The Use of Authentic Materials in ESL Classrooms to Develop Listening Skills:

A proposal for a case study in SMK Main Convent Ipoh

Nurul Fatiha Romali
Wee Vee Vien
1.0 Introduction
According to Morrison (1989:14), using authentic listening materials
in language classroom is not a new approach but it has been a leading issue
over the past 20 years (Baghban and Pandian, 2011:1). Traditionally, it was
proposed

that

language

presented

to

learners

should

be

simplified

(Widdowson, 1990:67, cited in Berardo, 2006:60). The current view, however,

proposed that listening activities should draw on using authentic materials
(Field, 1998:14) to help students extract meanings from real-life utterances in
which can be applied in their usage of English in real-life encounters (ibid:115).
Even though there is a tendency for teachers to use authentic aural materials
only for higher-level students (Morrison:1989:14), we believe that authentic
listening materials can be used at all levels to develop listening skills and
comprehension because Cunningsworth (1984:72) suggests that materials
authenticity may lead to students positive outcome in their second language
learning performance regardless of students level.
This paper is a proposal of a small-scale qualitative classroom
research aims to investigate the use of authentic materials in developing
listening skills in Malaysian ESL classrooms. This proposal begins with a brief
definition of authentic materials, followed by participants background,
objectives of the study, methodology for data collection and data analysis,
research ethics involved, and the expected constraints during the investigation.

2.0 Definition
Authentic materials can be defined as spoken or written language
produced for genuine communication and not specifically written for language

teaching (Nunan, 1999, cited in Oura, 2001:67). Authentic texts may also refer
to real-life texts which are not written for pedagogical purposes (Wallace,
1992:145) in which they are produced by real speakers or writers for read
audiences to communicate real messages (Morrow, 1977:13). In addition,
authentic materials also do not demonstrate particular language items (Mishan,
2004:12) and do justice to every feature of the language (Gilmore, 2004, cited
in Baghban and Pandian, 2011:1). Some examples of authentic materials that
can be used in listening activities may include television commercials, cartoons,
news clips, movies, songs, and radio broadcasts (Gebhard, 1996, cited in Oura,
2001:67)
3.0 Background of the participants
This study will be conducted in SMK Main Convent Ipoh, Perak, an
all-girls secondary school in Malaysia. The participants involved would be two
English language teachers and students between the ages of 13 to 17 years old.
The students are multiracial and most, or perhaps all, of the students mother
tongue is not English. The students also attend school five days a week, from
Monday to Friday, and learn English as a second language for a total of 200
minutes per week.
4.0 Objectives of study
There are two objectives of the study. The first objective is to
examine the influences of authentic materials on listening skills among students
of English as a second language. The second objective is to investigate the
effect of aural authentic materials on ESL students attitudes, feelings, and
behaviours towards learning the language.
5.0 Data Collection

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To achieve the objectives of the study, data collection will occur over
a period of twelve weeks and sources of data include interviews, questionnaires,
and observations (Appendix 1).
Interviews will involve teachers and students in which we will
conduct pre-study and post-study with two English language teachers, prelesson and post-lesson interviews with the teachers, and post-lesson interviews
with three randomly-picked students. The proposed semi-structured interview
questions for each session are adapted from Thanajaro (2000:51-53). The
questions for pre-study interview (Appendix 2) with teachers are designed to
obtain teachers perception regarding the use of authentic listening materials
and their opinions concerning the listening ability of students in the class (ibid.).
On the other hand, the post-lesson interview questions with students (Appendix
3) aimed to gain information about students feelings and attitudes regarding the
use of authentic listening materials. All interviews will be recorded and
transcribed.
Each student will also be required to respond to two sets of
questionnaires. The first questionnaire, which will be distributed at the beginning
and end of the research, is Self-Evaluation Questionnaire (Appendix 4) and the
purpose is to acquire students opinions regarding their own second-language
listening skills (ibid:54). The second questionnaire is Language Learning
Strategy Questionnaire (Appendix 5) which will be distributed at the end of the
study, aims to obtain information on learning strategy the students use in
listening to aural authentic materials.
In this study, non-participatory class observations (McDonough and
McDonough, 1997, cited in Farrell and Lim, 2005:25) will also be used as a data
collection tool. There will be 80 minutes of lesson observation per week,
beginning from Week 4 to Week 10 with 560 minutes of observations in total.
The class observations will allows researchers to observe students listening and
learning behaviours when using authentic materials. There will be no
interference from the researchers during the observation but researchers will
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only record the lessons and write field notes. The video recordings will allow
researchers to re-observe the lesson and take notes of what they may overlook.
Field notes will be typed.
6.0 Data Analysis
Data analysis will be conducted after collecting all the data in which
all the interviews will be transcribed, the field notes of the observations will be
typed, and the questionnaires will be analysed. The data from the three sources
be validated through triangulation process, for instance, the data from the
observation will be triangulated with the transcripts of the interviews and
students response in questionnaires.
7.0 Research Ethics
Ethical issues are present in any kind of research, and thus
researchers should apply appropriate ethical principles in order to prevent or
reduce harm throughout the research process. In research or in the vicinity of
research, researchers are expected to obtain informed consent from all
participants who are directly involved. Hence, in this study, consent is obtained
through written consent forms (Appendix 6). According to Kvale (1996, cited in
Orb, Eisenhauer, and Wynaden, 2001:95), informed consent is essential in
making a reasonable balance between over-informing and under-informing. In
addition, it will also show recognition of participants rights including the right to
be informed about the study, the right to freely decide whether to participate in a
study, and the right to withdraw at any time without penalty (Capron, 1989, cited
in ibid). Confidentiality of information shared and anonymity of research will also
be practised in this research to protect the identity of the participants involved.

8.0 Expected/Anticipated Constraints

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As the research will only be carried out in 12 weeks, there is a

possibility that the data collected from the research would be invalid. Ample time
is needed to carry out a research so that all aspects of the study can be
investigated properly. In addition, being outsiders, there may be a limit to what is
revealed to researchers in terms of the aspects of practice, organisational
culture and communication because there may be problems in building trust and
rapport with the respondents (Samra, 2007::27). Students may also act
unnaturally with the presents of observers in the class, especially in the initial
observations. This is an inevitability that has to be accepted.
Another constraint may be the willingness of teachers to use
authentic materials as researchers are new to the school environment, and the
culture of the school is unknown to researchers. Teachers may prefer to use
textbooks, and the materials used for the lessons may be designed for
examination purpose. Thus, they may reject the idea of using authentic
materials in the lesson.

References

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Baghban, Z. Z. V. & Pandian, A. (2011). A review on the effectiveness of using authentic

materials in ESP courses. English for Specific Purposes World, 31(10, 1-14).
Barker, L. L. (1971). Listening behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Berardo, S. A. (2006). The use of authentic materials in the teaching of reading. The
Reading Matrix, 6(2), 60-69.
Cunningsworth, A. (1984) Evaluating and Selecting EFL Teaching Materials. London:
Heinneman Educational Books Ltd.
Dunkel, P. (1986). Developing listening fluency in L2: Theoretical principles and pedagogical
considerations. The Modern Language Journal, 70, 99-106.
Farrell, T. S. C. & Lim, P.P.C. (2005). Conceptions of grammar teaching: a case study of
teachers beliefs and classroom practices. TESL-EJ, 9(2), 22-29.
Field, J. (1998). Skills and strategies: towards a new methodology for listening [Online
version]. ELT Journal, 52(2), 110-118. Retrieved Oct 23, 2012, from
http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org/content/52/2/110.full.pdf+html.
Guariento, W., & Morley, J. (2001). Text and task authenticity in the EFL classroom. ELT
Journal, 55(4), 347353
Kelly, C., Kelly, L., Offner, M. & Vorland, B. (2002).Effective ways to use authentic materials
with ESL/EFL students. The internet TESL journal. 8(11). Available at:
http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Kelly-Authentic.html [Retrieved: 21 Oct 2012]
Mansor, B. (n.d.) Qualitative Research. [online] Available at:
http://maele.net/research/HBEF4106-CHP6.pdf [Retrieved: 19 Oct 2012]
Mishan, M. (2004). Designing authenticity into language learning materials. Bristol: Intellect
Books.
Morrison, B. (1989). Using news broadcasts for authentic listening comprehension [Online
version]. ELT Journal, 43(1), 14-18. Available at:
http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org/content/43/1/14.full.pdf+html. [Retrieved: 23 Oct
2012]
Morrow, K. (1977). Authentic texts in ESP. In Holden, S.(Ed). English for specific purposes.
London: Modern language publications.
Paltridge, B. (2001). Genre and the language learning classroom. Michigan: University of
Michigan.
Orb, A., Eisenhauer, L., & Wynaden, D. (2000). Ethics in qualitative research. Journal of
Nursing Scholarship, 33(1), 93-96.
Oura, G. K. (2001). Authentic task-based materials bringing the real world into the classroom
[Online version]. Sophia Junior College Faculty Bulletin, 21, 65-84. Available at:
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http://www.jrc.sophia.ac.jp/kiyou/ki21/gaio.pdf [Retrieved: 22Oct 2012]

Rogers, C. V., & Medley, F. W., Jr. (1988). Language with a purpose: Using authentic
materials in the foreign language classroom. Foreign Language Annals, 21, 467478.
Richards, J. C. (2001). Postscript: the ideology of TESOL. In Carter, R. & Nunan, D. (Eds).
The Cambridge guide to teaching English to speakers of other languages.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Secules, T., Herron, C., & Tomasello, M. (1992). The effect of video context on foreign
language learning. The Modern Language Journal, 76 , 480-490.
Shomoossi, N. & Ketabi. (2007). A critical look at the concept of authenticity. Electronic
Journal of Foreign LanguageTeaching. 4(1). pp 149-155.
Shrum, J. L. & Glisan, E. W. (2000). Teachers handbook: contextualized language
instruction. Boston: Heinle & Heinle.
Thanajaro, M. (2000). Using authentic materials to develop Listening comprehension in the
English as a second language classroom (PhD Dissertation) [Electronic version].
Faculty of theVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg,
Virginia. Available at:
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-0301200000590032/unrestricted/Metinee.pdf. [Retrieved: 21 Oct 2012]
Wallace, C. (1992). Reading. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Appendices
Appendix 1

Table 1 : Research Project Gantt Chart

Procedure / Week

W1

W2

W3

W4

W5

W6

W7

W8

W9

W10

W11

Getting consent from administrator, teachers, and students

Gathering background information about the school
Conduct pre-study interviews with two teachers
Students answer self-evaluation questionnaire
Students answer language learning strategy questionnaire
Conduct pre-lesson interviews with each teacher
Non-participatory class observations (40 minutes per week)
Conduct post-lesson interviews with each teacher
Post-lesson interviews with randomly-picked students
Conduct post-study interviews with two teachers
Data analysis
APPENDIX 2: SEMI-STRUCTURED QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEWS (TEACHERS)

1. Please define the term authentic language.

2. Please describe your perceptions of using aural authentic language in ESL listening.
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W12

3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

What kinds of aural authentic materials do you use in the classroom?

What are the authentic materials you might want to implement in your class in addition to what you are using now?
What kinds of listening activities do you think ESL classrooms should use to prepare the students for real-life listening situation?
Please describe some of the listening strategies you tell your students.
Please describe some of the learning strategies you tell your students.
Please tell me about your students and their progress in listening comprehension.

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APPENDIX 3: SEMI-STRUCTURED QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEWS (STUDENTS)

1. What do you think about the materials used today?

2. Could you tell me something you like and dislike about the materials used today?
3. Would you like to change the materials used today? If yes, how?

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APPENDIX 4: SELF-EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE

(1) What percentage of a typical conversation with a native speaker do you understand?
(less than half,

more than half,

all of it)?

(2) What percentage of a typical listening comprehension exercise in class do you understand?
(less than half,

more than half,

all of it)?
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(3) Are you generally able to guess the meanings of what you hear?

On the basis of these questions, give yourself a rating on listening (circle one):
1. Doing just find, about where I should be.
2. Not too bad, nothing to worry about.
3. Serious problems.

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APPENDIX 5: LEARNING STRATEGY QUESTIONNAIRE

Please read each statement and answer in terms of how well the statement describes you.
Do not answer how you think you should be, or what other people do. Give a response
(1, 2, 3, 4, 5) that tells how true of you the statement is.
1. The statement is very rarely true.
2. The statement is true less than half the time.
3. The statement is true about half the time.
4. The statement is true more than half the time.
5. The statement is true almost always.

I think of relationships between what I already know and new things I learn in English.

I create a mental image of what I heard.

I watch English language TV shows spoken in English.

I listen to popular songs on the radio.

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I try not to translate word-for-word.

To understand unfamiliar English words, I make guesses.

I try to guess what the other person will say next in English.

I pay attention when someone is speaking English.

If I do not understand something in English, I ask the other person to slow down or say it again.

I try to learn about the culture of English speakers.

APPENDIX 6: CONSENT FORM adapted from Thanajaro (2000).

This is an invitation to you to participate in a study of using authentic materials in an ESL classroom to improve listening skills. The study is a
part of my course work for the Bachelor Degree in Education which I am taking at Ipoh Teachers Training Institute. This research project is
designed to examine the effects of using authentic materials on listening comprehension in students of English as a second language.
Your participation in this research will consist of four interviews. The interviews will focus on your perceptions and attitudes towards the use of
authentic materials, and to obtain your opinion concerning the listening ability of students in the class. Each interview will take about ten
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minutes and will be scheduled at your convenience. The interviews will be audio taped. Anything you say during the interview will remain
confidential.
Classroom listening activities will be video-taped. All the audio tapes and video tapes will be kept and transcribed by me. As the tapes are
transcribed, each person will be assigned a code which will be used to substitute wherever the person may be identified in the transcripts. Once
the audio tapes and video tapes are transcribed, I will erase the tapes and remove all identifying information. Only the researcher will have
access to the audio tapes, the video tapes, the transcripts, and data containing information that would identify individuals. In any reports based
on these data the identities of all participants will be masked in such a way that quoted comments cannot be attributed to particular individuals.
A summary of the research findings will be available upon request.
From this research project we hope to learn more about how authentic materials affect listening comprehension in English-as-a-secondlanguage learning. You are free to withdraw from this study at any time without penalty or prejudice.
This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through the Ipoh Teachers Training Institute Ethics Board. If you have questions
regarding your rights as a research participant, please contact: Miss Nurul Fatiha and Miss Vee Vien.
Your signature below indicates that you have read the information above and have agreed to participate in the research project. In order to
schedule interviews please include your telephone number.

_________________________
Signature of participant

__________________
Date

_________________________
Telephone number

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