Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy
CLB
4L-Listening
Comprehending Information
Banking and Numeracy
Real-World Task
Listen to the costs of payday loans and the cost of borrowing money on a credit card to compare.
Planning Context
Helpful Knowledge:
- Whole numbers to 1000
- Compound sentences with and, or, but, so
- Questions in the simple present: How much does it cost?
Context:
- There are a variety of ways to borrow money in Canada. This task focuses on short-term, easy-to-access, and relatively expensive methods of borrowing money: payday loans and credit cards.
Vocabulary and Grammar
Sample Vocabulary:
- payday loan
- credit card
- interest rate
- fee
- percent
- amount
- question with which as the subject (taught as a phrase): Which loan is better?
Sample Grammar:
- Comparative and superlative forms of adjectives
Knowledge and Strategies
Textual and Functional Knowledge:
- Interest rates are given in percentages, which tells you how much extra you pay for every $100 you borrow.
- You can draw a conclusion based on data: This loan is a better choice because…
Sociolinguistic Knowledge:
- Some forms of borrowing money are far more expensive than others.
- It is a good idea to be cautious about borrowing money and to investigate the interest rate and any other fees.
Activities and Tasks
Sample Skill-Building Activities:
- Discuss as a class: What does it mean to borrow money? Who can you borrow money from? Do people borrow money in your country of origin? Who do they borrow from? How is it done? What are the ways to borrow money in Canada? Make a list of common types of loans on the board. Elicit from learners credit cards and payday loans.
- Discuss in small groups: Do you ever borrow money (if they feel comfortable answering)? Do you think it’s a good idea to borrow money? What are the advantages and disadvantages of borrowing money? Report your advantages and disadvantages to the class and make a large list on the board.
- Introduce vocabulary and have learners fill in the blanks on a template to complete a mini-dictionary.
- Practice vocabulary using matching, fill-in-the-blanks, and games such as a crossword or word search.
- Teach comparative and superlative forms of adjectives and complete practice activities.
- Complete a worksheet that compares simple information and draw a conclusion using a comparative adjective, e.g. Tanner is 167 cm tall. Hannah is 170 cm tall. Hannah is taller than Tanner.
- Read a short, simple instructor-made article about credit cards. Discuss as a class. Match vocabulary to words in the article. Complete a template to fill in information about borrowing money using a credit card.
- Read a short, simple instructor-made article about payday loans. Discuss as a class. Match vocabulary to words in the article. Complete a template to fill in information about borrowing money using payday loans.
- Work in small groups to compare the information about credit cards and payday loans. Discuss: which loan is cheapest? Most expensive? What other fees are there?
- Read a simple instructor-made story about a person who borrows money using a payday loan and gets into financial trouble. Have learners work together to give suggestions for what the person should do.
- Read the second part of the story in which the person finds a solution to the problem and compare with the suggestions learners made.
- Listen to information about the cost of borrowing and complete a cloze exercise to write down the interest rates, fees, and amounts.
Sample Skill-Using Tasks:
- Listen to a dialogue between two friends about how to borrow money. Demonstrate comprehension by answering comprehension questions.
Sample Assessment Tasks:
- Listen to the costs of payday loans and the cost of borrowing money on a credit card to compare. Demonstrate comprehension by answering comprehension questions.
Teaching Considerations
Cultural Considerations:
- People from different cultures may have different expectations of how to manage their finances. Some may not have experience with banks or may not trust banks.
- Learners may come from cultures where borrowing money is frowned upon. Discuss how learners feel about borrowing money and whether there are ever situations where they think it is a good idea to borrow money. Respect cultural differences around borrowing money.
Digital Literacy Strategies:
Successful completion of some tasks may require some baseline knowledge and digital skills.
Learners may need to:
- Have keyboarding and typing skills.
- Locate, navigate and use websites relevant to the task.
- Use familiar apps, social media platforms and web pages relevant to the task.
- Read information from a screen.
- Navigate camera and microphone.
- Adjust volume on device.
- Navigate forms.
Instructors can:
- Dedicate time to improve digital literacy for learners.
- Make and/or adapt digital materials.
- Introduce websites that are relevant to the task(s).
- Support learners in finding, navigating and using websites relevant to the task.
- Support with clicking on appropriate fields for an online form.
- 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.
- Share knowledge and strategies to ensure online safety.
- Refer learners to programs to improve their digital skills.
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:
- 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. Consider this diversity as you choose names for characters in stories you create as well.
- Learners who identify as women may not have had access to their own finances. Make sure that all learners are aware of their rights in Canada and are aware of services and resources that can help them.
- Learners who live cheque-to-cheque or who are experiencing poverty may feel they have no choice but to take on payday loans, which are extremely expensive ways to borrow money. Avoid making judgements about people who borrow money but help learners to understand the costs involved.
Trauma-informed Strategies:
Possible Trauma Triggers:
- Learners who have lived or are living in poverty and learners who have lost their homes and possessions may find discussions around banking, money, or finance triggering.
- When teaching about Canada, you may teach about things that are triggering to learners who have experienced trauma. We can’t know what the triggers might be and what seems commonplace to us may have a triggering component for learners. Be aware of this and be prepared to support learners as needed.
Strategies:
- Give learners advance warning of this topic and be aware that there may be learners who require support.
- Learners who have experienced trauma often benefit from having routine. Create a safe and supportive classroom environment by establishing familiar routines, repeated activities, and model friendly and non-evaluative interactions.
- Learners will benefit from positive relationships established in the classroom with the instructor and peers.
- Learners who have experienced trauma benefit from having choices.
- Allow learners choice:
- the choice to work on a different topic
- the choice to share or not share their own experiences
- the choice to work alone or to work with others
- the choice to take care of themselves
- the choice to step out of the learning environment
- Allow learners choice:
- When learners have shared personal distressing or traumatic experiences, make space for learners to feel safe and recover from the experience of sharing their experiences. Follow the activities which may make learners feel vulnerable with routine, predictable and comforting activities.
- Giving learners the knowledge, skills and language to access resources can be empowering.
Resources
Outings, Guest Speaker Suggestions, Extension Activities:
- Visit a local bank.
- Invite someone who specializes in financial literacy to speak to the class.
- Have learners make posters about different forms of loans in Canada (e.g. payday loans, credit cards, mortgages, student loans, car loans)
Realia:
- Pamphlets for local banks and payday loan companies
- Websites and/or apps for local banks
Units and Modules:
- Tutela (CCLB): Reporting a Lost/Stolen Bank/Credit Card: CLB 3/4 (Not literacy or the right level but can be adapted)
- Tutela (CCLB Blended Modules): Reporting a Lost/Stolen Bank/Credit Card: CLB 3/4 (Not literacy or the right level but can be adapted)
Lessons and Activities:
- Tutela: Basic Banking: Module Plan and Assessment Tasks: CLB 4 (Not literacy but can be adapted)
- Tutela: Banking and Money: CLB 3/4 (Not literacy but can be adapted)
- LINC 4 Classroom Activities: Pre-Authorized Payment Plan Application Form (p. 70) (Not literacy but can be adapted)
- Tutela: Norquest LINC Phonics Curriculum: CLB 4L
- A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.
Multimedia:
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.
