Effectiveness of Using Authentic and Semi-Authentic Teaching Materials in ELT Classrooms

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1 Effectiveness of Using Authentic and Semi-Authentic Teaching Materials in ELT Classrooms Dr. Latha Ramesh Head & Professor of English Madha Engineering College, Madha Nagar, Kundrathur Chennai-69. Abstract: This article discusses about the benefits of integrating authentic newspapers and semi-authentic magazines into classroom curricula. Introduction: In the process of learning a language, learners expect to be able to communicate in the language that they are studying. Naturally, they do not contemplate communication to be limited only to the activity of expressing oneself orally. Rather, communication includes writing, speaking, listening and reading closely joined together. These skills should be provided as an equal treatment during the English lesson. Harmer describes writing and speaking as productive skills and listening and reading as receptive skills. Reading is an exercise dominated by the eyes and the brain. The eyes receive the messages and the brain then has to work out the significance of these messages. A reading text moves at the speed of the reader. The fact that reading texts are stationary is clearly a huge advantage. Reading is one of the essential language skills comprising every language lesson and the whole process of learning itself. One of the most difficult aspects of a teacher s class preparation is to choose the right reading material. There are always two possibilities: authentic and non-authentic texts. Harmer says that authentic texts are real texts designed not for language students, but for the speakers of the language in question. Using authentic material in the classroom, even when not done in an authentic situation, has some advantages because it keeps students informed about what is happening in the world, so they have an intrinsic educational value. On the other hand, textbooks often do not include incidental English. Some other reasons are that the same piece of material can be used under different circumstances if the task is different, that books, articles, magazines and newspapers contain a wide variety of text types and they encourage reading for pleasure because they are likely to contain topics of interest to learners. The use of authentic materials also has some disadvantages. For example, they may be too culturally biased, so unnecessarily difficult to understand outside the language community, or the vocabulary might not be relevant to the student's immediate needs. The other disadvantages are that too many structures are mixed such that lower levels have a hard time decoding the texts, or there might be a problem with material that can become outdated easily. A non-authentic text in language teaching terms is one that has been written especially for language students. Harmer says that most course books use non-authentic materials so that students can concentrate 1 st August 2017 Website: ijmms14@gmail.com Page 126

2 on specific grammar items. He argues that such materials should not be used to try to help students become better readers or listeners, because non-authentic material will not necessarily do that. This does not mean that we as teachers should always provide students with authentic materials, but at least we should try, whenever possible, to use less artificial materials. These are texts that must be realistic models of written or spoken English. When thinking of authentic and semi-authentic materials, we usually assume that we are talking about newspaper and magazine articles. However, the term can also includes such things as songs, web pages, radio & TV broadcasts, films, leaflets, flyers, posters indeed, anything written in the target language and used unedited in the classroom. Newspapers and magazines are useful tools in the EFL classroom for improving reading skills and enhancing students' knowledge of current affairs. If used in a more inspiring way, newspapers and magazines can help students to develop not only reading skills but also writing, grammar, vocabulary, and speaking skills. There are a lot of published courses that use real or simulated newspaper or magazine articles. It is important to highlight newspapers and magazines used as authentic or semi authentic reading material in an EFL class because it is used in a non-english environment. Using semi-authentic magazines might be compared with learning swimming. Learning swimming cannot start with learning butterfly swim style; rather, you always have to start with keeping your body afloat. And this is exactly the role of semi-authentic materials. There are advantages to the use of newspapers and magazines, but there are a number of points that remind us of the difficulties newspaper and magazine materials can pose. As I have chosen magazines as a teaching material in the EFL classroom, there might be some disputes over using them as an authentic material. On the one hand there is no doubt that newspapers are real authentic material, but on the other hand we cannot say that magazines printed for a particular student s level are not authentic. According to Grundy these magazines are called simulated, but this thesis uses the term semi-authentic. Such magazines consist of adapted texts that are created for a certain student s level. As Harmer says we need texts which students can understand the general meaning of, whether they are truly authentic or not. But texts - whether authentic or not - must be realistic models of written or spoken English. If teachers can find genuinely authentic material which their students can cope with that will be advantageous; if not they should be using material which simulates authentic English. Harmer adds that the texts should be in language which the students can more or less understand even though it is above their own productive level. Authentic newspapers and semi-authentic magazines have some assets and drawbacks, each of which is discussed in greater detail below: Availability Variety Topicality Difficulty 1 st August 2017 Website: ijmms14@gmail.com Page 127

3 Culture and society problem Availability: English language newspapers and magazines are available world-wide. Some of them are printed in English-speaking countries and then distributed to other countries, while others are locally produced. They are cheap and plentiful. But sometimes the use of topical material in authentic English is too useful that it is often omitted from English language teaching. The texts are designed for a particular learner s level, and therefore it is much easier for teachers to prepare a proper lesson plan. These publishers offer teaching materials, free lesson plans, and audio materials so that the teacher can prepare a high-quality lesson. Also, authentic newspaper materials are widely available. An EFL teacher can order them, buy them or get them on-line. A teacher s lesson plan preparation is a bit more difficult in these cases because of many unknown vocabularies and collocations. Variety: Newspapers and magazines contain a wide range of text types and a significant amount of information. The students can find in authentic or semi-authentic source varieties of written English, which is more and more important for a learner s progress. On the other hand, course books are full of reading material such that sometimes teachers forget newspapers and magazines as a learning tool for their students. Newspapers and magazines are full of texts that can help learners to improve his or her speaking, reading, writing and listening skills, vocabularies and grammar. The teacher can find an appropriate text for his or her lower students level in semiauthentic magazines or find a text in authentic newspapers that suit his or her higher students level. Topicality: Topicality is often noticed both as an advantage and disadvantage of newspaper and magazine material. Newspapers and magazines provide fresh reports and news from all over the world rapidly. But at the same time they do not stay fresh any longer. From my point of view, it is an asset when there is a fresh supply of magazines and the students get an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the recent reports and news in English. But on the other hand, it is not a problem when only older copies are available. As Grundy adds, it is important to develop a wide amount of activities that can be used even if the material is not timely. It is essential for the teacher to think creatively to be able to use a specific activity for a specific text. Difficulty: EFL learners find authentic newspaper texts difficult. They are full of obscure headlines and an immense variety of vocabulary and grammar structures. The students tend to read and translate texts piece by piece and that is why teachers should expose the students to authentic newspaper or semi-authentic magazine reading. The work with this authentic material should be focused on meaning rather than form. Harmer also says that students could generally deal with a higher level of language in receptive skills than in productive skills. From my point of view, the learners can find the specific grammatical connections only in authentic texts and that is the way to learn better. Of course if the students level is elementary, it is very important for teachers to grade the task according to the students abilities. In that case, the use of semiauthentic reading materials is more efficient. From my experience it encourages and motivates 1 st August 2017 Website: ijmms14@gmail.com Page 128

4 my students when they can conquer a real text. Furthermore Ur adds that it is better with less proficient learners to use simplified texts to make them appropriate in our student s level. She adds that simplified texts are more effective at lower stages of learning and, on the other hand, the use of authentic texts with lower students level is often frustrating. Culture and society problems: It is a big asset to use authentic or semi-authentic newspapers and magazines in an EFL classroom because students are introduced to cultural and social information about English speaking countries. Grundy considers newspapers and magazines as one of the best sources of information about host culture and the host society. He adds that those learners who are familiar with newspapers and magazines are those who acculturate and learn foreign language successfully. Students generally learn the foreign language because they want to know more about the people who speak it, the places where it is spoken and the writings which it has produced. It is very important for teachers to reduce the negative reaction and very carefully choose the appropriate text or to allow students to choose the text for their work whenever possible. Newspapers and magazines in ELT classes: Newspaper and magazine material is one of the most challenging teaching tools for both teachers and students. In students it can develop various language skills, including reading comprehension, grammar and vocabulary work, they get in touch with different cultures and societies, and it stimulates discussion on the basis of the reading articles. The effective use of newspapers and magazines should include the following: Warm-up or discussion activity to introduce the topic Work on selection of the techniques covered by the text, which will generate vocabulary development, guided or free writing activities, and oral practice, exercises performed in pairs or small groups A follow-up activity, such as discussion, a role-play or project work, Reading newspapers and magazines is an area that is particularly difficult and often far beyond students reading level. As teachers we can help with the students ability to read and be able to understand the text by teaching the students some reading strategies and techniques. There are many reading strategies and techniques that may help students to be a better reader. Listed below are some of reading strategies and techniques Activating prior knowledge - the teacher uses this as a pre-reading activity, which enables the reader to make connections between something they already know and the new knowledge from the reading material Clarifying - used throughout reading, students ask questions, reread, restate and visualize, making the text more comprehensible Context Clues using words surrounding an unknown word to determine its meaning 1 st August 2017 Website: ijmms14@gmail.com Page 129

5 Drawing Conclusions used after reading, the students use written or visual clues to figure out something that is not stated, students respond with their ideas and opinions based on information learned from reading the text Evaluating used during and after reading, it encourages students to form their opinions, make judgments and develop ideas from reading; teachers make evaluative questions and these lead the student to evaluate a text critically Inference - used during reading, students give a logical guess based on facts to help the students understand the deeper meaning of a text, which enables the reader to make connections between something they already know and the new knowledge from the reading material Clarifying - used throughout reading, students ask questions, reread, restate and visualize, making the text more comprehensible Context Clues using words surrounding an unknown word to determine its meaning Drawing Conclusions used after reading, the students use written or visual clues to figure out something that is not stated, students respond with their ideas and opinions based on information learned from reading the text Evaluating used during and after reading, it encourages students to form their opinions, make judgments and develop ideas from reading; teachers make evaluative questions and these lead the student to evaluate a text critically Inference - used during reading, students give a logical guess based on facts to help the students understand the deeper meaning of a text Predicting used before and during reading, students use the text to guess what will happen next, then they confirm or reject their own prediction as they read Rereading gives students another chance to understand a challenging text better Restating used during reading, the students shorten or summarize the meaning of a chapter or a passage Setting a purpose used before reading, the students read directions for a reading task and then determine why they are being asked to read; the reader provides focus by setting a purpose Scanning reading quickly to locate specific information, or looking for specific answer Skimming- reading for a quick gist of a chapter or section Visualizing used during reading, it is introduced by reading aloud while students close their eyes and imagine how it looks, then students write or draw what they see. Conclusions: Newspapers and magazines are described as a good source for practicing the English language. It is stressed that using newspapers as authentic material and magazines as semi-authentic material is very important for a learner s connection with real English. Even though working with authentic newspapers was at times too difficult for my students, semiauthentic magazines used during my English lessons seemed to be a bit more interesting and less 1 st August 2017 Website: ijmms14@gmail.com Page 130

6 complex. The author used the magazine Infinithoughts in the English Classes. The articles were read out in the class and the students were invited for discussion. The students were asked to write down the words that they are not familiar. The sentences with those difficult words are written on the board and the students are asked to guess the meaning. With repeated tasks similar and different of nature using authentic and semi authentic materials in the English classes, the students were able to show radical improvement in their language. Integrating authentic newspapers and semi-authentic magazines into classroom curricula seemed to be very useful for my students and it extended their language knowledge and skills. Bibliography Harmer, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching. Essex: Longman, 1991, ISBN Greendal, Simon and Swan Michael. Effective Reading. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986, ISBN Grellet, Francoise. Developing Reading Skills. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981, ISBN Grundy, Peter. Newspapers. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993, ISBN Ur, Penny. A Course in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996, ISBN st August 2017 Website: ijmms14@gmail.com Page 131