Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB FL - Speaking Giving Instructions

Banking and Numeracy

Real-World Task

Show a friend in one or two words, how to find the total cost on a sales receipt.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

When you buy something, you are given a sales receipt.

Context:

Most purchases in Canada involve some kind of sales tax, such as GST, PST or HST.
A sales receipt tells you the price of the item(s) you bought as well as the tax and the total cost.
You can keep a sales receipt in case you  want to return an item to the store.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

Sample Grammar:

Personal pronouns

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

A receipt is formatted.
The subtotal, tax and total amounts are in a list at the bottom of a sales receipt.
The cost is given in a number.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

Using “you can” to soften a command.
Using facial expressions and body language to soften commands when giving instructions to a friend.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss as a class: what do you do at a store? How do you pay?
Discuss as a class: how much do familiar items, such as a coffee at a local coffee shop or 2 litres of milk or a bag of rice, cost
Practice counting out money using  play money.
Practice reading amounts of money out loud.
Practice a dialogue between a clerk  and a customer, including How much? and That is $5.75.
Set up a mock coffee shop in the class, using cards printed with an image of a coffee or tea, a sign for the coffee shop, and a sign with the prices. Use play money, with bills and coins, to “buy” a coffee or tea and then pay for the drink.
From a short, simple instructor-made story on the topic, 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.
Look at simplified sales receipts and circle the total cost.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Tell a classmate where the total amount is on a simplified sales receipt.
Tell a friend how to find the price of an item on a simplified sales receipt.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Show a friend in 1 to 2 words how to find the total cost on a sales receipt.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Sales tax is different in different provinces in Canada.
Not all countries have a sales tax, and not all countries show the tax separate from the cost of the product. In Canada,  tax is added after the total cost of the items is calculated.
GST is not charged on essential items. People with lower incomes receive GST cheques from the federal government to subset the cost of GST.

Digital Literacy Strategies:

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

Learners may need to:

Look at a website.
Read information from a screen.
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.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization 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:

Possible Trauma 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.
Give learners advance warning of this topic and be aware  that there may be learners who require support.

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.

Resources

Outings, Guest Speaker Suggestions, Extension Activities:

Visit a coffee shop and ask the price of a coffee with tax.
Hold a bake sale for your school or organization; write the prices, hold the sale, make change, and collect all the money to donate to a charity.
Compare the prices of items at a few local stores and create  a chart as a class.

Realia:

Sales receipts
Play money

Units and Modules:

Tutela: Reporting a Lost, Stolen or Damaged Bank Card
Tutela: Banking Module with Tasks (not literacy but can be adapted)
Tutela: Shopping for Groceries (not literacy but can be adapted)

Lessons and Activities:

Tutela: Giving Correct Money (not literacy but can be adapted)
Tutela: Understanding Prices (not literacy but can be adapted)
Tutela: Identifying Parts of a Credit Card (not literacy but can be adapted)
Tutela: Getting Coffee at a Coffee Shop (not literacy but can be adapted)

Multimedia:

Tutela: ESL Image Bank: Banking and Finance