Authentic Materials

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Definition of authentic material

Authentic would be material designed for

native speakers of English used in the

classroom in a similar way to the one it

was designed for.

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What are authentic materials?

Anybody who takes into the classroom a

newspaper article, an advertisement, a

pop song, a strip cartoon, or even a bus

ticket, is using authentic materials.

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Why should we use authentic materials?

Perhaps the most important is the

students' motivation and interest.

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How to select authentic materials?

The first step is that they are motivating or that the

exercises that can be done with them are motivating.

The second linked criterion is that they are not too ephemeral (short period). If they are already of

historical interest, there seems little point in using

them.

Thirdly, they have to be organized in some way. Giving them ideas to appreciate their work.

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How can we teach with authentic materials? One important

issue
is

in

teaching
the

authentic

materials

whether

activities one uses are natural or not. By

natural, I mean those that the native

speakers themselves use for dealing with

the materials.
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Advantages of using authentic materials in language teaching

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The first one is that by using authentic material, students

are exposed to real discourse.

Secondly, authentic materials keep students informed

about what is happening in the world, so they have an intrinsic (get to the gist) educational value. Thirdly, as language change is reflected in the materials so that students and teachers can keep abreast of such changes.

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Fourthly, reading texts are ideal to teach/practise minikills such as scanning, example: students are given a news article and asked to look for

specific information.

Fifthly, different authentic materials such as books, articles, newspapers,

and so on contain a wide variety of text types, and language styles not
easily found in conventional teaching materials.

Lastly, authentic materials can encourage reading for pleasure because they are likely to contain topics of interest to learners, especially if students are given the chance to have a say about the topics of kinds of authentic materials to be used in class.

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They can help learners bridge the gap from the classroom lesson to real life by making immediate

use of classroom lessons in their lives.

By exposing learners to authentic language can help them develop their predication skills and improve language.
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their

strategies

for

dealing

with

uncertainty in understanding or using target

Disadvantages of the using authentic material in language teaching However, there are disadvantages to
using authentic materials in their raw

form without adaptation or support.

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The first disadvantage is the complexity of the language. Authentic materials may be too culturally biased (dislike) or too difficult to understand outside the language community thereby making them inaccessible to

beginners or elementary learners.

The second disadvantage is the learning burden (difficult). Authentic materials may contain items,

particularly vocabulary, which are of low frequency and of

peripheral use to the learner and may never be encountered again.
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Also mentioned two other weaknesses of using authentic materials. One is that some authentic listening materials have so many different accents that it is very hard for the learner to understand.

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Regardless of the drawbacks above of using authentic materials, if our teachers are

enthusiastic and take advantage of the benefits

and use them properly and in sufficient quantities, we may motivate our learners. There are many sources of authentic materials, such as newspapers, magazines, user manuals, leaflets and brochures, TV and radio programmes, videos, literature, songs, etc.
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Sources of Authentic Materials

Literature Computer software The internet Task Want ads Treasure hunt Menus Ads in magazines The agony column (personal ad) Travel brochures
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Effective Ways to Use Authentic Materials with ESL/EFL Students

We now have an extensive collection of
materials that include menus, maps,

newspaper inserts, store advertisements,

travel brochures, catalogs, phone books, real

estate pamphlets, and various pamphlets of

sightseeing and tourist information.
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Choosing Authentic Materials

There are several important points to consider when

choosing authentic materials. You should make sure that

you have enough copies of the materials to be used so that each student or pair of students can have a copy to use. It is

best not to use material with too many pages, unless the
pages are clearly numbered for easy reference. If you plan to use the same materials in more than one class, it is

important that they be hardy enough to withstand a lot of

handling and they should be easily refolded and put back together.
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Putting the Question Handout Together

For the authentic materials to be effective,

the questions must be well constructed to

give the students the opportunity to practice

English
1.

Tour Questions

2.
3.

Cultural and Personal Choice Questions

Challenging Questions
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Activities
Word Search Crosswords Personalizing Pair Practice Internet

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Using Authentic Materials: At Which Level?

At post-intermediate level, the use of authentic materials is available for use in classroom. This might be attributed to the fact that at this level, most students master a wide range of vocabulary in the target language and all of the structures.
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What can be done to overcome difficulties we face?

Teachers may use authentic materials for the
learners to listen for the gist of the information presented and also he adds that by using authentic materials teachers will have the opportunity to encourage students

to read for pleasure especially certain topics

of their interest.
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Cultural Content
Culture' as the customs, values, laws, technology,

artifacts and art of a particular time or people.

Culture in English language teaching materials

has been subject to discussion for many years.

The reason for the use of cultural content in classroom is for the supposition that it will foster learner motivation.
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Why Should We Use Cultural Content?

Cultural content provides exposure to living
language that a foreign language student

lacks. So, culture is not something consisting

of facts to be learnt, but a helpful tool to

make learners feel the need to speak and use

the target language.
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How Can We Deal with Problems?

Today, English teachers have a lot of choices in

terms of textbooks, and it is surprising that many

of them rely on uninteresting textbooks that focus students' attention on grammatical structures, and on practice in isolation. Also, the activities chosen are based on teacher-talk and

student-listen routines.

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How Can We Introduce Cultural Content in Our Classrooms The key point is that we should create a
relaxing environment where our students

can discuss their own culture together

with the target culture in meaningful and

communicative tasks and activities.

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Sources and Techniques for Cultural Content

Practical techniques and a wide range of

sources for teaching culture in the EFL

classroom using three different parameters,

namely, information sources, activity-types

and selling-points and the role of role-play

in teaching culture for classroom suggesting

quick steps for classroom implementation.
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Lists sources of cultural information:

Newspapers
Video Talks/discussions Role play/dramatizations Culture quizzes/tests
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