Proceso de configuración de los sistemas de garantía en el

I created profiles of three learners for the purpose of building continuity in the handbook while exemplifying the ideas and information. I hope that these profiles establish a relatable context for the reader. These learners, as described here, are composite learners and are based on several individuals I have met, taught, and heard of during the course of my ESL adult literacy professional career. These profiles are not intended to represent any specific learner or be representative of any group of learners in general (e.g., country, gender, level).

Mu is a Karen refugee from Burma who spent close to two decades in a refugee camp in Thailand. As a recent newcomer to Canada, Mu was placed in a Foundation literacy class as she has never attended school and is

classified as a pre-literate learner. Even though Karen has a written script, Mu was not exposed to print in her daily life. Since she relocated to Canada, she has started developing the concept that print has meaning as she is exposed to print regularly in her daily life such as seeing billboards and street signs when she walks to school. She also sees price tags, sale signs, and food labels when she goes shopping, and she receives date and time cards for various appointments with doctors or settlement counsellors. She is beginning to understand that there are letters in the English alphabet, but does not know any of the sounds.

Mu was a weaver back home and has made elaborate patterns that she sewed into shirts and sarongs. She has great attention to detail, and a high level of design skills. In English class, she needs to develop the controlled eye movements required for reading English (i.e., left-to-right and top-to-bottom). As she has limited print literacy exposure, she would benefit most from starting with real items (i.e., realia) and photographs of concrete items to build vocabulary and to build the concept that text has meaning.

Mu has planned for and monitored her progress while she weaved. For example, she gathered the required threads and planned out which pattern she would make before starting a new weaving project. These metacognitive skills could be tapped into in a classroom setting if the instructor promotes planning in advance

of tasks and connections are made between previous experiences and new learning experiences. Instructors could ask learners like Mu what they did before starting a task such as weaving (e.g., gather the materials and tools), and state that in school, we need special materials and tools too (e.g., paper, pencils). For example, if learners are going to copy shapes, the instructor might demonstrate or tell learners that learners they need take out paper, a pencil, and an eraser before starting just like they needed to take out the material, the loom, and the shuttle before weaving. Later, this instruction can be faded, and instructors can eventually ask, rather than tell, learners what tools they might need to complete the task.

Mu has no metalinguistic knowledge of her first language. At her CLB speaking level, lots of oral repetition of phrases and sentences will benefit her in building up an awareness of language patterns (e.g., adjective + noun, subject + verb).

Mu has limited English comprehension skills. She needs support in activating her background knowledge and in developing vocabulary and concepts. She would benefit from observing models of skill and strategy use before she is required to complete any task in class.

Mu has many strengths and life experiences that can be brought into the class. She has a small loom and could demonstrate how to weave for the class. She has a love of gardening and she developed gardening skills at the refugee camp where she lived for many years. She has a kind and friendly personality and is very warm and welcoming. She is a mother of three children and one attends the childminding services located at the school.

She enjoys being in class and wants to find a job soon. She sees English classes as a place to meet friends. She also values that her child is exposed to English in the childminding program.

In Mu’s class, many learners have expressed interest in obtaining work at a local greenhouse that hires many new workers. Some of their peers have recently found jobs. The instructor has designed a lesson that is intended to support these low-level learners develop an understanding that print has purposes such as to instruct. The instructor will guide learners in developing this awareness through the use of songs, actions, and photographs that show how to plant seeds. Throughout this handbook, examples will be drawn from this context to illustrate how different aspects of the three instructional processes could be included with learners at a low-level of literacy. In the final section of this handbook, The Lesson Plans, Lesson Plan 1 presents a detailed lesson plan on this topic for Mu’s class.

Andres is from Colombia. He grew up on a farm and his parents were unable to pay for his schooling. Andres grew up with some print around him, but has he never attended school. In addition, he was born to non-

literate parents, so Andres never developed basic literacy skills in Spanish at home. He is classified as a non-literate learner.

Andres has lived in Canada for a few years and lives with his wife, his adult daughter, and her two children. His wife has chronic pain and is unable to attend school. Andres attends class part-time as he needs to care for his wife, and he sometimes provides care for his two grandchildren. His daughter has started working at a college cafeteria and her work schedule changes weekly. He often has to pick up his grandchildren from school or drop them off in the mornings.

Andres knows the letters of the alphabet and is developing an awareness of letter-sound correspondence. Like Mu, he has no metalinguistic awareness in his first language, but he is developing the awareness that spoken language is comprised of smaller words that are comprised of sounds and letters. His class is beginning to look at letter-sound cues and context for guessing words that are already in their oral vocabulary.

As Andres has been in class for about a year, he understands that reading and writing in English moves from left-to-right and top-to-bottom. He is able to pick up a book such as a picture dictionary and knows how to orient it and flip through the pages.

As Andres grew up in a literate society, he came across print and visuals at various points in his life and knew that print held meaning – meaning that he was unable to access. He saw various images on billboards, signs, and newspapers during the times he left the farm for visits into the nearby town. However, as he had limited exposure to different kinds of images, he did not always understand what he saw and sometimes got confused when images were very stylized or symbolic. Instruction for him needs to include how to interpret symbolic elements.

Andres is not yet a fluent reader as he is still developing decoding and comprehension skills. However, he is dedicated to his education and practises reading memorized sentences out loud to his wife when he is at home. He would benefit from practice in identifying words as separate entities (e.g., placing familiar words on word cards and reading them and sequencing them into sentences).

Like Mu, Andres also has experience with planning tasks. As a farmer, he started his morning with a list of tasks that he needed to accomplish that day. He also plans what bus to take, and is aware that he needs to take the bus at a different

time when he picks up his grandchildren and from a different location when he drops them off at school in the morning. However, these planning skills do not transfer easily into the context for learning, and he has not yet become aware of the concept of setting a purpose for reading or monitoring comprehension while reading.

Andres has many home responsibilities and strengths. He has a strong work ethic and likes routine. He prefers working with his hands, being outside, and going on field trips. He benefits from hands-on, kinesthetic learning opportunities. He is a motivated learner and views attending ESL classes as an opportunity to improve himself and bring literacy into his house by reading with his grandchildren. One of his goals is to help his grandchildren with their homework.

In Andres’ class, many learners are caregivers to elementary school children. Some learners have brought in their children’s monthly school calendars and asked questions about them. The instructor noticed that the days of the calendar indicate a school subject/event that requires caregivers to send their children to school with a certain item (e.g., pack books for library, pack sneakers for gym, pack money for pizza day). The instructor has designed a lesson that is intended to support learners to develop a strategy for guessing unknown words by using letter-sound cues, thinking about the context, and thinking about orally known words within this context. The instructor guides learners to develop this skill by activating background knowledge, developing new oral vocabulary, applying the strategy to collaborative activities such as a “find someone who” activity, and reading short stories and simplified school calendars. The final real-life task is to have learners read a calendar and physically pack the correct item in a backpack. Throughout this handbook, examples will be drawn from this context to illustrate how different aspects of the instructional processes could be included with learners at a low-to-mid-level of literacy. In the final section of this handbook, The Lesson Plans, Lesson Plan 2 presents a detailed lesson plan on this topic for Andres’s class.

Adama is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She has lived in Canada for almost three years and has attended ESL classes since her arrival. She is a single mother with four children. Adama is a semi-

literate learner as as she attended primary school in the Ugandan refugee camp where she lived for many years. She speaks Kiswahili and is able to speak a little French. She has worked only in the home.

Adama is beginning to read and she has developed a good understanding of letter-sound correspondence and some decoding skills. Her reading fluency is improving as she is increasing her sight word repertoire on a weekly basis. She successfully uses a few reading strategies such as activating background knowledge before reading a text and referring to a picture dictionary to find unknown words. Adama uses left-to-right directionality when reading and scanning.

Adama has developed some metalinguistic knowledge while in ESL classes in Canada. She uses and understands the simple and progressive tenses as well as basic sentence patterns. She is beginning to use metalinguistic language (i.e., noun, verb, object) when talking about sentence structure, and these discussions are generally within whole class or small group practice environments.

Adama also is fairly competent in drawing meaning from pictures and is beginning to notice symbolic elements in images outside of the class. She can generally use images to predict content within the text with minimal support.

Adama is very motivated to gain literacy and English skills, as she wants to attend college to become a personal support worker.

In Adama’s class, many learners are intending to go college. To begin developing academic skills and strategies for these learners, the instructor decides to build on their strategy of activating background knowledge before reading and teach learners how to set a purpose for reading. To develop this strategy, the instructor models by using a think-aloud how to set purposes for reading, and how to read to find answers to questions. Learners practise this strategy in groups and reflect on their use of the steps and why it is important to use this strategy when reading. The final real-life task is to share learning with peers as many higher education courses encourage this kind of dialogue in class. Throughout this handbook, examples are drawn from this context to illustrate how different aspects of the instructional processes could be included with learners at a high-level of literacy. In the final section of this handbook, The Lesson Plans, Lesson Plan 3 presents a detailed lesson plan on this topic for Adama’s class.