Video Transcript: Module 08, Authentic Materials

Authentic materials are used by native speakers of a language for actual communication. Authentic materials are good tools for language teaching and learning because they are:

Interesting.
They use real language.
They can be chosen for individual interests.
They illustrate accurate use of language in the target culture.
And, they help students learn how to get as much information as they can, even if they can’t understand everything, or even very much.

Module Focus: Introduction

The focus in Module 08 is on:

Choosing and using authentic materials.
Constructing authentic activities.

Guidelines for choosing authentic materials include the following:

They are of interest to the age group.
They contain examples of the point of the lesson.
They are in a style of English learners will hear and use.
They are available locally.
And, they are of good quality (in both picture and sound).

#1 Viewing Points for Authentic Materials: Realia

Video segment #1. This is a kindergarten class on the first day of school. The teacher is using realia. Look for the kind of realia…. the teaching purpose… the appropriateness for age and language level…. and student responses.

Transcript

08:01:35:29

THIS IS ANA LORENA!

08:01:37:08

EVERYONE SAY "GOOD MORNING, ANA LORENA!"

08:01:40:06

COME ON!

08:01:41:16

[ hesitant responses ]

08:01:43:08

ANA LORENA.

08:01:45:06

ANA LORENA IS A GIRL OR A BOY?

08:01:49:27

WHO DOES SHE LOOK LIKE?

08:01:52:04

LIKE MARIA PILAR OR LIKE HIM?

08:01:55:13

LIKE MARIA PILAR.

08:01:56:23

MARIA PILAR IS A GIRL, AND THIS IS A...GIRL!

08:02:00:28

SHE IS A...GIRL.

08:02:03:13

AND THIS IS A -- MELANIE?

08:02:06:04

WHAT'S THIS?

GIRL.

08:02:09:13

HER NAME IS ANA LORENA.

08:02:11:06

OH, AND ANA LORENA HAS SOME FRIENDS HERE.

08:02:14:19

LET'S SEE. [ gasps ]

08:02:16:25

HELLO?

08:02:18:04

(high-pitched) HELLO!

08:02:21:12

(normal voice) HIS NAME -- LET'S SEE.

08:02:23:15

JOSE PAULO! HELLO, JOSE PAULO!

08:02:26:07

(high-pitched) HELLO, TEACHER!

08:02:29:18

(normal voice) THIS IS JOSE PAULO AND ANA LORENA AND... WE ALSO HAVE MARIA.

08:02:38:10

LET'S -- CAN WE WAVE TO MARIA?

08:02:40:21

EVERYONE WAVE TO MARIA!

08:02:43:08

AND WHO IS THIS ONE?

08:02:45:18

[ gasps ] PEDRO.

08:02:48:10

THEY ARE GOING TO BE IN THIS CLASS.

08:02:50:25

HELLO, DANIELLA.

08:02:53:09

THEY'RE GOING TO BE IN THIS CLASS, NOW, TODAY. ONLY TODAY.

08:02:58:29

SO WE HAVE TO BE VERY NICE TO THEM.

08:03:02:20

AND TEDDY LOOKS JUST LIKE PEDRO.

08:03:09:07

THIS IS TEDDY, AND THIS IS PEDRO.

08:03:12:20

THEY ARE GIRLS OR BOYS?

08:03:15:24

HMM...IF SHE IS A GIRL AND DANIELLA IS A GIRL,

08:03:22:17

HE IS A...BOY. AND HE IS A...BOY.

08:03:28:08

AND HE?

08:03:29:15

BOY.

08:03:30:18

AND DANIELLA?

08:03:32:18

COME ON.

08:03:34:08

GIRL! VERY GOOD!

08:03:36:04

GIVE ME FIVE!

Summary

In this kindergarten class, four large dolls are the realia. Three of them are dressed in the same shirts that the students are wearing. The dolls are used to teach vocabulary at a very beginning level to very young children. The children thought the dolls were funny. Slowly, after much repetition, they began to say the words. Learners can also bring their own realia to class. They can bring their favorite toys or items and talk about them.

Transcript

08:04:10:05

MY NAME IS FABIAN. I LIVE IN SAN...MY FAVORITE ACTIVITY IS CAR.

08:04:17:17

MY NAME IS CARLA. I LIVE IN CARTAGO. I AM A STUDENT. I LIKE TO...PLAY...AND...I PLAY BASKETBALL AND LISTEN TO MUSIC.

Summary, Continued:

Teachers can gradually build up their own collection of realia to use in the classroom.

#2 Viewing Points for Authentic Materials: Printed Text

Video segment #2. In this segment the authentic materials are printed texts such as books…. magazines…. brochures…. and newspapers. The authentic text in the first class is in a project created by students. What kind of materials were collected for it? For what purpose did the students create the project?

Transcript

08:05:07:21

Young man: THIS ALBUM INCLUDES SOME SECTIONS ABOUT THE ANCIENT --ABOUT THE EGYPTIAN --ABOUT THE EGYPTIAN SINAI PENINSULA.

08:05:15:18

FIRST, IT INCLUDES INFORMATION ABOUT TOURISM IN SINAI.

08:05:19:27

THERE ARE MANY TOURISM PLACES IN SINAI THAT ARE PERFECT.

08:05:23:15

THIS SECTION INCLUDES TOURISM IN SOUTHERN SINAI.

08:05:27:23

THIS ONE INCLUDES INFORMATION ABOUT TOURISM IN THE NORTHERN SINAI AND THE TOURIST CITIES IN SINAI.

08:05:35:11

WHERE DID THE PICTURES COME FROM?

08:05:37:04

TELL US ABOUT THE PICTURES AND THE WRITING.

08:05:38:26

THE PICTURE IS FROM THE NEWSPAPER AND MAGAZINES, BUT THE ENGLISH WRITING IS FROM ENGLISH NEWSPAPERS.

08:05:44:23

SOME PICTURES WERE CORRECTED BY THE -- WERE COLLECTED BY THE PEOPLE FROM THE INTERNET AND FROM VARIOUS SOURCES

08:05:51:03

BECAUSE EACH PUPIL HAS TO MAKE SOME PART OF IT.

08:05:53:28

AND YOU ARE TAKING THE RESOURCES HERE DOWN FROM EVERY PART -- EVERY PICTURE...

08:05:58:14

EVERYTHING -- EVERY TEXT, WE ARE WRITING THE RESOURCE.

08:06:03:15

AND DO YOU KEEP ADDING TO THE BOOK?

08:06:06:24

WE KEEP ADD--

08:06:08:11

IF ANY SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED NEW, WE MUST ADD IT.

08:06:11:06

WE ARE NOT GOING TO MAKE ANOTHER ALBUM.

08:06:12:20

TO MAKE THIS ALBUM FOR MANY YEARS COMING LATER --

08:06:15:27

IT'S ALBUM ABOUT SINAI. FROM OLD WE HAVE MAKE IT.

08:06:18:09

WE ARE GOING TO GO OUT OF SCHOOL BECAUSE WE ARE THE LAST YEAR HERE IN THE SCHOOL.

08:06:22:23

WHEN WE ARE FINISH, ANOTHER PEOPLE WILL CONTINUE IT AND MAKING THIS ALBUM FOR SCHOOL, NOT FOR US, AND FOR PUPILS.

Summary

The project is a book of authentic materials in English about their own country. Students created the collection for tourists.; The whole class participated in making the book. It can be added to by future classes. This, and other books like it, stay in the school library where people can read them.

There are other ways to make authentic materials available to learners in the classroom. Walls can be used to post useful materials like calendars and vocabulary posters.

Book carts can help create a literacy-rich environment for learners, making books and other reading materials available for Extensive Reading.

Corners of the room can be used for content area materials. There could be a math corner, or a social studies or science corner. Materials for corners like this don’t have to be purchased; they can be made by the teacher or the students.

#3 Viewing Points for Authentic Materials: Images

Video segment #3. These pictures show the use of images as authentic materials. There are many different kinds of images, for example: photographs, maps, charts, drawings, posters, bulletin boards, and comics.

This class is planning a trip to Washington, D. C. They made a wall map and cut pictures out of magazines to make their plans about what to see and do and put them on a poster.

This class cut pictures out of brochures for a poster about their home towns. Then they wrote about their home towns, using the pictures to guide their ideas, and put their writing on the poster. This kind of activity can be used for many different topics.

This class read biographies about famous people and put their pictures on the walls. Then they wrote their own versions of the biographies and put them on the walls for other students to read.

The learners in this adult class are trying to get jobs, so they are doing a unit on work. They cut out articles from magazines to create a World of Work bulletin board. They created a poster of work places they visited over a school holiday or “break”, and they read English newspapers with information about the working world and jobs.

Summary

These pictures are only a few ways in which images can be used as authentic materials in the language classroom. What similar kinds of resources can you identify in your own area?

#4 Viewing Points for Authentic Materials: Multimedia

Video segment #4. Multimedia materials can be valuable tools for:

Teaching and practicing integrated language skills.
Enriching the curriculum with high-interest content matter. And,
Incorporating a wider range of learning modalities (such as visual and auditory) through the use of both low-tech and high-tech types of resources.

Low-tech multimedia resources such as radio programs, audio tapes, or CDs can make useful learning materials during class time or a student’s free time.

Multimedia materials can also be more interactive. For example, materials created specifically for use on the computer or the Internet.

Other multimedia materials include videos in the form of documentaries, movies, animations, and the like. The students in this classroom are viewing a documentary about Malaysia. What activities are the students doing as part of their viewing experience?

Summary

Students used the documentary video on Malaysia to learn vocabulary in context, and to listen for facts as they reordered events from the video. This is a good example of using authentic materials in support of:

Integrated language skills.
High-interest content matter.
And, a wider range of learning modalities (both visual and auditory) through the use of both low-tech and high-tech types of resources.

Module Focus: Summary

The focus in Module 08 has been on choosing and using authentic material. Some important things to consider are that…

They are of interest to the age group.
They contain examples of the point of the lesson.
They are in a style of English learners will hear and use.
They are available locally.
And, they are of good quality (in both picture and sound).

Look for opportunities to find locally available materials that are a good match for your learners.

See the manual for readings and more information on the topic of choosing and using Authentic Materials.

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