Carol A. Chapelle - The Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics

the success of any particular set of authentic materials in motivating a specific group of learners will depend on how appropriate they are for the subjects in question, how they are exploited in class (the tasks) and how effectively the teacher is able to mediate between the materials and the students. (p. 107)

A compelling reason for using authentic texts is that they typically provide better language models than textbooks. Although the quality of instructional materials can vary, research has consistently shown mismatches between textbooks and natural language use, especially with respect to spoken language (see Gilmore, 2015, for a comprehensive list of studies that document such mismatches). In addition, textbooks generally present little information about pragmatically appropriate language use. Speech acts (e.g., apologizing, making a request, giving advice), as presented in textbooks, may differ quite dramatically from how they are realized in real‐life conversations. McConachy and Hata (2013) maintain that textbooks cover a limited range of speech acts, and furthermore, provide a very narrow range of expressions—often an inventory of decontextualized phrases—for achieving those speech acts. Consequently, researchers have advocated for authentic materials as a way of providing learners with models of language that show how speech acts are constructed and interpreted in the target culture.

An important curricular reason to use authentic materials is that they provide a vehicle for integrating language and content. As mentioned previously, many foreign‐language programs aim to integrate more varied and richer content in lower‐level courses. For example, this may involve students watching portions of a cooking show (an authentic television program) within a lesson on food vocabulary. Grammatical structures can also be taught through authentic materials with a story‐based approach called PACE (Adair‐Huck & Donato, 2002). Crucially, authentic materials can provide opportunities for students to think critically about the social, cultural, and political issues affecting the country or countries where the language is spoken.

There have been various objections to the use of authentic materials for language teaching purposes. Richards (2006) writes about the “myth of authenticity” (p. 16) and highlights the difficulty of finding authentic texts that are appropriate for low‐proficiency college‐aged readers. Similarly, Long (2007) argues that authentic texts “present too dense a linguistic target” (p. 130) and thus, are appropriate only for very advanced levels. It is important to note that Long's objection to authentic texts is framed in terms of curricular design: He believes that tasks, not texts, should be the foundation of language courses. A more far‐reaching criticism of authentic materials is found in Widdowson (1998), who argued that a text needs to be localized to serve a meaningful communicative intent. What makes a text real or authentic is that it is “appropriate to a particular set of contextual conditions” (1998, p. 712), which cannot be replicated in the classroom.

One of the challenges of working with authentic materials, as mentioned above, is finding materials that are appropriate for the learners' linguistic level. Moreover, it is necessary to scaffold learning with level‐appropriate tasks. Practitioners advise that learners, especially beginners, do not need to demonstrate full comprehension of the language sample in order to benefit from authentic materials. Accordingly, a common recommendation is to “grade the task, not the text.” In other words, by manipulating the task demands, the authentic material becomes more accessible. Another challenge involves exposing learners to authentic spoken language that is unscripted. Wagner (2014) explains that most listening activities in L2 classrooms are based on scripted texts that have been written, revised, and carefully read aloud. Thus, classroom learners typically have few opportunities to hear spontaneous (i.e., unplanned) spoken discourse. Although some types of unscripted spoken language can be relatively easy to obtain, there are confidentiality issues that impede access to authentic, unscripted interactions such as doctor–patient conversations. Finally, there is the issue of balancing authentic and nonauthentic materials. Authentic materials are usually discussed in opposition to textbooks and other types of simplified texts (e.g., graded readers). However, both authentic and nonauthentic materials can be used in conjunction and for different purposes. For example, Zyzik and Polio (2017) argue that graded readers are optimal for an extensive reading program, in which the goal is to read large quantities of material independently and for the purposes of general comprehension. In contrast, authentic texts require more pedagogical support and thus are better aligned with intensive reading.

SEE ALSO:History of Language‐Teaching Methods; Materials Development; Task‐Based Language Assessment

1 Adair‐Huck, B., & Donato, R. (2002). The PACE model: A story‐based approach to meaning and form for standards‐based language learning. The French Review, 76, 265–96.

2 Adair‐Huck, B., Glisan, E., & Troyan, F. (2013). Implementing integrated performance assessment. Alexandria, VA: ACTFL.

3 Ellis, R. (2017). Position paper: Moving task‐based language teaching forward. Language Teaching, 50(4), 507–26.

4 Gilmore, A. (2007). Authentic materials and authenticity in foreign language learning. Language Teaching, 40(2), 97–118.

5 Gilmore, A. (2015). Research into practice: The influence of discourse studies on language descriptions and task design in published ELT materials. Language Teaching, 48(4), 506–30.

6 Kmiecik, K., & Barkhuizen, G. (2006). Learner attitudes towards authentic and specially prepared listening materials: A mixed message. Tesolanz Journal, 14, 1–15.

7 Long, M. H. (2007). Problems in SLA. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

8 Matsumoto, H. (2007). Peak learning experiences and language learning: A study of American learners of Japanese. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 20(3), 195–208.

9 McConachy, T., & Hata, K. (2013). Addressing textbook representations of pragmatics and culture. ELT Journal, 67(3), 294–301.

10 McKay, S. (2012). Authenticity in the language teaching curriculum. In C. A. Chapelle (Ed.), The encyclopedia of applied linguistics (pp. 1–4). Chichester, England: John Wiley.

11 MLA Ad Hoc Committee on Foreign Languages. (2007). Foreign languages and higher education: New structures for a changed world. Profession, 2007, 234–45.

12 Richards, J. C. (2006). Materials development and research—making the connection. RELC Journal, 37(1), 5–26.

13 Singleton, D. (2014). How useful is second language acquisition research for language teaching? In V. Cook & D. Singleton (Eds.), Key topics in second language acquisition (pp. 109–24). Bristol, England: Multilingual Matters.

14 Snow, M. A., & Brinton, D. (Eds.). (2017). The content‐based classroom: New perspectives on integrating language and content. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

15 Wagner, E. (2014). Using unscripted spoken texts in the teaching of second language listening. TESOL Journal, 5(2), 288–311.

16 Widdowson, H. (1998). Context, community and authentic language. TESOL Quarterly, 32(4), 705–16.

17 Zyzik, E., & Polio, C. (2017). Authentic materials myths: Applying second language research to classroom teaching. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

1 Maley, A., & Tomlinson, B. (Eds.). (2017). Authenticity in materials development for language learning. Newcastle upon Tyne, England: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.