600-700 word Essay on Using Authentic Materials and the Internet
Please write the essay under the four headings given.
a) The value of using authentic materials in foreign language teaching:
Authentic materials provide students with a connection to real-world language as used by native
speakers in social and business circles. Students are exposed to how the language is spoken or
written in current situations and associated contexts.
In listening situations students acquire exposure to native speakers’ intonation, pronunciation,
accents, and pace of speech. The broadens their experience and allows the development of
personal styles of language rather than acquiring a single language style from a teacher.
Authentic material is available on every media format and because students can choose topics
covering any aspect of their interest, it is relevant and useful. With coaching on the selection of
appropriate channels students can instantly define and learn new vocabulary and grammar.
Without exposure to authentic materials, students’ productive skills would assume coursebook
limitations and come across as being stiff and without the fluency acquired by contact real world
language. The use of authentic materials is therefore critical to the development of confident,
fluent spoken and written English.
b) Reasons for the selection of this text and the 12 vocabulary items. Rationale for changes to
text, if applicable.
The text was selected for this mixed class of adults with a 20-year age spread who all have one
thing in common; the motivation to acquire new knowledge and skills. This indicates a belief that
further education is a vehicle to personal and professional development.
I deleted two short sections as one of the words is not listed in dictionaries, and one paragraph
was unsuited to the aims and tasks.
The vocabulary pre-teach items are selected because they potentially fall outside of the early
advanced range. Many are “off-list” in the profiler and are probable “new vocabulary” targets.
There are more phrases that could be unknown to students, and these would be checked during
the class.
c) Why my activities are appropriate for this class:
Activity 1, the Dictionary Ace quiz challenges students working on their own to define words
using a dictionary, and it provides practice in the autonomous learning. Students use the phonetic
and audio facilities to learn the pronunciation of the words along with spelling, and definition.
Activity 2, Further research using online resources requires students working in pairs to expand
on concepts described in the authentic text. The students locate specific information in the
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