Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB FL-Speaking
Getting Things Done

Employment: Finding a Job

Real-World Task

Name a job skill you have.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Names of several common jobs, e.g. cook, cleaner, daycare worker, construction worker, repair person, farmer
Basic jobs vocabulary: job, get a job

Context:

When you are looking for work, you need to be able to name your skills.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

Sample Grammar:

Modal verbs: I can…

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Skills are usually actions.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

When you want a job, you need to say what you can do.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss as a class: What is a job? Do you have a job? What do you do? Did you have a job before you came to Canada? What did you do?
Elicit from learners names of jobs they already know, e.g. cook, cleaner, daycare worker, construction worker, repair person, farmer
Use vocabulary cards with very clear photographs and words to practice these jobs. Play games such as Bingo, Go Fish or Concentration.
Practice vocabulary through various activities and worksheets such as matching images, matching images to first letters or words, or copying.
Use TPR (Total Physical Response) to practice job names. Call out a name and have learners hold up the correct card.
Post the images of jobs on the board (using the same images as on their vocabulary cards). Ask what each person does. Elicit as much as you can from the learners and help them with the words cook, clean, fix, build, look after children, and garden.
Create an action for each skill word and use TPR to practice the words, calling out a word and having the learners respond with the action.
Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
Read a very simple instructor-made story about job skills, e.g. Henry is a cleaner. He can clean. Sandy is a construction worker. She can build. David is a daycare worker. He can look after children. Read the story to learners and then choral read and echo read the story. Return to the story many times over different classes.
Match vocabulary cards to the story.
Play I can. Call out a skill, such as I can cook. Have every learner who can cook stand up. After a number of rounds, have a learner take over calling out skills.
Divide skill vocabulary cards into categories of I can and I can’t. Tell the instructor what you can do. If learners list other skills, make them a card for those skills, e.g. I can paint, I can speak Amharic, I can sew, I can sell things.
Using vocabulary cards to help you, tell your partner what skills you have.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Look at several vocabulary cards and name a job skill.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Name a job skill you have.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Learners may not be familiar with how to get a job in Canada. Some Foundation L learners may never have had a paid job or a traditional job. Help learners see what skills they have and what jobs in Canada use those skills.

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.
Complete formatted texts online, such as simple forms.

Instructors can:

Dedicate time to improve digital literacy for learners.
Make and/ or adapt digital materials.
Introduce websites or apps that are relevant to the task(s).
Support learners in finding, navigating and using websites or apps.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:

When discussing jobs, include many jobs that are common for learners at this level to have, as well as jobs of people they may come into contact with, like cleaners, babysitters, gardeners, labourers, security guards, store clerks, teachers, doctors, or nurses.
Help learners to see that all work, including work in the home, gives you job skills, including sewing, cooking, cleaning, raising children, and tending a garden.
Learners who are women may not have had the opportunity to work in their country of origin. Teach learners that people of all genders can do any job in Canada.
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.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma Triggers:

Learners who have experienced trauma may be triggered by authoritarian questioning or figures of authority, such as a boss. Make all discussion of jobs gentle and be aware of any learner who needs support.
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:

Visit a nearby employment centre.
Visit a job fair.
Look at pictures of people doing different jobs. Have learners identify jobs they have done and would like to do.
Bring in items associated with different jobs, like a doctor’s coat, a hammer, a spatula, and so on. Have learners role play different jobs.

Realia:

Items associated with different jobs: doctor’s coat, hammer, spatula, and so on.

Units and Modules:

Tutela (CCLB): Safety at Work: CLB 1L/2L (Not the right level but can be adapted)
Tutela (Archway): Saying No to a Work Shift: CLB 1L/2L (Not the right level but can be adapted)
Tutela (Archway): Warehouse Worker Module: CLB 1L/2L (Not the right level but can be adapted)

Lessons and Activities:

LINC 1 Classroom Activities: Job Application Forms (p. 295) (Not literacy or the right level but can be adapted)
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Reading Skills Stories
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Adults Learn to Print
Tutela: Norquest LINC Phonics Curriculum: CLB FL
Tutela: Foundation L-CLB 2L Phonics Curriculum
A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia:

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