Jamaica Plain Community Centers
ADULT LEARNING PROGRAM
ALP Landing Page for: CNA Contextualized English for Speakers of Other Languages
Instructor:
Luis E. Santos, M.Ed.
CNA Student Advisor/Contextualized ESOL Instructor
Email: luis@jpadulted.org
Meeting Times:
Zoom classes: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 7:30-9:30 PM
Individual meetings: As needed and by appointment
Class Notes:
Welcome to the CNA Cohort
As your CNA ESOL instructor, I will help you build the healthcare-related English skills needed to understand course content, communicate effectively in the workplace, and successfully complete the clinical portion of the program. I look forward to working together as we learn what it means to be a healthcare professional.
Class Structure
• Each class begins with three parts: announcements and important updates, a 10–15-minute warm-up or review activity, and a class share-out.
• Lessons include reviewing materials and CNA concepts from the binder created by the Adult Learning Program (ALP), learning healthcare vocabulary, participating in guided conversations, practicing workplace scenarios, and asking questions.
• During each class, I will refer to presentation slides or a PowerPoint. A PDF copy of the presentation will be posted in Google Classroom after class, no later than the following day.
• Advising activities include goal setting, progress check-ins, and preparation for CNA training and employment.
• Each two-hour session includes one 15-minute break.
• Each class ends with a closing activity, review, or exit ticket.
• The final 30 minutes of class will remain flexible for questions, additional practice, or extended lesson time. We may end before 9:00 p.m. if we have successfully completed all the material planned for that day.
• Optional assignments will provide additional practice in English literacy and workplace communication.
• One-on-one support is available by appointment on Zoom.
Course Syllabus:
Course Purpose
This course combines CNA student advising with contextualized ESOL instruction. Students will strengthen the English, study, digital, and professional communication skills needed for CNA coursework, clinical learning, and the workplace. Individual advising will help students set goals, monitor their progress, and identify the support they need to move forward.
CNA and Healthcare Topics
• Introduction to healthcare and the CNA role
• Legal and ethical concerns, professional standards, workplace communication, and task delegation
• Compassionate care, including the physical, physiological, and psychological aspects of care
• Biological hazards, infection, and infection control
• Personal safety, patient safety, patient comfort, and responding to emergencies
• Activities of daily living, common procedures, and optional context-specific procedures
Contextualized English and Advising Skills
• Use and pronounce healthcare and CNA vocabulary in context.
• Read and discuss workplace directions, policies, forms, and healthcare-related texts.
• Practice professional communication with patients, classmates, instructors, supervisors, and coworkers.
• Respond to realistic clinical and workplace scenarios through conversation, role-play, and writing.
• Study Skills: Identify main ideas and important details by annotating, summarizing, and using the 5Ws and How.
• Language Skills: Use phrases for asking questions, requesting clarification, expressing an opinion, and respectfully disagreeing.
• Write clear professional emails and brief workplace messages.
• Use digital tools needed for class assignments, communication, and academic progress.
• Set short-term goals, reflect on progress, and prepare questions for individual advising meetings.
• Optional homework assignments will be given every other class and shared at the end of the class session.
Course Rubric:
Formative Assessment
Student progress will be monitored throughout each lesson and unit so instruction can be adjusted, and students can receive ongoing feedback. Evidence may include warm-ups, class participation, checks for understanding, scenario practice, short quizzes, and exit tickets.
Summative Assessment
At the end of a unit or a connected group of lessons, students will complete a cumulative assessment demonstrating what they have learned. Assessments may include a unit test, an applied healthcare-language task, a role-play, a presentation, or a written response addressing a healthcare-related social problem or issue.
Performance Levels
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Beginning: Demonstrates limited understanding and needs frequent guidance.
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Developing: Demonstrates partial understanding and completes tasks with some support.
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Proficient: Demonstrates clear understanding and completes tasks independently in familiar situations.
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Advanced: Communicates accurately and applies learning independently in new clinical or workplace situations.
Areas of Progress
• Healthcare vocabulary and comprehension
• Speaking, listening, reading, and writing
• Professional and compassionate communication
• Application of safety, infection-control, and CNA concepts
• Participation, preparation, and completion of assessments