Detailed Sample Task: Stage I

CLB 2 - Speaking
Getting Things Done

Health and Wellness

Real-World Task

Ask a friend if they know of any health professionals in your cultural community.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Some basic vocabulary related to health services in Canada.
A little background knowledge of Canadian healthcare system basics and community resources available for health concerns.

Context:

In Canada, many family doctors may not be accepting new patients as they are full, so you may have to visit a walk-in clinic for an illness or medical help. If your need is urgent, you can visit an emergency room in a hospital. You may be able to find a family doctor online and some regions also give additional information such as languages other than English or French that the doctor may speak. Learners should be aware that emergency departments of hospitals are for true emergencies and the class should explore options in their local area in detail. The wait time to see a doctor in an emergency department can be extremely long when the health concern is not an emergency. What is an emergency and what are more common ailments can be discussed at length.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

emergency – include examples of emergency care such as broken bones
or heart pains
common ailments not requiring emergency care such as a fever, coughing or back pain
family doctor
walk-in clinic
pharmacist
nurse
prescription
appointment
eye doctor
dentist
know / go / see / visit

Sample Grammar:

Some basic knowledge of polite phrases to ask questions / make requests

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Use of common expressions for specific purposes, such as making requests

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

Culturally appropriate non-verbal communication strategies
Culturally appropriate strategies
to convey politeness

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss as a class: When do you go to your family doctor and when do you go to the emergency department or call 911? Make a list on the board of reasons to go to the emergency department and another list for more common concerns that you visit a family doctor or walk-in clinic for, Do you have a family doctor in Canada? Does your family doctor speak only English or can they speak your language? Is it hard to get an appointment with your family doctor? Have you ever visited a walk-in clinic? Is a doctor’s visit in Canada different to doctors’ visits in previous countries you have lived in?
Match picture flashcards to words from the vocabulary list. Now match images of different parts of the body such as teeth, eyes, stomach, to the appropriate health care provider such as dentist, eye doctor, family doctor and so on.
Listen to a short, simple audio of a conversation between two family members talking about going to their family doctor. Answer simple true / false questions about the listening. Now, in pairs use the transcript of the audio to practice this as a role play.
Look at a simple formatted table (most likely instructor adapted or created) which lists different healthcare providers and what languages they speak. Answer simple questions about the table, such as, Is there a dentist who speaks Mandarin?
Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
Review some basic phrases to make questions for polite requests, such as, Do you know a doctor who speaks Punjabi? I need a doctor. Do you know one? Is there a dentist in our community? Using an instructor created handout, in pairs practice asking and answering these questions.
With a simple instructor created handout, complete sentences with missing vocabulary list items. In pairs learners find the correct missing word from a list provided to make sentences such as,
You can go to a walk-in clinic with no appointment. A dentist can help with your teeth, and so on.
Read a few simple sentences about the healthcare services you can get from a pharmacist. Answer 1-2 simple multiple choice questions about the reading.
Copy the completed sentences from the activity above into a notebook or a digital document. Practice reading the sentences aloud.
In a small group, using a guided dialogue, take turns to ask one question each of your classmates if they know of community services offered in languages other than French or English, such as the library, recreation centre, settlement agency.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Role-play asking a friend if they know
of a family doctor in the area.
Role-play asking a friend if they know
of a dentist who can speak their language in the area.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Role-play asking a friend if they know of any health professionals in your cultural community.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Newcomers often rely on community recommendations when choosing professionals. Some may prefer a professional who shares their language, religion, or cultural background instructors can acknowledge this as valid, while also introducing Canadian resources (HealthLine, settlement agencies, walk-in clinics).
Multicultural health brokers may be available in larger centres or provide services online. Many multicultural health brokers are bilingual or multilingual. They act as cultural and linguistic bridges between Newcomers and the Canadian health and social service systems. They can help families understand how the health system works and explain rights, forms, and appointments in a way that makes sense culturally and linguistically.

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.
Read information from a screen.

Instructors can:

Make and/ or adapt digital materials.
Introduce websites that are relevant to the task(s).

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:

Recognize that people who identify as women may not have had independent access to healthcare. Make sure these learners are aware of their rights in Canada and the resources that are available to them.
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:

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.
Learners who have experienced trauma may find discussions of health care triggering.

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:

Take a field trip to a local community health centre or public health unit. Tour the clinic and learn about walk-in services.
Visit a local pharmacy and learn about how a pharmacist can help with certain health problems.
Invite a guest speaker from a settlement agency that has health navigation services or if you are in a larger urban area a speaker from a multicultural health brokers agency.
Role play calling a clinic to make an appointment using a guided text.

Realia:

Images of different healthcare providers
Sample health care cards
Sample prescription labels
Simplified or multilingual health brochures / infographics

Units and Modules:

Lessons and Activities:

Tutela: Visiting your doctor CLB 1-4
Tutela: Going to the dentist CLB 1-4
Tutela: Visiting a Doctor CLB 2
Tutela: Getting help from various health professionals
A search of NLCG ( nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia: