1. A pragmatic approach to using ‘authentic’ materials to enhance course book provision in a themed or topic-based English language lesson MEL020 2008 Group Presentation by Clare Wardman, Wendy Vanamburgh and Xiaohong Yan © To be authentic or not to be authentic? That is the question.

2. materialsthemes “There is now a general consensus in language teaching that the use of authentic materials in the classroom is beneficial to the learning process.” (Guariento and Morley, 2001: 347) in action

3. materialsthemesin action course books & existing materials “authentic” materials own “inauthentic” materials choices for the EFL teacher

4. materialsthemesin action “authentic” materials defining authenticity...many have tried: “Essentially an authentic text is a text that was created to fulfil some social purpose in the language community in which it was produced.” (Little et al, 1989: 25) “The term ‘authentic’ has been used as a reaction against the prefabricated language of textbooks and instructional dialogues; it refers to the way language is used in non-pedagogic, natural communication.” (Kramsch, 1993: 177)

5. materialsthemesin action course booksauthentic materials easy graded unthreatening - structuring modernising + culturally inappropriate “unrealistic and unattainable” (Gilmore, 2004:368) boring - considered more motivating ( Chavez, Little et al) “real” language (Guariento and Morley) culturally interesting + time consuming frustrating (Guariento and Morley) tasks may not be “authentic” culturally inappropriate -

6. themes literature as a theme for a lesson or series of lessons in actionmaterials

7. themes literature can include: in actionmaterials classical literature 20/21st century songs greetings cards plays stories prose graded readers talking books graffiti tv adverts (Woodward, 2001: 99)

8. themes why use literature? in actionmaterials linguistically cultural knowledge learner involvement vocabulary syntax patterns cohesion and coherence settings situations characters imagination/creativity personal discovery perspective (Duff, 2007)

9. materialsthemesin action exploring the possibilities of literature as a theme in the classroom

10. translation into L1 materialsthemesin action re-writing endings classroom activities for working with literature listening/ reading for specific information gap fills – scripts and lyrics debates discussion to raise cultural awareness acting out plot summary writing

11. brainstorming quotes materialsthemesin action Shakespeare’s life www.stratford-upon-avon.co.uk in action with Shakespeare role play acting out Shakespeare on film debates music jigsaw reading adapted from www.shakespeare.comwww.shakespeare.com rewriting ending planning a one-day tour script writing

12. Any questions?

13. References Duff, A. & Maley, A. (2007) Literature. Oxford: OUP. Gilmore, A. (2004) ‘A comparison of textbook and authentic interactions’, ELT Journal, 58 (4) 363- 374. Guariento, W. & J. Morley (2001) ‘Text and task authenticity in the EFL classroom’, ELT Journal, 55 (4) 347-353. Hedge, T. (2000) Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom. Oxford: OUP. Koprowski, M. (2005) ‘Investigating the usefulness of lexical phrases in contemporary course books’, ELT Journal, 59 (4) 322-332. Kramsch, C. (1993) Context and Culture in Language Teaching. Oxford: OUP. Lee, W. Y.(1995) ‘Authenticity revisited: text authenticity and learner authenticity’, ELT Journal, 49 (4) 323-328. Little, D., S. Devitt & D. Singleton (1989) Learning Foreign Languages from Authentic Texts: Theory and Practice. Authentik: Dublin. Sanderson, P. (1999) Using newspapers in the classroom. Cambridge: CUP. Taylor, D. (1994) ‘Inauthentic Authenticity or Authentic Inauthenticity?’ TESL-EJ, 1 (2) 1-9. Woodward, T. (2001) Planning Lessons and Courses. Cambridge: CUP.