Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB 2L - Listening Interacting with Others

Community and Recreation

Real-World Task

Listen to a short conversation between two classmates in an English class  talking about where they can find their cultural food in their community.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

There may be places in your neighbourhood or community where you can find food from your culture.

Context:

It is possible to buy foods from many different cultures in many communities  in Canada.
There are often small specialty stores.
People in your community can help you find what you are looking for.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

Sample Grammar:

Simple present for locations.
Simple present questions with where.

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Replying to questions.
Where is a question word.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

Polite greetings and courtesy formulas.
Asking for suggestions.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Make word cards with common food words, including foods from various cultures in the class. Work in pairs; each partner sets up a “store” with their food cards. Take turns asking, “do you have _______?”
Use cards with food words and pictures to play memory. Turn all the cards upside down. Take turns flipping over two cards to try to make a match.
Sort the vocabulary words into categories based on the initial sound.
Sort the vocabulary words into categories based on the number  of letters.
Make a simple game board with empty spaces and spaces that say “question.” Learners take turns rolling a die. When they land on “question,” they ask their partners a question about food:  “do you eat _______?”.
As a class, make a list of favourite grocery stores in the community.
Use a short simple instructor-made story. Instructor reads, learners listen, then instructor reads, learners repeat. Finally, class reads as a group before reading parts independently.
Listen to a dialogue between two learners that includes a greeting and a question about food. Listen several times, and then take the parts of the people in the dialogue.
As a class, look at a map of the community and find local grocery stores.
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.
Watch a simple video together about making food from one of the learner’s cultures.
Post photos of food around the class, if you are learning in person, or on different places on the screen if you are learning online. Learners work with partners and ask “Where is the _______?”

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Listen to a short conversation between classmates about a local store.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Listen to a short conversation between two English learners with a greeting and a very short discussion about where to buy food from their culture in the community.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

There are foods from many cultures available in most communities in Canada.

Digital Literacy Strategies:

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

Learners may need to:

Look at a website.
Read information from a screen.
Look at an online map.
Use a map app on their phones.

Instructors can:

Introduce websites that are relevant to the task(s).
Show learners how to find a website.
Show learners how to find a location on an online map.
Show learners how to use a map app on their phones.

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.
Recognize that 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.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma Triggers:

Learners may have experienced misogyny, homophobia,  transphobia and/ or racism in the community.
Give learners advance warning of these topics 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:

Visit a local grocery store.
Look at flyers from a grocery store and make a shopping list.
Write a simple recipe for a food you like to make.

Realia:

Grocery store flyers
Maps
Public transportation maps

Units and Modules:

Fruit Module (FL-1L but can be adapted)
Making Fruit Salad Module (FL-1L but can be adapted)

Lessons and Activities:

Let’s Go Shopping for Food (3L but can be adapted)
Everybody’s Food Budget (3L but can be adapted)
Reading a Supermarket Flyer (not literacy but can be adapted)
Understanding a Grocery Store Clerk (not literacy but can be adapted)

Multimedia:

ESL Image Bank: Food