Project SHINE

 

 



 

  

 

Selecting the Right Units for your Learner

Is your Learner Advanced Beginner or Intermediate?

In making the decision about which health literacy units are most appropriate for your learners, the first thing you will need to do is determine your learner(s) proficiency level.  The SHINE ESL Health Units are designed for advanced beginner and intermediate learners.  This means that the instructional activities provided require learners to, at a minimum, be able read, write and speak English at a basic level.  As you look over the lessons you will see that these materials are not for absolute beginners.  If your learner cannot read or write in English at all, then these units are definitely not for him/her.   

We have provided the descriptions below to help you to think about which level (advanced beginner or intermediate) is most appropriate for your learner.  Remember, however, that this process is not an exact science.  You may feel like your learner is a beginner in one category (say, in speaking) while being quite advanced in another (for example, reading).  As you make your way through the materials you will, through a process of trial and error, get a better sense of what works best.  As a rule of thumb, if the reading and listening passages require the learner to be searching feverishly through their dictionaries to determine the meaning of every other word, the level is probably too high.  The texts are supposed to be springboards for the more valuable speaking and writing activities.  If your learner(s) cannot “get” the text, then the rest of the instructional activities will fall apart.

 

English Proficiency Descriptions 

Use the descriptions below to decide which level is most appropriate for your learner(s).

  

Advanced Beginner Intermediate
Listening and Speaking

• Your learner can understand and participate in fairly simple conversations about familiar topics (basic personal background and needs, social conventions, such as making introductions and simple requests, and routine tasks, such as getting meals and receiving simple instructions and directions).

• You may often need to repeat/reword what you have said for your learner to fully comprehend you.

• Your learner can successfully handle participation in basic social situations.  He/she can ask and answer simple questions, initiate and respond to simple statements, and handle conversations required for introducing yourself, ordering a meal, asking directions, and making purchases.

• Vocabulary is limited to expressing elementary concepts/needs.  Your learner can talk about: hunger/thirst, basic personal information like physical characteristics, address, and jobs held.

• Misunderstandings frequently arise, but with repetition, learners can generally be understood by native speakers who are used to talking with non-native speakers.

• Your learner can understand and participate in slightly more complex conversations such as short telephone conversations with strangers, and short announcements and reports over the media. Learners can participate in discussions of a greater variety of topics including those that are new or unfamiliar.

• Comprehension continues to be uneven and learner may still require repetition or rewording for full comprehension.

• Your learner can successfully handle participation in most uncomplicated social situations. S/he can initiate, sustain, and close a general conversation on a variety of topics but errors in grammar and word choice are evident. The learner can participate in a wider variety of social conventions such as giving and receiving complements, asking for and giving advice.

• Learners at this level can generally be understood even by non-native speakers who are not accustomed to dealing with non-native speakers, but repetition may still be required.
Reading and Writing • Your learner can understand main ideas from simple texts dealing with basic personal and social needs, such as signs, short public service announcements and short, straightforward instructions dealing with every day life, such as simple directions, and recipes.

• Some misunderstandings will occur. Your learner may have to read several times for understanding.

• Your learner can meet limited practical writing needs creating statements or questions within the scope of limited language experience. Can write short messages, postcards, and take simple notes, such as simple telephone messages. The learner can fill out very simple forms and write names and numbers. S/he can write short simple sentences that express basic personal needs/experiences. For example, “My name is…I live at…I work at…”.

• Written material often consists of recombinations of learned vocabulary and structures into simple sentences on very familiar topics.

• Your learner can read simple connected texts dealing with basic personal and social needs about which the reader has personal interest and/or knowledge consistently with full understanding.

• Your learner can get some main ideas and information from short, authentic news articles, forms and narratives on topics of interest, such as job postings and applications, medical/insurance forms, short news articles, letters. S/he may need to read material several times for understanding.

• Your learner can meet a number of practical writing needs and can write short, simple letters. Content involves personal preferences, daily routine, everyday events, and other topics that involve personal experience. S/he can express present time and at least one other time frame, e.g. past or future.

• Writing tends to be a loose, choppy collection of sentences or sentence fragments on a given topic and provides little evidence of conscious organization.