Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB FL - Speaking
Getting Things Done

Home and Neighbourhood

Real-World Task

Ask your teacher for help with a task.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

The teacher’s role is to help you learn English
polite requests with please

Context:

Learners need to know how to request help in the class.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

Sample Grammar:

Objective pronoun: me

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

You can make a request with a single word: help

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

You can make a request more polite by saying please.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Use TPR (Total Physical Response) to teach the task vocabulary. Assign an action to each word. Call out a word and have learners respond with the correct action.
Use vocabulary cards with clear photographs to practice vocabulary.
Play games such as Matching and Bingo.
Use the words listening, speaking, reading, and writing every time you do an activity. When your activity uses paper, use a consistent photograph in the top corner of the paper (e.g. a pencil for writing). When you tell learners what activity you are doing, write the word on the board and say it several times, e.g. Let’s practice speaking [write “speaking”]. Speaking. Let’s speak together. We’ll practice speaking. Find a partner…
Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
Read a very simple instructor-made story illustrated with clear photographs to the class, e.g. Tekle learns English. Tekle speaks. Tekle listens. Tekle reads. Tekle writes. Tekle doesn’t understand. Please help me, teacher. Read the story to learners and then choral read and echo read the story together.
Give learners the photographs from the Tekle story. Say a line from the story, e.g. Tekle reads, and have learners hold up the correct picture.
Trace the word help. Say the letters, and then say help.
Any time a learner needs help in class and gets your attention, model the language
you would like to see: Please help me.
Have learners repeat.
Play “teacher.” Give one learner a clipboard or a marker to indicate they’re the teacher. Have that learner use TPR with familiar classroom commands such as stand up, sit down, open your binder, and so on. The rest of the learners follow the commands, but can also say, Help me, teacher, and then
the “teacher” needs to demonstrate the correct action.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Role-play a conversation with your instructor. Say hello, ask for help,
and thank your instructor.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Ask your teacher for help with a task.
To assess this, you can either assess as you
are teaching and keep a list of every learner who asks for help, or you can use the
Tekle story and show the picture of Tekle asking for help. Prompt learners to say
what Tekle needs.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Learners, especially at this level, may not be familiar with the role of an instructor in a language class or with a communicative approach to learning language. If Foundation L learners have experience with teaching, they may expect very formal or traditional teaching methods. Help learners to understand how much they are learning and that their instructor is there to help them.
Teach learners culturally appropriate ways to get your attention, such as saying your name, making eye contact, or raising their hand.

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 that are relevant to the task(s).
Support learners in finding, navigating and using websites.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:

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.
Foundation L learners rarely have much classroom experience and do not necessarily believe that they can be successful in school.
Help learners to understand that they have every right to be in the classroom and get the help and teaching they need to learn.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma Triggers:

Learners who have experienced trauma can be triggered by people in positions of authority. Overly authoritative teaching methods can be triggering for these learners. Establishing a trusting relationship with an instructor can be a positive step in healing.
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:

Make a class book with a page for each learner and the instructor. Take a photograph of each learner with their permission and write their name, where they are from, and so on.
Help learners to file their papers in their binders under listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Use any support necessary such as consistent photographs in the corner or colour coding.

Realia:

Authentic conversations with the instructor during learning

Units and Modules:

The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Starting a New English Class: CLB FL/1L

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 FL
Tutela: Foundation L-CLB 2L Phonics Curriculum
Tutela: Teaching the Mechanics of Writing and Letter Formation
A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia:

Tutela: ESL Image Bank: Education