Real-World Task Guidelines:
Stage I

CLB 3

Banking and Numeracy

Planning Context

Learners may require the following:

  • Slow to normal rates of speech
  • Visuals and contextual clues
  • Topics related to personal relevance
  • Non-demanding contexts
  • Relatively short texts

Instructors may need to:

  • Use a range of familiar phrases and simple sentences and structures
  • Create simplified versions of online financial websites
  • Create navigation guides for banking website

Additional Sample Real-World Tasks and Competency Areas

Listen to an apology from a bank teller for a long
wait in the branch.
(Interacting with Others)

At the bank, greet the teller and make small talk.
(Interacting with Others)

Read a short paragraph about the benefits of opening a savings account. (Comprehending Information)

Complete up to 15 items on a form to open a tax free savings account.
(Getting Things Done)

Additional Resources

Digital Literacy Strategies

Successful completion of some tasks may require some baseline digital knowledge and skills.

Learners may need to:

  • Have keyboarding and typing skills.
  • Send and receive text messages.
  • Have familiarity with and be able to use real-world tools such as ATMs.
  • Locate, navigate and use websites for online banking services.
  • Navigate and use online learning management systems (LMS) such as Avenue.
  • Use videoconferencing technology for online meetings.

Instructors can:

  • Introduce websites that are relevant to the task(s)
  • Support learners in finding, navigating and using websites.
  • Introduce tools and apps that can aid learners in coping with communication barriers, such as translation, pronunciation, text to speech, speech to text tools and so on.
  • Teach reading strategies such as skimming and scanning to find information on websites.
  • Share knowledge and strategies to ensure online safety.

Equity, Diversity 
and Inclusion Strategies

Instructors Can:

  • Use diverse representations of people in all your learning resources and images, including people who are 2SLGBTQIA+, Indigenous, Francophone and of other cultures, and people who have disabilities or who are neurodivergent.
  • Use gender neutral titles when addressing people.
  • Recognize that people who identify as women may not have had independent access to financial professionals and banking services. Make sure these learners are aware of their rights in Canada and the resources that are available to them.

Trauma-Informed Strategies

Triggers:

  • Learners who have experienced trauma can be triggered by people in positions of authority.
  • Discussions of scams, fraud, and theft may be triggering for learners who have experienced trauma, especially those who have lost their homes, possessions, and/or money.

Strategies:

  • Give learners advanced warning of discussions of this topic.
  • Allow learners the choice:
    • to work on a different topic
    • to share or not share their own experiences
    • to work alone or to work with others
    • to take care of themselves
    • to step out of the learning environment
  • Learners have the right to choose if, when and what they share about themselves.
  • Make space for learners to feel safe and recover from the experience of sharing their experiences.
  • Giving learners the knowledge, skills and language to access resources can be empowering.

Sample Real World Tasks

This information is aligned with the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) and is designed to help guide you in the planning process. You can use these sample real-world tasks to guide and inform 
your selection or creation of skill-building activities, skill-using tasks and assessment tasks.

These sample real-world tasks include the following: skill, real-world task, competency area, one competency statement and two sample indicators of ability. This is not an exhaustive list: there are more indicators of ability and information about this CLB level in Canadian Language Benchmarks English as a Second Language for Adults. Consult this resource for more information and to select 
your own competencies or indicators of ability. Remember, you can use more learner-friendly language in your materials and assessments.

This is NOT a lesson plan, module plan or curriculum.