Reexamining Authenticity:

Authentic Reading Experience

or Authentic Text?

Lynn Bonesteel, Boston University

• What is an authentic reading
experience?

• What is the difference between an

authentic text and an authentic
experience?

• How can you select or create reading

materials that will provide your
students with an authentic reading
experience?
What is an authentic text?
 Definition of authentic text
“Authentic texts (either written or
spoken) are those which are
designed for native speakers;
they are real texts designed not
for language students, but for the
speakers of the language in
question” (Harmer, 1983).
“A rule of thumb for authentic
here is any material which has
not been specifically produced for
the purposes of language
teaching” (Nunan, 1989).
“An authentic text is a stretch of
real language, produced by a real
speaker or writer for a real
audience and designed to convey
a real message of some
sort” (Morrow, 1997).
Claims made about so-called
authentic texts
– They are interesting.

– They are written for a “real” audience.

– They motivate students.

– They prepare students better for the

“real” world outside of the classroom.
Authenticity
 Another understanding of
authenticity
(Breen, 1985)
Four types of authenticity:
1. Authenticity of the texts which we may use as
input data for our learners.
2. Authenticity of the learners’ own interpretation of
such texts.
3. Authenticity of the tasks conducive to language
learning.
4. Authenticity of the actual social situation of the
language classroom.
 Another understanding of
authenticity
Grabe 2009 and Widdowson 1998, 2000
• Not at all clear what an authentic text is and who
has the right to make that decision
• Taking any text into a classroom and using it for
pedagogical goals removes the context
assumed by the writer, rendering the text
nonauthentic
• Goal should be to select texts that are
enjoyable, interesting, and attractive, rather than
imposing an unsupported ‘authenticity’ argument
on text selection choices for students
 Authentic Text vs. Authentic
Reading Experience
• Authentic Reading Experience = Same purposes,
processes and reactions as when reading in first
language
– Read to feel
– Read to learn
– Read to experience another reality
• Without adequate comprehension, no authentic
experience possible
• Learners need authentic experience at each level
of proficiency to maintain motivation and build
fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary
Which of the following is NOT an example of
an authentic reading experience?

a. Reading a book for pleasure

b. Reading an article in order to practice

strategies to guess meaning from context

c. Reading a textbook chapter in preparation for

a test on the content.
 Reading “Authentic” Texts
Major goal for many learners BUT

• Unassisted reading requires ~6000-8000 word

families or ~15,000-20,000 words
• For adequate comprehension ~98%
(Hu and Nation, 2000)
• Assisted ~95% to be able to learn vocabulary
from context
Don’t Confuse Means with Ends

“We do not begin with authenticity;

authenticity is what learners should
ultimately achieve: it represents their
terminal behavior.”

(Widdowson,1976)
 Getting them there
Use simplified texts to

• Increase vocabulary size

• Increase motivation to read

• Increase fluency
 Quality of Texts
• Objections: simplified= unnatural,
inauthentic, boring…

• Another perspective
“Many of the criticisms of
simplification are criticisms of bad
simplification. We need to have
standards of good simplification
and praise those texts that
exemplify them” (Nation, 2001).
"It is sometimes salutary for those of
us who write…materials for language
learning purposes to try to regard the
restrictions under which we
work...rather in the way that a poet
would regard the narrow confines of
sonnet form...that is, more as a
stimulus and challenge to creative
endeavor than as a justification for
trite work" ( Mortimer 1975).
“The second language materials
writer is…working with severe
limitations, but within these
limitations it should also be possible
to create small masterpieces.
We need to see more of these
masterpieces” (Nation, 2001).
 Creating an Authentic Reading
Experience: Evaluating Texts
• Quality of simplified reading selections

• Importance of content

• Careful attention to vocabulary

– Ratio of known/unknown words
– Choice of word targets
– Recycling
 Quality of Reading Selections
• Intellectual challenge appropriate for your students

• Well-researched

• Well-written– Maintain connections among ideas

• Sentence to sentence
• Paragraph to paragraph
 Importance of Content
• Content-rich texts at appropriate level
• Content-based goals
• Content-based exercises

Authentic Reading Experience

Careful Attention to Vocabulary
• To allow incidental learning of new
vocabulary, maintain ratio of ~95%
known/unknown words
• Focus on vocabulary before, during, and
after reading
• Provide multiple encounters in different
contexts
• Integrate vocabulary into all activities
 Original Text: 86 % of words likely to be
known to intermediate learner

“Keep me ____while I finish the sauce,” Michael _____, pulling me

away from the other guests. I followed, ____the ___of his home. Both
it and my new neighbor were pretty ____for ___North Carolina.

His house had no inside walls. Its “rooms” ___ into one
another instead of keeping to well-defined spaces as rooms in most
homes do. When I sat down among the ____—what he called the
kitchen—it ____me how ____ the open ____ of a ____ ____was in the
___ belt. Yet I suppose it made sense, because Michael taught at the
School of the Arts. Artists were supposed to be ____.

I quickly ___ with the ___ ___of Michael’s house, an ____that ____ up
an old ___. I was supposed to wear the ___ mask expected of ____,
yet the house spoke to the ___ in me, too, a part that had to express
itself with ___. I was glad Michael had invited me to dinner. I had long
preferred the company of creative people over that of ____medical
types, which is why I liked living next to the ____.
Simplified Text: 95% of words likely to be
known to intermediate learner
“Keep me ____while I finish the sauce,” Michael said, pulling me away
from the other guests. I followed, examining the unusual layout* of his
home. His house had no inside walls. Its “rooms” flowed into one
another instead of keeping to well-defined spaces as rooms in most
homes do. But this didn’t surprise me because I knew that Michael
was an artist.

I quickly ____with the _____of Michael’s house, an ____that _____an

old ____. As a doctor, I was expected to be ____, yet the house spoke
to the artist in me, too. I was glad Michael had invited me to dinner. I
had long preferred the company of creative people to the company of
serious medical types.

*layout= the way in which a house, building or town is arranged

Before reading
While reading
After reading
 Fluency Training
• Learners use what they already know
– No new words
– No new grammar
• Read faster, more efficiently
– Record progress for motivation
– Teach explicit strategies
• Extensive reading program
 Some suggestions for quality
materials

http://www.eslreading.org/about/abouteslrea
ding.html

http://www.erfoundation.org/erf/awards
 Conclusion
• Aim for an authentic reading experience at
all levels of proficiency

• Evaluate texts and exercises to check

potential for an authentic reading experience

• Create (and publish!) your own simplified

texts using principled standards