The Effective use of Authentic Materials in the English Language Classrooms

Abstract

Due to the technological innovations, the twenty-first century has witnessed tremendous changes in all walks of life. The new technology abetted the extant educational system and it gifted the contemporary educational system with a newfangled drift. As a result, there have been several innovations in the field of education and English has no exception. The concept of teaching English has drastically changed and the present generation of teachers as well as the learners depend more on the latest technology that brings a greater change in teaching and learning. In the modern world, the teachers of English have been using a variety of teaching materials in order to satisfy the needs and interests of the learners. In this process, they also go for the authentic materials in addition to the prescribed textbooks with an aim to improve the standards of the learners and to develop their learners’ language skills enormously in the regular English classrooms. According to Peacock (1997), “Authentic materials are more motivating for students, even lower level students, than artificial materials”. Furthermore, Briton (1991 cited in Qura, 2001) states, “Authentic materials relate more closely to learners’ need, for they build a connection between the language classroom and the outside world. The teachers have to use all the available authentic materials such as newspapers, magazines, story books, movies, radio, TV ads, songs, label products, bus or train timetables, realia like phones and dolls so that the learners show more interest towards their leaning. As authentic materials play a vital role in promoting the learners’ learning and creates interests among learners to learn the English language in a natural way with proper motivation, the teachers of English should use these authentic materials in their day-to-day teaching profession.

The present paper brings to light to the effective use of authentic materials by the teachers in the English language classrooms. For this purpose, this paper initially discusses the advantages of authentic materials in the field of education. Then this paper brings out the importance of the authentic materials that are used in the English language classrooms. Later, this paper emphasizes primarily on the effective use of the authentic materials and how they assist the teachers in their teaching and also how they help the learners to learn English in a better and easier way. Finally, this paper gives some expedient hints both to the teachers and the learners of English to how improve their teaching and learning skills colossally using the authentic materials in the English classrooms.