books, maps, TVguides, comic books, greeting cards, grocery coupons, pins with messages, and bus schedules.
4. Realia Real world objects Used in EFLESL Classrooms: coins and
currency, folded paper, wall clocks, phones, Halloween masks, dolls, and puppets, to name a few. Realia were often used to illustrate points very
visually or for role-play situations To sum up, the sources of authentic materials are classified into Authentic
Listening-Viewing Materials, Authentic-Visual Materials, Authentic-Printed Materials and realia.. The literature indicates that researchers have investigated
the impact of authentic materials on language comprehension and performance at various levels
. Some studies provided insights about learners‟ attitudes toward authentic input. In addition, pedagogical research sought to provide
recommendations for material selection and sources. However, no study has been conducted with the aim of eliciting teache
rs‟ beliefs toward using authentic materials in their classes. Because of the importance of the teachers‟ role in
providing authentic input for the students, the present study attempts to address this issue.
4. The Importance of Authentic Materials
Several experts claim that authentic materials are important to use. According to Shrum and Glisan 2000: 133, authentic materials provide an
effective means for presenting real language, integrating culture, and heightening comprehension. They bring two reasons for believing that authentic materials are
beneficial. Firstly, by exposure to such materials, students will be provided with perpustakaan.uns.ac.id
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the opportunity to see language as it is used in real world to serve a real purpose. Secondly, such materials can be considered as a rich source of cultural content.
Bacon and Finnemann 1990 indicate that the use of authentic materials are recommended for both cognitive and affective reasons.
The author, Jane Crawford 1995: 28 explains the importance of effective teaching materials in her article;
„The Role of Materials in the Language Classroom: Finding the balance‟. According to Crawford, language is functional
and must be contextualised. The author believes that it is impossible to understand the real meaning of any interaction without knowing who the participants are or
their social distance from the event refers to. For instance, a video drama needs to assist language in a meaningful way. Hence, the teacher is responsible for the
balance achieved between input and reapplication. Authentic materials refer to oral and written language materials used in
daily situations by native speakers of the language Rogers Medley, 1988. Some examples of authentic materials are newspapers, magazines, and television
advertisements. In addition, it is necessary for students who are going to study in an English-speaking environment to learn how to listen to lectures and take notes,
to comprehend native speakers in various kinds of speech situations, as well as to understand radio and television broadcasts Paulston Bruder, 1976.
Gilmore 2004:367 believes that if the goal in the classroom is to prepare learners for independent language use, then surely we were obliged at some stage
to present them with realistic models of discourse. Swaffar 1981:188 contends that the sooner the students are exposed to authentic language, the more rapidly
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they will learn that comprehension is not a function of understanding every word, but rather of developing strategies which is essential in both oral and written
communication cited in Maher Salah, 2008. Guariento Morley 2001:347 also value using authentic materials since they believe that extracting real
information from a real text in a new or different language can be extremely motivating.
Oguz and bahar 2008: 330-331 see the advantage of authentic materials in the fact that
they engage both the learners‟ and teachers‟ attention in the language being taught. They have high interest value because of their relevance to
the real world keeping the students informed about what is happening in the world they live in. Burns and Seidlhofer 2002: 226 suggest that authentic texts can
introduce students to a full range of transactional and interpersonal speech. Paltridge 2001 states that in order to produce awareness of language and its
related skills, authentic materials must be used. Chavez 1998: 277-306 in the
same way agrees that using authentic materials are to the benefit of the students because they are more enjoyable and students find a chance to interact with the
language and its use. Velazquez 2007:
133-138 encourages the use of authentic texts since they believe that such texts can provide a connection between the students on one
hand and the target language and culture on the other hand. Also the teacher is provided with more opportunities to bring the real world aspects into the class.
Underwood 1989: 100 states that authentic materials allow the students to hear as much more real act of communication with all the interactional features which
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are not normally found in scripted materials. It gives them a true representation of real spontaneous speech with its hesitations, false starts and mistakes, which will
make them more able to cope with „Real Life‟ speech when they meet it outside
the learning situation. Brosnan et al., 1984 justify the importance of the use of authentic
language in the classroom in this way: 1.
Language is natural. By simplifying language or altering it for teaching purposes limiting structures, controlling vocabulary, etc., it risked
making the task more difficult. We might, in fact, be removing clues to meaning.
2. Authentic language offered students the chance to deal with a small
amount of material which, at the same time, contains complete and meaningful messages.
3. Authentic printed materials provided students with the opportunity to
make use of non-linguistic clues layout, pictures, colors, symbols, the physical setting in which it occurs to help them discover the meaning
more easily. 4.
Adults needed to be able to see the immediate relevance of what they do in the classroom to what they need to do outside it, and real-life material
treated realistically makes the connection obvious. To sum up, the use of authentic materials to teach English is very
beneficial for the students since they are introduced to the real language used by native speaker.
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5. Selecting Authentic Materials
