USING “AUTHENTIC MATERIAL” IN TEACHING ENGLISH AS SECOND LANGUAGE

1. Introduction

Using authentic materials is one of the mainstays of an imaginative and motivating higher level course, but rarely features at levels lower than intermediate. There are several reasons for this, primarily a kind of fear that students will panic when faced with language that is largely unfamiliar, and a feeling that to prevent this the language should be edited to the students' level. This is an unnecessary fear, as using authentic materials can be rewarding and stimulating for both teacher and students.

Authentic materials, when appropriately selected an implemented, can be used to develop task that depart from formulaic language learning and provide a bridge between the linguistic skill of learners and their professional knowledge goals. Such materials, in their various formats, can provide a wealth of linguistic and conceptual content to learners who are focused on specific applications of their linguistic skills.

2. Definition of Authentic Materials

There are number of definitions related to authentic materials and there are presented here: (1) an authentic text is a stretch of oral language, produced by a real speaker or writer for a real audience and designed to convey a real message of some sort (Morrow in Anthony 2006), (2) authentic texts (either written or spoken) are those which are designed for native speakers; they are text designed not for language students, but for the speakers of the language in question (Harmer in Anthony 2006), and (3) a rule of thumb for authentic specially produced for propose of language teaching (Nunan in Anthony 2006)

3. Why should we use authentic materials?

Why should you use them and how can they fit into your classroom? Let us look at some of the reasons for using them. Perhaps the most important is the students' motivation and interest. One of the powerful reasons for learning a new language is to get closer to its speakers, to understand them better and take part in their lives, in other words the integrative motivation. Second, Authentic materials are even more relevant for students who have the aim of going to the country itself. If they are to function in the foreign society they will have to get accustomed to all the trivial reading items that they will encounter every day.

4. Criteria for selecting authentic materials

There are a few factors which teacher should consider when choosing authentic materials for classroom use. Some of the factors are listed here: interest, purpose of language learning, cultural appropriateness, language level, and quality of the materials (Valensi et all 1994).

1. Interest

Authentic are not created for classroom purpose. They are taken from real life and are going to be introduced in the artificiality of the classroom. So teacher has to ensure that the topic of the authentic materials chosen addresses the needs and interest of the specific group of students being taught.

2. Purpose of language learning

The goal of language learning for that particular group of learners should be kept in mind while deciding which materials to use in class. If the learners going to use English for the limited purpose of communicating within their country as second language learners the choice will be different from those who would like to go abroad for further studies. The utility value of the materials is a very important consideration. The teacher has to consider if the information included in the materials chosen are of value to the students.

3. Cultural appropriateness

Some of the materials are based on the native speaker’s culture and for some learners it may be quite alien. Then the problem of explaining the culture to the students takes up a lot of class time and less time is devoted to the actual task based on the authentic material. Hence a teacher has to consider, whether the students have the background knowledge or cultural schema for the topic, while selecting materials.

4. Language level

A group of students may be at the beginner, intermediate or advance level of learning a new language. While choosing the materials the most important factors is the level of the language used in the materials. These materials are taken from real life and not manipulated for the specific purpose of teaching a language in a classroom. The input has to be comprehensible to the students. At the same time the input should be challenging enough to sustain their motivation. So materials which are at the level of difficulty of the students or slightly above the students’ present level should be selected. If it is too below their level, they may not learn much from it, and if it is too above their level they will not be able to understand and interact with the materials. If the text contains too many colloquialisms, methapors, symbols, hidden or double meanings, or idioms, it should be used only with advanced learners and not beginners.

5. Types of authentic materials

Authentic materials can include audio, video and printed materials. Multimedia materials involving video, audio, and graphical presentations can also be included. Any of these types of materials which are used for communicating specific message in real life will fall under this category. The message may be addressed to native speakers or to those who use this language as second language in their country for communication. Some of the materials are listed here: Authentic Audio Materials, Authentic Visual Materials, Authentic Printed Materials, and Authentic Multimedia Materials.

1. Authentic Audio Materials

Authentic audio materials consist of: (1) music, news and other audio materials available on the internet, (2) TV programming include movies, commercials, quiz show, cartoons, news, and weather, (3) radio including advertisement, music, and sales pitches, (4) taped, (5) meetings, talks, (6) announcements in airports and stores, and (7) professionally audio-taped short and novels.

2. Authentic visual materials

Authentic visual materials consist of:

1. Images and graphs available on the internet
2. Photographs
3. Painting and drawings
4. Wordless street signs
5. Pictures from magazine
6. Postcard
7. X-rays
8. Coins and currency
9. Clock, phone

3. Authentic printed materials

Authentic printed materials consist of:

1. Web based printed materials available on the internet
2. Newspaper (article, movie review, advertisement, astrology columns, sport report, obituary columns, advice columns, etc.)
3. Lyrics to songs
4. Restaurant menu
5. Street signs
6. Food product labels such as cereal boxes, candy wrappers
7. Tourist information brochures
8. University catalog
9. Telephone books
10. Maps
11. Magazine ( TV guides, comic books, catalog)
12. Greeting card, letters
13. Grocery coupon
14. Pin or T-shirt with message, school notice.

4. Authentic multimedia materials

Authentic multimedia materials consist of:

1. TV, video programs of various kinds
2. Podcasting in internet and
3. Web based programs involving multimedia use.

6. The advantages in using authentic materials

There are several advantages of using authentic materials especially in classrooms where English is used as second language.

Authentic materials consist of (Anthony 2006):

1. Expose learners to a wide range of natural language
2. Brings reality into the classroom and makes the interaction meaningful
3. Connects the classroom to the outside world and brings the real world the artificiality of the classroom
4. Makes the teaching and assessment focus on skill rather than facts of language
5. Makes the teaching and learning of language move away from delivering a set of facts to be memo-rized for examination purpose
6. Help teacher access readily available, attractively packed, in expensive resource
7. Add variety to classroom activity
8. Help students practice the skill learnt in the classroom in the outside world when they come across similar materials in real life.

A number of research studies have proved that the use of authentic materials result in an overall increase in motivation on learn a more positive attitude towards learning, as well as increased involvement and interest in the subject matter. Authentic materials are perceived by the learners as useful, lifelike and interesting.

To sum up, authentic materials: 1) have positive effect on learner motivation, 2) provide authentic cultural information, 3) provide exposure to real language, 4) relate more closely to learners’ needs, and 5) support more creative approach to teaching.

7. Conclusion and suggestions

1. Conclusion

The result of the study are: 1) authentic materials can be effectively used in ESL (English Second Language) classroom, 2) when it is used effectively, authentic materials help bring the real word into the classroom and significantly enliven the ESL class, 3) exposing the students to cultural features generates a deeper understanding of and interest in the topic, 4) on one hand, the students develop their ability to zero in on relevant information, and on the other, they learn how to disregard what is not relevant, and 5) as students pool their individual strengths they gain confidence in being able to function in an English-speaking society.

2. Suggestions

It is suggested to the teacher that: 1) when bringing authentic materials into the classroom, it should always be done with a purpose, 2) students would be more confident and more secure when handling authentic materials as long as the teacher gives them with pedagogical support, 3) authentic materials should be used in accordance with students ability hoping that students would be able to grasp the general idea of the text.