Learn about Canada’s two official languages
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THIS WEEK’S FEATURED POST
Week of June 22/26
This lesson plan focuses on Canada’s role in World War II. The lesson includes warm-up activities, vocabulary exercises, reading passages, a short video, and reflection questions to increase your students’ understanding of Canadian history.
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Lesson plan overview
| Task | To learn some facts about Canada’s two official languages. |
| CLB level | CLB Stage I (CLB 2-4) |
| Delivery method | Online |
| Class size | 10-15 students (vary the number of activities according to your class size) |
| Estimated time | 1.5 hours (depending on class size) |
| CLB Skills and Competencies | Speaking: Interacting with others Sharing information Listening: Interacting with others Comprehending information Reading: Comprehending information |
| Language focus | Learn the vocabulary needed to understand this topic. Use the appropriate grammar structures and vocabulary to respond personally to the reflection questions. (Encourage students to respond in full sentences.) |
| Cultural focus | Students understand some of the history of Canada’s official languages in order to better understand current bilingualism. |
| Specific task learning objectives | Beginning ESL students learn some basic facts about Canada’s history from an adapted version of the Discover Canada study guide. Students understand why Canada has two official languages. Students will share their feelings about any similar issues in their first countries. |
| ESL Directions original video (🎥) and audio (🔊) activities? | This lesson includes original video (🎥) and audio (🔊) activities. |
| Resource attribution | ESL Directions original resources are marked below with an asterisk (*). Feel free to use these, but please give credit to ESL Directions. |
Notes for ESL teachers and students:
This is a shortened and simplified version of some of the information in Canada’s citizenship study guide (intended to introduce this topic to beginner ESL students).
Students who are eligible to write the citizenship test should consult the Government of Canada’s full official guide, Discover Canada: The rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
Please check Discover Canada for any content changes made since this webpage was created.
Lesson plan
Warm-up: Introducing the topic and defining our terms
- Today, we’re going to learn about the history of Canada’s two official languages.
- What is an official language?
- Canada is bilingual. What does the word “bilingual” mean?
- What are the two official languages?
- Does anyone know why Canada has two official languages?
Skill-building activities
- Vocabulary flashcards*
- Let’s review the vocabulary and definitions* 🔊 (Pay attention to the order, pronunciation, and spelling of each word or phrase. Think about what the definitions mean.)
- Gap fill*
Skill-using activities
FEATURED CONTENT
- Who we are: English and French in Canada* 🎥
- Listen to and read a passage about the English and French languages in Canada*🔊 (This activity also includes comprehension questions.)
Assessment/review tasks
Reflection questions
- Tell us three things you learned today.
- Can you tell us why Canada has two official languages?
- What is the word used for having two official languages?
- What is the official language of your first country?
- Does your country have more than one official language? Does this work well, or does it cause any problems?
RELATED PAGES
Introducing Canadian citizenship
This page provides simplified and shortened lesson plans for beginner ESL students on topics related to Canadian citizenship. The page is…
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History: The first Europeans
Intended as an introduction to Canada’s citizenship guide for ESL beginners, this lesson plan focuses on the history of several of…
Keep readingCANADA YOUTUBE PLAYLIST
Click the small arrow at the top right of this video to play the videos or go to the YouTube Canada Playlist.
CANADA WORDWALL ACTIVITIES
Wordwall is a very useful interactive lesson-creation site. If you sign up for a free Wordwall account, you will be able to see our “Canada” folder, which includes ESL Directions activities that you can add to your lessons.
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ABOUT ESL DIRECTIONS
Kathy Garnsworthy, the creator of ESL Directions, is an ESL teacher, movie buff, constant reader, and former editor and communications pro. Now a graduate of the Teaching English as a Second Language program at the University of Manitoba and an ESL teacher in Edmonton, Alberta, she specializes in teaching online classes of beginner ESL students.
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