Real-World Task Guidelines:
EAL Literacy
CLB 2L
Banking and Numeracy
Possible Topics
This theme may include these topic areas:
Planning Context
Learners may require the following:
- Slower rate of speech
- Face-to-face or one-on-one digital interactions
- Short and supportive interactions
- Texts which are clear, sparse and very easy to read
- Supported by visual clues (e.g., pictures)
- Very short texts which are limited to everyday words and phrases
- Non-demanding contexts
- Topics are related to immediate personal needs
Instructors may need to:
- Slow their rate of speech
- Use everyday common speech and text
- Create simplified versions of rental websites and forms
- Modify instructions to limit to simple imperative sentences
Comprehending Instructions
Understand short, simple, common instructions, commands and directions requests related to immediate personal needs.
- Identifies numbers.
- Identifies words or phrases that indicate positive or negative commands.
Comprehending Information
Understand simple information about familiar, concrete topics.
- Identifies specific factual details, such as numbers, letters, time, place.
- Identifies key words and expressions.
Getting Things Done
Make and respond to simple requests related to common everyday activities.
- Uses appropriate memorized expressions, simple sentences and courtesy formulas.
- Relies on gestures to convey meaning.
Give short, simple, common, routine instructions to a familiar person.
- Use imperative forms, memorized stock expressions and use appropriate courtesy formulas.
- Give both positive and negative commands.
Getting Things Done
Get information from simple formatted texts.
- Recognizes layout of the bill.
- Scans text to find specific simple details.
Interacting with Others
Understand short greetings and other goodwill messages.
- Gets the gist.
- Identifies when and where.
Reproducing Information
Copy a range of information from simple lists or very short passages for personal use.
- Copies or records letters, numbers and words correctly.
- Copies text legibly; reader may still have difficulties decoding some numbers or letters.
Sharing Information
Write a few words to complete a short, guided text to answer simple questions to describe a personal situation.
- Writes personal details in response to a few short questions.
- Follows some spelling and punctuation conventions.
Getting Things Done
Complete short, simple or simplified forms that require only basic personal identification or familiar information.
- Follows some conventions for addresses, telephone numbers, etc.
- Follows some basic spelling conventions
Literacy Learner Considerations
Listening and Speaking
2L learners are meeting the requirements of CLB 2 in listening and speaking. It is important for 2L learners to develop all new language orally first so that it is familiar to them when they learn to recognize it in print. Listening and speaking should be taught and assessed orally and not through the skills of reading and writing. There is a focus on increasing basic, immediately relevant vocabulary and learning the sounds of the language, along with the ability to break words into sounds and to blend sounds into words.
Reading
To be successful in 2L reading tasks, 2L learners can work towards the development of reading skills in the context of real-world tasks, such as:
- developing oral vocabulary related to the task
- using short vowel sounds to differentiate between a few short, highly familiar words
- beginning to blend sounds to read very simple words
- recognizing familiar repeated sentence stems
- developing some very basic sight words
Writing
To be successful in 2L writing tasks, 2L learners can work towards the development of writing skills in the context of real-world tasks, such as:
- developing oral vocabulary related to the task
- using a mature grip on a pencil or pen
- forming all letters and numbers with increasingly consistent size
- filling in missing initial and final sounds of dictated familiar words
- spelling own name and a small set of short, familiar function words from memory
Additional Sample Real-World Tasks and Competency Areas
Listen and Respond to a greeting from a bank teller. (Interacting with Others)
Share 2-3 simple tips for saving money at the grocery store. (Sharing Information)
Read 5-7 simplified sentences about how to report a lost bank card. (Comprehending Information)
Complete up to 10 items of the personal identification sections of an application form for a rewards program. (Getting Things Done)
Additional Resources
- Avenue
- CCLB
- Tutela
- ABC Life Literacy Canada. (2021). ABC internet matters.
- NorQuest College. (2021). Digital literacy.
- Settlement Calgary.com. (2020). How to identify and avoid scams and fraud [Video]
Digital Literacy Strategies
Successful completion of some tasks may require some baseline digital knowledge and skills.
Learners may need to:
- Look at a website.
- Read information from a screen.
- Have keyboarding and typing skills.
- Send and receive text messages.
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.
- Filling in forms can be a trigger for learners who have experienced trauma.
- 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.
