By Stephen P. Hanley, W.A.I.T.T. House, Adult Literacy Program, Roxbury
Summary
I was pleased with the FannieMae Foundation's English as a Second Language Homebuying Readiness Curriculum. Although my class is an Adult Basic Education class for adult learners who read and write between a second and a fourth grade level, the class is especially designed for former ESOL students or adults who come from double language backgrounds, and are ready to transition into an ABE class. They are conversant in English, but their vocabulary, reading and writing skills are quite limited.
Even those students who were born in English-speaking countries found the ESOL curriculum useful and challenging because of their limited reading and writing skills.
The students who participated in this project found the classes were interesting, practical and rewarding. The class consisted of six students. Three students were from the Cape Verdean islands, one student was from Trinidad, another was from Barbados, and one student was born in the Bahamas, but lived in Haiti from the time he was seven until he immigrated to the U.S. as an adult.
Before I introduced the FannieMae Foundation's material to the class, I discussed the idea of using the topic of homebuying as one way for students to fulfill the writing component that is always a central component to this class' curriculum. All the students were willing to participate in the project in this way. The following report summarizes the learning activities that made up our homebuying readiness unit:
Day 1: "Home " and "House"- Analyzing Words and Ideas
I wrote the words "Home" and "House" on the black board. Then I asked the students to brainstorm the associations that came to mind with each word. As the students shared their ideas, I listed them on the board.
The students gave me the following words to describe "Home": a place where you live, family, people are together, and personal.
These are the words they used to describe "House": somebody else's place, a building, business, residence or a building that may become my home.
A discussion of the differences and similarities of a home and a house followed the brainstorming session. Students managed to convey their ideas in sophisticated terms. Whenever a student had difficulty finding a word to verbalize his or her thoughts, I would pull a word from my vocabulary bank, and describe the word's meaning. Then the student would determine if the word expressed his or her idea.
Based on the phrases they had generated during the brainstorm session, I conducted a writing activity whereby the whole class developed complete sentences that formed two simple topic paragraphs:
Home is a place where you live. It is where the family comes together. Home is my place. It is personal.
A house belongs to anybody. It's somebody else's residence. It is a building or the structure that may become your home or anybody else's home.
Following this writing session, the students used a Webster's Paperback Dictionary to find out how the dictionary defined the words "Home" and 'House". These are the synonyms students found in the dictionary for "Home": adobe, pad, place, dwelling, habitation, and lodging. Here are the synonyms students found for the word "Home": building, shelter, household, business firm, legislative body, auditorium and lodging.
Day 2: An Introduction to Homebuying and Community Resources
Herbert Riggs, a Homebuying Consultant from the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, conducted an introductory workshop on some basic housing terms, the process of buying a house and eligibility criteria for special low-income mortgage programs. The purpose of this workshop was to demystify the homebuying process and share information about first-time homebuying classes for students who may be interested in purchasing a home.
Day 3: Introducing Chapter One of How To Buy A Home In the United States
After the previous two classes, where students has an opportunity to investigate the notion of home as well as learn about the homebuying process, I felt as if they were ready to begin working with the FannieMae Foundation's ESOL curriculum. The class read, discussed and began to answer the questions presented in Unit 1/Lesson 1 of the curriculum. The students took their books home in an attempt to complete the exercises on their own. However, it took two additional classes to complete the chapter.
Day 4: Completing Chapter One in How To Buy A Home In the United States
We read, discussed and completed the exercises in Unit 1/Lesson 1, "This apartment is too small!" Although everyone agreed that in theory owning a home is better than renting an apartment, a serious discussion and debate ensued about the real advantages and disadvantages of home ownership.
The debate emerged from the idea that losing one's home to the bank is too risky, and to bear such a loss is too stressful. Others stated that a family could lose their apartment to the landlord for non-payment of rent and that this was equally as stressful. Eventually, the debate centered on the question- Is owning a home a more emotional obligation that may even involve family dynamics? Those who felt as if it wasn't necessarily more emotionally risky and personal to own, posed the argument that all of life's accomplishments and choices involve risk taking, and in the end, owning a home was financially more soluble than renting. The students who argued this also reminded the other students that if one found himself/herself to be in financial trouble and yet needing to make mortgage payments, one could always sell the house and/or discuss the financial difficulties with the mortgage lender. Not only did this debate demand that the students use their critical thinking skills, but it also provided an opportunity for them to learn new vocabulary. The following is a list of vocabulary that was generated by the class discussion and debate:
Advantages
-I own the home-Home Equity
-I can do whatever I want with the house so long as it does not violate the zoning laws on my property
-I can repair or model my home without asking for the landlord's permission
-It is my place
-Tax benefits
-I don't have to worry about rent becoming unaffordable
-Inherit and inheritance
Disadvantages
-Paying a Mortgage to the Bank-Paying Interest
-If I am late with payments, the government can put a lien on the house
-Risk
-There is more stress because I am responsible for paying
-The home owner has to be more accountable to the local government and banks than the renter has to be
Day Five: Prioritizing Homebuying Topics in Unit Two of the Curriculum
We returned to the FannieMae Foundation curriculum so as to extract homebuying topics of interest for further study. As a class we decided to prioritize four topics:
Finding Your Dream HomeStudents reviewed their notes and vocabulary lists and then tried to write sentences about what they thought was most the useful information and of most importance to them about the process of buying and maintaining a home. After they wrote their sentences, I reviewed them so as to make corrections and offer suggestions. After this preliminary writing activity, students put their ideas in numerical order according to their internal sense of logic drafting an outline of sorts.Deciding What Kind of House You Want
Types of Ownership
How to Read Classified Ads
Students then reexamined their sentences and began to write a short essay about owning a home.
Day Six: Decoding and Interpreting Real Estate Advertisements
Students brought in real estate ads from newspapers and brochures and discussed abbreviated terms. Students also learned how to interpret the ads and develop a better understanding of what the seller was trying to convey, and how the seller might be portraying the property.
Day Seven: Student Writings/Student Assessments
To complete the unit students shared the second draft of their essays about homebuying. Each student read his or her essay to the entire class. After the readings, there was a discussion about all that the essays had touched upon and what students had learned about homebuying and English language usage (i.e. new vocabulary, comprehension tricks, writing skills, etc.)
Reflections
Students articulated how they benefited from working with the Homebuying Readiness Curriculum. Since finding housing is a basic need that all the students have experience with, students were able to draw on their own perceptions and real-life expertise while they simultaneously integrated new grammar and language usage skills including writing practice. Of equal importance, students stated that they believe they received some of the keys to unlock the mystery of buying a home in the Boston area.
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