final project and innovation + the use of authentic materials in english classes at high school +...
DESCRIPTION
This is a research paper that was done last year with the purpose to know how to work with Authentic Material inside an English Class. There are some explanations of how to teach with these kind of materials and some tips to do it.TRANSCRIPT
UNIVERSIDAD NACIONALSede Región Chorotega
Campus Liberia
Bachelor’s Degree in Teaching English
Seminario de Innovación, Investigación de Campo en Inglés y Producción Educativa
Group 64
Research Paper
The Use of Authentic Materials in the Process of English
Learning in the Four Skills with Ninth Level Teachers
and Students at Miguel Araya Venegas High School
Students:
Marisol Milanés Matamoros
Randall Alvarado Navarro
Professors:
M.Ed. Saray Elena Loáiciga Brenes
M.Ed. Johanna Rodriguez Hernández
II Semester, 2008
General Index
Content Page
Chapter I
1. Introduction..............................................................................................................1
1.1 Antecedents...........................................................................................................3
1.2 Justification............................................................................................................4
1.3 Theme:...................................................................................................................7
1.4 Problem:................................................................................................................7
1.5 Objectives..............................................................................................................7
1.5.1 General Objective............................................................................................7
1.5.2 Specific Objectives:.........................................................................................7
Chapter II
2. Theoretical Framework............................................................................................9
2.1. Natural Approach..............................................................................................9
2.1.1. Learner Roles...........................................................................................10
2.1.2. Teacher Roles..........................................................................................11
2.1.3. The Role of Institutional Materials............................................................11
2.2. Second Language Acquisition Theory.............................................................12
2.2.1. The Acquisition–Learning Hypothesis:.....................................................12
2.2.2. The Monitor Hypothesis:...........................................................................12
2.2.3. The Natural Order Hypothesis:.................................................................13
2.2.4. The Input Hypothesis:...............................................................................13
2.2.5. The Affective Filter Hypothesis:................................................................13
2.3. Constructivism Learning Theory......................................................................13
2.3.1. Constructivist theory.................................................................................14
2.3.2. The nature of the learner..........................................................................14
2.3.3. The role of the instructor...........................................................................16
2.3.4. The nature of the learning process...........................................................16
2.4. What is intelligence?.......................................................................................18
2.5. Authentic Materials..........................................................................................20
2.5.1. The Use of the Authentic Materials...........................................................21
2.5.3. Task..........................................................................................................25
2.5.4. Advantages of Using Authentic Materials.................................................27
2.5.5. Why should I use Authentic Materials in my Classroom?.........................28
2.5.6. How do I Get Authentic Materials?...........................................................29
ii
2.5.7. How do I Use Authentic Materials?...........................................................30
2.5.8. Using Authentic Materials: At Which Level?.............................................30
2.6. Teacher’s Role................................................................................................34
2.7. Student’s Role.................................................................................................36
Chapter III
3. Institutional Framework and Methodology.............................................................39
3.1 Institutional Framework....................................................................................39
3.2 Methodology.....................................................................................................40
3.2.1. Paradigm..................................................................................................40
3.2.2. Type of Study: Qualitative Approach:.......................................................40
3.2.3. Population and Sample.............................................................................41
3.2.4. Instrumentation and Data Collection.........................................................41
Chapter IV
4. Presentation Analysis and Discussion................................................................44
4.1. Relevant aspects of the institution and the English classroom.....................44
4.1.1. Condition of the institution......................................................................44
4.1.2. Use of Authentic Materials and Didactic Materials.................................44
4.2. Educative Relevance of the Authentic Materials...........................................45
4.2.1. Authentic Materials Definition.................................................................45
4.2.2. Materials done inside the English classroom during the year................46
4.2.3. Importance of the activities....................................................................47
4.3. Activities using Authentic Materials..............................................................48
4.3.1. Playing “Guess what it is”.......................................................................48
4.3.2. Playing “Big Bingo”.................................................................................49
4.3.3. Playing “Find the Treasure.....................................................................50
Chapter V
5. Conclusion, Limitations and Recommendations.................................................53
5.1. Conclusion......................................................................................................53
5.2. Limitations.......................................................................................................54
5.3. Recommendations..........................................................................................55
Bibliography...............................................................................................................57
Annexes.....................................................................................................................58
Charts Index
iii
Content Page
Chart #1. Multiple Intelligences Activities
Chart #2. Survey’s most common
answers
Chart #3. Frequent activities
Chart #4. Guessing
Chart #5. Bingo
Chart #6. Find the treasure
19
45
46
48
49
50
Pictures Index
Content Page
iv
Pictures of the institutionFigure N.1: Old ShieldFigure N.2: High School entranceFigure N.3: Civic activities (Gym)Figure N.4: Mathematics classroomsFigure N.5: Condition of a classroomFigure N.6: Gym condition Figure N.7: Cafeteria Figure N.8: Main hallwayPictures of the English classrooms and groupsFigure N.1: English classroomFigure N.2: English classroomFigure N.3: 9-3 playing GuessingFigure N.4: 9-3 playing GuessingFigure N.5: 9-3 playing BingoFigure N.6: 9-3 playing BingoFigure N.7: 9-5 playing GuessingFigure N.8: 9-5 playing GuessingFigure N.9: 9-5 playing BingoFigure N.10: 9-5 playing BingoPictures of the Authentic MaterialsFigure N.1Figure N.2Figure N.3Figure N.4Figure N.5Figure N.6Figure N.7Figure N.8Figure N.9Figure N.10
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1. Introduction
Chapter I
Costa Rica is facing a severe change in our young students, those who are at
high school. They are totally different than the ones from five or ten years ago. Those
changes are caused by many factors like fashion, globalization, new way of thinking
and so on. For that reason, many teachers do not satisfy their needs, probably
because some of them are not aware of the changes they are facing. So, they still
doing techniques of old school, but, the point here is that these new generations of
students, get bored with those old techniques. They do not interest about any
subject, especially English.
Unfortunately, when we refer about globalization, this subject called English
gets importance. Many transnational companies are hiring people able to work for
them, of course, these people must be bilingual. But, that is the big issue; some
public High Schools are not giving got English inside their classrooms. They do not
have teachers capable of prepare people in a second language.
For that reason, the Educational Ministry (M.E.P.) is trying to change this
situation. It is hiring well prepared teachers, in order to they can prepare those
students and they can face the world by themselves. Also, the M.E.P. is trying to
change some techniques some teachers are using inside their classrooms. This
ministry wants teachers make a comfortable and fun classes, in order to catch
students’ attention and they can have a better learning process of the language.
It is known that this problem is kind of hard to fix it but little by little, it can be
done. Some ideas are already planned and put in practice. Some universities are
helping this governmental institution in the preparation and capacitating some
teachers, also, some of the public universities have project that help students and
teachers at the same time.
A good example of what it was said previously, the Universidad Nacional,
Campus Liberia, has a project called Esperanza Jóven, in which helps students from
far away High Schools.
Also, the group of English is taken projects in which help in the quality of the
language learning. This project is an innovation that wants to help ninth level
students in their learning process. The idea of this innovation is to mix the authentic
materials with the topics they have to study, in order to know if these kinds of
materials are useful in the process and if they help students to learn a second
language. Those materials are going to be combined with different techniques in
order to get a comfortable and easy learning.
2
1.1 Antecedents
In the process of searching of resources related to this investigation, it could be
seen that there are some studies and projects that were done.
Some authors of the studies have referred to the topic of Authentic Materials as
part of the constructivist approach that wants to avoid some techniques from old
school and adapt and put in practice new and innovator activities that facilitate the
learning process students have with the language. For example, Sasha Antony
Berardo explains how teachers can use the Authentic Materials inside the English
class.
On the other hand, it can be found that there are some important information
about this topic, for example, Philips and Shettlesworth 1978; Clarke 1989; Peacock
1997, cited in Richards, all these authors mention that the use of Authentic Materials
is so important because they provide exposure to real language and relate more
closely to learners ' needs.
Finally, there is an investigation that was done by a professor of the Universidad
Nacional-Sede Regional Chorotega, Campus Liberia, in which she explained the
different uses that a teacher can give to these kinds of materials inside the English
class in order to improve students’ knowledge and increase the motivation for this
subject. Fortunately, many useful materials could be found and in this way, they can
help teachers and students inside the classrooms. Those elements were not created
with the educational purpose, but if they are used with that objective, they will be a
good facilitator of getting knowledge and easiness of the learning.
3
1.2 Justification
Actually, our scholar system is facing some problems that affect everybody who
is included in it. The lack of professional is one of these problems. Our schools are in
the search of teachers that really teach and treat the students correctly. English is
one of the most affected subjects right away, because the M.E.P (Ministerio de
Educación Pública) hires people with some English knowledge, without caring about
the pedagogical part. For this reason, they do not know how to teach in a class and
how to handle a group.
It is important that each teacher can use several techniques in order to teach, in
that way, students will not feel bored, unmotivated, wasting the time going to classes
that do not bring knowledge, and so on. In addition, the responsibility of the teachers
is to look for interesting activities that can persuade, and change the attitude of the
students, so, they will feel totally motivated and interested to learn something new
that could help in the future, because this world is changing in a fast way day by day.
Right now, we can see that any important job is looking for bilingual people. So, if
somebody wants to get hired in an important work, the first requirement the company
asks is a second language, in this case English.
For that essential and significant reason, the importance to apply some
techniques and activities using authentic materials inside the English classes at High
Schools, in order, the students could learn in a better and faster way, instead of only
read books, copies or doing the same daily and habitual activities.
4
In the particular case, this idea of the implementation of the new activities using
Authentic Materials is going to help the students of eight and ninth level of the Miguel
Araya Venegas High School. This project not only helps the students but the
teachers too because the main purpose of it is the interaction of students and
teachers with the different authentic materials and the use they can give to them in
order to get in a better way the language and learn faster and could improve it too.
Therefore, the realization of this project resolves the big problem of
understanding and knowledge that some students have with English. It gives the
possibility to change the perspective and ideas of what English is. So, students will
not see English as other boring subject at High School and they only have to pass it
in order to pass the year. The idea is that students get interested in the language and
could have more opportunities of job in the future and take off the fears.
In addition, this investigation and innovation tries to avoid some aspects that
obstruct the learning process of the students. In this research, the main theory that is
included and worked is the Multiple Intelligences theory of Howard Gardner. So, it
tries to demonstrate the different ways a student can learn a language by the use of
the authentic materials that become an excellent tool to improve the knowledge.
For that reason, some instruments are applied in order to get important
information about the interaction students have with the different kind of activities
with the authentic materials. Thus, explanations of what Authentic Materials is
necessary in order to students do not feel a little bit lost. Then, the interaction of the
students and teacher with these kinds of materials with the purpose to look the
5
reaction they have when they get in contact with the different materials and activities
in the different topics they are studying.
Furthermore, the realization of this investigation and project is possible because
the materials that teachers and students use are going to be found in the web and
other contacts like professors, teachers and classmates that work in different t places
like Africa Mia Zoo, the Liberia’s airport and rent a car companies. With the time, it is
possible because it is already scheduled with the days and the weeks the
investigators go the institution.
It was already said that the investigation takes place in the High School of
Cañas town, specifically with three groups of eight and ninth level, in the area of
English; in which the first is in conversational English and the last two are in
academic English. So, this aspect gives the stretched relation between the research
and the career because we as future English teachers, our purpose is to change the
way this subject is taught in some institutions, by using other techniques and different
materials.
6
1.3 Theme: The Use of Authentic Materials in the process of English Learning in
the Four Skills with Eighth and Ninth Level Teachers and Students at Miguel
Araya Venegas High School
1.4 Problem: How do High School English teachers and students apply and
approach Authentic Materials inside the classroom?
1.5 Objectives
1.5.1 General Objective: To discover if High School English teachers really use
Authentic Materials inside the classroom to approach the resources in the teaching
process.
1.5.2 Specific Objectives:
1. To explain the different kind of Authentic Materials that can be used in High
School.
2. To look for the correct Authentic Materials that can be used inside the
classroom in order to the teaching process will be easier.
3. To analyze if Authentic Materials are really approached for teachers into
classes.
4. To find out how students feel when teachers use Authentic Materials.
7
8
Chapter II
2. Theoretical Framework
In this part of the investigation, it is going to be explained some theories and
some important concepts that have to be taken into account in the use of the
authentic materials, in order to look for the relationship that the theories have with the
techniques and activities that are going to be done, too.
Before we start talking about what Authentic Materials are, it is very important to
mention and know some concepts that have a stretched relationship with the
application of those kinds of materials inside the class and the learning process our
students face at high school.
2.1. Natural Approach
According to Krashen and Terrell, the Natural Approach is believed to conform
to the naturalistic principles found in successful second language acquisition. In this
kind of approach, there is an emphasis on exposure, or input, rather than practice,
optimizing emotional preparedness for learning; a prolonged period of attention to
what the language learners hear before they try to produce language.
The natural Approach is similar to other communicative approaches. They reject
earlier methods of language teaching, such as the Audio lingual Method. In addition,
this approach is designed to develop basic communication skills – both oral and
written. Also, the communication goals may be expressed in terms of situations,
functions and topics.
9
The goals of Natural Approach class are based on an assessment of
student needs. We determine the situations in which they will use the
target language and the sorts of topics they will have to communicate
information about. In setting goals, we do not expect the students at
the end of a particular course to have acquired a certain group of
structures or forms. Instead, we expect them to deal with a particular
set of topics in a given situation. We do not organize the activities of
the class about grammatical syllabus. (Krashen and Terrell, portfolio,
Introduction to a Second Language course)
2.1.1. Learner Roles
They are seen to change according to their stage of linguistic development.
The pre – production stage
Early – production stage
Speech – emergent phase
The Pre – Production Stage: Students participate in the language activity
without having to respond in the target language.
Early – Production Stage: Students respond to either-or question, use single
words and short phrases, fill in charts, and use fixed conversational patterns.
Speech – Emergent Phase: Students involve themselves in role play and
games, contribute personal information and opinions, and participate in group
problem solving.
10
Learners have four kinds of responsibilities in the Natural Approach classroom:
1. Provide information about their specific goals.
2. Take an active role in ensuring comprehensible input.
3. Decide when to start producing speech and when to upgrade it.
4. Where learning exercises are to be part of the program.
2.1.2. Teacher Roles
First, the teacher is the primary source of comprehensible input in the target
language, so, it is the primary generator of that input. Second, the teacher creates a
classroom atmosphere that is interesting, friendly, and in which there is a low
affective filter for learning. Finally, the teacher must choose and orchestrate a rich
mix of classroom activities, involving a variety of group sizes, content, and contexts.
2.1.3. The Role of Institutional Materials
The primary goal of material in the Natural Approach is to make classroom
activities as meaningful as possible by supplying the extra linguistic context that
helps the acquirer to understand and thereby to acquire by relating classroom
activities to the real world.
Moreover, there is a learning theory in which the authentic materials focus on.
This method is called Constructivism theory, because the idea of the implementation
of this kind of material is the mind’s opening. These materials want to create new
learning styles with the purpose the students get easily the language and could
communicate better.
11
2.2. Second Language Acquisition Theory
This theory was invented by an expert of linguistics and specialized in theories
of language acquisition and development called Stephen Krashen. “Language
acquisition does not require extensive use of conscious grammatical rules, and does
not require tedious drill”, Stephen Krasher.
“Acquisition requires meaningful interactions in the target language-natural
communication-in which speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances
but with the messages they are conveying and understanding” Stephen Krasher.
This theory consists of five main hypotheses:
2.2.1. The Acquisition–Learning Hypothesis:
In this hypothesis, there are two independent systems: the acquired system and
the learned system. The first one is the product of a subconscious process very
similar to the process children undergo when they are acquiring the first language.
The second is the product of formal and it comprises a conscious process which
results in conscious knowledge about the language.
2.2.2. The Monitor Hypothesis:
It encapsulates the relationship between acquisition and learning and defines
the role of grammar.
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2.2.3. The Natural Order Hypothesis:
It suggests that the acquisition of grammatical structures follows a “natural
order” which is predictable.
2.2.4. The Input Hypothesis:
It attempts to explain how the learner acquires a second language. This
hypothesis only concerned with “acquisition”, not “learning”.
2.2.5. The Affective Filter Hypothesis:
In this hypothesis, a number of “affective variables” play a role in second
language acquisition. These variables include: motivation, self-confidence and
anxiety.
2.3. Constructivism Learning TheoryAccording to what is said in the web site of Wikipedia, Constructivism may be
considered an epistemology (a philosophical framework or theory of learning) which
argues humans construct meaning from current knowledge structures. These
arguments about the nature of human learning guide constructivist learning theories
and teaching methods of education. Constructivism values developmentally-
appropriate facilitator-supported learning that is initiated and directed by the learner.
This is the path through which educators (facilitators) wish to approach students in
constructing meaning of new concepts.
13
Some historical figures that influenced constructivism:
Giambattista Vico
Immanuel Kant
John Dewey
Jean Piaget
Lev Vygotsky
Jerome Bruner
Herbert Simon
Paul Watzlawick
Ernst von
Glasersfeld
Edgar Morin
2.3.1. Constructivist theory
Formalization of the theory of constructivism is generally attributed to Jean
Piaget, who articulated mechanisms by which knowledge is internalized by learners.
He suggested that through processes of accommodation and assimilation, individuals
construct new knowledge from their experiences.
2.3.2. The nature of the learner
There are some important points that are relevant to be mentioned and
explained.
The learner as a unique individual: Social constructivism views each
learner as a unique individual with unique needs and backgrounds. The
learner is also seen as complex and multidimensional.
The importance of the background and culture of the learner: Social
constructivism encourages the learner to arrive at his or her own version of the
truth, influenced by his or her background, culture or embedded worldview.
Historical developments and symbol systems, such as language, logic, and
mathematical systems, are inherited by the learner as a member of a particular
14
culture and these are learned throughout the learner's life. This also stresses
the importance of the nature of the learner's social interaction with
knowledgeable members of the society. Without the social interaction with
other more knowledgeable people, it is impossible to acquire social meaning of
important symbol systems and learn how to utilize them.
The responsibility for learning: Social constructivism emphasizes the
importance of the learner being actively involved in the learning process,
unlike previous educational viewpoints where the responsibility rested with the
instructor to teach and where the learner played a passive, receptive role. Von
Glasersfeld (1989) emphasizes that learners construct their own
understanding and that they do not simply mirror and reflect what they read.
Learners look for meaning and will try to find regularity and order in the events
of the world even in the absence of full or complete information.
The motivation for learning: Another crucial assumption regarding the nature
of the learner concerns the level and source of motivation for learning. According to
Von Glasersfeld (1989) sustaining motivation to learn is strongly dependent on the
learner’s confidence in his or her potential for learning. These feelings of competence
and belief in potential to solve new problems are derived from first-hand experience
of mastery of problems in the past and are much more powerful than any external
acknowledgement and motivation.
15
2.3.3. The role of the instructor
In this kind of learning theory, the teacher is treated and called an instructor,
because the teacher helps the students in the acquisition of the target language.
Instructors as facilitators: According to the social constructivist approach,
instructors have to adapt to the role of facilitators and not teachers
(Bauersfeld, 1995). Where a teacher gives a didactic lecture which covers the
subject matter, a facilitator helps the learner to get to his or her own
understanding of the content. In the former scenario the learner plays a
passive role and in the latter scenario the learner plays an active role in the
learning process. The emphasis thus turns away from the instructor and the
content, and towards the learner (Gamoran, Secada, & Marrett, 1998).
This dramatic change of role implies that a facilitator needs to display a
totally different set of skills than a teacher (Brownstein 2001). A teacher tells, a
facilitator asks; a teacher lectures from the front, a facilitator supports from the
back; a teacher gives answers according to a set curriculum, a facilitator
provides guidelines and creates the environment for the learner to arrive at his
or her own conclusions; a teacher mostly gives a monologue, a facilitator is in
continuous dialogue with the learners (Rhodes and Bellamy, 1999).
2.3.4. The nature of the learning process
Furthermore, it is crucial to know and understand what the nature of this
learning process is in order to improve and change the way of teaching some
teachers have inside their classes.
16
Learning is an active, social process: Social constructivist scholars see
learning as an active process where learners should learn to discover principles,
concepts and facts for themselves, hence the importance of encouraging guesswork
and intuitive thinking in learners. Other constructivist scholars agree with this and
emphasize that individuals make meanings through the interactions with each other
and with the environment they live in. Knowledge is thus a product of humans and is
socially and culturally constructed (Ernest 1991; Prawat and Floden 1994).
Dynamic interaction between task, instructor and learner: A further
characteristic of the role of the facilitator in the social constructivist viewpoint is that
the instructor and the learners are equally involved in learning from each other as
well. This means that the learning experience is both subjective and objective and
requires that the instructor’s culture, values and background become an essential
part of the interplay between learners and tasks in the shaping of meaning. “Learners
compare their version of the truth with that of the instructor and fellow learners in
order to get to a new, socially tested version of truth (Kukla 2000).” The task or
problem is thus the interface between the instructor and the learner. This creates a
dynamic interaction between task, instructor and learner. This entails that learners
and instructors should develop an awareness of each other's viewpoints and then
look to own beliefs, standards and values, thus being both subjective and objective at
the same time.
The social constructivist model emphasizes the importance of the relationship
between the student and the instructor in the learning process. Some learning
approaches that could harbor this interactive learning include reciprocal teaching,
17
peer collaboration, cognitive apprenticeship, problem-based instruction, web quests,
anchored instruction and other approaches that involve learning with others.
According to Barbara Jaworski, the constructivist view involves two principles:
1. Knowledge is actively constructed by the learner, not passively received from
the environment.
2. Coming to know is a process of adaptation based on and constantly modified
by a learner's experience of the world.
2.4. What is intelligence?
According to the doctor Howard Gardner, “intelligence refers to the human
ability to solve problems or to make something that is valued in one or more cultures.
“Evidence suggests that there are eight or more intelligences; however, any person
has the same strength in each intelligence area. Therefore, a person can develop at
least two or three intelligences but it is so difficult that one person could have all the
intelligences. Multiple Intelligences focus on language classroom as a setting for
series of educational support systems aimed at making the language learner a better
designer of his/her on learner experiences.
In the following chart, it is written some activities suggested in the use of
Authentic Materials in the different Multiple Intelligences.
18
Chart # 1. Multiple Intelligences Activities
Linguistic Intelligence
Logical Mathematical Intelligence
Spatial Intelligence
Bodily Kinesthetic Intelligence
Lectures, group
discussions, books,
word games, creating
class newspapers,
speeches, telling
stories.
Scientific
demonstrations, logic
problems, puzzles,
science thinking,
creating acronyms,
calculations.
Charts, maps, videos,
movies, art, imaginative
stories, following
treasures hunts,
following visual
directions, graphic
organizers.
Role-plays, mime,
twisters, body spelling,
craft, cooking
Musical Intelligence
Interpersonal Intelligence
Intrapersonal Intelligence
Playing recorder
music, playing live
music, music
appreciation, and
hockey-pokey.
Peer tutoring, card
games, conflict
resolution, group
brainstorming.
Journal keeping,
homework option,
reflecting learning
activities, individualized
projects.
Although, there is no single Multiple Intelligence source, it is very important that
a teacher take individual differences among students very seriously. The base in is a
deep interest in teenagers and how their minds are different from one and another.
For that reason, Multiple Intelligences theory is not narrow. Rather, it is a complex
mental model that construct curriculum and improve themselves as educators. So, it
is a process in which every student has to cross in order to learn new things, but this
process is not done by itself. Teachers are the responsible and the ones who have to
teach in a correct way, taking into a count the level, capacity, and enthusiasm. For
that reason, there are two important roles inside the class; the teacher’s and
students’.
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2.5. Authentic Materials
Authentic Materials are language materials that were originally intended for
native speakers, not second-language learners. According to Nunan and Miller
(1995), Authentic Materials are those instruments or materials, which were not
created or edited expressly for language learners. This means that most everyday
objects in the target language qualify as authentic materials. According to Heidi
Wright, “authentic materials are readily available, inexpensive, appropriate for all skill
levels and not difficult to implement.” (1991)
In addition, it is important to mention the difference that exists between
Authentic Materials and Graded materials. For instance, the Graded Materials are the
ones that usually circle around a particular structure that is presented to the student.
For example, if the tense being presented is, say, "The Past Tense", every single
speaker in the dialogs or even the texts given to the students are in that tense. In
other words, the situation that is put in context, it is not real. Like Julio Foppoli
mentions in his article published in Internet, “a Graded material is not uncommon in
real life, but when it comes to graded materials, you will never find these types of
situations that resemble real-life conversations.”
On the other hand, the Authentic Materials are real in the sense that they are
not created for students as the target audience but for native speakers. The obvious
advantage, of course, is that by using authentic materials you present students with
actual everyday language, just as it appears in real life. However, according to
Foppoli, “the main disadvantage of these materials is that sometimes they are not
20
teacher-friendly, and you may need to spend several hours reading or watching
videos until you finally find what you need in order to use in your class.”
2.5.1. The Use of the Authentic Materials
Using authentic materials is one of the bases of a creative and motivating part
of the teaching process that is going to be applied according to the corresponded
level. There are several reasons for this, primarily a kind of fear that students will
panic when faced with language that is largely unfamiliar, and a feeling that to
prevent this the language should be edited to the students' level.
There are several ways of using Authentic Materials; some of them are going to
be mentioned in the following:
Sources: When people first think of authentic materials they usually assume
that it is talking about newspaper and magazine articles. However, the term can also
include such things as songs, web sites, radio & TV shows, films, brochures, posters,
indeed anything written in the target language and used unedited in the classroom.
For example, if teachers use magazines, they can use them for several
activities like:
Pictures can be used for description, comparison, or for writing mysteries or
movie plots.
Students bring in recipes and have them write transitional phrases and modals
to the preparation section of the recipe. (First, you must cut up the
vegetables. etc.) Then students present recipes from their own countries to
21
the class as process speeches. Articles on home or car repair are also good
for process speeches.
Students analyze ads for audience, slogan, product being sold, logo and sales
technique. Then have them create their own print ads and explain them to the
class.
Furthermore, if teacher uses newspapers, they can use them to:
Work with modals.
Use the first paragraphs of a story to complete who, what, where, when (and
sometimes why) grids. Then give them a headline and have them write their
own stories.
Use graphs and charts for scanning or for SPEAK Test preparation.
Students phone each other and ask questions based on an ad they have
chosen. They can also do this with the help wanted section.
Have them chose jobs, brainstorm interview questions, and interview each
other.
Moreover, if teachers want to use catalogs, they must consider some
recommendation of activities like:
Students cut small pictures out of catalogs to make their own vocabulary
picture poster or dictionary.
Bring in several copies of the same catalog and have students talk in pairs
about preferences and colors.
Find pictures of decorated rooms and have students use prepositions of place
or the there + BE construction. They can also make lists of all the activities they
22
usually do in that room. (I usually cook in the kitchen.)
Students use the order forms to learn how to fill out forms correctly and then
call each other to place orders.
The materials used, will of course, depend on the 'usual' factors:
topic
target language area
skills
students needs and interests
Additionally, in today's globalized world, examples abound, but the most
commonly used perhaps are: newspapers, TV programs, menus, magazines, the
internet, movies, songs, brochures, comics, literature (novels, poems and short
stories), and so forth.
In the following list, it is looked some authentic materials in a bit more detail and
then move on to a variety of sample tasks.
Literature: The reason for using literature in the class has been stated by
Pound: "Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost
possible degree" (Ezra Pound, How to Read, Part II.). Of course, the focus should
be on teaching language, not literature. In other words, the idea should be using
literary texts as one kind among other texts. With that in mind, the tasks should aim
at meaning and not form, especially literary form or stylistics.
Computer Software: Software that has been specially designed for English
instruction has received some criticism particularly from teachers who back up a
23
humanistic approach to language teaching. They state they see no reason why
exercises that can be done with a textbook should be carried out with a computer.
This idea stems from software such as Gapkit, Grammar mastery II, Tell me More
and others that are really computer-guided drills. This position is quite
understandable. However, together with Tense Buster, and others that drills are not
all computers have to offer to EFL teaching.
General software can be used in class, be it in a genuine or in an authentic way.
An example is Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? by Broderbond, which gives
students opportunities to interact not only with the computer but with other students
as well. There are other examples of adventure games where learners need to
discover clues and unravel mysteries. These games usually involve a good amount
of reading and with the use of multimedia they involve a good range of sounds,
speakers of different ages and accents, and excellent images. Students can play in
pairs or threes and discuss what to do next, so that the interaction that takes place is
also a part of the learning process. Another advantage these games have is that they
promote computer literacy, a badly needed skill in the modern world.
The Internet: With the advent of the World Wide Web, teachers have at their
disposal large amounts of texts, visual stimuli, newspapers, and magazines, live
radio and TV., video clips and much more. There are endless lists of useful materials
for the language classroom. It focuses mainly on newspapers and radio stations. As
with other media, there is no point in asking students to just go to the web and read
some text or other. There needs to be a task, preferably one in which meaning is
central and has some connection to the real world. Treasure hunts and other
24
information searching activities are probably the most useful. More and more sites
have interactive sections.
2.5.3. Task
The task, or what students are supposed to do with the given material, is what
often makes all the difference. There is material that can be used for beginners,
intermediate or advanced students, provided the task that comes with it is suitable.
According to what Clarke says, the task should relate to the student's own life as
much as possible (1989).
Sample Tasks
Want Ads: A series of 4-5 want ads can be used with the students in the
following way: beginners are asked to say which of the jobs they could qualify
for, intermediate students can write an application letter and advanced students
may discuss who in the class could qualify for the job and why, re-write the ads
or role-play job interviews.
Treasure Hunt: Students get a news or magazine article and a sheet of paper
with a series of questions so that they look for certain items: dates, events,
people involved, etc.
Menus: It has been found menus to have great potential as authentic material.
Students freely get involved in a role-play where one is a waiter/tress and 2-3
students are the customers, provided they have been supplied with the
necessary functions and structures to carry out such task, i.e. sentences such
as:
"What would you like?", "I'll have...", "Anything else?” and so on
25
Ads in Magazines: Guessing the product. In this task, the teacher cuts out
advertisements from magazines, hides the products being advertised and
shows them to learners one by one to see if they can guess what product is
being advertised. To practice specific vocabulary, the teacher gives learners
three or four options per ad.
A second example involving magazine advertisements is the following:
Students are set in groups of 3-4 and get some 4 adverts. They have to imagine
they are working for an advertising agency and compare the ads taking into
account the texts and the photographs. Students decide which the best is and
which the worst is. Then they re-design the worst ad, including the text. Ads with
short texts are used with basic students, whereas those containing more
complex texts are for intermediate or advanced students.
The Agony Column: Four or five letters to the agony column are cut in half and
pasted onto cards. Students work in pairs or groups of three and match the
beginnings with the corresponding endings of the letters, and they match the
corresponding answer to each letter.
Travel Brochures: An example of how to use travel brochures is the following:
Students sit in groups of 4-5. They are given travel brochures of interesting
places. They are to design a "phoney" brochure of an invented place. In it, they
include a mixture of characteristics of that place. E.g. spaghetti is the typical
food; you can visit a theme park, drink vodka, etc.
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2.5.4. Advantages of Using Authentic Materials
So, we can mention some important points why the use of authentic materials is
useful for the learning process of students at high school. Some of those points are:
They have a positive effect on learner motivation.
They provide authentic cultural information.
They provide exposure to real language.
They relate more closely to learners ' needs.
They support a more creative approach for teaching.
We can claim that learners are being exposed to real language and they feel
that they are learning the 'real' language.
Students are exposed to real discourse, as in videos of interviews with
famous people where intermediate students listen for gist.
Authentic materials keep students informed about what is happening in the
world, so they have an intrinsic educational value. As teachers, we are
educators working within the school system, so education and general
development are part of our responsibilities (Sanderson, 1999).
Textbooks often do not include incidental or improper English.
They can produce a sense of achievement, e.g., a brochure on England
given to students to plan a 4-day visit.
The same piece of material can be used under different circumstances if the
task is different.
Language change is reflected in the materials so that students and teachers
can keep abreast of such changes.
Reading texts are ideal to teach/practice mini-skills such as scanning, e.g.
students are given a news article and asked to look for specific information
27
(amounts, percentages, etc.). The teacher can have students practice some of
the micro-skills mentioned by Richards (1983), e.g. basic students listen to
news reports and they are asked to identify the names of countries, famous
people, etc. (ability to detect key words).
Books, articles, newspapers, and so on contain a wide variety of text types,
language styles not easily found in conventional teaching materials.
They can encourage reading for pleasure because they are likely to contain
topics of interest to learners, especially if students are given the chance to have
a say about the topics or kinds of authentic materials to be used in class.
2.5.5. Why should I use Authentic Materials in my Classroom?
Teachers of less commonly taught languages have the advantage of generally
having more motivated students who have looked beyond the field of commonly
taught languages. These motivated students may enjoy the interesting facets of
grammar and vocabulary, but probably eagerly anticipate being able to communicate
and interact in this new language. Teaching grammar and vocabulary in isolation
may produce good readers and listeners, but without guided exposure to authentic
language samples, students may be less able to reach their goal of using the
language.
On the level of day to day teaching, authentic materials can make individual
lessons more interesting or salient. Teaching commands is a common part of
language instruction and can be done straight from a grammar text. However, a more
motivating, rich source of commands is also found in advertisements and instruction
manuals. Using these authentic materials to teach the same point may help students
remember the grammatical construction better and give them a sense of how the
28
construct can be used in various contexts. Similarly, language classes often begin
with greetings, but it may be difficult for students to grasp or remember how to greet
who as the social norms dictate. A video clip may be a helpful means of presenting
these concepts and forms.
On a broader level, consistent use of authentic materials in the classroom keeps
students grounded in the reality of the language, helping them to recognize that there
is a community of users who live out their lives in this other language.
Exposing students to authentic materials can also help them better understand
the target culture and envision how they might participate in this community. For
example, instead of introducing food vocabulary in the target language by providing
equivalent translations in the students’ native language, the teacher can instead
introduce students to food vocabulary via an authentic menu, asking students to
deduce the meanings of unfamiliar food items from context. Once meaning has been
established, the vocabulary words can become part of a communicative exercise
where students describe what is in a dish or role play a restaurant scene, requesting
certain items. In this way not only do students acquire new vocabulary but they also
are exposed to typical ethnic foods found on menus.
2.5.6. How do I Get Authentic Materials?
There are various resources available online (some on this website even). But
many authentic materials can be small items that can either be mailed by friends
from the language area or picked up by you the teacher as you travel. With a little
forethought, this does not have to be a major expense or hassle.
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2.5.7. How do I Use Authentic Materials?
Often times the printed book seems like an easier teaching tool than adding in
authentic materials. This may not be the case. With a little practice and creativity (or
idea borrowing), incorporating authentic materials into your lesson, will not take you
more time than lesson planning would in general.
2.5.8. Using Authentic Materials: At Which Level?
It is said and suggested that at post-intermediate level, the use of authentic
materials is available for use in classroom. This might be attributed to the fact that at
this level, most students master a wide range of vocabulary in the target language
and all of the structures. They also note that at lower levels, the use of authentic
materials may cause students to feel de-motivated and frustrated since they lack
many lexical items and structures used in the target language. The use of authentic
materials is a burden for the instructors teaching beginning students, as they have to
spend a lot of time to prepare for authentic materials regarding the ability level of the
students.
Do all these mean we are not able to use authentic materials in lower-level
classes apart from post-intermediate and advanced levels? According to the findings
of the survey carried out by Chavez (1998), learners enjoy dealing with authentic
materials since they enable them to interact with the real language and its use. Also,
they do not consider authentic situations or materials naturally difficult. However,
learners state that they need pedagogical support especially in listening situations
and when reading literary texts such as the provision of a full range of cues (auditory
and visual including written language).
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Some of the sources found by the teacher are somewhat hard to understand
and use for the students because they are not familiarize with them, so, at the time
the teacher applies the different authentic materials, students are going to feel
frustrated and kind of lost.
In addition, in order to the authentic materials can be put in practice correctly
and the learning process becomes significant, it is important to take also into account
the language skills. Language educators have long used the concepts of four basic
language skills:
a. Listening
b. Speaking
c. Reading
d. Writing
The four basic skills are related to each other by two parameters:
the mode of communication: oral or written
the direction of communication: receiving or producing the message
It may be represented the relationships among the skills in the following chart:
Oral Written
Receptive Listening Reading
Productive
Speaking Writing
The following modules will briefly describe some characteristics of each basic
skill.
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a. Listening comprehension skill: it is the receptive skill in the oral mode. When
we speak of listening what we really mean is listening and understanding what
we hear. Richards (1983, cited in Omaggio, 1986, p. 126) proposes that the
following are the micro-skills involved in understanding what someone says to
us. The listener has to:
Retain portions of language in short-term memory
Discriminate among the distinctive sounds in the new language
Recognize stress and rhythm patterns, tone patterns, intonation contours.
Recognize typical word-order patterns
Recognize vocabulary
Detect key words, such as those identifying topics and ideas
Guess meaning from context
Recognize grammatical word classes
b. Speaking skill: Speaking is the productive skill in the oral mode. It, like the other
skills, is more complicated than it seems at first and involves more than just
pronouncing words. The speaker has to:
Pronounce the distinctive sounds of a language clearly enough so that people can
distinguish them. This includes making tonal distinctions.
Use stress and rhythmic patterns, and intonation patterns of the language clearly
enough so that people can understand what is said.
Use the correct forms of words. This may mean, for example, changes in the
tense, case, or gender.
Put words together in correct word order.
Use vocabulary appropriately.
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Use the register or language variety that is appropriate to the situation and the
relationship to the conversation partner.
Make clear to the listener the main sentence constituents, such as subject, verb,
object, by whatever means the language uses.
c. Reading skill: Reading is the receptive skill in the written mode. It can develop
independently of listening and speaking skills, but often develops along with them,
especially in societies with a highly-developed literary tradition. Reading can help
build vocabulary that helps listening comprehension at the later stages, particularly.
The reader has to:
Recognize vocabulary.
Pick out key words, such as those identifying topics and main ideas.
Figure out the meaning of the words, including unfamiliar vocabulary, from the
(written) context.
Recognize grammatical word classes: noun, adjective, etc.
Detect sentence constituents, such as subject, verb, object, prepositions, etc.
Recognize basic syntactic patterns.
Reconstruct and infer situations, goals and participants.
Get the main point or the most important information.
Distinguish the main idea from supporting details.
d. Writing skill: Writing is the productive skill in the written mode. It, too, is more
complicated than it seems at first, and often seems to be the hardest of the skills,
even for native speakers of a language, since it involves not just a graphic
33
representation of speech, but the development and presentation of thoughts in a
structured way. The writer needs to:
Use the orthography correctly, including the script, and spelling and punctuation
conventions.
Use the correct forms of words. This may mean using forms that express the right
tense, or case or gender.
Put words together in correct word order.
Use vocabulary correctly.
Use the style appropriate to the genre and audience.
Make the main sentence constituents, such as subject, verb, and object, clear to
the reader.
Make the main ideas distinct from supporting ideas or information.
Make the text coherent, so that other people can follow the development of the
ideas.
On the other hand, the teacher must pay attention to other factor, the Multiple
Intelligences which varies from student to student. Every pupil has different ways to
learn the things, English is not the exception. Actually, when teachers teach this
language, they must be aware of the Multiple Intelligences their students have in
order to the learning process will get better and easier to them.
2.6. Teacher’s Role
Teachers ought to act as a filter, releasing the language in controllable
quantities, raising or lowering the filter as needed, and ensuring the comprehensibility
34
of the material through selection of the learning objective, the task to be
accomplished, and the way the material is approached.
But the teacher using authentic materials has other responsibilities, too.
“Teachers must also learn how to identify authentic items, or determine their
‘applicability’ and ‘adaptability’ for classroom use” (Dumitrescu, 2000).
Very significantly, the teacher is a culture guide. In fact, language may often
take a back seat to culture with authentic materials, resulting in a hybrid "ESL
(English as a Second Language) in the content area of culture," (María Sperelli).
But, as Krashen points out; "comprehensible subject-matter teaching is language
teaching" (1985).
The honest reality of some authentic items can guide to personal discoveries or
discussion of touchy topics. In order to have a success, teachers have to follow
some items to apply their authentic materials correctly. Those components are:
Learner-Centered" is the Mantra: From the selection of materials, to the
choice of objectives, to the tasks of learning itself, the needs and interests as well as
the range of affective issues pertaining to the learners must be in the forefront.
Identify an Objective: Any objective needs to be feasible within the level of
language complexity just slightly beyond the learners' current ability. The teacher
also has to consider the ability to make the material comprehensible to achieve the
objective.
35
Concept and Context: When using authentic materials, teachers have to
determine if they are working on a concept that is new to many learners.
Make It Comprehensible: Everything boils down to comprehensibility. If the
input is not comprehended, in spite of how applicable and adaptable it is, it "appears
to serve no greater purpose to the learner than does language that is never heard"
(Gass & Selinker, 1994). The teacher is the interpreter between the authentic
material and the learner, and will likely use a repertoire of paraphrase, synonyms,
quick sketches, miming and pictures to get the message across--for it is the
message, not the structure, that is the focus of authentic materials.
2.7. Student’s Role
Students take an important role in the learning process. For example, if the
teacher brings excellent authentic materials and the level of the students is the
qualified, but if they do not show any kind of interest, the process is not going to
success and everything is going to be in vain. For that reason, it is very important
that students have to comprehend and collaborate with the teachers.
Also, it is important to mention that every authentic material used on the
students has to be interested, have a purpose and catch the attention of them. There
are some examples of interested subjects and materials teachers can use inside the
class, they depend of several factors:
36
Applicability
The material gives the learner new information to help herself or her
family
The material enables the learner to take advantage of an existing
community service or amenity that had not been previously utilized or fully
utilized.
Material reflects a reality that is economically feasible for the learner.
The material respects the immigration status of the learner, whether
documented or undocumented.
Adaptability
The authentic material contains non-complex vocabulary: A large
amount of the printed matter marketed to the general public is written at a
fifth grade level while the language of items produced by public safety and
social welfare offices is sometimes even simpler.
The authentic item features pictures, diagrams, tables, etc.
The material uses bullets, titling, subtitles or other clear separation of
text.
The material allows some learner interaction: a form to fill out, a
recording to listen to, a checklist, questions to think about, etc.
According to Little (1991), “students need to be encouraged to set their
own learning goals and to take responsibility for their own learning.” The use of
various input materials is one of the ways in which foreign language teachers
can stimulate their students and help them develop confidence in their own
ideas and in their ability to work independently. The intended outcome of such a
mode of learning is that students should acquire good learning strategies and
so become more autonomous and self-directed.
Chapter III
3. Institutional Framework and Methodology
3.1 Institutional Framework
In 1959, the sir Miguel Araya Venegas started looking for help in order to
open a high school in Cañas because the students had to go to Tilaran. He and
some teachers started doing classes to seventh and eighth level and with the
time, the educational authorities accepted that the level of the students was
good and the high school were growing up fast.
In 1965, it was officially established the Cañas High School. In this year,
24 students were graduated with excellent grades. People who lived in Cañas
asked for calling the High School with the name of the teacher Miguel Araya
Venegas and in 1984 the high school got his name.
In this moment, its population is around 2000 students and it has around
80 people (teachers, administrative personnel, janitors). Talking about the
English department, it could say that there are eight teachers, four are teaching
the academic part and the other ones are teaching the conversational that it is a
pilot plan in order to improve the English part in the students and in this way,
students can communicate and understand this language.
3.2 Methodology
3.2.1. Paradigm
This investigation belongs to the holistic and ethnographic paradigms. It is
holistic because it is based in the personal feelings and human perspective and
it wants to see and analyze a general perspective of the English classes at high
school taking as example the High School in Cañas, in order to break down the
complexity of the real world that during the years English has been had.
In other words, this investigation and innovation try to change the students’
and teacher’s mentality in order to show them that English could be an
interesting subject. Also, they could realize that there are other methods where
they can learn in a funny way.
On other hand, it is ethnographic because inside the class there is a
culture but each person has developed his / her culture in a different way and all
of them are particular. For that reason, the innovation has to find out different
ways to make the activities in order to involve all the students.
3.2.2. Type of Study: Qualitative Approach:
The research of the Use of Authentic Materials in English Classes at High
School takes into account the Qualitative Approach. According to Barrantes R.
(1998) “Qualitative approach is the phonologic and inductive conception
orientated to the process. It puts emphasis in deep and its analysis is not
mathematics”. It is because it tries to observe and investigate the characteristics
and behavior of the students who will be inside the research; and in this project,
it does not care about the number of students in a statistics way. It tries to
understand the way that students react when they are using Authentic Material
in the English Classes.
3.2.3. Population and Sample
The population of this study is one eighth level group and two ninth level
groups from the Miguel Araya Venegas High School in Cañas. The sample is
not at random because one of the teachers, who are going to collaborate, tell
which are the two ninth level groups that like to participate in class; and the
teacher of the eighth level group says that her group does not have enough
motivation and participation inside the classes; for that reason, this group is like
a challenge.
This project will work with all the students of the 8-6, 9-3, 9-5 and two
teachers. The eighth level group works in conversational English classes and
the ninth levels groups are in academic English classes.
3.2.4. Instrumentation and Data Collection
The instrumentation used to collect the data was varied. First of all, a non-
participative observation was used in order to know the condition of the
institution and classroom. Also, to know the way the teacher worked the topics
and the reaction of the students with the different activities during the class. It
had four main aspects like the institution, the English classroom, relevant
aspect inside the classroom, and teacher-students, students-students
relationship (see annex # 1 ). This instrument was applied in September 30 th,
2008, the observation started at 7:30 looking at, first of all, the High School
condition, then the section 9-3 and finally the section 9-5; inside the classroom,
the instrument wanted to know the development of the classes, how the teacher
gave the class and the students’ reaction when they affront a second language.
In addition, it was also used a questionnaire for students and for the
teacher; the student’s one had five closed questions and three opened
questions, and the teacher’s one had four closed questions and two opened
questions. These questionnaires were applied in October 21st, 2008; inside the
classroom. This kind of instrument help in the collection of information, and in
this way, the researchers could analyze the different activities students have
done during the English classes and how much they know about the term of
Authentic Materials.
Also, there was an interview in group where students expressed their
feelings about English classes and what kind of activities they would like to do
during the innovation project, it was in order to know what they think and in that
way they would like to collaborate in the assignment. In the interview, the
students were divided into two groups with the purpose the students felt
comfortable and they expressed their feelings about the language and the
activities the teacher has been done during the year.
Chapter IV
4. Presentation Analysis and Discussion
In this chapter, it is going to be presented and analyzed the information
that was collected by the use of the different instruments applied. The idea of
this section is to know the main data and comments from the samples. Also, it is
important to mention that for reasons of different obstacles that the researchers
faced, it could be only done the Non-participative observation, the teacher’s and
students’ survey, and finally, general opinions of the activities.
4.1.Relevant aspects of the institution and the English classroom
4.1.1. Condition of the institution
Generally talking, the building of the Miguel Araya Venegas High School is
so old. It presents some problems especially on the walls and ceilings, they are
full of holes. Also, they have graffiti in which are vulgar expression of students
and teachers.
4.1.2. Use of Authentic Materials and Didactic Materials
There was not use the Authentic Materials, not even Didactic Materials. It
was only used a copy in which were some pictures related to the topic
“Computers and Technology in our Lives”. Students only were listening to the
teacher, getting bored. The teacher tried to involve the students to the activities,
but there were not enough and did not catch the students’ attention.
4.2.Educative Relevance of the Authentic Materials
4.2.1. Authentic Materials Definition
According to the survey that was applied to the students, they do not know
the terminology of Authentic Materials before the activities were done. The most
frequent answers were in a negative way, “I don’t know” was the most common
answer. On the other hand, the teacher had an idea of what Authentic Materials
are.
In the following chapter, it is shown the most common answers by the
students and the answer that the teacher brought to the survey.
Chart #2
Survey’s most common answers
Students Teacher
“I have never heard about that” “Materials you can have at had
created by the teacher for certain
“I really don’t know”
“Materials like songs that the teacher
bring to the class”
purposes”.
So, as it was shown in the chart, almost all the comments were negative.
The students were not familiar with the meaning of Authentic Materials. On the
other hand, the teacher, because of his university formation and the experience
he has gotten during the years, was so close to the definition. Some others (a
few) knew the term. For that reason, it was explained by mean of examples, the
terminology of Authentic Materials to the students, because it is so important
that they know it, in order to they know how to improve in a better way the
English level. Also, it is important to elaborate different workshops in order to
they can practice their English and shown the advantages that these kind of
materials bring to them.
4.2.2. Materials done inside the English classroom during the year
According to the surveys that students and teacher realized, it can be
mention important aspects. The most activities that the students have done are
the reading comprehensions, so, they have work more in the reading skill. But,
the problems is that they do not feel comfortable with this activity because they
think they are not acquiring anything, they just translate all the words from the
texts in order to “get vocabulary”. On the other hand, the activities that the
teacher has done frequently are dialogues, role-plays, description of objects
and reading comprehension.
The following chart shows the most frequent activities students from the
sections 9-3 and 9-5 have performed during their three or more years inside the
High School.
Chart #3
Frequent activities
Most Frequent Activities done by the Students
Most Frequent Activities done by the Teacher
1. Dialogues2. Reading Comprehensions3. Creation of sentences (grammar)4. Description of objects, people,
places, animals, etc.5. Videos6. Completion of songs7. Oral presentations8. Identification of objects
1. Reading comprehension2. Creation of sentences (grammar)3. Description of objects, people,
places, animals, etc.4. Dialogues5. Completion of songs6. Oral presentations7. Role-plays8. Bingo
As this chart shows, students are so familiar with repetitive activities in
which they only followed some indications and they feel they are inside a
routine, because they do always the same in each lesson. Also, it can be notice
that it is not frequently the use of the Authentic Materials in the activities. The
teacher does not apply funny exercises using the language. Students and
teacher have only used books and copies related to the different topics and
subjects.
4.2.3. Importance of the activities
Taking into account the different answers that the two groups gave to the
survey, it is important to mention that they know that the use of activities inside
an English class are essential in the learning process, because they constitute a
good way to practice what is being taught. Also, they can learn vocabulary in
order to putting in a real situation. Also, the use of different activities allows
students to get out of the routine, and students can understand better any kind
of topic. However, they just talk about how they learn only vocabulary and how
to read and write it. So, they never mentioned that the activities can help them
to communicate with others.
On the other hand, there was a minority of students that mentioned that
the use of the activities were not satisfactory to them because some of them did
other teachers that were not well prepared and also, teachers were talking
about other stuffs and they did not explain anything.
4.3.Activities using Authentic Materials
The application of activities using Authentic Materials was strange for the
students of the two groups because they were not familiar with this kind of
implements. So, at the beginning it was kind of hard that students get involved
in the different activities.
4.3.1. Playing “Guess what it is”
Chart #4
“Guessing”
Skills / Objective Teacher’s Role Student’s Role Materials
Listening and
Speaking. Using
simple sentences to
make descriptions
for each object
Guide, facilitator. Experiences.
Independence and
personal growth from
learning.
Technological
pictures in
flashcards
The idea of this activity was that students can recognize the pictures
related to technology and computers in order to say what are the uses they
have and how important they are. Also, the team group was important, because
they have to help each other in order to win the competition. (see annex # 8)
In here, it is important that the teacher introduce certain vocabulary and
structures related to the topic, with the purpose that students can create
sentences and can express the correct ideas in an oral way.
4.3.2. Playing “Big Bingo”
Chart #5
“Bingo”
Skills / Objective Teacher’s Role Student’s Role Materials
Listening. Recognition of
vocabulary.
Model and
language
manipulator.
Directed by skilled
techniques to produce
correct responses.
Cardboard, pictures,
glue, scissors and
caps
The main purpose with this activity was that students can recognize by
dictation of the different technological objects the vocabulary related to the
topic.
In here, the students can sit down on the floor to feel more relax and
comfortable because they have to look careful at the pictures and recognize
correctly the object that the teacher says. So, this activity makes students to be
concentrated because if they are not, they can loose the opportunity to win.
Also, this is an exercise in which students work together as a team, helping
each other.
4.3.3. Playing “Find the Treasure
Chart # 6
Find the Treasure
Skills / Objective Teacher’s Role Student’s Role Materials
Reading.
Comprehension of clues
by reading them.
Communications
facilitator and
participant in
activities.
Learner is a processor
of comprehensible
input.
Pictures, tape, color
papers.
In the realization of this activity, students put in practice their reading skill
in order to follow certain clues that guide them at the end, in which they find the
treasure: knowledge in a funny way.
With this activity, students had to run in all the room to look for the correct
clues. It is a way where students can move, in this manner they feel they are
out of the routine. Also, the team work takes an important aspect here, because
all the members of the team have to help and try to figure out together the
different signs.
Furthermore, those activities and other ones can be done in groups with
the idea of students can improve by themselves and the help of their
classmates the language.
In those activities and games, the motivation is so important because in
this way, students will feel that what they are doing is not a waste of time, at the
contrary, they are creating and improving their knowledge and skills. It is
important to say that teachers do not have to give extra points to the winner,
they have to look for different and significant small gifts in which students feel
they are doing well and they win it because they put their effort to do the
activity. In this part, the competition is a good technique, but teachers should
have a good control of the class in order to the group will not end fighting.
At the first time that students make those kinds of activities, they will be
lost and inside the class will be mess; however with the time, students are going
to be familiar with the activities and the development of the class will be better.
Chapter V
5. Conclusion, Limitations and Recommendations
5.1. Conclusion
The use of authentic materials in the classroom has been discussed, with
the student benefiting from the exposure to real language being used in a real
context. Other aspects which proved positive when using authentic materials
was that they are highly motivating, giving a sense of achievement when
understood and encourage further listening, speaking, reading and writing. They
also reflect the changes in the use of language. They are also very versatile;
they can be used in different ways to promote different skills and can be used
more than once as well as be updated. Anything can be used as authentic
material but for developing the language, one of the most useful resources is
the Internet, with large amounts of varied material being easily accessible.
One of the main reason for using authentic materials in the classroom is
once outside the safe, controlled language learning environment, the learner will
not encounter the artificial language of the classroom but the real world and
language how it is really used. The role of the teacher is not to trick the
language learner but to prepare him, giving the awareness and necessary skills
so as to understand how the language is actually used. Having made a
distinction between authentic and non-authentic material and evaluated the use
of them in the classroom, it is worth taking into consideration Davies who wrote:
“It is not that a text is understood because it is authentic but that it is authentic
because it is understood. …Everything the learner understands is authentic for
him.” (Davies 1984:192)
Moreover, when a teacher uses different Authentic Materials, students will
be motivated because they are not accustomed to these kinds of activities. For
the first time, it is kind of hard that students collaborate but, little by little, they
will get involved and participate in the activities. But, the most important aspect
is that they will learn faster and better, without any kind of book or copies that
they do not like and enjoy. So, our students will learn having fun.
However, with this project it could be noticed that some teachers do not
like to work with Authentic Materials because they need their own time to
prepare the activities and choose the materials in order to teach any subject, for
this reason, teachers decide to follow a book with the excuse that the institution
limits them. Also, teachers think with these activities students will not
participate because they are in a hard age in which for them, everything is
ridiculous.
5.2. Limitations
During the realization of this paper, there were some limitations that the
researchers had to pass by. In addition, these limitations affected the correct
development and do not permit the applications of some activities that were
thought to be done.
First of all, it was a mess with the destinations that each group had. It was
supposed that everything was coordinated, but it was not at all. For example,
this investigation was supposed to be done in Guardia High School, but, there
were complications in the agreements of the days to go or activities that the
institution were doing. At the end, the investigation could be done in Cañas. In
here, there were other complications. First, mid-term exams did not allow the
realization of the activities and the application of the evaluations. Also, there
was a civic celebration that stopped the activities and finally, there were the
eleventh final tests, which produce the cancelation of the classes of the groups
that this investigation was taken place.
5.3. Recommendations
To the University:
It is important to decide / choose that a course will be taught by only one
professor, because it is so hard for the students to work with two professors.
Both have different ways of thinking, so, it is difficult to students to understand
their point of view and what they really want about the different issues.
Even though it is hard to change the cycles where the different courses
are, it is important to know that any kind of project that has to be done at High
Schools in the second semester of each cycle, because High Schools are in a
period in which are too many factor that will affect the projects, for example the
final examinations of the eleventh levels and some teachers need to take care
those exams.
On the other hand, it is so important to have clear where and with whom
the students are going to go to do the innovations, because in this way,
students will not waste time in going to the designed place where do not accept
them.
To the High School and Teacher:
In this case, it is important to have good installations for the students
because in that way, they will feel more motivated and anxious to go to a nice
school and classrooms.
Also, it is important that the institution does not give too many excuses to
bring the multimedia. In addition, it is unbelievable that they have the equipment
but they do not permit the used of most of them, for example: the institution has
an intelligent board that is getting dust inside the teacher’s room.
Furthermore, the teacher has to continue with the attitude he has, but he
has to look for new and interesting activities in order to catch the attention of the
students and do not use too much the book.
Bibliography
Anthology: Seminario de Innovación, Investigación de Campo en Inglés y Producción
Educativa. Paradigms. 2008.
Brandl, K. (2002). Integrating Internet-based reading materials into the foreign
language Curriculum. Retrieved July 12, 2003, from
http://llt.msu.edu/vol6num3/brandl/
Encyclopedia, Wikipedia. Constructivism (learning theory). Retrieved September 23rd, 2008,
from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/constructivism_(learniong_theory) html
Foppoli, J. (2006). Authentic vs. Graded Material in Second Languages. Retrieved
August 20th, 2008, from
http://www.ncsall.net/?id=191
Huifen Chen, L. (2007) ”Language, Learning & Technology”. Retrieved September, 23rd,
2008, from
http://www.entrepreuner.com/tradejournals/pub/OHTQ.html
Language Learning Web Sites. “Four basic language skills”. Retrieved October 30th,
2008, from
http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/LANGUAGELEARNING/OtherResources/
GudlnsFrALnggAndCltrLrnngPrgrm/FourBasicLanguageSkills.htm
Martinez, A. (2002).”Authentic Materials: An Overview”. Retrieved May 15th, 2008, from
http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/Lessons.aspx?menu=003
Web Master (2004). “Authentic Materials and Cultural Content in EFL Classrooms”.
Retrieved August 1st, 2008, from
http://useit.vn/content/view/200/92/1/2/lang,english/
Annexes
Annex # 1Universidad Nacional
Chotorega Head Office Campus Liberia
Investigation and Innovation Seminary
The following instrument of observation will be done with the purpose to
collect information that helps the innovation project of Authentic Materials.
Institution: Miguel Araya Venegas High School Teacher: ___________________________________Level: ___________________________________Date: ___________________________________
1. Institution Comments
1.1. Condition of the Installations Bad( )
Regular( )
Good( )
1.2. SecurityYes
( )No
( )
2. English Classroom
2.1. Classroom Condition Bad ( )
Regular( )
Good( )
2.2. DecorationsYes ( )
No ( )
2.3. Didactic MaterialsYes ( )
No ( )
2.4. Didactic Materials Quality Bad ( )
Regular( )
Good( )
2.5. Multimedia Yes ( )
No ( )
3. Relevant Aspects inside the classroom
3.1. The professor uses the Second Language (English)
Nothing ( )
A little ( )
Enough ( )
3.2. Students use the Second Language (English)
Nothing ( )
A little( )
Enough( )
3.3. Use of Activities Nothing
( )A little( )
Enough ( )
3.4. Use of Authentic MaterialsNothing
( )A little ( )
Enough( )
3.5. Students’ interest to the language and activities
Nothing( )
A little( )
Enough ( )
4. Teacher – students, students – students relationship
4.1. Teacher – students respect Nothing ( )
A little( )
Enough( )
4.2. Students – teacher respect Nothing ( )
A little( )
Enough( )
4.3. Students – students respect Nothing ( )
A little( )
Enough ( )
4.4. Affective Filter is presented during English Time
Nothing( )
A little( )
Enough( )
Other aspects:
______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Annex #2Universidad NacionalSede Regional ChorotegaCampus LiberiaSeminario de Innovación, Investigación de Campo en Inglés y Producción Educativa
TEACHER QUESTIONNAIRE The fourth level students from the Universidad Nacional in the Bachelor in
Teaching English are doing a research paper and an innovation about the use of
Authentic Material into the English classes. For this reason, we are asking for your help
to collect the information that it is going to be so important and strictly confidential.
Age: __________ Sex: __________Write your answer in the blanks or write the letter “X”.
1. How many years have you worked as an English teacher?
_______________________________________________________________.
2. Which levels have you worked with?
_______________________________________________________________.
3. What are the skills you work the most with your students? Why?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________.
4. What kind of activities and materials do you use to develop your English
classes?
( ) dialogues
( ) role plays
( ) listen to music
( ) videos
( ) story telling
( ) writing from a picture
( ) oral presentations
( ) identification of objects
( ) bingos
( ) hang up
( ) reading comprehension
( ) description of objects, places,
people, etc
( ) creation of sentences
(grammar)
( ) others
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
5. In your personal opinion, what are the Authentic Materials?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________.
6. Do you consider that the use of the Authentic Materials is important and
necessary in the learning process of a second language?
( ) Yes. Explain
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________.
( ) No. Explain
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________.
Annex #3Universidad NacionalSede Regional ChorotegaCampus LiberiaSeminario de Innovación, Investigación de Campo en Inglés y Producción Educativa
ENCUESTA ESTUDIANTESLos estudiantes de cuarto año de la carrera Bachillerato en la Enseñanza de
Inglés III y IV ciclo de la Universidad Nacional, están realizando un trabajo de
investigación e innovación acerca del Uso de Materiales Auténticos dentro de
las lecciones de inglés. Por este motivo se les está solicitando su colaboración
para recolectar información, la cual será de suma importancia y estrictamente
confidencial.
Edad: __________ Sexo: __________Escriba su respuesta en los espacios en blanco o marque con una “X” en los
casos necesarios
1. ¿Cuantos años lleva recibiendo inglés en esta institución?
_______________________________________________________________.
2. ¿Ha sido siempre el mismo profesor?
( ) Si ( ) No ¿Cuántos? _______________
3. ¿Qué tipo de actividades han realizado en las clases de inglés durante
este curso lectivo?
( ) diálogos
( ) dramatizaciones
( ) completar canciones
( ) videos
( ) escuchar historias
( ) escribir a partir de
imágenes
( ) presentaciones orales
( ) identificación de objetos
( ) bingos
( ) ahorcados
( ) comprensión de lecturas
( ) descripción de objetos,
lugares, personas, animales,
etc.
( ) creación de oraciones
(gramática)
( ) otros
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
4. Tomando en cuenta lo contestado en la pregunta #3 ¿Considera usted qué
las diferentes actividades realizadas le han ayudado en su aprendizaje del
idioma inglés? ¿Por qué?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________.
5. ¿Conoce usted el término de “Materiales Auténticos”?
( ) Si (Siga a la siguiente pregunta)
( ) No (Fin de la encuesta)
6. Explique lo que conoce por Materiales Auténticos.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________.
7. Durante el proceso de aprendizaje del idioma inglés ¿El o la profesor(a) ha
realizado actividades donde utiliza materiales auténticos? ¿Qué tipos de
actividades?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________.
8. ¿Dichas actividades han sido de su interés?
( ) Si. ¿Por qué? ____________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________.
( ) No. ¿Por qué? ___________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________.
Annex #4Universidad Nacional
Sede Regional Chorotega Campus Liberia
Seminario de Investigación e Innovación
El siguiente instrumento de evaluación hacia las diferentes actividades
empleadas por el profesor, será ejecutado con el fin de recolectar información que
será muy valiosa para el proyecto de innovación que se esta realizando con los
materiales auténticos.
Institución: Liceo Miguel Araya Venegas
Profesor: ___________________________________
Nivel: ___________________________________
Tema: ___________________________________
Fecha: ___________________________________
Nombre de la Actividad: ____________________
1. ¿Que le pareció esta actividad?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
2. ¿Fue de ayuda en el aprendizaje del tema?
( ) Si ¿por que?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
( ) No ¿por que?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
3. ¿Considera usted que esta actividad beneficia en el aprendizaje del idioma Inglés?
( ) Si ¿por que?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
( ) No ¿por que?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
4. ¿Qué le parecieron los materiales empleados en esta actividad?
( ) Malos
( ) Regulares
( ) Buenos
5. ¿Qué le pareció el manejo de la actividad por parte del profesor?
( ) Regular
( ) Bueno
( ) Excelente
Annex #5Universidad Nacional
Sede Regional Chorotega Campus Liberia
Seminario de Investigación e Innovación Entrevista Grupal
El siguiente instrumento de recolección de datos para las diferentes actividades
empleadas por el profesor, será ejecutado con el fin de recolectar información que
será muy valiosa para el proyecto de innovación que se esta realizando con los
materiales auténticos.
1. ¿Qué opinión tiene ustedes acerca del idioma Inglés?
2. ¿Consideran que el idioma Inglés es importante? ¿Por qué?
3. ¿Qué le parece la forma de dar clases del profesor?
4. ¿Cuáles actividades han realizado con el profesor?
5. ¿Qué tipo de actividades les gustaría realizar?
Annex #6
Pictures of the institution
Figure N. 1Old Shield
Figure N.2High School entrance
Figure N.3Civic activities (Gym)
Figure N.4Mathematics classrooms
Figure N.5Condition of a classroom
Figure N.6Gym condition
Figure N.7Cafeteria
Figure N.8Main hallway
Pictures of the English classrooms and groups
Figure N.1English classroom
Figure N.2English classroom
Figure N.39-3 playing Guessing
Figure N.49-3 playing Guessing
Figure N.59-3 playing Bingo
Figure N.69-3 playing Bingo
Figure N.79-5 playing Guessing
Figure N.89-5 playing Guessing
Figure N.99-5 playing Bingo
Figure N.109-5 playing Bingo
Pictures of the Authentic Materials
Figure N.1
Figure N.2
Figure N.3
Figure N.4
Figure N.5
Figure N.6
Figure N.7
Figure N.8
Figure N.9
Figure N.10
Annex #7 Activity of the topic: “Natural Recourses”
Annex #8Activity with Animals Sounds
Topic: “Natural Recourses”
Alligator Bats Bear Woodpecker
Cat Chicks Chimpanzee Wolf
Cougar Cow Coyote Rooster
Crow Dog Dolphin Whale
Duck Elephant Flamingo Toad
Gecko Goat Grey Squirrel Hawk
Sheep Horse Hyenas Red Howler Monkey
Kitten Lamb Leopard Rattle Snake
Mosquito Owl Peacock Cricket
Pigs Raccoon Killer Whale Lion
Canary Donkey Turkey Pigeon
Cicada Frog Tiger
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31 32
33 34 35 36 37 38
39 40 41 42 43 44
45 46 47
Annex # 9Universidad NacionalSede Regional ChorotegaCampus Liberia
Seminario de Investigación e Innovación en el Campo del InglésThe Use of Authentic Materials inside the English Classroom
Students: Marisol Milanés Matamoros Randall Alvarado Navarro
ACTIVITIES
Activity’s Name: Things in Room
Aims: Learn technological
vocabulary and prepositions.
Recognizing the technology in the
daily life into the house.
Class time: 15 minutes
Preparation time: Variable (30 to
60 minutes)
Materials: Pictures of technological
objects, glue, scissors and
cardboard
Description:
BEFORE CLASS: Teacher needs to do 4 or 5 houses using the cardboard
and look for pictures of technological objects.
IN CLASS: Teacher divides the group into 4 or 5 sub-groups. Then, the
teacher gives to each group a house with some pictures of technological
objects. Later on, students have to put the pictures on the room where
they used to use the technology. At the end, students have to explain
where they glue the pictures.
Activity’s Name: Big Bingo
Aims: Recognition of vocabulary. Class time: 15 minutes
Preparation time: Variable (30
minutes to 1 hour)
Materials: cardboard, pictures,
glue, scissors and caps
Description:
BEFORE CLASS: Teacher needs to prepare 5 or 6 bingos sheets of 49
boxes. Also, teacher looks for pictures related to technological objects.
Then, he or she glues the pictures on the bingos sheets and look for caps.
IN CLASS: Teacher divides the group into 5 or 6 sub-groups. Then, the
teacher gives to each group a pictorial bingo. Teacher starts to play bingo
telling the name of the object. The first group, that finishes, is the winner.
It can be played some times.
Activity’s Name: Find the Treasure
Aims: Comprehension of clues by
reading them.
Class time: 20 minutes
Preparation time: Variable (30
minutes to 1 hour)
Materials: pictures, tape, color
papers.
Description:
BEFORE CLASS: Teacher has to prepare 10 clues for each group
(according to how many sub-groups will be divided the group). And, look
for the scenery of each clue. He or she has to decorate the class with the
scenery where students will find the clues.
IN CLASS: the teacher divides the group into sub groups and gives them
the first clue, students have to analyze the clue and find the next one.
The group, which finds the ten clues first, wins the game.
Activity’s Name: Guess what it is
Aims: Listening and Speaking.
Using simple sentences to make
descriptions for each object.
Class time: 15 minutes
Preparation time: Variable (20
minutes)
Materials: pictures
Description:
BEFORE CLASS: Teacher needs to look for pictures related to
technological objects.
IN CLASS: Teacher divides the group into 2 sub-groups. Next, each group
assigns a person who goes in front of the class and sit down on a chair.
The teacher stands behind and shows the picture with the name and the
members of the group give him or her some clues in order he or she can
guess what the object is.
Activity’s Name: Identify Flora and Fauna
Aims: Speaking. Using simple
vocabulary.
Class time: 10 minutes
Preparation time: Variable (15
minutes)
Materials: pictures
Description:
BEFORE CLASS: Teacher needs to look for pictures related to animals.
IN CLASS: Teacher shows to the whole group different kind of flora and
fauna. They have to recognize the different animals and plants.
Variation:
Teacher could change the pictures according to the topic that he / she will
develop.
Activity’s Name: Video
Aims: Speaking, listening, reading
and writing.
Class time: 15 minutes
Preparation time: Variable (15
minutes)
Materials: video, lap top, video
beam or DVD and TV
Description:
BEFORE CLASS: Teacher needs to look for the video and make up the
questions.
IN CLASS: Teacher shows to the whole group the video related to natural
resources. Students have to analyze the video and answer in a written
and oral way the questions.
Variation:
The video will be according to the topic.
Activity’s Name: Identify Animals Sounds
Aims: Listening. Matching the
sounds with the animals.
Class time: 10 minutes
Preparation time: Variable (15
minutes)
Materials: Sounds, lap top (radio),
the names of the animals and
numbers
Description:
BEFORE CLASS: Teacher needs to write down the names of the animals
and look for each animal sound.
IN CLASS: Teacher divides the group into three small groups. Each group
will have their own names paste in the wall, when they listen to the
different sounds they have to recognize the sound and glue the number in
the correct animal.
Activity’s Name: Selling Trip Package
Aims: Speaking and listening. Using
simple vocabulary.
Class time: 15 minutes
Preparation time: Variable (10
minutes)
Materials: Brochures
Description:
BEFORE CLASS: Teacher needs to look for brochures of tourist places that
offer destinations with abundant flora and fauna.
IN CLASS: Teacher divides the group into four subgroups in which each
group must have two salesmen / saleswomen that offer to the other two
different tourist places in which they can enjoy the flora and fauna. .