Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB 4L - Speaking
Interacting with Others

Canada

Real-World Task

Introduce yourself to someone and make small talk about their experiences living in your community.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Present simple
Present continuous

Context:

Some people have lived their entire lives in the same community and have insights about life in that community over time.
Small talk is a helpful skill in terms of making connections with other people in education, the community, and the workplace.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

small phrases to show understanding and continue a conversation: oh, I see, that’s interesting, oh, wow, and so on
weather
sports
neighbourhood
community
experiences

Sample Grammar:

Information questions in the present simple: What do you think of…? Where do you live?
Present perfect: How long have you lived…?

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Most conversations with small talk include questions from both speakers, along with responses.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

A person will make small noises while listening to keep a conversation going.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

At the beginning of each class, greet each learner and prompt the learner to introduce themselves. Over time, expand range of greetings and include basic small talk.
Discuss as a class: What community (city, town, village) do you live in now? What neighbourhood do you live in? How long have you lived there? Do you know your neighbours? Do you know anyone who has lived in your neighbourhood for a long time?
Discuss as a class: What is small talk? How do you make small talk in Canada? What topics are appropriate for small talk in Canada? Elicit things such as the weather, sports, and shared local interests such as the community, children of a similar age, gardens or yards, and so on. Discuss what topics are less suitable for small talk such as finances, religion or politics.
Review task vocabulary. Have learners copy words to complete a mini-dictionary of task vocabulary. Practice the vocabulary using activities such as fill in the blanks, crosswords, and Guess the Letters (a version of Hangman without the hanged figure in which a learner chooses a word, writes dashes for each letter, and then the other learners guess the letters. Every time a learner guesses a correct letter, the learner who’s chosen the word fills in that letter on the dash where it appears).
Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
Review information questions in the simple present and practice using a variety of worksheets and activities, such as unscrambling words, filling in the blanks, or matching questions to the correct response.
Review the present perfect. Play Bingo with irregular forms of the past participle.
Complete sentences using the present perfect to write about experiences in your own life (e.g. I have lived in…Ethiopia.) Share your sentences with a partner to share about your lives.
Listen to instructor-made dialogues with small talk. As a class, identify the polite phrases the speakers use to show understanding and keep the conversation going.
Follow prompt cards to have a conversation with another learner that includes small talk.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Role-play with another learner a conversation between two neighbours, following prompt cards. Include an introduction and small talk.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Introduce yourself to someone who was born in Canada and make small talk about their experiences living in your community.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Some learners may be used to very familiar relationships with neighbours (e.g. dropping by unannounced), while others may be used to keeping their distance from neighbours. Teach learners that it is their own choice, but that many people in Canada expect to have a friendly-but-not-too-friendly relationship with most neighbours, in which you chat over the fence or in the hallway and exchange small talk but do not necessarily drop by without arranging it first.

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.
Read information from a screen.
Navigate camera and microphone.
Adjust volume on device.

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.
Teach reading strategies such as skimming and scanning to find information on websites.
Introduce tools and apps that can aid learners in coping with communication. barriers, such as translation, pronunciation, text to speech, speech to text tools and so on.
Share knowledge and strategies to ensure online safety.
Refer learners to programs to improve their digital skills.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:

When discussing neighbourhoods and communities, use examples from a range of economic levels, including many examples from low-income housing.
Eg. give an example about neighbours who live in houses but also who live in townhouses or apartments.
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.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma Triggers:

Learners who have experienced trauma, including learners who have been in conflict with their neighbours or who have been betrayed or attacked by neighbours may find discussions of friendly small talk with neighbours triggering. If needed, adjust the task so that it is anyone in the community. Help learners understand it is their choice who they speak to, but they are practicing skills in English now that they might choose to use at some point.
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:

Go on a community walk and discuss different types of housing.
Look at a simplified community map and identify places where people might get to know each other, such as a park, community centre, playground, recreation centre, and so on.
Work with a partner to write a dialogue between two neighbours getting to know each other. Perform your dialogue for the class.

Realia:

Community maps
Photographs of places in the community

Units and Modules:

Tutela (CCLB): Socializing with Others: CLB 3/4 (Not literacy but can be adapted)

Lessons and Activities:

LINC 4 Classroom Activities Canada (p. 85-140) (Not literacy but can be adapted)
Tutela (OCDSB): Assessment Task: Writing a Letter to a Friend about a Community Event: CLB 4 (Not literacy but can be adapted)
Tutela: Norquest LINC Phonics Curriculum: CLB 4L
A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia:

Tutela: ESL Image Bank: Community
Unite for Literacy: Community Matters