Adapting a Text

This reading text and activity is quite simple and probably equated to a CLB 3 or 4 level or close to a LINC 4 level. At this point, I do not teach in a classroom but I believe this text would be used well for mid-high beginners. LINC level 4 students should be able to understand the gist of a letter and find the main ideas in it. This level of student can make some predictions and they can conquer a 2-3 paragraphed text. Perhaps to make this text slightly more LINC level 4 appropriate, I would cut down on maybe one or two of the paragraphs in the email. The sentences are for the most part short and the vocabulary is basic without hidden meanings or idioms which makes it straightforward to interpret.

Because the theorized group of students are mature and are apart of an international EAP setting, the topic of the email could be adapted to be more realistic to them. However, the idea of emailing a friend or relative in another country could be quite authentic to them as well. Perhaps using a letter text in regards to employment, such as correspondence with a co-worker or boss, could be more appropriate.

If the class was of a higher level in learning English, I would add further correspondence to the emails. I would also add in larger, more complex vocabulary and sentence structure. Following these changes, I would enhance the activities following by involving questions on vocabulary and perhaps reconstructing or constructing some sentences in a short answer section rather than just matching, fill in the blank and true or false.

If this text was too difficult for my learners and the text was a mandatory reading, I would make sure to introduce the topic of letters/emails/text messages in a greater way. I would start smaller, discuss the parts of personal letters and common questions and vocabulary used in correspondence. Perhaps opening with shorter texts would be wise before introducing this longer reading text.

If the school I was working at used an LMS I would share this reading by providing a link to it or hopefully would print and hand it out to them in order to delve into it more thoroughly. The Copyright Act in Canada for educational use make using internet resources quite easy. When using another person’s material from the internet in your class firstly you must give recognition to the person. Include the reference to the material so it is clearly portrayed that you did not come up with this information by yourself. Secondly, if the material is not published by the owner of the material and/or is requiring subscription or payment for its use you must abide by the rules in order to use it. Do not break through passwords and other technologies to gain the resource for free.

Letter reading and writing can springboard you to all sorts of topics and language learning. Reading and writing letters (whether online or on paper) is still a very common practice in culture today and is one that language learners should become quite familiar with, especially if they are living in an English-speaking culture.

Bibliography

Reading skills practice: Foreign exchange emails - exercises [PDF]. (n.d.). British Council.

FAQ's on Copyright Law [PDF]. (n.d.). CMEC Copyright Consortium.