Real-World Task
Listen to a sales clerk describe options for purchasing an out of stock item.
Planning Context
Helpful Knowledge:
- Experience shopping in Canada.
- Some knowledge of common retail processes, such as returns, complaints, and refunds.
- Some knowledge of customer service norms.
Context:
- When shopping for a specific product, a customer may need to ask for help and listen to a response about whether or not the item is available.
Vocabulary and Grammar
Sample Vocabulary:
- in stock/ out of stock
- sold out
- location
- online
- delivery
- rain check
- on sale
- stock phrases: we are out of…/ we ran out of…/ we sold out …/
- stock phrases: we are going to get more … / we will have more….
Sample Grammar:
- Simple present (current status of item or other possible options).
- Simple future (when item will be available again).
- Adjectives used to describe items.
- Expressions of time (when items are expected to be back in stock).
Knowledge and Strategies
Textual and Functional Knowledge:
- Flyer genre.
- Shopping website genre.
- Website search function.
- Keywords for search terms.
- Product descriptions.
Sociolinguistic Knowledge:
- Awareness of customer service norms: appropriate ways to respond to help and information from a sales associate.
Activities and Tasks
Sample Skill-Building Activities:
- Discuss learners’ experiences shopping in Canada.
- Elicit adjectives to describe common items.
- Listen to conversations of people talking about different types of items and identify the adjectives used to describe an item.
- Examine a sample listing from a flyer to identify features of an item and different available options (size, colour and so on.)
- Match simple product descriptions to images of products.
- Elicit shopping vocabulary (on sale, BOGO, in stock, sold out and so on).
- Discuss different ways of finding information about an item (going to look in person, using a store website, asking a sales associate for help and so on.)
- Practice forming and using questions to ask for information about a product.
- Listen to different responses and match responses to the questions asked.
- Role-play asking a sales associate for help and information on an item.
- Review stock phrases to indicate if an item is available and if not, when it will be available again.
- Listen to excerpts of a sales clerk’s response to determine if a product is available or not.
- Create a short, simple instructor-made story on the topic, and have learners listen as the instructor reads, following with their finger. Have learners repeat after the instructor to match intonation and fluency. Finally, have learners read the story as a group, and then individually. These activities practice vocabulary in context, show relevancy of the language and improve fluency.
Sample Skill-Using Tasks:
- Listen to a sales clerk talk about several items that are out of stock and the options available. Match visuals of the items with the options available.
Sample Assessment Tasks:
- Listen to a sales clerk describe options for purchasing another out of stock item and answer questions about the information provided.
Teaching Considerations
Cultural Considerations:
- Discuss common shopping policies in Canada.
- Second hand and thrift shopping are popular, inexpensive and environmentally- friendly consumer options in Canada.
- Share appropriate responders to demonstrate active listening when someone is sharing information.
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.
- Locate, navigate and use websites.
- Use familiar apps and web pages.
- Scan online resources to find information.
Instructors can:
- Introduce websites that are relevant to the task(s).
- Support learners in finding, navigating and using websites.
- Teach reading strategies such as skimming and scanning to find information on websites.
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:
Instructors can:
- Use diverse representations of people in all your learning resources and images, including people who are 2SLGBTQ+, Indigenous, Francophone and of other cultures, and people who have disabilities or who are neurodivergent.
- Recognize and teach learners that Canada is a diverse place and has people from many different cultures. Canadian culture includes the cultures of all people in Canada.
Trauma-informed Strategies:
Possible Trauma Triggers:
- Many activities in a school environment, such as assessments, answering questions from an instructor or someone in authority, public speaking and interacting with strangers, can be triggers for trauma.
Strategies:
- Create a safe and supportive classroom environment by establishing familiar routines, repeated activities, and model friendly and non-evaluative interactions; learners who have experienced trauma often benefit from having routine.
- Recognize and respect learners’ right to choose if, when and what they share about themselves and their routines.
- 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.
Resources
Outings, Guest Speaker Suggestions, Extension Activities:
- Take a field trip to a store or shopping mall and practice asking sales associates for help or information.
- Read a store flyer and find information on sales, promotions and/ or other deals.
- Search for an item on an online shopping site to see if that item is in stock.
- Role-play a conversation describing a specific product to a friend or neighbour.
Realia:
- Store websites (online shopping / online inventory)
- Store websites, flyers or receipts listing common store policies
Units and Modules:
- Avenue Course Builder: Select the theme “shopping”, and CLB 2, 3 and 4 for units related to shopping and consumerism (Adapt for the CLB level you teach).
- CLB 3 Finding a Product in a Store (Achev/NLOC)
- CLB 4 Choosing the Right Product (Achev/NLOC)
- CLB 3 Shopping for Clothes (Avon Maitland District School Board)
- CLB 2 Shopping for Food (Avon Maitland District School Board)
- CLB 3 Shopping for Groceries (TCDSB)
Lessons and Activities:
(adapt for the CLB level you teach)
Detailed Sample Task
This exemplar is aligned with the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) and is designed to guide and inform your lesson and module planning. Consult the Canadian Language Benchmarks English as a Second Language for Adults for detailed performance descriptors at this benchmark and skill.
The information in this document is not exhaustive and can be expanded on. As well, you can use more learner-friendly language in your materials and assessments.
This is NOT a lesson or module plan.
