Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB 3L-Listening
Comprehending Information

Getting Around and Transportation

Real-World Task

Listen to a conversation between two people where one person is asking the other person for directions to a Francophone cultural centre to find out the address.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Present simple
Questions in the present simple
Numbers to 1000

Context:

More than 22% of the population of Canada is Francophone.
Cultural centres often provide services and programming especially to people of that culture. Many workshops and events are also open to the general public.
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:

Sample Grammar:

Format of addresses

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

It’s helpful to write down an address when you hear it.
You can ask someone to repeat detailed information, like a telephone number or address.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

People often share information with each other about the community.
Cultural centres can be supportive environments for the members of the community and a way for others to learn about different cultures in 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 cultural centre is. Go to the website of a local cultural centre. 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.
In small groups, discuss whether there are cultural centres for your own culture in your community in Canada. If yes, where are they? What support do they 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 the format of addresses in Canada.
Show learners a mapping app such as Google Maps. As a class, input an address and find its location. Give learners a short list of addresses and have them work with a partner to locate the address on Google Maps on their phone or a different device.
Listen to a dialogue about the benefits of visiting a cultural centre. Practice the dialogue as a class and then practice with a partner. Perform your dialogue for the class.
Listen to addresses read by the instructor and complete a simple cloze exercise.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Listen to a dialogue between two friends about a language school in the community. Answer questions about details such as the telephone number, address, and services.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Listen to a conversation between two people where one person is asking the other person for directions to a Francophone cultural centre to find out the address. Fill out a simplified form with the pertinent information.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

There are Francophone cultural centres 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.
Try a traditional Francophone food in Canada, such as tortiere or poutine.
Listen to a French Canadian song.
Visit other cultural centres in your community. Create an LEA story about the outing.
In a Show and Tell formal, learners make short presentations about their culture and present it to the class.

Realia:

Google Maps or another mapping app
Paper maps
Websites of cultural centres in your community

Units and Modules:

Tutela (CCLB): Getting Around the City: CLB 3/4 (Not literacy but can be adapted)
Tutela (CCLB): Socializing with Others: CLB 3/4 (Not literacy but can be adapted)

Lessons and Activities:

LINC 3 Classroom Activities Community and Government Services (p. 273-310) (Not literacy but can be adapted)
Tutela (OCDSB): Greeting a Friend at a Community Event: CLB 3 (Not literacy but can be adapted)
Tutela (OCDSB): Assessment Task: Finding Information about the Train or Bus or Subway: CLB 3 (Not literacy but can be adapted)
Tutela: Norquest LINC Phonics Curriculum: CLB 3L
A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia:

Google Maps