Assignment C - Part 3
Essay
600-700 word Essay on Using Authentic Materials and the Internet
Please write the essay under the four headings given.
Using Authentic Materials and the Internet in the Language Classroom
a) The value of using authentic materials in foreign language teaching:
When learning a foreign language, one’s goal revolves heavily around being able to understand it.
While in-class lessons and online tutors and apps might help one navigate some simple sentences,
texts, audio, and films designed for student use will never match up to the use of an authentic
material designed for a native speaker. Language learning materials tend to move slower, use
simpler language, and sound generally unnatural—not the way a regular conversation in the target
language might go. Authentic materials, as defined by FluentU, “are materials intended for native
speakers of the language” (FluentU, 2015). According to the American Council on the Teaching of
Foreign Languages, “Authentic materials can provide information about the target culture and
provide that culture’s perspective on an issue or event. The rich language found in authentic
materials provides a source of input language learners need for acquisition” (ACTFL, 2020).
Therefore, in addition to giving students language practice, authentic materials also expose the
students to real pieces of the culture of the target language, allowing them to learn more about
the way words, sentences, colloquialisms, and slang terms are used in day-to-day conversations
beyond the classroom, and encourage students to experiment with using these terms themselves,
with confidence. Using properly graded authentic texts in the classroom is a necessary way to
welcome students to the foreign language they are studying in real, grounded ways. It allows
students to see the most real way language is and can be used, grounds them in the reality of how
it is used and motivates them to use it in such ways too.
Finally, using authentic materials also inspires enthusiasm for language in students, as they can see
it used in examples and ways that are removed from classroom settings. Students can envision
using these materials and this language themselves, having natural conversations in their target
language that are fluent, smooth, and intriguing. Overall, authentic materials have a definite place
in the classroom when it comes to language learning: They offer more natural forms of target
language use and conversation, show a bit of the target language culture to the students, and
encourage enthusiasm for the language when it is seen being used in non-educational ways.
b) Reasons for the selection of this text and the 12 vocabulary items. Rationale for changes to
text, if applicable.
© 2020 The TEFL Academy. All rights reserved. 1
Essay
600-700 word Essay on Using Authentic Materials and the Internet
Please write the essay under the four headings given.
Using Authentic Materials and the Internet in the Language Classroom
a) The value of using authentic materials in foreign language teaching:
When learning a foreign language, one’s goal revolves heavily around being able to understand it.
While in-class lessons and online tutors and apps might help one navigate some simple sentences,
texts, audio, and films designed for student use will never match up to the use of an authentic
material designed for a native speaker. Language learning materials tend to move slower, use
simpler language, and sound generally unnatural—not the way a regular conversation in the target
language might go. Authentic materials, as defined by FluentU, “are materials intended for native
speakers of the language” (FluentU, 2015). According to the American Council on the Teaching of
Foreign Languages, “Authentic materials can provide information about the target culture and
provide that culture’s perspective on an issue or event. The rich language found in authentic
materials provides a source of input language learners need for acquisition” (ACTFL, 2020).
Therefore, in addition to giving students language practice, authentic materials also expose the
students to real pieces of the culture of the target language, allowing them to learn more about
the way words, sentences, colloquialisms, and slang terms are used in day-to-day conversations
beyond the classroom, and encourage students to experiment with using these terms themselves,
with confidence. Using properly graded authentic texts in the classroom is a necessary way to
welcome students to the foreign language they are studying in real, grounded ways. It allows
students to see the most real way language is and can be used, grounds them in the reality of how
it is used and motivates them to use it in such ways too.
Finally, using authentic materials also inspires enthusiasm for language in students, as they can see
it used in examples and ways that are removed from classroom settings. Students can envision
using these materials and this language themselves, having natural conversations in their target
language that are fluent, smooth, and intriguing. Overall, authentic materials have a definite place
in the classroom when it comes to language learning: They offer more natural forms of target
language use and conversation, show a bit of the target language culture to the students, and
encourage enthusiasm for the language when it is seen being used in non-educational ways.
b) Reasons for the selection of this text and the 12 vocabulary items. Rationale for changes to
text, if applicable.
© 2020 The TEFL Academy. All rights reserved. 1
