LAB: Finding Your Place in the Canadian Mosaic Discovery and Challenges ENG P104-4
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ENGLISH, LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION PRESECONDARY DISCOVERY AND CHALLENGES (ENG P104-4) FINDING YOUR PLACE IN THE CANADIAN MOSAIC ONE COMMUNITY, MANY CULTURES 1 LEARNER’S ACTIVITY BOOKLET ENGLISH MONTREAL SCHOOL BOARD LAB: Finding Your Place in the Canadian Mosaic Discovery and Challenges ENG P104-4 LAB: Finding Your Place in the Canadian Mosaic Discovery and Challenges ENG P104-4 LEARNER’S NAME: DATE: ADULT CENTRE: This LAB was created by Denise Morel and Marisa Campanella on behalf of Cosmo Della Rocca, Director of Adult Education and Vocational Services, EMSB LAB: Finding Your Place in the Canadian Mosaic Discovery and Challenges ENG P104-4 DESCRIPTION 1 INTRODUCTION 3 Activity 1: What Is the Ethnic Composition of My Class? 5 Looking Back 13 Activity 2: What Is the Ethnic Composition of Canada? 14 Looking Back 28 Appendix: Resources 29 Front cover picture credit: Mathieu Da Costa Challenge National Writing and Artwork Contest Source: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/multi-report2009/part1-1a.asp 2009 Winner: 13 to 15 years of age category PHOEBE XINYI CHANG Title: Made in Canada Sir Winston Churchill High School Calgary, Alberta Pencil crayon and crayon drawing depicting three hands all reaching for a sweater. The sweater is made of colourful flags representing various countries. A tag labelled “Made in / Fabriqué au Canada” is attached to the sweater . LAB: Finding Your Place in the Canadian Mosaic Discovery and Challenges ENG P104-4 *Mosaic: mo·sa·ics. Plural mo·sa·ics. Noun [count]: colourful tiles that are not usually particularly valuable or meaningful when taken alone, but when pushed and cemented together, they form a magnificent vision DESCRIPTION our classroom is a small multicultural community, composed of people with diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds: it is “one community, many cultures.” Y Canada as a whole is a multicultural society: it too is “one community, many cultures,” although it is a much larger and even more diverse “community” than your classroom. This learning situation will help you find your place both within the smaller community of your classroom and the larger Canadian society. 1 LAB: Finding Your Place in the Canadian Mosaic Discovery and Challenges ENG P104-4 In the first activity, you will explore the ethnic composition of your class. What countries and regions of the world are represented in your classroom? You will conduct a survey of your classmates and create a graph to display your findings. In the second activity, you will explore the ethnic composition of Canada. What proportion of the Canadian population is composed of immigrants and where do they come from? How does your own country of origin fit into the Canadian mosaic? You will examine some statistics presented in tables and diagrams, and summarize the information in a written text to accompany one of the diagrams. he graph of the ethnic composition of your classroom, as well as the diagram and accompanying text on Canada’s ethnic diversity, can be posted on the wall of T your classroom, or on a wall in your adult education centre. It can also be used for any multicultural event or celebration that is being held at your centre. 2 LAB: Finding Your Place in the Canadian Mosaic Discovery and Challenges ENG P104-4 INTRODUCTION “Canada has never been a melting pot; more like a tossed salad.” -- (Arnold Edinborough) Discuss the following questions: What does the quotation in the image mean to you? In terms of multiculturalism*, what do the images or metaphors** (a melting pot versus a tossed salad) suggest? What is the important difference between them? If Canada is like a tossed salad, which country (according to many people) is more like a melting pot? Canada is also referred to as a mosaic. How is the image of a mosaic similar to the image of a tossed salad? *Multiculturalism: mul·ti·cul·tur·al·ism. Noun. Singular [non-count]: relating to or including many different cultures **Metaphor: met·a·phor. Plural met·a·phor s. Noun. [count] : a figure of speech in which a word or phrase meaning one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a similarity between them 3 LAB: Finding Your Place in the Canadian Mosaic Discovery and Challenges ENG P104-4 In 1971, Canada was the first country in the world to adopt multiculturalism as an official policy. In 1988, this policy became a law known as the Canadian Multiculturalism Act.1 According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada… By so doing, Canada affirmed the value and dignity of all Canadian citizens, regardless of their racial or ethnic origins, their language, or their religious affiliation… …Canadian multiculturalism is fundamental to our belief that all citizens are equal. Multiculturalism ensures that all citizens can keep their identities, can take pride in their ancestry* and have a sense of belonging. Acceptance gives Canadians a feeling of security and self-confidence, making them more open to, and accepting of, diverse cultures. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/multiculturalism/citizenship.asp *Ancestry: an·ces·try. Plural an·ces·tries. Noun [non-count]: a person's ancestors: the people who were in your family in the past 1 For your own personal interest, you can access the full version of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act from the Government of Canada website at: <http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-18.7/page-1.html> 4 LAB: Finding Your Place in the Canadian Mosaic Discovery and Challenges ENG P104-4 ACTIVITY 1 WHAT IS THE ETHNIC COMPOSITION OF MY CLASS? Step 1: Your ethnic origins here are you from? Were you born in Canada or in another country? If you were born in Canada, how about your parents? Where were they born? W Look at the world map provided on page 7. Find your country of origin (or your parents’ country of origin). If you were born in another country but moved to Canada and then became a citizen of this country, you are a first generation Canadian. If you were born in Canada but your parents were born elsewhere, then you are a second generation Canadian. 2 If both you and your parents were born in Canada, but your grandparents were born elsewhere, then you would be a: ________________________________________ The concept of ethnic group is very broad. It includes one or more of the following aspects: a common country/region of birth shared culture and traditions that create a sense of identity a common language a common religious tradition 2 For more information, see “Canada's Ethnocultural Mosaic, 2006 Census: Definitions:” http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/as-sa/97-562/note-eng.cfm 5 LAB: Finding Your Place in the Canadian Mosaic Discovery and Challenges ENG P104-4 Step 2: How well do you know your classmates? Find out where your classmates were born and/or their ethnic ancestry. Get together with three or four other students. Share information with each other about where you were born and your ethnic origins. You may share other details, such as how long you have been in Canada and your first language or language spoken at home, etc. (To help you in your discussion, review the grammar notes below.) During your group discussion, choose one member who will take notes and report to the whole class. A table for taking notes is provided after the map. Names of countries and nationalities Do you know the English names of the different countries that you and your classmates are from? Check the map on the next page. Do you know the names of nationalities associated with the different countries? For example, if you were born in Canada, then your nationality is Canadian. If you are not sure, you can find the English names of countries and nationalities on the Internet at one or more of the following sites: http://www.vocabulary.cl/Basic/Nationalities.htm http://www.speakenglish.co.uk/vocab/countries_and_nationalities http://esl.about.com/od/beginnerpronunciation/a/Countries-Nationalities- Languages-In-English.htm Remember the rule for proper nouns: When writing the name of a country (or any place name, such as a city, a province, a region, a continent), you must always capitalize the first letter (e.g. Canada, Africa, China, Poland, Europe). The same rule applies to nationalities (e.g. Canadian, African, Chinese, Polish, European) 6 LAB: Finding Your Place in the Canadian Mosaic Discovery and Challenges ENG P104-4 MAP OF THE WORLD (from http://geology.com/world/world-map.shtm 7 LAB: Finding Your Place in the Canadian Mosaic Discovery and Challenges ENG P104-4 Notes: Ethnic composition of my group First name Country of origin How long in First language Canada Asking and answering questions about country of origin Review the different ways to talk about a person’s country of origin. Grammar Questions Answers - Where were you born? I was born in Greece. Verb be (past tense) + born She was born in - Where was Suzanne born? France. - Where are you from? I’m from Poland. Verb be (present tense) + from - Where is Peter from? He’s from England. - Where do you come from? I come from China. Verb come (simple present tense) + from - Where does Fernando He comes from Chile. come from? 8 LAB: Finding Your Place in the Canadian Mosaic Discovery and Challenges ENG P104-4 Asking and answering questions about unfinished actions: The Present Perfect Tense Remember, when talking about unfinished actions that started in the past and continue to the present, we use the present perfect tense (verb have + past participle). We use it to say how long an action has continued.