Using Authentic Materials in the Classroom to Develop Reading Skills of Professional Students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51699/mjssh.v1i8.459Keywords:
authentic materials, classroom, reading skills, professional, students, language, speakersAbstract
Authentic materials” are reading texts that were written by native speakers and published in contexts designed specifically for native-speaker consumption, with no thought given to non-native accessibility. The topics, language, syntax, structure, etc., are all pitched at a target audience of native speakers and offered through media intended primarily for native speakers.’ ‘The advantage of authentic materials is that they give higher-level students exposure to unregulated native-speaker language – the language as it is actually used by native speakers communicating with other native speakers.’ “Authentic listening” to speakers, ideally on video, in particular. But I don’t necessarily see authentic materials as a model for productive skills. “Authentic” materials – a contract or an email – are often a starting point for my advanced students/clients and myself to discuss how to communicate most effectively. Students will stumble over a phrase or expression and want to discuss the meaning & related intentions and connotations. The authenticity of the materials makes them authoritative. There is a certain enthusiasm when a less-than-university-educated aircraft maintenance engineer holds in his hands a tool which he uses every day, and tries to explain exactly how he uses it. He can manipulate it and (to a certain extent) demonstrate it while explaining. The others in the class (all grease under the fingernail types) are equally eager, and often there is a feeding frenzy of new language.’ To sum up the advantages, teaching colleagues feel that authentic materials:
- Help prepare learners for the ‘real’ world of communication;
- Guide learners toward the language they need for their particular context;
- Motivate learners to communicate, because they help make communication ‘real’.
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