The efectiveness ò voa learning english in improve speaking skills for english máo ò hong duc university

HONG DUC UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

GRADUATION THESIS
SINH VIÊN: NGUYỄN THỊ NHUNG
MÃ SV: 1164010042

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF VOA LEARNING ENGLISH IN
IMPROVE SPEAKING SKILLS FOR ENGLISH MAJORS OF
HONG DUC UNIVERSITY

THUYẾT
MINH
Supervisor
: Đang
Thi Nguyet, M.A
Student KHÓA
: LêLUẬN
Thị Hong
ĐỀ CƯƠNG
TỐTTuyet
NGHIỆP
Class

: K20B - FFL - HDU
Chuyên ngành: Kế toán
Course
: 2017 - 2021
Mã số: 401

“Thực trạng và một số giải pháp hồn thiện kế tốn Ngun vật liệu tại

Công ty Cổ phần Tư vấn Đầu tư Xây dựng Thăng Long”
Thanh Hoa, June 2021

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all, I would like to show my deep gratitude to all lecturers at the Faculty
of Foreign Languages, Hong Duc University for their valuable lectures which laid the
foundation for my thesis.
I would particular like to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor, M.A
Dang Thi Nguyet, for her patient guidance, suggestion and supervisor through my
research.
I would also like to thank all students at Faculty of Foreign Languages who
have created good conditions for me to have the most favorable opportunities to
conduct this study.
I am grateful to my dear classmates at K20B class, who are usually beside me
to help, encourage and give me strength and beliefs in the most difficult situations.
Last but not least, I would like to express my debt to my parents, my sisters and
my brother for their everyday encouragement and support throughout my study in
Thanh Hoa
Thanh Hoa, May 2021

Lê Thị Hồng Tuyết

ii


ABSTRACT
It is a common knowledge that learning materials play an important role in

students‟ language learning. They are also needed for students to improve their
language skills. Being a student majored in English, who has been learning English
skills for many years, the question “What kind of materials should students use to
improve their general knowledge and speaking skills?” has come into my mind for a
long time. And this is a chance for me to find the answer to that question. However,
due to the limit of time and knowledge, I have conducted a minor thesis with the hope
to discover the effect of using VOA Learning English – one of the authentic source of
materials to improve English speaking skills.
The thesis consists three parts namely introduction, development and
conclusion.
Part one - introduction introduces the rationale, focus, objectives, research
questions,scope, methods and design of the study.
Part two - development intends to set up the framework of the study. It focuses
on the theory of the nature of language skills and communication. Some discussions on
definitions, purposes of using VOA Learning English as a kind of language learning
materials are presented. This part also presents the local situation in the FFL, Hong
Duc University, with a brief description of speaking learning conditions, students and
course books used for learning English speaking skills. Additionally, this part
describes the research methodology that includes the description of the subjects,
setting, data collection instruments procedures and the discussion and analysis of the
data.
Part three - conclusion reveals the implication and suggestion for learning VOA
Learning English as a kind of language learning materials and recommendations for
further research.

iii


TABLE OF CONTENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................ i
ABSTRACT .................................................................................................. iii
TABLE OF CONTENT ................................................................................. iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................ vii
LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS .............................................................. viii
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................... 1
1.1. Rationale.................................................................................................. 1
1.2.Focus of the study ..................................................................................... 2
1.3.Aims of the study ...................................................................................... 2
1.4. Objectives of the study ............................................................................. 2
1.5. Research questions ................................................................................... 3
1.6. Scope of the study .................................................................................... 3
1.7. Methods of the study ................................................................................ 3
1.8. Design of the study ................................................................................... 4
PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT ...................................................................... 5
CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................... 5
1. Theorical background of speaking skills ...................................................... 5
1.1. Definition of speaking skills ..................................................................... 5
1.2. Nature of language skills and the oral communication ............................... 6
1.3. Elements involved in speaking a foreign language ..................................... 7
1.4. Phrases in learning English speaking skills ................................................ 9
1.4.1. The presentation phase (Pre-speaking state)............................................ 9
1.4.2.The practice phase (While-speaking state) ............................................... 9
1.4.3. The production phase (Post – speaking stage) ......................................... 9
2. Materials for learning English speaking ....................................................... 9
2.1. Definition of learning materials................................................................. 9
2.2. Authentic materials ................................................................................ 10
iv

2.2.1. Definition of authentic materials .......................................................... 10
2.2.2. The advantages and disadvantages of authentic materials ...................... 11
2.3. Sources of authentic materials................................................................. 14
2.3.1. Literature ............................................................................................ 14
2.3.2. Computer software .............................................................................. 14
2.3.3. The Internet ......................................................................................... 15
3. VOA Learning English .............................................................................. 15
3.1. Definition of VOA Learning English ...................................................... 15
3.2. Some fast facts of VOA Learning English ............................................... 16
3.2.1. VOA Broadcasts.................................................................................. 16
3.2.2. VOA and Technology .......................................................................... 16
3.2.3. VOA Learning English – a kind of authentic materials ......................... 17
3.2.3.1. Benefits of VOA Learning English in learning speaking .................... 17
3.2.3.2. Purpose of using VOA Learning English in learning English skills ..... 17
3.2.3.3. The process of using VOA Learning English in learning English
speaking skills .............................................................................................. 18
CHAPTER II: DEVELOPMENT OF THE STUDY ....................................... 21
1. The overview of learning situation ............................................................. 21
1.1. An overview of FFL, Hong Duc University ............................................. 21
1.2. Students‟ background and needs ............................................................. 21
1.3. Description of participants in the study ................................................... 22
1.4. Learning materials .................................................................................. 23
1.5. Using VOA as a kind of learning English speaking skill materials ........... 26
1.5.1. The syllabus integrated VOA ............................................................... 26
CHAPTER III: DATA COLLECTION AND DISCUSSION.......................... 30
1. The effectiveness of VOA Learning English to students‟ speaking skills ..... 30
1.1. Students‟ improvement in English speaking skills ................................... 30
1.2. Students‟ attitude towards VOA Learning English ................................... 33
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1.2.1. Satisfaction ......................................................................................... 33
1.2.2. Difficulties .......................................................................................... 34
1.2. For the teacher ....................................................................................... 37
2. Limitation and Recommendation for further study...................................... 37
3. Conclusion ................................................................................................ 38
REFERENCES ............................................................................................. 39
APPENDIX .................................................................................................. 41
APPENDIX 1: STUDENTS‟ QUESTIONNAIRE NO.1 ................................ 41
APPENDIX 2: STUDENTS‟ QUESTIONNAIRE NO.2 ................................ 44
APPENDIX 3: STUDENTS‟ QUESTIONNAIRE NO.3 ................................ 46
APPENDIX 4: TEACHER‟S QUESTIONNAIRE ......................................... 48
APPENDIX 5: PRE - TEST .......................................................................... 50
APPENDIX 6: POST – TEST ....................................................................... 51
APPENDIX 7: MARKING SCHEME FOR ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS 52

vi


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
VOA

: Voice of America

FFL

: Faculty of Foreign Languages

ELT

: English Language Teaching

M.A

: Master of Arts

ESL

: English as a Second Language

EAL

: English Additional as a Language

FL

: Foreign Language

FM

: Frequency Modulation

MW

: Medium Wave

vii


LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

Table
Table 1: Students‟ response to the frequency of using different kinds of
materials to learn speaking skills (question 4 from students‟ questionnaire) ..... 25
Table 2: Experimental program .......................................................................... 29
Table 3: The effectiveness of VOA Learning English ........................................ 30
Table 4: The results between experimental group and control group from pretest and post-test. ................................................................................................. 32
Table 5: The difficulties of the students when they use VOA Learning English 34

Chart
Chart 1: Self-assessment of English speaking ability of the students ................. 23
Chart 2: The results of the students after using VOA Learning English ............ 31
Chart 3: The attitude of the students for VOA Learning English ....................... 33

viii


PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
There are eight sections in this part. The rationale section presents a base of
theoretical, pedagogical and contextual grounds, which serve as a foundation for the
study. The focus of the study is lined in the second section. Then, it is followed by
aims and objectives of the study, research questions and scope of the study. The two
final sections of this part include methods and design of the study.
1.1. Rationale
After the historic upheaval, Vietnam‟ economy, politics and culture have been
undergone extensive changes. Thanks to the open-door policy, Vietnam has diplomatic
relationship with all over the world. English becomes an indispensable means of
communication with the rest of the world and it is the most important international
language because it provides ready access to the world relationship and world trade.
Since then, English has become a compulsory subject in Vietnam curriculum, its

teaching and learning have been paid much attention. Nowadays, in Viet Nam, English
has been taught and learnt widely. People learn English for many reasons: getting a
better job, travelling, reading books, magazines or newspapers in English, improving
knowledge, being teachers of English, etc.
The communicative approach in language learning has become more and more
predominant in recent years all over the world. In Viet Nam this approach has been
used popularly for learners‟ four language skills, especially speaking skills. It is also
recognized that in the recent years, in the fields of second language acquisition (SLA),
researchers have been more interested in studying the learning product and in the
development of communicative competence than that of linguistic competence (Chen,
1990). This tendency has resulted in much research studies on the learning tasks and
learning materials as well as on learners‟ characteristics and teachers‟ proficiency and
classroom methodology. To improve their speaking skills, there are many classroom
learning techniques such as pair-work, group – work, role play, improvisation,
pantomime, interviewing, presentation, …as well as many various kinds of language
teaching materials such as authentic materials, public materials and supplementary
materials have been used. They are all effective techniques and useful materials. At
Hong Duc university, students of English usually use these techniques and materials to
learn speaking skills. However, they only use the materials that are designed for

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speaking sections in course books or text books or they sometimes use some pieces of
new cut from English newspapers. Being a student of English, the author is very
interested in speaking skills and she has been learning speaking skills for nearly four
years. She usually wants to improve this skill herself and to make something new for
her best friends and classmates. The matter is, one day, she went to class with the hope
to share some hot new information with her friends about what has happened in the
world. A question has always appeared in my mind “How to encourage classmates

with the fresh information to enrich their knowledge?”. From that day, the author has
spent time accessing internet and she discovered that a kind of materials that helps
language learners widen their knowledge and develop their speaking skills effectively
is using VOA Learning English. Learners may use the information they hear or read
from VOA Learning English to enrich their oral presentation. By this way they can
improve their speaking skills, listening skills and also reading and writing skills. The
author decides to focus on learning material, as this an aspect of evaluation that nearly
all students do at sometimes, even if it is only an informal basis.
Following the tendency mentioned above and to answer my question, the study is
intended to investigate the effectiveness of using VOA Learning English in improving
English speaking skills for the second year English majors at Hong Duc University,
based on theoretical, pedagogical and contextual grounds.
1.2.Focus of the study
The study focuses on investigating effectiveness of using VOA Learning English
as a kind of extra learning materials used outside classroom in improving students‟
English speaking skills. communicative classroom tasks in the lessons of speaking
skills employed by language teachers to enhance the effect of using it as a means to
provide comprehensible input in learning speaking skills.
1.3.Aims of the study
The study aims to apply VOA Learning English as a kind of outside class language
learning materials in learning English speaking skills to second year English majors at
Faculty of Foreign Language at Hong Duc university.
1.4. Objectives of the study
The study attempts to:
- Review the theoretical literature on English speaking skills, English language
materials, and VOA Learning English as a kind of authentic learning materials;

2

- Study the learning English speaking situation of English majors at Hong Duc
University
- Investigate the effectiveness of using VOA Learning English in improving learn
English skills at Hong Duc University;
- Give some suggestion and implications for improving English speaking skills
by using VOA Learning English as well as for some further study on this field.
1.5. Research questions
The study intends to find out the answers to following questions:
1. How is the learning English speaking situation of English majors at Hong Duc
University?
2. To what extent does VOA Learning English can be used as a kind of outside
class language learning materials to improve students‟ speaking skills?
1.6. Scope of the study
This study is concerned with the development of English speaking skills for the
second year English majors at FFL, Hong Duc University. The focus is on effect of
applying VOA Learning English as a kind of outside classroom language learning
materials to improve students‟ speaking skills, as it believed this provides students
with not only authentic materials but also the enjoyment and relaxation while studying.
The materials presented are to serve only as guidelines, which can be modified and
adapted to answer the requirement of different situations.
1.7. Methods of the study
In order to successfully fulfill the tasks and reach the objectives of the study,
quantitative and qualitative methods are mainly used. The survey data which are
collected for the study through a combination of questionnaires and interviews, come
from forty second year English majors at Hong Duc university. Besides, an
observation is also carried out to collect data to be used in supporting for the
information from the survey.
Survey questionnaires were used to collect information and evidence for the
study with the hope that the research would be reliable and processing of data would
be manageable within limited time budget.

An experimental study is also conducted to the students to examine the
effectiveness of using VOA Learning English in improving students‟ speaking skills

3


1.8. Design of the study
The study is presented in three parts: introduction, development and conclusion.
Part one introduction introduces the rationale, aims, focus, objectives, research
questions, scope, methods and design of the study.
Part two development concludes three chapters:
Chapter one is the literature reviews. This chapter intends to set up the framework
of the study. It focuses on the theory of the nature of language skills and
communication. Some discussions on definitions, purposes of using VOA Learning
English as a kind of language learning materials used to provide students with suitable
authentic materials to help them develop their speaking skills; VOA Learning English
as a kind of authentic materials used in learning speaking. Some principles in learning
speaking and some strategies of approaches are also commented.
Chapter two includes two sections. The first section presents the local situation in
the FFL, Hong Duc University, with a brief description of the speaking learning
conditions, students and course books used for learning English to English majors at
Hong Duc university. The second section describes the research methodology that
includes the description of the subjects, setting, data collection instruments and
procedures.
Chapter three presents the results collected from the self-observation,
questionnaires and interviews in the form of tables and figures. This is followed by the
discussion and analysis of the data.
Part three conclusion includes the implications and suggestions for learning
speaking using VOA Learning English as a kind of language learning materials.
Recommendations for further research are also mentioned in this part.

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PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW
1. Theorical background of speaking skills
1.1. Definition of speaking skills
The ability to speak confidently and fluently is something which children will
develop during their time at school, and something that will help them throughout their
life.
Speaking skills are defined as the skills which allow us to communicate effectively.
They give us the ability to convey information verbally and in a way that the listener
can understand.
Speaking is the productive skill in the oral mode. It likes the other skills, is more
complicated than it seems at first and involves more than just pronouncing words.
Speaking skills are one of the most important skills we learn, as they allow us to
communicate with others and express our thoughts and feelings. Speaking skills can be
separated into formal and informal speaking skills, and we use both types of speaking
skills in a variety of contexts throughout life.
Informal speaking skills are important for conversations with friends and family,
helping us to fo vrm emotional connections. Formal speech, on the other hand, is
necessary for workplaces, in presentations or for conversations with people you don‟t
know. Formal language is important as it helps us to make a good impression on
people and communicate politely.
As an ESL or EAL student, speaking skills are considered the most important part
of learning a language. In fact, many language learners measure their performance by
how well they can speak it. As most effective foreign language learning takes place
through interaction, it's a skill that can be honed to really build an understanding of the
language and culture of English-speaking countries.

Yet it can be so easy to find speaking daunting or challenging. It isn't as
straightforward as we may like. Teachers need to encourage students to speak as much
as possible. They can make it as fun as the structure of their lessons will allow. This
might be through role-play, group work or even projects.

5


Interaction, the act of communicating with another person, plays an important part
in second language learning. For all these reasons, speaking is also one of necessary
skills that students have to acquire in learning a foreign language.
1.2. Nature of language skills and the oral communication
It is believed that language communication involves some language skills. In
teaching and learning a foreign language, language skills are four- macro skills:
listening, speaking, reading and writing are productive ones. Of the four skills,
speaking plays a very important role since it is the first step to identify who knows and
does not know a language. People entire the world use the language by speaking to
communicate with the others in all their activity. Although, there are two kind of
language used in communication, that are writing and speaking. But, speaking
considered as the most important language used in daily life. They hold a relationship
with the other by speaking. In other hand, speaking is very important role in all
appearance of life. There are two kinds of speaking that are dialogue and monologue.
Monologue is held by one people and used to express feeling or show ideas and
information for example in speech, news, and telling story. Dialogue is held by two
people or more to interact with the others for example in purchase and sale, teaching
and learning process in class and etc. The spoken productive languange skill is called
speaking (Siahaan,2008: 2). According to Harmer (2001: 39) Speaking is a skill which
deserves attention every bit as much as literary skills, in both first and second
language. To most people, mastering the speaking skill is the single most important
aspect oflearning a second or foreign language, and success is measured in terms of

theability to carry out a conversation in the language. Students who study second
language find many difficulties to speak. Such as lack of vocabulary and shy to speak
up. To be fluent in speaking they should master a lot of vocabulary, grammar, and
must know how to pronounced the words by concern the phonetic transcription of the
word as a reliable guide how a word pronounced and continued repetation. The best
way to learn and mastery the language is practice it. According to Bashir.et.al, (2011:
38), speaking is productive skill in the oral mode. It is like the other skills, is more
complicated than it seems at first and involves more than just pronouncing words.
Thormbury (2005: 13) mentions that, there are two main purposes of speaking.
Speaking serves either a transactional function, in that its primary purpose is to convey

6


information and facilitate the exchange of goods or services, or it serves an
interpersonal function, in that its primary purpose is to establish and maintain social
relations. Speaking not only just delivered a word, but in speaking must contain a
meaning which can be accepted by the other people. This case comparable with the
function of the language as the mean of communication to convey massage orally. So,
the people must know the norms how to speech aright. Besides grammar the people
also should know how to use the word in proper place. The people called as good
speaker must mastery many aspects as stated by Richard, Platt and Weber in Nunan
(1999: 226), communicative competence includes: (a) knowledge of the grammar and
vocabulary of the language; (b) knowledge of rules of speaking (e.g, knowing how to
begin and end conversation, knowing what topics can be talked about in different types
of speech events knowing which address form should be used with different persons
one speaks to and in different situation); (c) knowing use and response to different
types of speech acts such as request, apologies, thank, and invitation; (d) knowing how
to use language appropriately. A person‟s speaking ability is usually judged during a
face-to-face interaction, in real time, between an interlocutor and a candidate (Ahmed

and Alamin, 2014: 97). Speaking ability can assess directly by the teacher in class to
know students‟ speaking quality by conducting dialogue with them or hearing what
they spoken
1.3. Elements involved in speaking a foreign language
Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing
and receiving and processing information (Brown, 1994; Burns & Joyce, 1997).
According to Hedge (2000), speaking a foreign language competently involves thee
ability to make oneself understood and to manage interaction. Speaker‟s oral skills has
an impact on the success of any exchange.
There are four elements of speaking skills: Vocabulary; Grammar; Pronunciation;
and Fluency.
Vocabulary: To develop our speaking skills, the learners first need to know the
right words. Vocabulary development begins when we are infants, as the learners learn
to describe the world around us and communicate our needs. This progresses from
single words to sentences. Vocabulary development is where students understand the
meanings and pronunciations of words necessary for communication. When they

7


understand what a word means, they can check what the word or sentence means. This
is so important so they can keep up a conversation. If they understand what the other
person is saying and they know what vocabulary to say back, they are halfway there to
communicating effectively.
Grammar: It is usually thought that grammar is something we only need for
written language. But grammar includes lots of important areas for spoken language
such as an understanding of tenses and the correct way to structure sentences.
Grammar helps users to convey information in a way that the listener will recognise
and understand.
Pronunciation:Understanding how to correctly pronounce words is another

important element of speaking skills. The learners learn how to pronounce words by
listening to those around us, such as our parents, friends and teachers. Pronunciation
varies from country to country, and even city to city.
A lot of this comes from phonemic awareness. This involves understanding the
small units that make up spoken language. English can differ quite a lot compared to
other languages. Some phonemes might not be in ESL students' native languages and
children's minds are trained to categorise phonemes in their first language, so it can
become confusing. Developing this ability in English can come from playing language
games and using songs and poems to reiterate rhythm and repetition. Phonics is where
students start to see the relationship between the sounds of spoken language and
graphemes which are the letters and spellings representing sounds in written language.
Fluency: Fluency in spoken language is something that naturally develops as children
go through school, as they are using and practising speaking skills every day. Reading
widely (and out loud) is a good way to improve fluency as it introduces children to
new vocabulary and reinforces their knowledge of spoken language.
Fluency is the ability to hear words and understand them straight away. If they
see a word written down, they can read it aloud and pronounce it properly. Ways to
develop this include guiding your students to read passages out loud. You could also
get your students to read aloud in front of the class. This builds their confidence and
also helps them to annunciate better.
The more fluent the students are in English, the more interesting, exciting and
insightful conversations they can have.

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1.4. Phrases in learning English speaking skills
According to Byrne (1991, 22-31), there are three phases to enhance students‟
speaking ability. They are presentation phase (Pre- speaking state), Practice phase
(While – speaking state) and Production phase (Post - speaking state). They are briefly

summarized as follow:
1.4.1. The presentation phase (Pre-speaking state)
At this phase teachers work as an informant for these reasons: teachers know
English much better than students; teachers choose the materials to teach; teachers
provide this in such a way they the meaning of the new language is as intelligible and
memorable as possible, whereas the students are motionless. They heed, try to
understand, and say very little. This phase is teacher-centred.
1.4.2. The practice phase (While-speaking state)
Unlike the presentation phase, it is the students‟ turn to do most of the talking.
At this stage, the teacher does the minimum amount of talking. She provides the
maximum amount of practice. Practice is normally in the form of exercises or
activities for improvement of fluency. At the end of this phase, Ur(1996, 12) point out
what the teacher should bear in mind. First, attention must be fully paid by the
students. Second, the target language must be clearly heard to repeated in many ways
to reinforce the learners‟ reception. Third, learners understand the meaning of the new
materials. Finally, short termed memory of the materials must be created for the later
use in the lesson through a colorful, dramatic and unusual presentation.
1.4.3. The production phase (Post – speaking stage)
At any level, students need chances to speak English freely even if they make
mistakes. A real speaking of English takes place when the students are able to use
English for themselves, not for the teachers. Accordingly, we must take on the role of
a manager or a guide to supply activities for free expressions and care for them as they
carry them out.
2. Materials for learning English speaking
2.1. Definition of learning materials
The term material in language teaching and learning refers to everything used to
help teaching language learners (Tomlinson, 1998), and to facilitate teachers and
learners in the language learning (Richards and Schmidt, 2002). It can be in the form

9

of linguistic, visual, auditory, or kinesthetic. It may be presented in print (a textbook, a
workbook, a photocopied handout, so forth), audio or video form, on CD-ROMS, on
the internet or through live performance or display. Basically, everything that presents
or informs about the language being learned (English) can be used as learning
materials (Tomlinson, 1998). Teachers may use the available learning materials like
textbooks or develop their own by compiling from some sources such as newspaper,
internet, article, and the like and then adapt them to adjust with learner needs.
However, English teachers are recommended to develop learning materials by
themselves in order to meet their learners‟ needs. To meet learners‟ needs, Tomlinson
(1998) suggests that learning materials should give learners experiences to interact
with authentic use of English through spoken and written texts.
2.2. Authentic materials
2.2.1. Definition of authentic materials
Authentic materials are print, video, and audio materials students encounter in
their daily lives, such as change-of address forms, job applications, menus, voice mail
messages, radio programs, and videos. Authentic materials are not created specifically
to be used in the classroom, but they make excellent learning tools for students
precisely because they are authentic.
There are trends in FFL materials development, among which is the trend of
exploiting authentic materials in language classroom. McGrath‟s findings focus on
authentic materials in his book “Material Evaluation and design for Language
teaching” and a case study on the use of the news and current events in creating
ESL/EFL lessons, which is introduced in the article “Creating ESL/EFL Lessons based
on News and Current Events”, the ITESL Journal 11, Sept 2005, by Sean Banville.
In definition, authentic materials are usually defined as those which have been
produced for purposes other than to teach language, for example print materials such
as newspaper or timetables, or spoken materials such as public announcements,
[Nunan, 1998, cited in McGrath, 2002 p.205]

The definition of authentic materials used here is taken from Peacock (1997):
materials that have been produced to fulfill some social purpose in the language
community.

10


There are some more definitions of authentic materials. Harmer (1991) point
out that “materials which are designed for native speakers, they are real texts designed
not for language students, but for the speakers of the language”. Jodan (1997, p113)
states that “texts there are not written for language teaching purposes‟ etc.
There are many references to authentic materials in the ELT literature. Books
and journals contain thorough explanations of why it should or should not be included
in lessons and how it is to be used or best exploited. But those authors who support the
use of authentic materials have in common one idea: “exposure”. In other words, the
benefit students get from being exposed to the language in authentic materials.
Widdowson‟s (1990) differentiation of the terms “authentic” and “genuine
materials” has been a seminal one in the field so the author should like to mention it
here: authentic would be material designed for native speakers of English used in the
classroom in a way similar to the one it was designed for. For example, a radio news
report brought into the class so students discuss the report on pollution in the city
where the learners live.
2.2.2. The advantages and disadvantages of authentic materials
With the emergence of communicative language teaching approaches, the
campaign of „authentic‟ language data use has been established for second language
learners in the classrooms in most countries. However, in the field of second language
acquisition research, language-teaching practitioners have different viewpoints in
relation to the use of authentic materials in language classrooms either concerning its
importance or its effect on the students. In teaching and learning English as a foreign
and second language, the use of authentic materials has been debated. Although they

have communicative value (Yuk-chun Lee, 1995), they bring about a hindrance in
using them. First of all, the term „authentic‟ itself is defined as „known to be true or
genuine‟ (Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary, 1995). In line with the term
„authentic materials‟ in second language teaching, David Forman (1986, cited in
Underwood, 1989) says: Any text is „authentic‟ if it was produced in response to real
life communicative needs rather than as an imitation of real life communicative needs.
The term can be applied to any sort of text, written or spoken, and in relation to any
kind of situation of language use. Similarly, Little, Devitt & Singleson (1989, cited in
Peacock, 1997) define authentic materials as those generated to „fulfill some social

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purpose in the language community‟, while Yuk-chun Lee (1995) proposes the terms
„text authenticity‟ and „learner authenticity‟, in which the learner can give appropriate
and positive responses towards authentic materials. Meanwhile, Nunan (1998)
characterizes authentic materials as „genuine inter-actions and authentic texts‟, which
are not planned for „pedagogical purposes‟. These materials are written for real-life
communicative needs, in which the writers intend to transfer some messages to the
readers. From these definitions, it can be inferred that any material, which is not for
the intention of teaching language, is authentic regardless of who the writers are, either
native speakers or non-native speakers. It can be English newspapers, magazines,
songs, poems, brochures, or natural conversation of native speakers in the street, at
home, on some radio programs, at meetings, and in schools (Underwood, 1989). So,
any material, which is modified for the aim of teaching language, though this is done
by native speakers, is considered not authentic. Forman (1986, cited in Underwood,
1989) also gives an example that the script of a play is an authentic play script, but not
authentic conversation.
Unlike authentic materials, which always refer to real speech or original written
text, non-authentic materials lack „naturalness and spontaneity‟ (Underwood, 1989).

Burns (1993) asserts that the typical features of non-authentic or scripted spoken text,
are „standard‟ pronunciation, unnatural frequency, complete sentences, apparent role
shift and the same amount of talking among speakers, a slow and conscious pace, no
backchannelling, formal, finite vocabulary, too much information and lack of outside
noise. He further claims that scripted samples will de-authenticate speech if they are
used in the classroom. Many language classrooms, especially in EFL contexts use
scripted materials in the form of textboooks as the only resources. The reason is they
are easy to find and understand since they are mostly established by the local
curriculum developers and non-native English teachers. Dialogues or conversations in
the scripted samples are often stilted, strange and funny due to the grammar demands.
Even they sometimes lose the important elements and strategies, in which the real
spoken discourse is built together (Burns, 1993). Being exposed to artificial samples,
students will not learn about the language used in real life conversation (Underwood,
1989). It will cause difficulty when students attempt to understand authentic written
and spoken language. As a result, the outcomes of the language learners are still

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questionable. Secondly, the use of authentic language data has been considerably
widespread and promoted in language teaching and learning for some beneficial
purposes for students in the classroom. Some essential features of real speech, which
underpin the importance of it are natural rhythm, intonation and pronunciation;
speakers overlapping; normal rate of delivery; unstructured and incomplete sentences;
background noises; and natural starts and stops (Underwood, 1989). On the other
hand, written authentic materials have more lexical density or linguistic complexity so
that their cohesive devices are more apparent. The sentences are much more formal,
although they still have a sense of naturalness with consideration for „rhetorical
structuring of different text types (Paltridge, 1996).
Savignon (1991) stresses the importance of authentic language data use in

context in presenting either written or spoken materials. This will provide students
with various kinds of language experiences from different language functions so that
they will be stimulated to create their own modification of expressions. In other words,
they will be creative in exploring the language from the exposure they attain. Then, in
authentic materials students will deal with real actions and real written language in
different situations and for different purposes. In real speech students will listen to
genuine communication with „interactional features‟ (Underwood, 1989), which
scripted dialogues do not have. Doubts, false openings and errors often happen in real,
spontaneous speech, and these are very useful for students to learn when they face the
outside-classroom English, which is more practical and ordinary.Next, in terms of
linguistic complexity, Morrison (1989) acknowledges that authentic materials
generally go beyond the students‟ linguistic level. But this, in fact, will challenge them
to reach an understanding of either written or spoken text, in which the cohesion and
coherence of a discourse always comes up. McCarthy (1991) states that generally
most texts show unity in terms of grammatical features or cohesive devices. In
addition, authentic language data may be empowering for teachers and learners
(McKnight, 1998). It is one thing that genuine language data will offer students with
valuable input, in which the language is ordinarily utilized by native speakers, thus,
they will feel independent and confident in speaking English. It is another thing that
the teacher will give students „power‟ to be ready to encounter the English
environment in different situations and contexts. In other words, authentic materials

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can decrease students‟ degree of anxiety to face the new environment in the target
language (Moya, 1998)
Finally, authentic materials will improve students‟ motivation in learning
English since they are more interesting. Based on Peacock‟s (1997) classroom research
with two beginner-level EFL classes, there was a significant increase of students‟

motivation in terms of „interest, persistence, attention, action and enjoyment‟ when
they were given authentic materials in their learning.
2.3. Sources of authentic materials
In today‟s globalized world, examples abound, but the most commonly used
perhaps are: newspaper, TV programs, menus, magazines, the internet, movies, songs,
brochures, comics, literature (novels, poems and short stories), and so forth.
2.3.1. 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.
2.3.2. Computer software
Software that has been specially designed for English instruction has received
some criticism particularly from teacher who back up a 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
Gakit, Grammar mastery II and other 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 FFL learning.
General software can be used in class, be it 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

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ages and accents, and excellent images. Students can play in pairs or three 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.
2.3.3. The Internet
The Internet can be a wonderful resource for authentic materials for FL teacher.
The standards goal areas serve as clear guides for teachers in their search for useful
materials on the Web. Once located, these materials can be used to create marvelous
activities that address the standards and enhance FL instruction by following sound
pedagogical models. This triangulation of resources and effort can only improve our
teaching and, hence, our students‟ learning.
With the advent of the World Wide Web, teacher have at their disposal large
amounts of texts, visual stimuli, newspapers, magazines, live radio and T.V, video
clips and much more. There are endless lists of useful materials for the language
classroom. 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 information searching
activities are probably the most useful. More and more sites have interactive sections.
The range of authentic materials that may be found on the Internet is extensive, but
just because something is on the Internet does not make it accurate and is no guarantee
of quality. We need to be selective about what we use, but we also can be more
successful in finding quality materials if we explore a broad range of sites. To the
teacher who is new to the Internet, the expanse of the Web can be daunting
3. VOA Learning English
3.1. Definition of VOA Learning English
VOA is abbreviated by Voice of America, is a multimedia news source
sponsored and broadcast by the US government.
VOA Learning English under VOA radio is a page that supports learning
English - America for everyone in the world and completely free.
Basic VOA Learning English only uses a vocabulary set of about 1500 most

commonly used words. The sentences in VOA Learning English are also relatively
short and simple.

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The news on VOA Learning English is spoken by the broadcaster at a slow
speed, very easy to hear, so listeners can hear each word clearly, making learners very
excited because they are updated with all the hot information. around the world in
global languages.
3.2. Some fast facts of VOA Learning English
Voice of America (VOA) is an American international broadcaster. It is the
largest and oldest U.S. funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV,
and radio content in 47 languages which it distributes to affiliate stations around the
globe. It is primarily viewed by foreign audiences, so VOA programming has an
influence on public opinion abroad regarding the United States and its people. VOA
was established in 1942, and the VOA charter (Public Laws 94-350 and 103–415) was
signed into law in 1976 by President Gerald Ford. VOA is headquartered in
Washington, D.C., and overseen by the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), an
independent agency of the U.S. government. Funds are appropriated annually under
the budget for embassies and consulates. In 2016, VOA broadcast an estimated 1,800
hours of radio and TV programming each week to approximately 236.6 million people
worldwide with about 1,050 employees and a taxpayer-funded annual budget of
US$218.5 million. Its mission is to broadcast accurate, balanced and comprehensive
news and information to an international audience. The Voice of America began
broadcasting in 1942 to combat Nazi propaganda with accurate and unbiased news and
information. Ever since then, VOA has served the world with a consistent message of
truth, hope and inspiration.
3.2.1. VOA Broadcasts
There are more than 1,000 hours of programs are produced each week while it

has 25 of VOA‟s 47 languages broadcast on television. Program content includes
news, features, education, and culture, in discussion, call-in, live, and pre – recorded
formats. VOA has a growing worldwide network of more than 1,200 local affiliate
stations, which include FM and medium wave (MW and AM) radio station, television
stations and network, and cable systems.
3.2.2. VOA and Technology
VOA has the largest integrated digital audio systems in the world. A network of
transmitting stations operated by the international Broadcasting Bureau, along with

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some leased stations, sends VOA‟s programs instantaneously around the world. The
website, www.VOALearningEnglish.com provides a wide range of English-language
news reports and serves a portal to homepages of all 47 languages broadcast by VOA,
as well as other information about VOA. VOALearningEnglish.com pages feature
text, audio or video files on demand, and live-streamed programs. The broadcasts in 47
languages make VOA become on of the largest multimedia news organizations to the
world.
3.2.3. VOA Learning English – a kind of authentic materials
3.2.3.1. Benefits of VOA Learning English in learning speaking
As mentioned above, VOA learning English provides students with authentic
materials through listening or reading so students may base on the information from
those materials to expand the content of their speeds. VOA Learning English can
develop previous experience for students. It creates situation in which there is a need
for precise communication. VOA Learning English can help challenge students to
discover new truths or insights by confronting them with previous unknown
predicament. VOA Learning English increase motivation and provides the incentive to
work hard. It fosters a sense of responsibility and co-operation among students if they
are made to work in pairs or in groups. VOA Learning English can motivate teachers

to meet the needs of students. It promotes students‟ learning process. When the teacher
uses these materials to draw back to a lesson ang gives students something with which
they can associate a word, phrase or concept, the students will have a greater impact in
their mind about the lesson. That is why it is a great advantage to the learning process.
3.2.3.2. Purpose of using VOA Learning English in learning English skills
VOA Learning English can be used as a kind of language learning materials to
practice students with various kind of knowledge in the pre-; while and post- speaking
states. VOA Learning English also improve listening skills and reading skills. It
provides the opportunity for the students to listen to the real talk or read the real stories
and get information that they may use for their learning process, beginning with the
needed knowledge and toward language use. This makes the speech more meaningful
and attempts to prepare students for real-life situation with real language environment.
Language learning must be appeal to the creative intuitive aspect of personality
as well as the conscious and rational part. VOA Learning English can be used to

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