations.
- Identifies numbers, letters, a few key words and short expressions.
- Identifies a few simple details.
Getting Things Done
Get information from very short simple common formatted texts.
- Identifies numbers and familiar words.
- Identifies an address.
Comprehending Instructions
Understand very short, simple instructions for common, familiar everyday situations.
- Recognizes individual words (imperative verbs and common nouns) in a set of instructions.
- Identifies numbers, a few key words and short expressions in instructions.
Getting Things Done
Complete very short, simple or simplified forms that require only basic personal identification information.
- Includes the required basic information.
- Write basic information in appropriate sections.
Reproducing Information
Copy numbers, letters, words, short phrases or sentences from simple lists or short passages for personal use.
- Copies or records letters, numbers, words and short sentences with correct capitalization and punctuation.
- Copies text legibly; reader may still have some difficulties decoding some letters and numbers.
Literacy Learner Considerations
Listening and Speaking
1L learners are meeting the requirements of CLB 1 in listening and speaking. It is important for 1L learners to develop all new language orally first so that it is familiar to them when they learn to recognize it in print. Listening and speaking should be taught and assessed orally and not through the skills of reading and writing. There is a focus on learning basic and immediately relevant vocabulary and beginning to learn the sounds of the language, including the ability to break words into sounds and to blend sounds into words.
Reading
To be successful in 1L reading tasks, 1L learners can work towards the development of reading skills in the context of real-world tasks, such as:
- developing oral vocabulary related to the task
- recognizing that letters have distinct sounds
- connecting letters to sounds
- reading own name and recognizing own address and personal information
- developing first sight words
Writing
To be successful in 1L writing tasks, 1L learners can work towards the development of writing skills in the context of real-world tasks, such as:
- developing oral vocabulary related to the task
- forming lowercase and uppercase letters
- identifying the first sound and some other sounds in a familiar word
- copying words
- writing own name and personal information
Additional Sample Real-World Tasks and Competency Areas
Listen and respond to expressions from staff in a hospital setting when trying to attract attention. (Getting Things Done)
Give a short instruction to a family member about their medication. (Giving Instructions)
Find 2 to 3 familiar words on hospital signage. (Getting Things Done)
Write 2 to 3 words to complete a guided text about a visit to the dentist. (Sharing Information)
Digital Literacy Strategies
Successful completion of some tasks may require some baseline digital knowledge and skills.
Learners may need to:
- Look at a website.
- Read information from a screen.
- Send and receive text messages.
Instructors can:
- Have keyboarding and typing skills
- Introduce tools and apps that can aid learners in coping with communication barriers, such as translation, pronunciation, text to speech, speech to text tools and so on.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategies
Instructors Can:
- Use diverse representations of people in all your learning resources and images, including people who are 2SLGBTQIA+, Indigenous, Francophone and of other cultures, and people who have disabilities or who are neurodivergent.
- Recognize that people who identify as women may not have had independent access to medical professionals and health care. Make sure these learners are aware of their rights in Canada and the resources that are available to them.
Trauma-Informed Strategies
Triggers:
- Learners who have experienced trauma can be triggered by people in positions of authority; make sure learners understand their rights in the healthcare system and give strategies for making polite requests.
- Learners who have experienced trauma may find discussions of health care triggering.
Strategies:
- Learners have the right to choose if, when and what they share about themselves.
- Giving learners the knowledge, skills and language to access resources can be empowering.
Sample Real World Tasks
This information is aligned with the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) and is designed to help guide you in the planning process. You can use these sample real-world tasks to guide and inform your selection or creation of skill-building activities, skill-using tasks and assessment tasks.
These sample real-world tasks include the following: skill, real-world task, competency area, one competency statement and two sample indicators of ability. This is not an exhaustive list: there are more indicators of ability and information about this CLB level in Canadian Language Benchmarks English as a Second Language for Adults. Consult this resource for more information and to select your own competencies or indicators of ability. Remember, you can use more learner-friendly language in your materials and assessments.
This is NOT a lesson plan, module plan or curriculum.
