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English Language Arts

February 8, 2021


The purposes of the Manitoba English Language Arts Curriculum Framework: A Living Document (October 2019) are to:
 
  • support, nurture, and inspire the learning growth of all learners 
  • provide direction for learning design and assessment 
  • set out the philosophical and pedagogical foundations for English language arts learning 
  • describe multiple ways that students engage in practices at various points in learning
  • present the four English language arts practices and their characterizing elements. 

English language arts provides opportunities for learners to use interrelated practices that are specific to the discipline and that also transfer across disciplines. Identifying language learning by practice rather than skill clarifies how language can be used for a variety of interconnected purposes. 

The four English Language Arts practices are:

  • Language as Sense Making 

    • When learners practise using language as sense making, they bring what they know from other experiences and texts and use them to understand and compose meaningful texts. Learners would ask the following: 
      • How do I understand what I hear, read, and view? 
      • How do I communicate to others when I write, represent, and speak?

  • Language as System

    • When learners practise using language as a system, they use what they know about how language operates and how the codes can be used to understand and compose meaningful texts. Learners would ask the following: 
      • How do I use what I know about how language works to read, write, represent, listen, speak, and view? 

  • Language as Exploration and Design

    • When learners practise using language as exploration and design, they make choices regarding the purpose and function of meaningful texts to help them uncover new ways of thinking and doing. Language is used to deepen their current understanding of topics both of a curricular nature and from individual interests, while also seeking ways to imagine and reimagine. Learners would ask the following: 
      • How do I use texts to inform me about topics, ideas, and issues? 
      • How do I use language to create new ideas, solve problems, extend my knowledge, and communicate those ideas to others? 

  • Language as Power and Agency

    • When learners practise using language as power and agency, they understand that all texts represent a particular way of thinking and that language can privilege some voices while silencing others. This understanding encourages them to question, interrogate, and reimagine meaningful texts. Learners would ask the following: 
      • How does what I hear, read, and view influence what I think? 
      • How do I use language to influence others when I write, represent, and speak? 
      • How do I decide what and whose stories to tell?
Each practice is characterized by Elements. These represent how the practices are generally played out from Kindergarten to Grade 12. The elements can provide a focus for instruction, and students enhance and deepen their practice by improving their use of these Elements.

The Manitoba English Language Arts Curriculum describes learning in Grade Bands. The Grade Bands (Kindergarten to Grade 2, Grades 3 to 5, Grades 6 to 8, Grades 9 to 12) support teacher teams, individual teachers, and multilevel teachers in taking a more longitudinal view of learning and planning for learning. The Grade Bands provide support for teachers in planning for, teaching, and assessing student learning at various points along the continuum. Grade Bands recognize that learning develops over time and across multiple contexts.


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