Authentic Materials

A teacher can interest students by using authentic materials. Authentic materials are used by native speakers of a language for actual communication. Authentic materials are good tools for language teaching and learning because they are:

• Interesting.
• They use real language.
• They can be chosen for individual
• They illustrate accurate use of language in the target
• And, they help students learn how to get as much information as they can, even if they can’t understand everything, or even very much.

There are things to take into accounts before a teacher uses authentic materials, they are:

1. Choosing and using authentic materials.
2. Constructing authentic activities.

Guidelines for choosing authentic materials include the following:

1. They are of interest to the age group.
2. They contain examples of the point of the lesson.
3. They are in a style of English learners will hear and use.
4. They are available locally.
5. And, they are of good quality (in both picture and sound).

Authentic materials may include: realia, printed materials, images, and multimedia.

Realia
Realia refers to real things or objects relevant to the purpose of teaching. Things to consider in choosing realia are:

• Look for the kind of realia
• The teaching purpose
• The appropriateness for age and language level, and
• Student responses.

Printed Text
Printed texts are such as books…. magazines….brochures…. and newspapers. The authentic text can be a project created by students. However, a teacher must ask questions, like;

• What kind of materials were collected for it?
• For what purpose did the students create the project?

Images
Pictures show the use of images as authentic materials. There are many different kinds of images, for example: photographs, maps, charts, drawings, posters, bulletin boards, and comics.

Multimedia
Multimedia materials can be valuable tools for:

1. Teaching and practicing integrated language skills.
2. Enriching the curriculum with high‐interest content matter. And,
3. Incorporating a wider range of learning modalities (such as visual and auditory) through the use of both low‐tech and high‐tech types of resources.

Low‐tech multimedia resources such as radio programs, audio tapes, or CDs can make useful learning materials during class time or a student’s free time.
Multimedia materials can also be more interactive. For example, materials created specifically for use on the computer or the Internet.
Other multimedia materials include videos in the form of documentaries, movies, animations, and the like. The students in this classroom are viewing a documentary about Malaysia. What activities are the students doing as part of their viewing experience?

Summary
Some important things to consider are that…

1. They are of interest to the age group.
2. They contain examples of the point of the lesson.
3. They are in a style of English learners will hear and use.
4. They are available locally.
5. And, they are of good quality (in both picture and sound).

Look for opportunities to find locally available materials that are a good match for your learners.
to get a checklist for doing this step, click the following link: authentic materials.

This information is taken from “Shaping the Way We Teach English”, module 8.