Detailed Sample Task: Stage I

CLB 3 - Speaking
Getting Things Done

Shopping

Real-World Task

Greet the clerk and ask for help finding a t-shirt that shows support for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community suitable to wear to a community Pride event.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Basic greetings
Some basic vocabulary related to asking for help in retail settings.
Basic knowledge related to community events including Pride festivals and how to participate and support these events.
Some basic knowledge of politeness conventions in retail settings.

Context:

In Canada, many retail staff will engage in friendly conversations with customers on small talk topics. It is polite to respond to these interactions. These conversations are not intended to be deep discussions about personal topics.
People wear special T-shirts at events because T-shirts are a simple and visible way to show support and to stand with a community. The shirt often has symbols, colours, or messages (like a rainbow for Pride or an orange shirt for Indigenous Peoples Day).

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

Good morning/ Hello/ Hi/ How are you? I’m fine, thank you and so on
clerk / cashier / worker
t-shirt / shirt / top
small / medium / large / extra-large
Pride
rainbow
I need a ___.
Do you have ___?
Where can I find ___?
How much is ___?

Sample Grammar:

Simple wh-questions
Adequate pronunciation to convey
basic messages

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Ability to convey the intended purpose of an utterance through language and body language
Use common expressions for specific purposes such as greetings

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

Culturally appropriate strategies to convey politeness and respect

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss as a class: Where do you go shopping? Do you talk to the people at the stores? What do you say? What do you say when you are looking for something and you can’t find it? Elicit some phrases that can be used in a retail setting to ask for help.
Discuss as a class: What is a time that you have shown support for someone or something by wearing a particular piece of clothing? Was it for a sports team, a national celebration or another event? Why do we like to wear similar clothes for some events? Discuss some of the events where Canadians often wear matching clothing to each other such as Orange Shirt Day, hockey games, Canada Day, Pride events, and so on. Have they noticed Canadians doing this for any other events?
Match picture flashcards showing different vocabulary items with images. Then, add an additional set of flashcards with simple definitions for each term and match these definition cards to the images and vocabulary terms.
Create a mini word bank from the vocabulary word list on a classroom bulletin board to use for later activities related to interactions with retail clerks and other service people.
Discuss as a class how to ask for information politely; include a discussion
of language and body language. Learners practice asking each other for information while using these communication strategies.
Create cards with greetings and requests you might make to retail clerks on one side and customer responses on the other. In pairs, learners match the correct pairs. In pairs, practice this dialogue with a focus on positive non-verbal communication such as eye contact, smiling and nodding.
Review the grammar rules for questions for how to make wh- questions. Also, focus on the intonation for wh-questions and the intonation for answering a wh-question. Practice reading dialogues between a customer and a store clerk aloud with a partner while focussing on pronunciation.
Complete exercises to practice WH-questions.
Listen to an instructor-made dialogue between a customer and a store clerk. The customer is looking for a ballcap to support the local hockey team in the store. Answer
a set of simple questions about the interaction. Now, read the transcript for
the dialogue with a partner and practice shadowing the correct intonation for the dialogue.
Listen to recordings of different greetings
on the computer and select the correct response.
Play an audio with a short dialogue of store clerk-customer conversations. Learners repeat conversations in choral practice.
Do role plays of asking for help from different people in the community: store clerks, neighbours, children’s teachers and so on.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Role play a conversation between a store clerk and customer about where to find a flag to support the local community sports team.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Role play greeting a store clerk and asking for help finding a t-shirt that shows support for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community suitable to wear to a community Pride event.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Learners may come from countries where 2SLGBTQIA+ identities are not openly discussed or even where they are criminalized. Some learners may feel uncomfortable talking about Pride, either for cultural, social, or religious reasons. Others may be curious but have little prior knowledge.
Emphasize that the goal of the task is language practice such as greetings, asking for help in a store, shopping vocabulary and the topic is one example of that. Allow learners to focus on the language skills rather than on personal opinions about Pride. Make clear that respectful participation is expected and that they do not have to share personal beliefs.
In Canada, Pride events are public celebrations of equality and human rights. Explain that wearing a T-shirt or rainbow symbol is a way many people show respect and support. It is important to connect the task to protected grounds in Canada such as gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion and so on, so that learners can see it as part of Canadian human rights and diversity values.

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
Use videoconferencing technology for online meetings.

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.
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:

Teach learners that all people in Canada have the right to no discrimination.
Teach learners that many people still experience racism and discrimination in Canada, but that there are things that can be done if you have this experience.
Teach learners generally appropriate terms for people from the 2SLGBTQIA+ community without needing a deep discussion of the precise meaning of each term.
Teach learners that regardless of religious or political beliefs, the rights of people who are 2SLGBTQIA+ are protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
There are laws against discrimination and behaviours such as hate speech.
Some learners may have different views on gender identity. 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:

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 may have experienced discrimination, racism, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny or gender-based violence. Discussions of EDI may be triggering: be aware that there may be learners who need help, but it may also provide some comfort and support.
Learners who have experienced discrimination or persecution may find this topic triggering.
Learners who are 2SLGBTQIA+ may have experienced discrimination in other countries or in Canada and may not feel safe discussing Pride.

Strategies:

Give learners advance warning of this topic and be aware that there may be learners who require support.
Never require learners to identify their gender or sexuality or to share their own stories or experiences if they do not want to.
Focus the discussion on the things that can be done to prevent, stop, or report discrimination. Focusing on what can be done about discrimination may help learners who have experienced trauma to not feel helpless.
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 local community stores to practice greeting store employees
and asking for simple items available in that store.
Visit a local Pride crosswalk / mural / community centre
Visit the local library to look at displays for Pride Month, Indigenous Peoples Day, or cultural heritage months.
Take a field trip to a local Community event outing if timing works such as a Pride parade, Indigenous Peoples Day, Multicultural festival and so on.
Role play practice with another class in a variety of store clerk / customer interactions

Realia:

T-shirts: Pride / rainbow shirts, orange shirts, pink shirts
for anti-bullying, sports shirts, Canada Day shirts
Store flyers / digital ads: from Walmart, Old Navy, Winners,
and so on, showing clothing sales.
Symbols such as small rainbow flags, pins, ribbons, or posters.
Price tags / receipts for practice asking “How much is it?” and reading totals
Community event posters: Pride, Indigenous Peoples Day,
Canada Day
Simplified store maps to practice asking how to find specific items

Units and Modules:

Lessons and Activities:

Multimedia