Not sure about using authentic material in your English language class? Here is a useful introduction from elt-training.com. For the full, free voiced over presentation recording, visit www.elt-training.com

1. Teacher training webinars
Using Authentic Materials
For free voiced over presentation visit
www.elt-training.com
Jo Gakonga

2. What are authentic materials?

3. What aren’t authentic
materials?

4. What’s wrong with this?
John: How long have you been collecting butterflies?
Mary: I've been collecting them since I entered secondary school.
John: How many butterflies have you collected?
Mary: I've collected about four hundred foreign ones.
John: Are there any rare ones among them?
Mary: Yes, there are some. I got them in Thailand.
John: My hobby is playing football.
Mary: How long have you been playing it?
John: I've been playing it since last year. I can play it pretty well
now.
Mary: Another hobby of mine is cooking.
John: Will you cook me a meal?
Mary: Yes, of course!

5. Is this better?
What kind of food does this woman like?
I absolutely adore fish, particularly white fish, such as sole or haddock, cooked
in a little white wine, with some garlic and lemon. Recently, I’ve been
experimenting with Japanese recipes, particularly raw fish. Oh, and I love
vegetables such as courgettes, broccoli and asparagus and fresh green beans.
But I hate them overcooked. Oh, and I’m terribly fond of pasta, but it must be
freshly made!

6. So why use authentic materials?
• A natural model – encourages them to be
better readers/ listeners.
• This is the final aim – what they will have to
do eventually
• Ss who read and listen extensively acquire
language faster/ better
• motivating if successful
• topic can be topical/ interesting

7. Problems
• Level – demotivating if too difficult
• Work for the teacher…can date quickly

8. Solutions
• Choose your material carefully…
http://twurdy.com/
http://1000words.net/index.php?showimage=21
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2085838/Ben-Fogle-
explains-travels-man-today.html
• Grade the task….

9. Solutions
• Edit the text…
..shorter
…lexically easier

10. Task examples - Receptive
Skimming
Scanning
Looking at text organisation
eg paragraphing, topic sentences, etc.
Listening for gist
listening for specific information

11. Task examples - productive
Speaking -
discussion on issues arising from the text
Roleplay based on the scenario
Writing -
using the article as a model
responding in writing

12. Task examples
• Language
– Vocabulary
– Grammar
– Discourse analysis
http://scottthornbury.wordpress.com/2012/02/05/c-is-for-
construction/

13. Websites
Ready to go…
• Lessonstream.org
• Breakingnewsenglish.com
• www.guardian.co.uk/education/tefl

14. Websites for more extensive reading,
listening outside class
Listening Reading
• Lyrics training • Guardian
• Elllo • Daily Mail
• TED • 1000 words
• VYou • Storybird