Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB 3L-Writing
Interacting with Others

Social Connections and Relationships

Real-World Task

Write a short message to invite a neighbour or friend over for coffee or tea.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

People in Canada often make plans to see friends or neighbours.

Context:

It is common to send an invitation to a friend or neighbour.
It is common to send invitations as text messages.
It is common to invite a friend or neighbour for a light visit, such as tea or coffee.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

invite, invitation
home
come over/ come by
coffee
tea
specific words for snacks or baked goods

Sample Grammar:

Invitations with would.
Phrasal verbs.
Prepositions of time.

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Making invitations.
Structure of a message.
Connecting words such as coordinating conjunctions.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

Using courtesy formulas to make a polite and friendly invitation.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

As a class, discuss visiting friends. Compare visiting friends in Canada with other cultures. Is it common to make plans or drop by?
As a class, discuss relationships with neighbours. What kinds of relationships with neighbours do Canadians often have? There is an expression: Good fences make good neighbours. What does this mean?
Practice at and on with times, days and dates.
Make invitations to your classmates using Would you like to…
Match pictures of vocabulary with word cards.
Write a dialogue with a partner in which you invite a friend over and offer them tea or coffee.
From a short, simple instructor-made story on the topic, have learners listen as the instructor reads, following with their finger. Have learners repeat after the instructor to match intonation and fluency. Finally, have learners read the story as a group, and then individually.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Write an invitation to your instructor to invite them for coffee or tea.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Write a short message to invite a friend or neighbour for coffee or tea.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

In Canada, it is common to invite someone over. It is a little less common to come by without making plans, even with good friends. Neighbours are often friendly with each other.
Inviting someone over for coffee or tea usually means that you will provide warm drinks and possibly a light snack.

Digital Literacy Strategies:

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

Learners may need to:

Send or read a text message.
Send or read an email.

Instructors can:

Show learners how to send and receive text messages.
Show learners how to open, read and reply to email messages.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:

Instructors can:

Use diverse representations of people in all 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 and teach learners that Canada is a diverse place and has people from many different cultures. Canadian culture includes the cultures of all people in Canada.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma Triggers:

Meeting new people may be triggering for learners who have experienced trauma.
Give learners advance warning of this topic and be aware that there may be learners who require support.

Strategies:

Create a safe and supportive classroom environment by establishing familiar routines, repeated activities, and model friendly and non-evaluative interactions; learners who have experienced trauma often benefit from having routine.
Recognize and respect learners’ right to choose if, when and what they share about themselves and their routines.

Resources

Outings, Guest Speaker Suggestions, Extension Activities:

Host a tea/ coffee party for another class and write invitations to the class.
Write an invitation to another instructor or to a program coordinator or director to come visit the class.
Write a thank you note to a visitor to the class.

Realia:

Cell phones

Units and Modules:

Socializing with Others (not literacy but can be adapted)

Lessons and Activities:

Inviting a Friend to an Event (not literacy but can be adapted)