AUTHENTIC MATERIALS

Annotations:

• TV commercials, quiz shows, cartoons, news clips, comedy shows, movies, soap operas, professionally audio taped short stories and novels, radio ads, songs, documentaries, and sales pitches. (

Annotations:

• Pro: lead students to how language is used in the real world and improve their overall language   proficiency which involves reading, listening comprehension, communicative competence, lexical and  stylistic knowledge.
• Con: might be culturally biased or too problematic to understand outside the language community therefore,making them distant to beginners or elementary students. Authentic materials may contain items, mainly vocabulary, which are unfamiliar to the learner and may never be encountered again. The third aspects connected to learning contexts where authentic target language materials are not readily available, obtaining them are time-consuming and provoking.  

Annotations:

• Language is natural Authentic language provides students the opportunity to deal with a small amount of material which contains complete and important messages at the same time. Authentic printed materials offer students with the chance to make use of non-linguistic clues such as layout, pictures, colors, symbols, the physical setting in which it occurs help them find out the meaning more easily.  

Annotations:

• Begin with a needs assessment or need analysis The first step in using authentic materials is recognizing students, teachers and institutions needs and objectives. Engage students to contribute in identifying authentic materials. Students may be confused when the teachers ask them to bring order forms, vouchers, recipes, and other non-school materials into the classroom.  Collect local materials. Some teachers have a habit of collecting authentic materials wherever they go in the community. Use authentic materials in authentic ways. It is vital to use materials in authentic ways, not in traditional school-based ways. The function of authentic materials often will define how teachers use them.  Inform students of the challenges ahead. Authentic texts can be challenging for students. Depending on the nature of the text, teachers should inform students about problems they may meet in reading a letter from the principal of the school or studying the small text on theater’s tickets. Assess in authentic ways. Students generally like having their learning assessed in authentic ways. The teacher can keep a graphic representation linking performance on the same task week to week until the student masters the skill.

Annotations:

• Newspaper, magazine, song lyric, or poem. Video.