14 English as a mean to learn the language is one main reason of the learners‘
incapability of using the language. To be authentic, the learning materials should always provide practices for using the language Tomlinson and Masuhara,
2010:400. Teachers therefore should create authentic learning activities which enable the learners to really use the language for the learning to be more
humanistic in which improvement becomes the base of learning.
c. Authentic Tasks
This section emphasizes on the importance of authentic tasks in language learning. Gatbonton and Gu 1994 stated that there are two criteria to meet
authentic tasks:
1. The participants themselves have real control of the flow, direction, and
nature of the conversations; create their own intentions; and select the means with which to express them.
2. The participants experience the tensions and pressures of real communication
such as those arising from not knowing what their interlocutors would say or from having to make sense of their interlocutor‘s utterances under time
pressure.
Task refers to ―learner undertaking in which the target language is comprehended and used for a communicative purpose in order to achieve a
particular outcome ‖ Mishan, 2005: xiii. Since authentic tasks concerns with
participants who are students, it is understood that authentic tasks relate with learning activities. It links the theories of language they learn with the learning
practices. It should also be meaningful and consist of information gap which integrates four different language skills.
15 Authentic tasks are needed to create authentic assessment. They should
integrate the goals of learning, the curriculum underlying them, and the practices related with their real-life communication. The issue of authentic tasks however
should not only be viewed as real or not real. One example of ‗real‘ and ‗not real‘ is when two children pretend to be pirates and boarding an enemy ship in the
playground. Two immediate relationships occur in the play. On one side they are courageous villains, on another side they are obedient children when the teacher
asks them not to climb onto the roof of the bicycle shed Cook, 2000:171. ―Authentic assessment refers to the procedures for evaluating learner progress
using activities and tasks that integrate classroom goals, curricular, and instruction and real-
life performance‖. The following are outlines of authentic assessment in language learning
O‘Malley and Valdez Pierce 1996:12 as in Arnold, 1999:284:
Oral interviews of learner by the teacher Story or text retelling with listening or reading inputs
Writing samples with a variety of topics and registers Projects and exhibitions presentation of a collaborative effort
Experiments and demonstrations with oral or written reports Constructed-response items to open-ended questions
Teacher observation of learners‘ work in class, making notes Portfolios focused collection of learner‘s work to show progress
In short, authenticity for effective communication should fulfill three essential items; it is somewhat spontaneous; it requires language that is relevant to
the topic, relationship and type of the communication; and it is influenced by the culture in which language is used Rothwell, 2012:55.
16 It can be summarized that authentic tasks should meet at least three
criteria. The first is that it should give opportunities for the students to practice using the language through the integration of speaking and listening. The second
is that it provides chances for the students to experience real English communication in which they are able to understand and to respond what their
interlocutors are saying. The third is that it is relevant to the students‘ background
or culture in which the language is used.
d. English Communication
