| Authentic
material |
Pieces
of language from the "real world" – newspapers,
menus, radio broadcasts, television programs, websites, etc.
Because the language in authentic material is not graded,
our students often need help to understand it. Pre-reading
activities and pre-listening
activities will focus the students’ attention on the
nature of the text.
Some of the reading and listening skills that can help with
the understanding of authentic material are:
Guessing
meaning
Identifying
key words
Skimming
Scanning
Listening
for gist
Listening
for detail
Listening
for specific information
Inferential
listening
Students’ access to authentic material has been enormously
expanded by the Internet. They can now read on-line versions
of hundreds of newspapers, magazines, as well as e-zines
(magazines only available on the Internet) and listen to
on-line radio broadcasts from other countries.
Teachers and textbooks often adapt authentic material to make
it easier to understand. This material is called semi-authentic
material.
The term authentic material usually refers to written and
listening material. For the use of real objects in class, see Realia.
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