Canadian Workplace Culture and Workplace Integration Website
My name is Inna Terry and this Technology Language Learning Module is done within the framework of the
course Language Teaching and Technology in the Interdisciplinary Master of Education (MEd) Program at the
University of Calgary in summer of 2015.
Audience
This project is created for adult ESL learners with CLB 7 + in English, newcomers to Canada, attending Employment Skills
Training Program. The program assists employed and unemployed newcomers with the skills needed to secure employment in
Canada, including computer training, business communication, and job search techniques. The program has two blended
components: the onsite and the online, delivered by 2 instructors. A series of 11 lessons on Canadian Workplace Culture and
Workplace Integration is the online component offered for both onsite and online-only students. Canadian Workplace Culture
and Workplace Integration lessons can be also used in the framework of Settlement Classes, independently for self-directed
learning, as a set in coaching or mentoring scenarios, or training workshops.
Objectives
Create an environment where newcomers can:
1. Share their feelings, experiences, knowledge, and expectations about Canadian Culture and Canadian Workplace Culture in the
target language - English
2. Learn about important features of Canadian Workplace Culture: technical skills versus enabling (soft) skills, direct
communication versus indirect communication, criteria for measuring performance on the job, common mistakes people make
while looking for a job and once they are hired, building consensus with softeners; upgrading communication skills, becoming
good at working with difference, mastering workplace English, and unspoken/ unwritten rules of workplace
3. Practice 4 language skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing; and computer skills
Outcomes
As a result of interacting with learning materials delivered through CALL, students are expected:
1. To build classroom community
2. To start developing cultural awareness
3. To improve their intercultural communication competence by becoming prepared to meet the challenges of a workplace:
knowing how to build consensus using softeners, using indirect versus direct communication, speak with clarity, coherence and
conciseness, build on the similarities
4. To start developing the following qualities: open-mindedness, curiosity, positive attitude, towards changes happening in their
lives, and tolerance for differences and ambiguity
Time commitment
The project involves 11 online lessons delivered over the course of 12 weeks including the final assessment. Once a week,
students are administered a weekly portion of Reading Materials and are expected to respond to corresponding questions,
learning tasks, and their classmates' posts using the Discussion Board. In addition to that, students are encouraged to write in the
Reflective Journal, thinking aloud about their learning, experiences outside of the online classroom, their everyday encounters
with Canadian culture, illustrating their entries with examples, language related discoveries, and questions about their new life in
Canada.
Assessment
The final assessment involves a collaborative group project of creating an educational video about Canadian Workplace Culture
and Work Integration. Teams of students will collaborate to create one final project. The teams' videos will be answering essential
questions related to (a) major topics covered: technical skills versus enabling (soft) skills, building consensus with softeners, and
indirect versus direct communication, and (b) 3 unspoken/unwritten rules of a workplace of each team's choice. In addition to
tapping into resources offered in the lessons, students are expected to research outside resources for information - internet search
and conducting interviews with friends, family members, and community members.Video recording will be done with the help of
students' i-phones, i-pads, or video cameras, and will be uploaded by the instructor to the website used for the project. Prior to
working on the final assignment, students are given the rubric to be fully aware of the requirements of the project and the
expectations of the instructor. The rubric contains the following components: introduction, delivery, technical production, content,
group/partner work. Upon project completion, the instructor will open a project showcase and invite the participants to post their
final reflections. Students will be asked to review and respond to their classmates' projects providing feedback. In addition, they
will be specifically asked to comment on the key learning elements and how they plan to implement what they learned in the
process of their integration in Canadian Workplace Culture.