Oneoft heeternaldebatesamongESLt eachersiswhethertogives t

udentsauthent i
coradapt ed
text
s.Whil
et hemaj ori
tyofuss eem toagreethatst
art
ingfrom theInter
medi atelevel
andupwar ds,studentsgreat
lybenefitfrom beingexposedt oauthenti
ctexts,t
hes earetoo
di
fficulttotackl
eatt heBeginnerandPr e-Int
ermediat
elevels.However,thatdoesnotmeant hat
suchstudentsmayonl ysti
cktocour s
ebookmat eri
alwhichi swrit
tenspecificall
yf orESLlear
ners
andtheref
oreisof t
ens ti
l
ted,contri
vedandnotver yreal
ist
ic.Thereareplentyofaut henti
ctexts
ESLstudentscanr eadatanyl evelandtheyareverypracti
caltoo.Herearejustaf ew suggest
ions:

.
1Tak
eoutMenus

Restaurantt
akeoutmenusofferaweal t
hofauthenti
cfood-relat
edvocabul ary
,notjus tt
hef ood
i
temst hems el
ves,butthewaysi nwhichtheyareprepar
ed( sautéed,fri
ed,baked,etc.
)
SuggestedReadingAct i
vit
y:Aft
ermak i
ngs uret
hatanynew f ood-relat
edvocabul ar
yhasbeen
properl
yi nt
roduced,tel
lyourstudentorgrouptheyaregoingt oor dersomet akeout,butfirst
theyhavet odecidewhatt heyaregoingtoeat.Handoutrolecar dstomak eitmor echallenging:

-Youareaveget
ari
an,butyoudon’
tli
keoni
ons
.
-You‘r
eal
ler
gict
oshell
fish.
-Etc…

2.
Clas
sifiedAds

Peoplewhopl aceclas
sifiedshavet opayperl i
ne,whichmak esabbrevi
ati
onsabsolutely
neces s
ary.Butsomear equitecryptic.Wit
ht heuseofcl
assi
fiedsyoucangi ves
tudent sareadi
ng
taskthatischall
engingbutnottoodi fficult
.
Sugges t
edReadi ngActi
vity:
Fir
st,goovert heli
stofabbrevi
ati
ons ;don’tt
ellt
hem whateach
onemeans–havet hem gues s.
Then,gi veeachs t
udentarealadthattheymus tdecipher.
Youcans eenanex ampl eonthes creen.Thes t
udent
sanswerques t
ionsaboutthepr opert
y
i
nques t
ion:How manybedr ooms /bathr
oomsdoesi thave?Whatarei t
smai nf
eatures?

3.
CompanyWebs
ites

Companywebs it
esprovideopport
unit
iest
oreadaboutanddis
cus sservi
cesandwhat
people/
companiesdo.
Suggest
edReadingActivi
ty:
Handoutrolecar
dsthati
ncludes
pecifici nf
ormati
onyours
tudent
s
havetolookfor
.Forexample:
gotoamovi ngcompany’ swebsi
teandfindoutifa)t
heyofferservicestoyourar
ea;
b)i
ftheycantakecareofthepackng,andc)i
i ftheycanmovepi anos.

4.
E-commer
ces
itesorPr
int
/Onl
ineCat
alogs

Putyours tudentstot
hetes t
,andseeift
heycanfindt heitem t
hey’r
elook i
ngf or
,wit
hthechar
ac-
teri
st
icstheys eek.
Sugges t
edReadi ngAct
ivi
ty:Giveyourst
udentspr
intcat
alogsordirectthem toane-commerce
sit
elikeeBay.Handoutcar dsthats
pecif
ywhattheyhavet olookfor.F
orex ample:
Youwantamedi um-si
zed,v-necksweateri
nnavyblue;you’real
lowedt os pendupto30doll
ars
.
5.
TravelBr
ochur
es

Withanas sort
mentoft ravelbrochures,youcannotonl ypracti
cer eadingcompr ehensi
on,
butals
ogr ammarl ik
econdi ti
onals
:Wher ewouldyougoi f
…
SuggestedReadi ngAct i
vity:Giveyourstudentsavari
etyoftravelbrochur esandaskthem
tochoos et hei
rdream vacat i
on. Whent heyfindaplacethatintereststhem,theymus teachsay:
a)whatpl acetheypi ck
edf oravacaton;b)whyt
i heypickedit;andc)whi chfeat
ures
ofthelocat i
on/hotel
/att
ract i
onment i
onedi nthebrochuretheylikebes t.

6.
Res
umes
/CVs

ProfessionalCVs/r
esumesgi vestudentsthechancet opracti
cereadingski
ll
sandvocabul ary
they’l
lneedf orjobhunting.
Sugges t
edReadingAct i
vit
y:Pr
intouts everaldifferentCVs.Ther
ear eplent
yofwebs i
test
hathave
greats amplesforawi derangeofcareer s.
Di videtheclas
sintopair
s;ones t
udentwi l
lbethejob
applicant,andtheotherwi l
lconductthej obi nter
view.Thestudentconductingtheinter
view wi
ll
havet or eadtheCV/resumeandas ktheappl icantquesti
onsabouthi s
/herbackground.

7
.Movi
e/Theat
erShowt
imes

Student
swi l
lneedt ocareful
l
yr eadthes howtimestodecidewhichshow/movietosee
andwhen. www. google.
com/ moviesisagr eatr
esour
ceands howsli
sti
ngsforyourarea,aswel
l
asinfor
mationabouteachfil m.
SuggestedReadingAct i
vit
y:Handoutcopi esofnewspapercl
i
ppingsthatshow what
’splayi
ng
thatweek.I
npairs ,s
tudentsmus treadthem anddecidewhatmovi ethey’
l
lseeandwhen.

8.
Magazi
neAds

You’dthinkthatthebesttextsforreadingtasksaremagazi
near t
icl
esthems el
ves
,butthey’
reof
ten
toolongandfil l
edwi t
hvocabul arystudentsfindhardtograsp.Readt headsins
tead!
SuggestedReadi ngActivi
ty:Choos eanadf rom amagazine;mak esureithaspl
entyoftex
t,
descri
besf eat
ures/
advantages,etc…
Studentsreadtheadanddi scussthepr oduct’
s
charact
er i
sti
cs.Agreatalt
ernati
vei st
ogi vestudent
sdiffer
entrolecards:

-Y
oul
ovet
otryoutnew typesofexer
cis
e.
-Y
ouar
eanoutdoors
ytypewhol ovesmountai
ncl
i
mbi ngandtr
ekki
ng.
-Y
ouar
eanexecut
iveinatopfirm andlovet
obuyelect
roni
cgadget
s.

Gi
vet
hecl
assapil
eofmagazi
neadst
olookthrough;t
heymus
treadt
hem andfindapr
oduct
t
heywoul
dlovet
ohave.
Andbereadytot
ellt
heclasswhy.

Thebeautyaboutt
heserealreadingsourcesi
sthatyou’l
lhavethechancetogiveevenbegi
nners
realt
ext
storeadwhichwil
lincreasethei
rmot i
vat
ionands enseofachievement.
Ift
hetas
kistoo
chall
engi
ng,remember:
“Gradet hetask
,notthetext
!”(
itappl
iesforal
ll
evels
).