[This article was originally written last year for inclusion in the final report of the A.L.R.I.'s Homebuying Readiness Project, which can be found on the A.L.R.I.'s web site, under Special Projects. Nancy and Dulany both participated in this project as a way of developing content-based curriculum for their ESOL classes. In Part I of this article, which appeared in our last issue, Nancy presented some of the homebuying-related activities she used with her ESOL 2 class and Dulany began her discussion of the ESOL Curriculum Frameworks themes she developed for her ESOL 3 class. Part II picks up here with a continuation of this discussion.]
Taking Risks & Using Others as Learning Resources: This approach to learning is one that Nancy and I returned to again and again during the course of the homebuying curriculum unit. It is based on the notion that as teachers we are not the authorities on a given topic, but rather facilitators meant to help students learn how to engage in the process of formulating, researching, answering and then revising their questions. The following two activities utilized students as resources. At the same time, it asked students to take risks in one of two roles, either by sharing their experiences and expertise or by having to ask questions of their peers.
In preparing to teach the "Navigating Systems" unit, we had many questions about the topic and what it would mean to teach it. Because we had earlier shared our processes and methods of inquiry with the students, we modeled how we might begin to tackle a new problem. For most of us, talking to family and friends is a good starting point. So, before we began the first of the lessons that dealt with the complexity of financing a home, I wanted to validate the wealth of knowledge already gained by students' experiences and to emphasize the value of sharing their experiences. I divided the class into small groups to discuss these three questions: 1. What do you already know about buying a house in the United States? 2. What questions do you have already? 3. Who do you already know that you could go to for more information? Each group wrote their responses on a sheet of newsprint, which they posted on the classroom wall. As part of our final assessment, we will return to these posters to see how the students' questions and answers have changed and, hopefully, reflect new homebuying information that they have gained.
Another set of activities encouraged the students to talk with Americans. The students were given the assignment of going to a bank and asking for printed information on personal banking services and their fees. We role-played possible scenarios in class, but even so not all of the students followed through with the assignment. Given how difficult it felt for students to practice their English conversation skills in a real bank, with real bankers, I asked students to ask friends and family who are homeowners about the pros and cons of home-owning. Not all of the students did this either, but those who did brought back their findings and presented them to the class.
Throughout the whole homebuying unit, I encouraged students to converse with Americans by incorporating a standing feature into their homework assignments that I called "mystery words." Each assignment included a "mysterious" English word or phrase that students hadn't yet heard of. The students would ask an American to define that word or phrase. Then the students would bring their now-defined words and phrases back to class. For one of these assignments I pointed to an electrical outlet on a wall and asked: "What do you call this?" They were to mimic me and come back with the answer. For rain gutters and downspouts, I drew a sketch of a rain gutter. For this assignment, students could either point to an actual gutter on a house or use my sketch. For the following assignment, I gave them the words "fire hydrant" and asked them to find out what it meant. One of the most successful mystery word assignments was when I showed the students a photograph of a house under construction and pointed to some exposed studs. They were then asked to describe studs to an American and come back with its correct name. These mystery word assignments were very popular, and the students never let me conclude a class without sharing the results of their findings and making sure that we all truly understood the new word.
Using Authentic Materials: Because I wanted this unit to be as realistic an exposure to what students would experience outside of class as possible, I used a variety of "real materials." During one class, after collecting credit card applications from various banks and from my own collection of junk mail, the students worked in small groups to compare the applications. I wanted them to understand the questions that a potential credit card holder was being asked to provide, and I wanted them to critically analyze why the creditor might want this information. The students' responses were sharp and on the mark. For instance, one student knew that by sharing a social security number with a creditor, that creditor could have access to the applicant's credit history. Another student noted that the company would want to know where to send the bill and that was the simple reason for asking for your address. Later, the students and I collected bank brochures describing the personal banking services offered by different banks, and we compared the costs of checking and savings accounts. Many of the students were surprised to see that bank fees varied, not only from bank to bank, but also from one checking account to another within the same bank. We talked about the factors to consider in choosing which account is best suited to one's personal financial habits.
During the next lesson, the students used a copy of the Suburban Real Estate News to familiarize themselves with listed house prices and the kinds of down payments that a given selling price would require. And for one of our final lessons, we viewed a videotape of the Lynn real estate cable channel. The students watched the video clip, listening for selling features of the houses. They rewound the tape and listened repeatedly to catch words and phrases. They helped each other interpret "real estate-ese" into English and they analyzed misleading and coded advertising.
One of the most significant lessons was on the eye-opening "28% rule" that Nancy's class also confronted during this project. As students looked over two pamphlets from the lobby of a local bank about the mortgage process and mortgage financing options, we were all struck by the bank's assertion that one's mortgage payment should not exceed 28% of one's gross annual income. We hypothesized what that would mean for a person working full time at $10/hour. We calculated the maximum mortgage payment allowable under the "28% rule," and, having already completed the amortization table exercise in which the class looked up the monthly payments at current interest rates for houses on the market locally, students' "dream houses" seemed even more like dreams. We were grounded in the reality of the limits of the affordable housing market. This was an important step in learning about the value of one's money and the cost of homebuying.
Panel of Student Homebuying Experts: In our efforts to employ the expertise of our students, we set up a panel of home-owning students to answer their classmates' questions about home buying. A former student who had bought a three-family house, a level-two student who had bought a three-family house, and a level-three student who had bought a condominium made up our panel. Prior to the panel, students generated questions on three topics on large pieces of newsprint: 1) Deciding what kind of house to buy and finding the house; 2) Financing the house from mortgage to closing costs; 3) The problems, pleasures and surprises of home ownership. Our distinguished panel sat behind a table with a little bouquet of flowers and glasses of water. The students were on the edges of their chairs vying with each other to get their questions answered. It quickly became clear that we had not left enough time. The financial questions were left for our planned session at a bank with a mortgage lender, and this panel was reconvened at our next class meeting.
Over and over again, our panelists were realistic and articulate in their responses to their classmates questions. "Why did you decide to buy a house?" brought interesting answers. A 56-year-old Azerbaijani woman and her husband had bought an inexpensive one bedroom condominium because they wanted something they could own outright by the time they reached retirement age. They also wanted something that would require little maintenance on their part. A young Dominican family had bought a three-family house requiring no rehabilitation as a business venture. They wanted to be able to live in the house rent-free and build up equity so that they would have something saved up should they choose to return to their own country and buy a house there. A 40-year old Guatemalan woman had bought a three-family house so that she and her husband could build up equity. She hoped to one day sell the three-family house and purchase a single family home.
The panelists also shared their experiences with real estate agents and their methods of financing their homes. All had used real estate agents. One Spanish speaker had started with a Spanish-speaking realtor but switched to an English speaker who she found to be more helpful. The two people who had purchased three-family houses financed them through a mortgage company suggested by the realtor. The Azerbaijani couple had borrowed money from friends, so they had no mortgage. Later we learned that many people from the former Soviet Union choose not to use banks and are willing to lend money to friends for such purposes. When asked to share their experiences as homeowners, the panelists were very frank about the necessity of being prepared for unexpected expenses. The funniest surprise of home ownership was the condo owner's horrified discovery that the man downstairs snored so loudly that her husband could not sleep in their bed but camped out on the living room sofa. The good news was that the day before our panel discussion the snorer had moved out!
The panel provided excellent preparation for our next joint lesson, a trip to a local bank to learn more about the mortgage process in general and special programs for the first time homebuyer.
Visiting a Bank: Locally-owned Eastern Bank was most accommodating in arranging for their mortgage originator to hold a special program for us at the bank during our evening class time. Prior to the visit, we sent him a copy of the student-generated questions about financing a house, further topics that we hoped he would cover, and some guidelines for presenting to ESOL students.
When we arrived in the empty bank and saw chairs set up and a lovely spread of soft drinks, coffee and bakery cookies, one of the students said, "We are special!" Both the mortgage officer and the branch manager were present. During an initial presentation and later during the question and answer period, the mortgage lender told the students about special federal and state programs for first-time home buyers. The mortgage officer and branch manager fielded student questions for an hour and a half. Our students' questions covered a broad range, including "What documents do you need to buy a house?", "Can someone without a Social Security number open a bank account?", and "How much will you lend a person for a house?". When a student asked, "If I pay bills late, but I always pay, is it O.K., or is it a problem?", the students were all a little taken aback when the mortgage officer said very clearly, "Not paying your bills on time is one of the biggest problems of all! If you can't pay the electric bill on time, how will you pay the mortgage on time?"
In fact, much of the information that had been presented in the homebuying curriculum surfaced again, as well as information about specific loan packages geared for low income and first time homebuyers. Everyone felt good about having been taken seriously by the bank officer, and we were thrilled by the students' level of engagement as they formed their questions and followed the speaker's answers. In particular, the mortgage officer emphasized the importance of good credit, the importance of good record-keeping, and the importance of a stable job history. For instance, when another student asked, "Is it better to go to the bank first or the real estate agent first?", the mortgage officer gave several good arguments for going to a bank first so as to better understand one's financial situation before beginning the process of house-hunting. In short, the mortgage officer told the students that a free pre-qualifying discussion at a bank can help a potential buyer know if he/she has credit problems, how much he/she can reasonably expect to borrow, and the types of mortgage options available. When one is ready to seriously begin looking for a house, a pre-approved mortgage gives the buyer a strong bargaining chip. Also, the mortgage officer shared cautionary tales; for instance, the big real estate companies often own mortgage companies and will steer buyers directly to those companies rather than to banks. For first-time homebuyers, this can mean losing out on government-funded programs that offer lower and more stable interest rates.
At the end of the presentation, the mortgage lender distributed packets about the mortgage process that he had created especially for our students. The packets were written in large print and relatively simple language. Our students also received his and the branch manager's business cards and the homebuying guide of Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency (MHFA). The bank manager told us that she could offer seminars on many banking topics, including establishing credit, and that such seminars could always be held at the bank.
The evening seemed to be a great success. During an hour and a half of listening to unfamiliar speakers answer questions, everyone was alert and appeared interested. The mortgage officer and the bank manager did everything possible to make the students feel comfortable and competent. They reassured students that their English was fine, but that, if they needed translating services, the bank could provide such help in any language.
Nancy: Now that I have finished the unit, how do I feel about it? Was it worth four months of concentration in my ESOL class? Was it of enough interest and importance to my students? Did we make any headway in the area of Navigating Systems, let alone navigating the complex system of homebuying and home ownership? What got shortchanged as a result of this concentration? Would I do it again?
I often use thematic, content-based units in my classes, but never with so much new and sophisticated content, nor do I usually teach the unit over such an extended period of time. If we truly learn vocabulary through contextual presentation and repeated use, the unit provided an excellent vehicle for vocabulary building. The classes included so much information that we were able to build vocabulary in many areas: housing and real estate, job history, general banking and credit, and home mortgages. Doing the math involved in figuring down payments and mortgages gave us an opportunity to work with reading big numbers in English. Overall, there were many chances to learn new words and new concepts and to practice using what was presented. The Navigating the Homebuying System unit provided opportunities for reading comprehension using real life materials, informal discussions, dramas, writing, and listening. Another positive feature of the homebuying curriculum was the availability of materials and workbooks. The students truly appreciated having their own textbooks to make reference to and to work in. Rarely did anyone forget to bring the book to class. Finally, the unit encouraged our students to experiment with more sophisticated computer software, one with real life application. Using the Lotus program was a real treat for them. For many it was probably their favorite activity.
Did we achieve our purpose in giving our students the tools for the real life experience of navigating the banking/mortgage system? We certainly built a reasonable vocabulary and conceptual framework. Our class discussion about comparison shopping for a bank, our panel discussion, and our mortgage seminar at the bank all helped to demystify the banking/mortgage process. Our students have a much clearer idea of how ready or unready they are for homebuying and what steps they need to take before they can actually buy a house. All of them now have personal acquaintance with people who can help them through the process&emdash; classmates who have gone before them and friendly and accessible people at a local bank. We came away realizing that homebuying is a process that requires navigating a lot of systems, and we just scratched the surface.
What got left out? I didn't plan well enough for the integration of grammar into the curriculum. The grammar in the text was sometimes useful but seemed disjointed and was not always appropriate to the students' learning level. Next time through I will work beforehand at developing appropriate grammar threads for each unit. Would I teach the course again? Probably, but not as one continuous course. In the future I might spread several units out over the year: the banking process, establishing good credit, job histories, and homebuying.
Overall I am very happy that my class participated in the project. I feel that my students truly are much better able to navigate the banking/homebuying systems. My guess is that, through them, a lot of important information about banking and homebuying will filter into the broader immigrant community as well.
Dulany: It's true that the homebuying unit took a lot of class time. One of my classes involved in the unit spent most of the semester's last three months on the topic of homebuying. In many ways, as teachers, we were not prepared for the amount of time that the unit would need. Perhaps this was a chance to really consider our students' needs and interests, even above and beyond our individual curriculum priorities. We had to constantly remind ourselves that the students were engaged and learning, even if we were ready to move on to something new. In the final analysis, even the students who are still far away from buying a home have learned a tremendous amount of pertinent financial information. Of equal importance is that the learning of this kind of information has boosted students' skills in navigating a multi-faceted, American financial and social system.
For me, the most significant lesson learned from our Navigating the Homebuying System unit is how difficult it is to implement a content-based curriculum that succeeds in using students' emerging language skills to learn new information. This level of teaching English is much more challenging than using students' emerging language skills to discuss already familiar topics, such as family relationships or shopping. In other words, when I taught this unit on homebuying I cared about how my students retained and applied information that they learned from one class to the next. Teaching the unit on homebuying, in the cont