AUTHENTIC MATERIALS

Erika Panganiban

Authentic MaterialsA stretch of real language, produced by a real speaker or writer for a real audience and designed to convey a real message of sort (Morrow, 1977)Appropriate and quality in terms of goals, objectives, learner needs and interest and natural in terms of real life and meaningful communication (Rogers, 1988)Exposure to real language and its use in its own community (Widdowson, 1990)Materials which are designed for native speakers; they are real texts; designed not for language students but for the speakers of the language (Harmer, 1991)Materials that we can use in the classroom and that have not been changed in any way for ESL students (Sanderson, 1999)

Sources of Authentic Materials

NewspapersTV ProgramsMenusMagazinesInternetMoviesSongsEtc..

Advantages of using authentic materials

Students are exposed to real discourse, as in videos of interviews with famous people where intermediate students listen for gist. Authentic materials have a positive effect on learner motivation.Authentic materials keep students informed about what is happening in the world, so they have an intrinsic educational value. (Sanderson, 1999).Authentic materials can produce a sense of achievement

Advantages of using authentic materials

The same piece of material can be used under different circumstances if the task is different.Language change is reflected in the materials so that students and teachers can keep abreast of such changes.Reading texts are ideal to teach/practice mini-skills such as scanning (Martinez, 2002).Authentic materials can encourage reading for pleasureAuthentic materials support a more creative approach to teach

Disadvantages of using authentic materials

Authentic materials may be too culturally biased, so unnecessarily difficult to be understood outside the language community.The vocabulary might not be relevant to the student’s immediate needs.Too many structures are mixed so lower levels have a hard time decoding the texts.Special preparation is necessary which can be time consuming.

Disadvantages of using authentic materials

• Too many different accents can be heard which can cause some confusion.

• The material can become outdated easily

• There are many headlines, adverts, signs, and so on that can require good knowledge of the cultural background.

Considerations for the Implementation of Authentic Materials (Breen, 1985)

What is an authentic text?For whom is the text authentic?For what authentic purpose?What is authentic to the social situation of the classroom?

Three Aspects in order to facilitate an interaction between learners and materials

• Text factor (individual differences)• Task factor (task design)• Learner Setting factor (learning environment)

CONCLUSION

• Students benefit from being exposed to the language in authentic materials

• Authentic materials should be used in accordance with the students’ level of knowledge

• Students should be helped by their teachers to overcome the difficulties they encounter