When used effectively, authentic materials help bring the real world into the classroom and significantly enliven the ESL class. Exposing the students to cultural features generates a deeper understanding of and interest in the topic. On one hand, the students develop their ability to zero in on relevant information, and on the other, they learn how to disregard what is not relevant. As students pool their individual strengths they gain confidence in being able to function in an English-speaking society.
Definitely, authentic materials are needed to enrich the acquisition of a new language. Those materials have to be wisely used by the teacher in order to enhance the learning process.
ReplyDeleteThe importance of these materials is that people visiting a foreign country, or interacting with native speakers of English, sooner or later will have to use these authentic materials. To say, they will have to watch a news broadcast, to follow instructions when booking for a ticket, to read the newspaper when looking for a job, to go and buy in the supermarket, and so on. Then, the use of the existing materials related to their needs is a must in the classroom environment.
Using Authentic Materials is much more interesting for students. Not only do they learn the EFL grammar principles, but they can also learn about news and current affairs at the same time. It also stretches them to learn words they may not have learned otherwise. They may also be encouraged this way to do more research into the subject.
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ReplyDeleteWe have read in some researches that students learn more when they can apply such acquired information in their real life. Authentic materials give to students the security that what they are learning is something that they really will use outside of classroom. Obviously, teachers need to adapt that material according to their students’ level and the complexity the topic will be taught. There are many ways to use that kind of material and reformulate them to your students. For instance, you can use broadcast news as a model to students presenting short news for classmates; or bring newspaper to comment the headlines; or bring some menus from a restaurant to dramatize the scene; and so on. It is really useful, but again teacher must have a well and clear purpose to use it.
ReplyDeleteI consider authentic materials very valuable, when it comes to learning a second or foreign language since is like bringing the real world and cultural aspects of the target language into the four walls of a classroom.
ReplyDeleteThey provide exposure to real language rather artificial textbooks which mostly do not contain real/common-used statements of the environment of the language. Additionally, when teachers use this type of materials they are able to develop their full potential as teachers, developing activities and tasks that better match their teaching styles and students’ learning styles. On the other hand, I consider that authentic materials relate more closely to students’ needs since when learning a language most of the people will like to learn something that they will really applied when interacting with the native speakers of the target language.
Although all the advantages that authentic materials seem to have, I believe that teacher should complement them with the created materials (which was created with pedagogical purposes such as textbooks and other instructional resources) in order to make a balance in students learning process.
I personal believe that authentic materials must be used all the time or at least as much as we can. When providing authentic materials for learning, students actually are able to develop interesting ways of learning and practice the language in this case. Authentic materials make more interesting the learning process since it gives the opportunity to the students to feel like they are actually in the real world which I consider is very useful for them.
ReplyDeleteWe as teachers can use as much as we can to teach; we must use our imagination to provide excellent material to students to succeed and learn which is the most important thing. As we could see in the mini-class every group taught; every group used a different task and so many authentic materials were used. In our case we went through a wonderful online page which gives the opportunity to students to practice the topic we were studying so in that case we are offering the students new alternatives of learning a second language rather than doing the same all the time.
I believe this comment links directly with the presentation (http://www.slideshare.net/AnglaBalmaceda/the-internet-for-english-teaching) that I did in this course which mention that in order to use a technological element in a sucesful way you had to follow the following steps: Consider Carefully Your Goals
ReplyDelete-Think Integration
-Don't Underestimate the Complexity
-Provide Necessary Support
-Involve Students in Decisions
And I believe its true, if you think its pretty to use something just because that element will not made any meaning in you class.