The Linguistic Risk-Taking Passport

Welcome to the Linguistic Risk-Taking Initiative. This passport will help you discover new and creative ways of using English. It will be an interesting resource in your language learning journey. This English as a Second Language version is a collaboration of LEARN, SPEAQ, LBPSB, SWLSB, CSSMI and CSDL. 

The Linguistic Risk-Taking Initiative and Passport were originally conceived by Prof. Nikolay Slavkov in collaboration with a team of professors, students and staff members at the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute (OLBI) of the University of Ottawa. 

A linguistic risk is an authentic, every-day communication task that some language learners may shy away from and may need special encouragement to engage in. Research has shown that some learners hesitate to take risks and do not always benefit from the extra opportunities to practice their second official language outside of the language classroom.

Real-life communication in a second language is not stress-free. It may involve “risk factors” such as making mistakes, being misunderstood, misunderstanding others, taking on a different identity, changing language use habits, and so on. That is why some learners tend to stay within the comfort zone of their preferred language when going about their daily business and thus miss out on opportunities to “live” bilingually.

The Linguistic Risk-Taking Initiative intends to encourage students to take various risks that will boost their confidence in their second language. 

• Implementation Guide for Teachers

• Video for Parents (Elementary)

• Video for Parents (Secondary)

• Video for Students (Elementary)

• Video for Students (Secondary)

• Passport for Elementary Intensive English and Secondary Cycle 1 Students

• Making Learning Visible - Poster

• Lettres aux parents, editable

• Implementation Guide for Teachers, bilingual

• Video for Parents 

• Passport for Elementary Cycles 1-2 Students

Missions are activities designed for teachers with limited teaching time who want to introduce risk-taking concepts to students before starting the passport project.

• All the ESL Missions