Detailed Sample Task: Stage I

CLB 3 - Listening
Comprehending Instructions

Getting Around and Transportation

Real-World Task

Follow 2-4 directions to get to a local Francophone settlement organization.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Basic direction words
Common community places
Present simple
Questions in the present simple

Context:

Understanding directions in the community fosters independence and integration
More than 22% of the population of Canada is Francophone.
Settlement organizations often provide services and programming to people in both official languages. Some organizations will serve English speaking clients and some will serve primarily French speaking clients. There are often staff at settlement organizations who speak other languages as well.
This task reflects the intention to include all people in Canada in the themes.
The language skills in this task could be applied to other contexts.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

Francophone
French
settlement organization
support
services
Turn / go straight
Left / right
street
on the corner
near
other landmarks in the community
such as bank, church, school and so on

Sample Grammar:

Imperatives for giving instructions
Prepositions of place: next to, across from
Sequencing words: first, then

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Directions are usually short instructions, not full sentences
Directions often use sequences and landmarks in the community to guide

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

People often ask for and give each other directions in the community.
Directions may be approximate locations such as “near” or “close to”
Settlement organizations can be supportive environments for new members of the community.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss as a class: What languages do you speak? What languages are spoken in Canada? Elicit from learners the two official languages in Canada (English and French) as well as the hundreds of other languages spoken in Canada, including Indigenous languages.
Give each learner a sticky note. Have them write down their first language on the sticky note. Work together as a class to make a simple bar graph. Write down all the languages spoken in the class (e.g. Farsi, Amharic, Arabic, Spanish, and so on) horizontally along a line. Have each learner place their sticky note above the language they speak, stacking above other sticky notes if there are multiples. Then discuss what a bar graph is and ask the class questions about the data.
As a class, talk about what a settlement organization is. Go to the website of a local settlement organization. Explore as a class what services or support they offer, and have learners locate on the website details such as the address and phone number.
Discuss as a class: Have you ever been to
a settlement agency? Where is it? What did you do there? What languages did you speak? What other services does the settlement organization provide?
Review the task vocabulary. Have learners copy words into very simple definitions to complete mini-dictionaries.
Use vocabulary cards with clear pictures and words to practice the vocabulary. Do activities such as fill in the blanks, cross word puzzles, and matching.
Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
Review basic directions such as turn left, turn right and go straight.
Show learners a simple map of a pretend place. It is marked with simple street names and common landmarks. As a class, identify the location of the landmarks in relation to other landmarks on the map. “The bank is next to the park. The supermarket is across from the church.” and so on.
On a simple map, learners follow the instructions as called out by the instructor. “Go straight on Main Street. Turn left on Red Street The office is next to the bank” and so on. Draw lines to trace the routes.
Have learners work in pairs. One learner reads a set of instructions and the other learner draws the route. Switch roles and when both learners have finished, compare routes.
Listen to directions read by the instructor and complete a simple cloze exercise.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Listen to the directions to a language school in the community. Indicate comprehension by tracing the route on a simple map.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Listen to 2-4 directions to get to a local Francophone settlement organization.
Indicate comprehension by tracing the route on a simple map.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

There are Francophone settlement organizations in many communities in Canada. About 22% of the population of Canada are Francophone, and many Newcomers to Canada speak French.

Digital Literacy Strategies:

Successful completion of some tasks may require some baseline knowledge and digital skills.

Learners may need to:

Have keyboarding and typing skills.
Locate, navigate and use websites.
Use familiar apps, social media platforms and web pages.
Read information from a screen.

Instructors can:

Dedicate time to improve digital literacy for learners
Make and/ or adapt digital materials.
Introduce websites and/or apps that are relevant to the task(s).
Support learners in finding, navigating and using websites, for example, finding a specific route
Teach reading strategies such as skimming and scanning to find information on websites or apps.
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.
Share knowledge and strategies to ensure online safety.
Refer learners to programs to improve their digital skills.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:

When discussing Francophones in Canada, include Newcomers to Canada who speak French as a first language, and deliberately include people of many cultural backgrounds in the images of Francophone Canadians.
Use diverse representations of people in all your learning resources and images, including people who are 2SLGBTQ+, Indigenous, Francophone and of other cultures, and people who have disabilities or who are neurodivergent. Consider this diversity as you choose names for characters in stories you create as well.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma Triggers:

Learners who have experienced discrimination or persecution based on their culture may be triggered by discussions of minority cultures in Canada. They may also feel empowered by learning about the rights of all people in Canada.
When teaching about Canada, you may teach about things that are triggering to learners who have experienced trauma. We can’t know what the triggers might be and what seems commonplace to us may have a triggering component for learners. Be aware of this and be prepared to support learners as needed.

Strategies:

Give learners advance warning of this topic and be aware that there may be learners who require support.
Learners who have experienced trauma often benefit from having routine. Create a safe and supportive classroom environment by establishing familiar routines, repeated activities, and model friendly and non-evaluative interactions.
Learners will benefit from positive relationships established in the classroom with the instructor and peers.
Learners who have experienced trauma benefit from having choices.
- Allow learners choice:
  - the choice to work on a different topic
  - the choice to share or not share their own experiences
  - the choice to work alone or to work with others
  - the choice to take care of themselves
  - the choice to step out of the learning environment
When learners have shared personal distressing or traumatic experiences, make space for learners to feel safe and recover from the experience of sharing their experiences. Follow the activities which may make learners feel vulnerable with routine, predictable and comforting activities.
Giving learners the knowledge, skills and language to access resources can be empowering.

Resources

Outings, Guest Speaker Suggestions, Extension Activities:

Visit a Francophone cultural centre and / or settlement organization.
Try a traditional Francophone food in Canada, such as tortiere or poutine.
Listen to a French Canadian song.
Visit other settlement organizations in your community to find out what services they offer. Create an LEA story about the outing.
Learn a few French words such as greetings and introductions.

Realia:

Paper maps
Websites of settlement organizations in your community
Images of landmarks in your community

Units and Modules:

Lessons and Activities:

Multimedia:

Google Maps