Detailed Sample Task: Stage I
CLB 4 - Speaking
Getting Things Done
Employment - At the Workplace
Real-World Task
Ask a coworker to switch shifts so you can celebrate a cultural holiday.
Planning Context
Helpful Knowledge:
- Vocabulary related to workplace schedules.
- Time expressions and prepositions of time.
Context:
- Managing your own schedule is often an expectation in the workplace. Switching shifts with coworkers is a common practice in some Canadian workplaces where shift work occurs (restaurants, hospitals and so on).
Vocabulary and Grammar
Sample Vocabulary:
- switch, trade, change
- shifts
- cover
- take time off
- celebrate
- appointment
- sick, ill
- cultural holidays and celebrations: Hanukkah, Diwali, Lunar New Year and so on
Sample Grammar:
- Positive and negative statements to describe a problem / give a reason.
- Modals and courtesy expressions for making a request.
- Sentence structure of a request.
Knowledge and Strategies
Textual and Functional Knowledge:
- Common expressions for greetings and responses.
- How to describe a problem / give a reason.
- Conversational format for making requests.
- Different ways to say thank you for help.
Sociolinguistic Knowledge:
Workplace communication culture:
- formality
- politeness around asking and thanking
- accepting a negative response
Activities and Tasks
Sample Skill-Building Activities:
- Listen to conversations of people asking coworkers to switch shifts to identify the speakers, topics, parts of the conversation, and so on.
- Generate a list of reasons for switching shifts such as cultural holidays.
- Identify appropriate and inappropriate reasons to ask for time off.
- Arrange parts of a conversation in the correct order.
- Role play asking a coworker to switch shifts, taking turns as the speaker, responder and observer.
- Practice making requests, focusing on sentence structure, use of modals, and pronunciation (chunking, intonation).
- Get information from work schedules and calendars.
- Create a short, simple instructor-made story on the topic, and have learners listen as the instructor reads, following with their finger. Have learners repeat after the instructor to match intonation and fluency. Finally, have learners read the story as a group, and then individually. These activities practice vocabulary in context, show relevancy of the language and improve fluency.
Sample Skill-Using Tasks:
- Practice asking classmates to trade shifts with you, giving different reasons. Complete a self-assessment.
Sample Assessment Tasks:
- Role-play a conversation asking a coworker to trade shifts with you. Provide a reason.
Teaching Considerations
Cultural Considerations:
- At some Canadian workplaces with shift work (restaurants, hospitals and so on) it is common to switch shifts with coworkers. Ensure learners know that this is not acceptable for all jobs, and they should check with their supervisor and coworkers around cultural norms in their workplace.
- Have learners compare and contrast different cultural holidays from their own countries and Canada to develop intercultural awareness.
- Consider how aspects of this topic apply to your own program or classroom practices. For example, are there any policies or practices that accommodate learners and staff who need time off for cultural holidays and celebrations?
Digital Literacy Strategies:
Successful completion of some tasks may require some baseline digital knowledge and skills.
Learners may need to:
- Use phone or video conferencing technologies for phone or online meetings.
Instructors can:
- Encourage the use of digital devices and apps to practice speaking (e.g. record their requests, send a voice request to a classmate, use a pronunciation app, generate audio samples of requests).
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:
Instructors can:
- Recognize holidays from a diverse range of cultures.
- Share policies and practices that make accommodations for workers to take time off to celebrate and honour different cultural days and traditions.
- 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.
- Raise learner awareness of the need for respecting and using preferred pronouns of co-workers when making requests or talking about them with others.
Trauma-informed Strategies:
Possible Trauma Triggers:
- Learners who have been bullied in the workplace or have worked in conditions that made them fearful of reprisal may be afraid to make requests in the workplace.
Strategies:
- Sharing information about workers’ rights and employer obligations.
- Modelling making a request to your supervisor.
- Giving learners the knowledge, skills and language to access resources can be empowering.
- Create a safe and supportive classroom environment by establishing familiar routines, repeated activities, and model friendly and non-evaluative interactions; learners who have experienced trauma often benefit from having routine.
- Recognize and respect learners’ right to choose if, when and what they share about themselves and their routines.
Resources
Outings, Guest Speaker Suggestions, Extension Activities:
- Invite an HR rep from a workplace to speak to the class about appropriate requests and employers’ legal obligations.
- Get information from a government website regarding time off for religious holidays.
- Create a class calendar of cultural events.
- Have a “show and tell” for learners’ holidays.
- Write, read and respond to messages to request a shift change (text, email).
- Have a follow-up conversation with a supervisor to inform them about a shift change.
Realia:
- Workplace policies that make accommodations for workers to take time off to celebrate and honour different cultural days and traditions
- Workplace policies that describe procedures for taking time off and arranging shift coverage
- Videos on changing shifts at work on websites such as YouTube
Units and Modules:
- Avenue Course Builder: Select the theme “employment”,
and CLB 2, 3 and 4 for units related to work schedules
(adapt for the CLB level you teach).
- CLB 3 Changing Your Work Schedule (Achev/NLOC)
- CLB 3 Making Requests in the Workplace (CCLB)
- CLB 3 Make Requests About Work Schedule (TCDSB)
- CLB 4 Make Requests at Work (TCDSB)
Lessons and Activities:
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.
