Communications Benchmarks are provided for the following areas:
It is important not to separate the learning outcomes in each of the above Benchmarks. For example, opinions on a subject can be expressed through reading about or listening to someone else's opinion, writing ideas down in a journal, and speaking in a class discussion. All four types of skills are needed to clarify an opinion and make it known to others.
People shape language to communicate meaning. When using the Communications Benchmarks, be prepared to integrate many learning outcomes and skills to reach a goal. The Benchmarks are not meant to be learned separately or in the exact order they appear in this document. It is not uncommon for learners to have different levels of ability in different skill areas. For example, some learners may have Level 1 writing skills, but read at Level 2. All learners have areas of strength and other areas that need further development. The expectations for each learner's performance should be tailored to that learner's individual needs, abilities, and context.
Choose real life Communications tasks that are relevant within your community. The sample tasks suggested for applying the learning outcomes outside the learning environment are examples only; they are not meant to be followed exactly as written. Ask learners to suggest Communications tasks that would be appropriate for the Benchmarks they want to achieve.
Newspapers and magazines offer excellent ideas for theme-based Communications units. For example, find an article on an environmental problem. Read the article aloud with the learners. Discuss the ideas in the article in terms of their relevance to the world, to Canada, and to your community. Ask the learners to help you develop appropriate learning tasks that they can do as individuals and in small groups. Teach them how to use a readability formula to rewrite the article into simpler language for less experienced readers. (This rewriting exercise, which can be done individually or as a group, is also an excellent way to reinforce basic writing skills in more experienced writers.) Have the learners do library research or an Internet search to find more information on the same environmental issue. Prepare a set of interview questions for a government employee or community service worker who has expertise in the subject area. Then invite this person to be a guest in the classroom, so that the students can practise their interviewing skills by taking turns asking the pre-prepared questions. Ask for volunteers to take notes on the guest's answers. Compare the students' research and the interview notes to the original article. What new ideas did they discover? The observing and viewing, speaking, reading, and writing activities for this type of exercise are limited only by the collective imaginations of the instructors and students who are involved.