Detailed Sample Task: Stage II
CLB 8 - Listening Comprehending Information
Health and Workplace Safety
Real-World Task
Watch 2-3 training videos on emergency evacuation procedures to determine the processes that will work for your organization.
Planning Context
Helpful Knowledge:
- Some knowledge of vocabulary for different kinds of emergencies, such as fire, flood, extreme weather, workplace violence, and so on.
- Some knowledge of general workplace hierarchy and procedures in Canada.
Context:
- Employers in Canada are required to take all reasonable precautions, under the particular circumstances, to prevent injuries or incidents in the workplace. This often includes creating an emergency evacuation plan.
Vocabulary and Grammar
Sample Vocabulary:
- vulnerability assessment
- resume/ resumption
- investigate/ investigation
- disrupt/ disruption
- drill
- execute
- pose a threat
- casualty
- chain of command
- sequential events
- evacuation
- means of escape
- emergency response personnel
- external agency/ external aid
- assembly area/ meeting point
Sample Grammar:
- Modal passive voice, for example, “External agencies should be informed.”, “All possible means of escape must be signposted.” and so on.
- Conjunctive adverbs to show examples and possibilities, for example, ‘in case of’, ‘in the event of’ and so on.
- Perfect tenses to express possible future situations and results, for example, “Once your employees have been trained on this evacuation plan, complete a practice drill.” and so on.
Knowledge and Strategies
Textual and Functional Knowledge:
- Recognize connectors such as conjunctive adverbs to show examples and possibilities.
- Recognize the main idea and subordinate ideas in a sequence of steps to carry out, such as in an evacuation plan.
Sociolinguistic Knowledge:
- Sociocultural knowledge related to who has certain responsibilities and carries out certain tasks in the workplace.
Activities and Tasks
Sample Skill-Building Activities:
- Elicit examples of workplace emergencies and emergency services that learners already know.
- Learn vocabulary related to different workplace emergencies and ways to respond to emergencies.
- Do a semantic mapping exercise to connect emergencies and different responses.
- Watch videos with examples of different workplace emergencies. Pause videos and predict in pairs or small groups some appropriate ways to respond. Continue watching videos to check if predictions were correct.
- Learn different conjunctive adverbs to show examples and possibilities, for example ‘in case of’ or ‘in the event of’.
- Listen to audio or watch videos and understand possible situations and the actions to take.
- Practice giving instructions to classmates using conjunctive adverbs, for example, “in case of fire, leave your possessions and calmly exit the classroom.”
- Review how and when subordinating ideas are introduced in English.
- Listen to audio or watch videos and identify the main idea and subtopics or subordinating ideas.
- Learn about problem-solving and evaluating different situations. Cover strategies such as asking questions, setting priorities and comparing information.
- Watch videos of emergency evacuation procedures and evaluate which ones would be suitable for given situations or buildings.
Sample Skill-Using Tasks:
- Watch a training video on emergency evacuation procedures and identify how the process in the video would work for different organizations.
Sample Assessment Tasks:
- Watch 2-3 training videos on emergency evacuation procedures to determine the processes that would work for your organization.
Teaching Considerations
Cultural Considerations:
- Many Canadian workplaces have an Occupational Health and Safety Committee (OHSC) composed of employees from various levels and departments. This committee often develops OHSC policies and procedures, and may conduct practice drills with staff.
- Different Canadian workplaces have different safety procedures and needs. Teach some different examples of kinds of workplaces and the different kinds of emergencies, hierarchies and safety procedures that would be associated with each one.
Digital Literacy Strategies:
Successful completion of some tasks may require some baseline digital knowledge and skills.
Learners may need to:
- Evaluate online research results.
- Interpret information from online sources such as statistics, graphs or charts.
Instructors can:
- Introduce websites that are relevant to the task(s).
- Support learners in finding, navigating and using websites.
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:
Instructors can:
- 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.
- Recognize that learners with disabilities and learners who are neurodivergent may need accommodations in the workplace; when possible, help learners of all abilities understand their rights in the workplace.
Trauma-informed Strategies:
Possible Trauma Triggers:
- Discussions of emergencies may be triggering for learners who have experienced trauma or had to evacuate their home or country. Make space for learners to feel safe and recover from the experience of sharing their experiences.
Strategies:
- Learners who have experienced trauma benefit from having choice.
- Give learners advance warning of discussions of this topic.
- Allow learners choice:
- 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
- Learners have the right to choose if, when and what they share about themselves.
- Make space for learners to feel safe and recover from the experience of sharing their experiences.
- Giving learners the knowledge, skills and language to access resources can be empowering.
Resources
Outings, Guest Speaker Suggestions, Extension Activities:
- Invite a fire safety officer to talk about fire safety and evacuation procedures.
- Create an emergency evacuation procedure for the classroom or school building and compare it to the school’s established evacuation procedures.
- Read information about a company and its location(s), and create a flowchart for emergency evacuation procedures or for company hierarchy to establish a chain or command.
- Practice giving instructions to classmates for different school safety procedures or for everyday procedures.
Realia:
- Authentic written emergency evacuation plans for different workplaces
- Seton – Safety, Labels and Safety Solutions: 6 Steps to Developing an Emergency Action Plan for Your Facility
- Safety Culture: Emergency Evacuation Plan
- Government of Canada: Canadian Centre for Health and Safety
- Alis: Be Safe at Work
Units and Modules:
(Adapt for the CLB level you teach)
Lessons and Activities:
(Adapt for the CLB level you teach)
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.
