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Classroom Accounts

Vol. 23 No. 2 (2020): Special Issue: The Canadian National Frameworks for English and French Language Proficiency: Application, Implication, and Impact

Developing a Badge System for a Community ESL Class Based on the Canadian Language Benchmarks

DOI
https://doi.org/10.37213/cjal.2020.30438
Submitted
December 16, 2019
Published
2020-10-16

Abstract

Teaching multilingual, multilevel language classes presents many challenges including helping students learn level-appropriate language. This learner-centred approach is complicated in a multilevel classroom where the teacher cannot always focus on each student’s needs. As a result, learner motivation and attendance are frequent problems. This article details the adaptation of the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) into a badge system to help learners in a community English as a Second Language (ESL) program set and track personalized language learning goals. The authors explain the purposes of badges, including motivation and assessment, and describe how to create a CLB-based badge system for curriculum and assessment purposes. The authors also share feedback from students and instructors in the community ESL program about the badge-based curriculum.