Benefits of Using Authentic Materials in the Classroom
Are you frustrated in helping your students become better readers? Well, maybe you can try using authentic materials to help them comprehend a reading text.
Using authentic materials can be an excellent way to encourage your learners to read. These materials are present everywhere, and they are not dull, like other texts. Your 21st-century learners will surely love them.
What are Authentic Reading Materials
Authentic reading materials are not intended for classroom use. Instead, they are meant for native speakers. They are magazines, blogs, advertisements, receipts, billboards, online newspapers, menus, and websites. These materials bring the language of the real world into the classroom.What are the Advantages of Using Authentic Materials
1. Authentic materials, which were initially written for native speakers, give the learners the chance to interact with the language in different contexts. In the first place, we learn a language to communicate. This is the idea of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT).2. Authentic materials can be used as motivation for students to learn the language. They are more exciting and challenging for learners.
3. Authentic materials are more up-to-date. New words are added to the English language almost every day, and information from media pile up every minute.
4. It is easier for teachers to choose texts to match their learners' needs.
What are the Challenges in Using Authentic Materials
1. It takes time to prepare activities.
2. Teachers may not have access to these authentic materials, especially in far-flung areas.
3. Authentic materials may have many new languages.
What Authentic Materials to Use
There are many authentic materials out there. We can use them not only in teaching reading but also in other language skills. Here are some authentic materials you can use for different levels.- Frustration level- advertisements, menus, simple maps, product labels, transportation schedules, directories, billboards, receipts
- Instructional level - blog posts, travel flyers, brochures, user manuals, music lyrics, weather forecasts
- Independent level - online newspaper and magazine articles, scientific flyers, Wikipedia, infographics, government sites
As I have said, I crafted some reading tasks using authentic materials. You can make necessary changes to suit your own learners. All the images were taken from Google.
1. What is the poster all about?
a. Three types of trash bins
b. Proper Waste Segregation
c. Amount of
wastes in households
d. The meaning of blue, red and green waste bins
2. How many types
of waste bins should be in each household or offices?
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 4
3. Which of the
following are the benefits of proper waste segregation?
a. Reusable materials can be sold for additional income.
b. Organic wastes can be used as fertilizers.
c. There will be a
decrease in wastes in landfills.
d. All of the above
4. What type of
wastes goes to the red trash bin?
a. papers and fruit peelings
b. metals that can be recycled
c. plastic bottles that can be sold
d. junk food wrappers
and discarded toys
5. Which material
should not be placed in the green waste bin?
a. newspapers that can be recycled
b. banana peelings
c. dried leaves
d. spoiled food
6. The manual is
about a
a. rice cooker
b. phone
c. wallet
d. smartwatch
7. The following
can be done using the smartwatch except
a. set alarm
b. stopwatch
c. answer calls
d. take pictures
8. It is called a
smartwatch because
a. it can think like a human.
b. it has an IQ higher than humans.
c. it has other functions not present in a regular watch.
d. it can answer some questions.
9. According to
the manual, the watch can detect a mobile phone even if it is 30 meters away.
a. Yes
b. No
c. Maybe
d. Not stated
10. You can use
the watch to notify you in case of phone theft.
a. Yes
b. No
c. Maybe
d. not stated
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