From Silos to Solutions: Toward Sustainable and Equitable Hybrid Service Delivery in the Immigrant & Refugee-Serving Sector in Canada

Liu,J., Cansu, E. D., Campana, M. Coordinated by AMSSA. Funded by IRCC. April 2021.

This report looks at the Settlement sector’s needs in the area of digital services, as a whole. COVID-19 resulted in the sector having to move to fully digital and remote service. The themes included in the report were identified through consultation within the sector and beyond from October 2020 though March 2021. The report makes a number of ambitious recommendations to IRCC using a “Now, Next, Later” framework. One of the examples of these is particularly relevant for language training as follows:

Next:
● There is also a need for consistent and ongoing training for staff, not only focused on how best they can use technology, but also how to train clients to use it in a service context.
● The sector and IRCC should develop guidelines on how to develop and implement digital literacy tools to assess clients’ digital skills. This guidance should include the provision of training materials, tools, and recommendations for agencies to support clients’ digital literacy skills.
Later:
● The sector and IRCC should develop a digital literacy competence framework conducive to the needs of the immigrant settlement sector.
● Consider a Digital Literacy Benchmark (DLB) as a complement to Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) to allow for Service Providing Organizations (SPOs) to quickly and accurately assess the digital literacy levels of newcomers to guide and support them accordingly.

Retrievable from:

https://km4s.ca/wp-content/uploads/EN-Settlement-Sector-Technology-Task-Group-final-report-and-recommendations-2021.pdf

In the section of the report on Change Management Tools & Practice, there are four tools listed that organizations can use to identify strengths and services, including The European Framework for Educators’ Digital Competence (DigCompEdu).

Retrievable from:

Digital Competence Framework for Educators (DigCompEdu) | EU Science Hub (europa.eu)

Technology-Mediated Language Training: Developing and Assessing a Module for a Blended Curriculum for Newcomers

McLellan, G., Kartchava, E., & Rodgers, M. (2021). Technology-Mediated Language Training: Developing and Assessing a Module for a Blended Curriculum for Newcomers. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 24(2), 177–202.

This paper reports on a study done in partnership with a Canadian program that includes networking, employment and second language training. It investigates the development of a blended second language curriculum for high beginner learners employed in customer service, using a task-based framework. The study looked specifically at learners who cannot consistently attend face-to-face classes and therefore provided support on mobile devices for convenient access when needed. Newcomers in the program meet with a volunteer teacher weekly with a focus on workplace language, but there was a need for more occupation-specific language training needed in addition to these meetings with the understanding that it would build on the face-to-face meetings.

The paper includes a literature review of Computer-Assisted Language Learning, Mobile-Assisted Language Learning, Technology-Mediated Task-Based Language Teaching and Needs Analysis and Technology-Mediated TBLT. This is followed by a description of a module focused on greetings and requests used in customer service, with examples of questions, video examples and comments from learners and teachers.

Retrievable from:

https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/CJAL/article/view/31533