Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB 2L - Reading
Comprehending Instructions

Employment - At the Workplace

Real-World Task

Read an infographic, of up to 4 steps, on how to perform a duty at work.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Present simple: forms of be
basic job role vocabulary: cook, cleaner, security guard, nurse, teacher, hospital worker

Context:

Understanding workplace policies and procedures is important to successfully working a job. In many workplaces, procedures are explained as infographics.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

workplace
employee
supervisor
duty
vocabulary related to the specific duty; in this example, it is for clocking in at the start of a shift using an online system: log on, username, password, tap, clock in, shift

Sample Grammar:

Imperative voice

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Instructions are given in order.
Each step in an infographic is illustrated with a clear picture of what you are trying to do.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

You can ask your supervisor for help with workplace duties if you do not understand.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss as a class: what does work mean? What does job mean? Ask the class who has a job in Canada. Ask the class who has had a job in a different country. Elicit examples of jobs they have done.
Use vocabulary cards with words and clear pictures to practice workplace vocabulary. Play games such as Bingo, Memory, and matching.
Listen to a short instructor-made dialogue between a new employee and a supervisor about learning a duty at work. Practice the dialogue with a partner and perform for the class.
Review the imperative voice. Use TPR
(Total Physical Response) with simple, familiar classroom instructions to practice the imperative voice (e.g. stand up, sit down, pick up your book, touch your pencil, smile at your neighbour, and so on). After a few rounds, have a learner call out the instructions.
Discuss as a class: What activities do you do at home? Ask individual learners to explain how they do these things, such as do the laundry, make coffee or tea or prepare dinner. Use the imperative voice. Review some simple activities using visuals.
Read a very short, simple instructor-made story about learning a new duty at work. Read the story to the learners, then choral read and echo read the story. Have learners read the story to each other and find vocabulary words in the story.
Use words and pictures to sequence events of the story.
Discuss as a class: how do you log into a system on the computer or phone? Elicit words such as log on, open program, username, and password.
Work with a partner and use vocabulary cards with words and clear pictures to sequence the steps to logging into a system: open program, username, password.
Discuss as a class how to clock in at the start of the shift. Ask learners who have had jobs in Canada or other countries what they have to do at the start of a shift. Discuss clocking in and out and how that is often done now on a computer or phone.
Read a short, simple story about logging in to clock in at the start of a shift.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Read an infographic, of up to 4 steps, on how to clock out at the end of a shift.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Read an infographic, of up to 4 steps, on how to perform a duty at work. In this example, read an infographic for how to clock in at the start of a shift using an online system. Respond to simple multiple choice questions to demonstrate understanding.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

There is an expectation of punctuality in Canada, especially in the workplace. Discuss as a class what it means to be on time for a shift in a Canadian workplace.

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.
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.
Show learners that the size of an image on the screen can be adjusted.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:

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.
Avoid any kind of judgemental language about “good job” or “bad job” and include unpaid work, including work in the home such as cooking, cleaning, and childcare, in descriptions of work.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma Triggers:

Learners who have experienced trauma may feel triggered by official procedures.
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:

Have learners complete sentences about their work. Include past work; work in the home, such as cooking, cleaning, and childcare; schoolwork; and volunteering. With permission, take a photograph of each learner and publish the work as a booklet.
Try to find other examples of info graphics in the environment, perhaps handwashing or disposing of garbage.

Realia:

Websites or systems for logging in
Images of duties at work

Units and Modules:

Lessons and Activities:

Tutela (Archway): Email and Passwords: CLB 1L/2L
Tutela (Archway): Saying No to a Work Shift: CLB 1L/2L
Tutela (Archway): Work Calendars and Schedules
LINC 2 Classroom Activities: Employment (p. 315-358) (Not literacy but can be adapted)
Tutela: Norquest LINC Phonics Curriculum: CLB 2L
Tutela: Foundation L-CLB 2L Phonics Curriculum
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Reading Skills Stories
A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia:

Unite for Literacy: People at Work
Tutela: ESL Image Bank: People in Different Jobs