Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB 2L - Speaking
Getting Things Done

Employment - At the Workplace

Real-World Task

Ask your coworker where the washrooms are in your workplace. Identify if they are gender neutral.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Present simple
Yes / no questions in the present simple: to be
Basic jobs vocabulary: teacher, cleaner, kitchen helper, security guard, nurse,
and so on

Context:

It is common to need to ask where the washrooms are located.
Some people prefer gender-neutral washrooms, and some people prefer gender-specific washrooms.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

Sample Grammar:

Information questions in the present simple: Where are…where is…is it…

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

The question word at the start
of the question tells you what kind
of information you are asking for.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

You can soften a question or make it more polite with a polite introduction such as excuse me.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss as a class: Who has a job? What do you do? Who has had a job in the past? What did you do? Brainstorm a list of common, familiar jobs on the board. Use images to support your discussion.
Discuss as a class: When you are at work, who do you ask if you have questions? Teach the words co-worker and supervisor.
Copy co-worker and supervisor and match with the correct photo.
Work with a partner. Read sentences and decide if they are about a co-worker or a supervisor, e.g. She does the same job as me (co-worker) or He tells me what to do (supervisor).
Discuss as a class: What does gender mean? Elicit from learners woman and man. Show signs for a washroom and ask which symbol is for men and which symbol is for women. Show a sign for a gender-neutral washroom and ask learners who can use that washroom. Teach that gender-neutral washrooms are for anyone.
Use TPR (Total Physical Response) to practice task vocabulary. Give each word an action, call out the word, and have learners respond with the correct action.
Incorporate phonics activities based on the vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
Review questions with where. Practice asking questions about the location of items in the classroom. Have learners work with a partner. Look at a photograph of a classroom item and ask your partner where it is.
Listen to a simple instructor-made dialogue between two co-workers in which one of the co-workers asks the other where there is a washroom and asks whether it’s gender-neutral. “Where is the washroom? It’s next to the door. Is it gender neutral? Yes, it is is. / No, it’s men only.” Practice the dialogue as a class and then practice again with a partner. Perform your dialogue for the class.
Go for a walk around your school or organization and identify the washroom signs and whether they are for men, women, or if they are gender-neutral.
Discuss polite ways to ask someone a question. Practice the words excuse me. Mingle with your classmates. Stop and politely ask a classmate where the washroom is and if it’s gender-neutral.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Role-play a conversation with a classmate between a new student and a more experienced student, in which the new student asks for a washroom and asks whether it’s gender-neutral.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Ask your coworker where the washrooms are in your workplace. Identify if they are gender neutral.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Some learners may have different views. You can be sensitive to their differing opinions, but all learners benefit from EDI, and all learners have the right to an inclusive and equitable learning environment.
Race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, family status, genetic characteristics and disability are all protected grounds under the Canadian Human Rights Act.

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.
Type information to appear on screen.

Instructors can:

Dedicate time to improve digital literacy for learners.
Make and/ or adapt digital materials.
Introduce websites or apps that are relevant to the task(s).
Support learners in finding, navigating and using websites or apps.
Show learners how to change the speed on an online video.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:

Make sure you use a variety of jobs in your examples, including many entry-level or so-called “unskilled” jobs that are more accessible to learners at this level.
Use images of men and women doing a variety of types of jobs.
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. 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 based on their gender or who have experienced gender-based violence may be triggered by discussions of gender.
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:

Work with a small group. Go on a scavenger hunt in the community to find public washrooms. Check the signs and identify if any are gender-neutral.
Work with a partner. Create a dialogue between two co-workers about washrooms available to workers. Perform your dialogue for the class.

Realia:

Examples of washroom signs

Units and Modules:

Lessons and Activities:

The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Reading Skills Stories
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Adults Learn to Print
Tutela: Norquest LINC Phonics Curriculum: CLB 2L
Tutela: Foundation L-CLB 2L Phonics Curriculum
A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia: