Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy
CLB
FL-Listening
Interacting with Others
Community and Recreation
Real-World Task
Listen to two people who attended a Pride event greet each other, and find out the location.
Planning Context
Helpful Knowledge:
- Basic knowledge that there are multiple genders and sexualities
- Basic greeting words
Context:
- June is Pride month in Canada, and there are many Pride events across the country.
- Pride events are inclusive and open to all.
- This task reflects the intention to include all people in Canada in the themes. The language skills in this task could be applied to other contexts.
Vocabulary and Grammar
Sample Vocabulary:
- Greetings: Good morning, hi, hello
- Courtesy phrases: How are you? Fine, thanks
- Pride
- 2SLGBTQIA+ (taught as an entire phrase rather than a sequence of individual concepts)
- park
- community centre
Sample Grammar:
- Past simple: was, saw
- WH question words such as what and where
Knowledge and Strategies
Textual and Functional Knowledge:
- Language is made up of individual words.
Sociolinguistic Knowledge:
- Pride events are inclusive.
- When friends see each other, they often mention the last time they saw each other.
Activities and Tasks
Sample Skill-Building Activities:
- Begin each class with greeting each learner in turn, gradually building up a small dialogue with each learner: Hi, it’s nice to see you, how are you? Vary the greeting words over time until learners know several greetings and courtesy phrases.
- Put up clear photographs of different couples on the board, including straight couples and same-sex couples, and teach the words Pride and 2SLGBTQIA+. Put up a clear photograph of a Pride event, such as a parade, and discuss with the class that June is Pride month and there are many events in the community. Teach that in Canada, all people are equal and any two people can marry.
- Go on a community walk and notice Pride symbols such as flags, rainbow stickers in the windows of businesses, and rainbow crosswalks.
- Look at clear photographs of locations in the community. Use actual locations in your community if possible. Learn the words park and community centre.
- Use TPR with clear photographs or actions to practice vocabulary words.
- Practice is and was. Use many examples from real life so that learners can understand, e.g. Today is Tuesday. Yesterday was Monday. Today is sunny. Yesterday was rainy.
- Read a very simple instructor-made story about going to an event at the park. Teach learners the question: Where was it? The park.
- Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
- Listen to a dialogue between two people talking about where they were on the weekend. Answer simple questions orally about where they were.
- Go around the class and say where you were yesterday, e.g. I was at school. I was at home. I was at the park.
Sample Skill-Using Tasks:
- Listen to two people who attended a party at the community centre, and find out the location of where they were. Demonstrate comprehension by saying to the instructor where the people were.
Sample Assessment Tasks:
- Listen to two people who attended a Pride event greet each other, and find out the location of where they were. Demonstrate comprehension by saying to the instructor where the people were.
Teaching Considerations
Cultural Considerations:
- 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.
- Race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, family status, genetic characteristics and disability are all protected grounds under the Canadian Human Rights Act.
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.
- Some learners may have lived in places where any form of homosexuality is illegal. Make sure all learners understand their rights in Canada, but recognize that 2SLGBTQIA+ learners may not feel safe to be open about their gender or sexuality. Never require learners to state their sexuality or gender.
Trauma-informed Strategies:
Possible Trauma Triggers:
- Learners who have experienced persecution for their gender or sexuality may be triggered by this topic.
- 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
- Allow learners choice:
- 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. Take photographs of locations in the community, return to class, and create an LEA (Language Experience Approach) story about the community. Illustrate the story with the pictures. Ask learners questions: Where was it?
Realia:
- Photographs of locations in the community
- Pride flags
Units and Modules:
- LINC 1 Activities: Family and Relationships (p. 327-366) (Not the right level but can be adapted)
Lessons and Activities:
- Tutela: Norquest LINC Phonics Curriculum: CLB FL
- The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Adults Learn to Print
- The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Reading Skills Stories
- Tutela: Foundation L-CLB 2L Phonics Curriculum
- A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.
Multimedia:
- Unite for Literacy: The City Park
- Tutela: ESL Image Bank: Community
Detailed Sample Task
This exemplar is aligned with the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) and is designed to guide and inform your lesson and module planning. Consult the Canadian Language Benchmarks English as a Second Language for Adults for detailed performance descriptors at this benchmark and skill.
The information in this document is not exhaustive and can be expanded on. As well, you can use more learner-friendly language in your materials and assessments.
This is NOT a lesson or module plan.
