Using Authentic Materials in The ESL Classroom: Jennie Cadd

Using Authentic Materials in the ESL
Classroom
Jennie Cadd
Overview of Todays Webinar
What are authentic materials?

Benefits and drawbacks of using authentic
materials.
How can we use authentic materials
successfully?
Some practical ideas for the use of authentic
materials.
2
Professional Development
What are Authentic Materials?
What do we mean by the term Authentic

Materials in English language teaching?
Type your ideas in the chat box
3 Professional Development
Definitions:
any material which has not been specifically

produced for the purpose of language teaching
(Nunan, 1989:54)
Definitions:
any materials which has not been specifically

produced for the purpose of language teaching
(Nunan, 1989:54)
..authentic materials simply means using

examples of language produced by native speakers
for some real purpose of their own rather than using
language produced and designed solely for the
classroom (Cook, 1981)
.but do they have to be
produced by native speakers?
Kachrus three circles of English (1985)
6
So Authentic Materials are.
Printed Text
Newspapers
Magazines
Brochures
Leaflets and posters
Menus
Notices
Signs
Literature
Web pages
7
TV and Video
Films and dramas
News reports
Commercials
Documentaries
Public information
announcements
8
Audio
Radio programmes
News broadcasts
Songs
Announcements
9
Authentic Materials can be used to
Provide a stimulus for oral and written practice

Expose learners to real examples of the target
language and provide the opportunity for authentic
tasks
Illustrate a particular grammatical structure or lexical
set
Give an insight into the culture of the target
language.
10
Why Use Authentic Materials?
Thought to be motivational. However, see Peacock (1997)

They prepare learners for the English used outside of the
classroom

classroom
Materials can be better suited to learners interests

classroom
Theyre up-to-date

classroom
Theyre up-to-date
They provide an insight into the culture of the target language

classroom
Theyre up-to-date
They provide an insight into the culture of the target language
Theyre representative of real English, thus ensuring the
provision of what learners need to know.
Why do you think some teachers
avoid using authentic materials?
type your ideas in the chat box
17
Why do Teachers Avoid Using
Authentic Materials?
Responses from teachers
Too time consuming to find suitable

materials and prepare tasks

Theyre too difficult for my learners

They often have unwanted or confusing
cultural content

They often have unwanted or confusing
cultural content
Students can become demotivated if
they dont understand
So what are the solutions to these
drawbacks?
Type your ideas in the chat box.
22
Some Solutions
Choose carefully
Relevant and interesting?

Appropriate length?
Challenging without being overly
difficult?
Appropriate level of cultural content?
Some Solutions
Set pre-tasks
Do you need to pre-teach vocabulary

or explain a concept/ provide cultural
background?
24
Some Solutions
Give authentic tasks
Move away from the typical ESL

tasks in course books. Make the
tasks authentic as well (Clanfield & Foord, 2011)
25
Some Solutions
Grade the task
Authentic materials ARE more difficult but

can still be used, even at low levels, if the
teacher chooses suitable tasks for his/her
learners
26
Some Solutions
Learner training
Challenge learner expectations
27
Some Solutions
Contextualise
28
Some Solutions
Contextualise
29
Some Solutions
Adapt the materials
Take extracts rather than a whole
text
Break into manageable chunks
Rewrite or rerecord
Delete some sections
30
Some Solutions
Use sparingly
Use as supplementary material in
conjunction with ESL materials.
31
Some Solutions
Use frequently
Allow students time to get used to

authentic materials and explain the
rational behind using them.
32
Using Authentic Video
For listening
comprehension
For oral fluency

practice
Authentic Listening Practice
The main purpose of the listening texts found in coursebooks

is to introduce students to new grammatical structures and
lexis. However, because these texts are usually scripted and
performed by actors in recording studios, they do not prepare
students for the spoken English they will encounter outside the
classroom. (Thorn 2013)
34
What makes listening in the real world
challenging for our learners?
35
What Makes Authentic Listening Challenging?
Features of connected speech:

elision (a sound is missed out)
assimilation (a sound changes)
Intrusion (an extra sound is introduced)
Features of spoken discourse:

discourse markers (fillers)
unfinished utterances
weak sounds
interrupting/ speaking over each other
36
Using video for listening practice
Dialogues for authentic listening
Short extracts from dramas or soap operas used regularly to raise

awareness of features of connected speech and oral discourse
Freestyle activity ( an authentic listening activity from Thorn: n.d).
37
Using video for listening practice
The Weather Forecast
www.bbc.co.uk
Good for collocations (e.g. patchy rain)

Good for focusing on the tense for forecasts (present simple
and continuous!)
Good for commonly used weather vocabulary (overcast/
breaks in the cloud)
38
Authentic Video for Speaking Practice
TV Advertisements
Springboard for fluency

practice: learners see
how many differences
they can find.
The New Skoda Fabia Attention Test
(Skoda, 2015)
Authentic Video for Speaking Practice
TV Advertisements
Springboard for fluency

practice: Learners relate
a series of events using
pre-taught vocabulary for
mishaps and accidents.
Toyota Rav-4 A car to call your own
advertisement (Toyota, 2012)
40
Using Authentic Printed Materials
Newspapers: Skimming and Scanning
Give each pair of students a

page from a newspaper.
They then choose (an)
article(s) and write their
own skimming and
scanning questions for
other students
42
Brochures or webpages for tourist attractions
43
Writing headlines and summarising
Brief news items: Students
have different short news
stories. They then write a
headline for their story. Whole
class has to match headlines
with stories. (Clanfield and Foord, 2013).
Summarising practice can
follow.
44
Local restaurant
menus (or from
websites).
Good for simulation
role play
45
Lexical sets and grammatical structures
Horoscopes:
Character adjectives
Modal verbs of
possibility
Future tenses
46
To sum up... use
authentic materials for
Oral skills: summarising/ story telling/ springboard for discussions
47
To sum up... use
Oral skills: summarising / story telling/ springboard for discussions
Writing skills: note-taking/ summarising/ story telling/

correspondence/ writing quizzes and questions
48
To sum up... use

Reading skills: skimming and scanning/ predicting/ guessing words

from context.
49
To sum up... use

Reading skills: skimming and scanning/ predicting/ guessing words

from context.
Listening skills: raising awareness of features of connected

speech (elision, assimilation). Features of discourse such as fillers/
unfinished sentences/ speakers talking over each other and
interrupting
50
In conclusion..
Research indicates that authentic materials are motivational

because they are authentic rather than interesting
Learner training is a key factor in the successful use of
authentic materials
Your students may need time to adjust to the use of authentic
materials: Use little and often.
Keep tasks authentic too
Check copyright laws in your country
Choose appropriate materials for your learners.
It may be advantageous for schools to train teachers in the
use of authentic materials
Any Questions?
References
Akbari, O, Razavi, A. (2015). Using authentic materials in the foreign language classrooms:
Teachers perspectives in EFL classes. International Journal of Research Studies in
Education: 18 June 2015. Available at
http://www.consortiacademia.org/index.php/ijrse/article/viewFile/1189/538 Accessed on
23/07/15
Chou, E. (n.d) Four creative ways to use authentic materials for teaching English. Available
at http://www.fluentu.com/english/educator/blog/authentic-materials-for-teaching-english/
Accessed on 19.07.15
Clanfield, L., Foord, D., (2011). Teaching materials: using newspapers in the classroom 1.
[online]. Available at http://www.onestopenglish.com/support/methodology/teaching-
materials/teaching-materials-using-newspapers-in-the-classroom-1/146510.article
Accessed on 19.07.15
Cook, V. (1981) Using Authentic Materials in the Classroom. Available at:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian.c/Writings/Papers/AuthMat81.htm Acessed on
15/07/15
Nunan, D. (1989). Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom. Cambridge
University Press: Cambridge.
53
References
Peacock, M (1997). The effect of authentic materials on the motivation of EFL learners. ELT
Journal, vol 51/2 April 1997. Available at http://203.72.145.166/elt/files/51-2-6.pdf Accessed
on 25.07.15
Shepherd, S. (2004). Using Authentic Materials. Available at:
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/using-authentic-materials Accessed on 01.08.15
Sherman, J. (2003). Using Authentic Video in the Language Classroom. Cambridge
University Press: Cambridge
Skoda (2015) The New Skoda Fabia Attention Test. Available at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpPYdMs97eE Accessed on 20.07.15
Thorn, S (2013) The Listening Business. Available at
http://www.thelisteningbusiness.com/listening.html Accessed on 20.07.15
Thorn, S. (n.d.). Practical guidance on training students to cope with authentic spoken
English. Available at http://englishagenda.britishcouncil.org/seminars/practical-guidance-
training-students-cope-authentic-spoken-english Accessed on 20.07.15
54
Thank You!
55
Thank you for taking part
Welookforwardtowelcomingyouto
moreOUPwebinarsinthefuture
www.oup.com/elt/events

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Using Authentic Materials in the ESL

What are authentic materials?

What do we mean by the term Authentic

any material which has not been specifically

any materials which has not been specifically

..authentic materials simply means using

Kachrus three circles of English (1985)

Provide a stimulus for oral and written practice

Thought to be motivational. However, see Peacock (1997)

Thought to be motivational. However, see Peacock (1997)

Thought to be motivational. However, see Peacock (1997)

Thought to be motivational. However, see Peacock (1997)

Thought to be motivational. However, see Peacock (1997)

Thought to be motivational. However, see Peacock (1997)

Too time consuming to find suitable

Too time consuming to find suitable

Too time consuming to find suitable

Too time consuming to find suitable

Relevant and interesting?

Do you need to pre-teach vocabulary

Move away from the typical ESL

Authentic materials ARE more difficult but

Challenge learner expectations

Allow students time to get used to

For oral fluency

The main purpose of the listening texts found in coursebooks

Features of connected speech:

Features of spoken discourse:

Short extracts from dramas or soap operas used regularly to raise

Freestyle activity ( an authentic listening activity from Thorn: n.d).

Good for collocations (e.g. patchy rain)

Springboard for fluency

Springboard for fluency

Give each pair of students a

Writing skills: note-taking/ summarising/ story telling/

Writing skills: note-taking/ summarising/ story telling/

Reading skills: skimming and scanning/ predicting/ guessing words

Writing skills: note-taking/ summarising/ story telling/

Reading skills: skimming and scanning/ predicting/ guessing words

Listening skills: raising awareness of features of connected

Research indicates that authentic materials are motivational

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