Real-World Task Guidelines:
EAL Literacy
CLB 3L
Canada
Possible Topics
This theme may include these topic areas:
Planning Context
Learners may require the following:
- Slow to normal rates of speech
- Face-to-face or digital interactions (that are usually one-on-one or in small groups)
- Topics related to personal relevance
- Non-demanding contexts
- Relatively short texts
- Vocabulary limited to common, factual and concrete terms
Instructors may need to:
- Create simplified versions of texts and audio clips/ recordings
- Adapt resources to simplify social interactions
- Modify instructions to limit to 2 to 4 steps
- Speak clearly at a slow to normal rate
- Provide texts which are clearly organized and easy to read with simple layout, with plenty of white space and a larger- than-average font size
- Provide scaffolding and support
Comprehending Information
Understand short descriptive narrative communication on topics of personal relevance.
- Gets the gist.
- Identifies factual details, key words and expressions as required.
Comprehending Instructions
Understand instructions and directions related to familiar, everyday situations of immediate personal relevance.
- Identifies basic connectors related to time (now, then, before, after) and place (this, that, here, there).
- Responds with correct actions to instructions.
Interacting with Others
Use a range of courtesy formulas and greetings in a very short, casual, face-to-face interactions.
- Responds appropriately in short routine exchanges.
- Initiates and responds appropriately in short routine exchanges about self and another person.
Giving Instructions
Give simple, common, routine instructions and directions to a familiar person. Instructions are about 2 to 3 steps.
- Uses appropriate courtesy forms and structures.
- Expresses movement and location.
Interacting with Others
Understand short, personal social messages within predictable contexts of daily experience.
- Gets the gist.
- Identifies some specific details and information (such as sender, date and response required).
Getting Things Done
Get information from simple, formatted texts.
- Identifies layout and specific information.
- Scans formatted text to find specific information.
Sharing Information
Write a few sentences to describe a familiar person, object, place, situation or event.
- Uses a few connected sentences.
- Provides adequate descriptions, though a reader may have some difficulty following the message.
Reproducing Information
Copy or record a range of information from short texts for personal use.
- Copies or records letters, numbers and words with no major omissions.
- Copies text legibly, causing only slight uncertainty in decoding for the reader.
Getting Things Done
Complete short, simple forms that require basic, personal identification or familiar information. Forms contain about 12 to 15 items and have clear labels and areas in which to write.
- Includes the required basic information with no major omissions.
- Follows standard conventions for capitalization and punctuation.
Literacy Learner Considerations
Listening and Speaking
3L learners are meeting the requirements of CLB 3 in listening and speaking. It is important for 3L learners to develop all new language orally first so that it is familiar to them when they encounter it in print. Listening and speaking should be taught and assessed orally and not through the skills of reading and writing. There is a focus on widening basic vocabulary and learning grammatical structures through rhythm and repeated patterns.
Reading
To be successful in 3L reading tasks, 3L learners can work towards the development of reading skills in the context of real-world tasks, such as:
- developing oral vocabulary related to the task
- categorizing familiar single-syllable words by rime (make, take, lake)
- recognizing diagraphs as a single sound while reading familiar words (fish, church, think)
- attending to initial, medial and final sounds when reading familiar words
- recognizing inflectional endings (-ing, -ed, -s)
Writing
To be successful in 3L writing tasks, 3L learners can work towards the development of writing skills in the context of real-world tasks, such as:
- developing oral vocabulary related to the task
- forming letters and numbers in consistent, adult-like size
- writing with consistent spacing
- developing a larger rote spelling repertoire including multisyllabic words
- using long vowel conventions in spelling
Additional Sample Real-World Tasks and Competency Areas
Listen to two Canadians introduce themselves to each other and discuss the weather. (Interacting with Others)
In short, simple sentences describe your favourite season in Canada and explain what you like to do outdoors in that season. (Sharing Information)
Read 1-5 simple instructions for setting up a tent. (Comprehending Instructions)
Copy details about a place in Canada you would like to visit. (Reproducing Information)
Digital Literacy Strategies
Successful completion of some tasks may require some baseline digital knowledge and skills.
Learners may need to:
- Look at a website.
- Read information from a screen.
- Fill in a form online
Instructors can:
- Introduce websites that are relevant to the task(s).
- Show learners how to send and receive text messages.
- Show learners how to find a website.
- Teach reading strategies such as skimming and scanning to find information on websites.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategies
Instructors Can:
- 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.
- 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
Triggers:
- Learners may have experienced misogyny, homophobia, transphobia and/or racism in the community.
- Discussions of gender, sexuality, misogyny, homophobia and transphobia may be triggering for learners who have experienced trauma.
- Learners who have experienced trauma may not want to talk about why they came to Canada.
- Give learners advance warning of these topics and be aware that there may be learners who require support.
Strategies:
- Learners who have experienced trauma often benefit from having routine.
- Learners who have experienced trauma benefit from having choices.
- Allow learners to choose how and whether they would like to participate in sharing about themselves.
Sample Real World Tasks
This information is aligned with the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) and is designed to help guide you in the planning process. You can use these sample real-world tasks to guide and inform your selection or creation of skill-building activities, skill-using tasks and assessment tasks.
These sample real-world tasks include the following: skill, real-world task, competency area, one competency statement and two sample indicators of ability. This is not an exhaustive list: there are more indicators of ability and information about this CLB level in Canadian Language Benchmarks English as a Second Language for Adults. Consult this resource for more information and to select your own competencies or indicators of ability. Remember, you can use more learner-friendly language in your materials and assessments.
This is NOT a lesson plan, module plan or curriculum.
