An investigation into using authentic materials to develop speaking skills for 1st year students at hue university of foreign languages

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HUE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
------------

NGUYEN THI MY MY

AN INVESTIGATION INTO USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
TO DEVELOP SPEAKING SKILLS FOR 1ST YEAR STUDENTS
AT HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY
OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

HUE, 2014


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HUE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
------------

NGUYEN THI MY MY

AN INVESTIGATION INTO USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
TO DEVELOP SPEAKING SKILLS FOR 1ST YEAR STUDENTS
AT HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY
OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
CODE: 60.14.01.11

SUPERVISOR: ASSOC.PROF.DR.TRUONG VIEN

HUE, 2014

i


BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO
ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ
TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ
-------NGUYỄN THỊ MY MY

NGHIÊN CỨU VIỆC SỬ DỤNG TÀI LIỆU THỰC DỤNG
ĐỂ PHÁT TRIỂN KỶ NĂNG NÓI CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM NHẤT
TẠI ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ HUẾ

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP
DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH
MÃ SỐ: 60.14.01.11

NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: PGS.TS.TRƯƠNG VIÊN

HUẾ, 2014
ii


STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine. The data and findings

discussed in thesis are true, used with permission from associates and have not been
published elsewhere.

Author

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ABSTRACT

This study investigated using authentic materials to develop speaking skill for
1st year student at Hue University of foreign Languages. The research provides us
with the understanding of teachers‟ perception and practice of using authentic
materials in teaching speaking skills and students‟responses to authentic materials
in speaking classes.
In order to obtain reliable result , both qualitative and quantitative methods
were used major collection tools included questionnaires, interview checklist. The
subjects of study consisted of 10 teacher who were teaching general English classes
at Hue University of foreign Languages , and 50 students chosen randomly at 2
first year English Department
The results of the study revealed the most of the teachers were well aware of
the necessity of authentic materials in teaching

and practicing speaking skill

students‟responses to authentic materials in speaking classes. The study also helped
to evaluate the degree of authenticity of text and teaching materials used in first
year student. It is also provide some suggestions for English teachers to overcome
difficulties in using authentic materials to develop speaking skill.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Above all, I would like to thank to my supervisor, Assoc.Prof.Dr.Truong
Vien, for his precious knowledge and experience, the enthusiastic and helpful
instructions the responsible care as well the sympathetic encouragement he has
given to me at every stage of the development of this research paper. Additionally, I
am absolutely grateful to him for his careful and detailed correction for my writing
.His treasured support from the start to the end does empower me to overcome all of
the challenges that I have to encounter during the research process.
I am also grately thank to all teachers as well as students at HUFL, those who
enthusiastically spent their time for my interviews and questionnaires to be
conducted .
Lastly, I wish to thank to my family for the love , devotion and
encouragement they gave me while I was doing the course and thesis.

Hue,10 , 2014

Nguyen Thi My My

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

SUBCOVER PAGE .................................................................................................... i
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ............................................................................3
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................4

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................5
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................6
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................10
LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................11
LIST OF FIGURE .....................................................................................................12
LIST OF CHARTS ........................................................................................................... 13
CHAPTER 1:INTRODUCTION .............................................................................1
1.1 Background of the study ...................................................................................1
1.2 Rationale of the study .......................................................................................2
1.3.Aims of the study...............................................................................................3
1.4 Scope of study ...................................................................................................3
1.5 Research Questions ...........................................................................................4
1.6 Structure of the study ........................................................................................4
CHAPTER 2:LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................5
2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................5
2.2 The definition of key terms ...............................................................................5
2.2.1 The definition of authenticity .....................................................................5
2.2.2 Types of authenticity ..................................................................................7
2.2.3 What are authentic materials ? ...................................................................8
2.3.3.1 Visual ...................................................................................................9
2.2.3.2 Audio-visuals .....................................................................................10
2.2.3.3 Using Realia in the communicative classroom ..................................10
2.2.4 The advantages of using authentic materials in the classroom .................11
2.2.5 Limitations of authentic materials ............................................................12
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2.2.6 What is an authentic task? ........................................................................13
2.2.7 What is text authenticity ? ........................................................................14
2.3 The use of Authentic materials in Communicative Language Teaching............15

2.3.1 Teacher‟s and leaner‟s role .......................................................................15
2.3.2 Communicative activities in classroom ....................................................16
2.4. Task- Based Language Teaching ...................................................................18
2.4.1 The role of text authenticity......................................................................21
2.5 Authentic materials in teaching speaking ........................................................22
2.5.1 The definition of speaking ........................................................................22
2.5.2 Principles of teaching speaking ...........................................................22
2.5.3 Speaking activities ....................................................................................24
2.5.4 Using authentic materials in teaching speaking .......................................25
2.6 The effect of authentic materials on students‟motivation ...............................25
2.7 Review of previous studies..............................................................................26
2.8 Summary of chapter. .......................................................................................27
CHAPTER 3:METHODOLOGY ..........................................................................28
3.1 Introduction .....................................................................................................28
3.2 Research methods ............................................................................................28
3.3 Participants ......................................................................................................28
3.4 Instruments procedures and data collection ...................................................29
3.4.1 Questionnaire survey ................................................................................29
3.4.1.1 The questionnaire for the teachers .....................................................29
3.4.1.2 The questionnaire for students ...........................................................30
3.4.2 Interviews..................................................................................................32
3.5 Data collection Procedure ...............................................................................33
6.

Proposing relevant suggestions..........................................................................33
3.6 Data Analysis...................................................................................................33
3.7 Chapter summary.............................................................................................34

CHAPTER 4:FINDINGS AND DICUSSION ......................................................35
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4.1 Introduction .....................................................................................................35
4.2 Quantitative data analysis from teachers questionnaires ...............................35
4.2.1 Teacher‟s perception using authentic materials in speaking skills ...........36
4.2.1.1 The necessity of using authentic materials ........................................36
4.2.1.2 Teachers‟view toward authentic materials.......................................38
4.2.1.3 The effectiveness of authentic materials toward teaching speaking ..40
4.2.2 Students‟ knowledge and skill ..................................................................40
4.2.2.1. Students‟knowledge ..........................................................................41
4.2.2.2 Students‟skills ....................................................................................42
4.2.2.3 Students‟ level of English proficiency ...............................................43
4.2.3 Students‟ learning methods and habits .....................................................43
4.2.3.1 Students‟ learning methods ................................................................44
4.2.3.2 Students‟ habits ..................................................................................45
4.2.4 Approach and methods of practice using authentic materials in speaking skills .. 47
4.2.4.1 Approach ............................................................................................47
4.2.4.2 Methods ..............................................................................................49
4.3 Quantitative data analysis from students questionnaires .................................51
4.3.1 Students‟ responses to authentic materials in speaking skills ..................51
4.3.1.1 The necessity of using authentic materials ........................................52
4.3.1.2 Students‟view toward authentic materials .........................................53
4.3.1.3 The effectiveness of using authentic materials ..................................54
4.3.1.4 Students‟attitudes toward authentic materials ..................................56
4.3.2 Students‟ view on the teachers‟ tool /activities to develop speaking skills
in classroom .......................................................................................................57
4.3.2.1 Students‟view to the teachers‟tool .....................................................57
4.3.2.2 Students‟ view on teachers‟ teaching .................................................58
4.3.2.3 Students‟ view on the teachers‟ activities ..........................................59
4.4 The students‟ difficulties in practicing speaking using authentic materials ...59

4.4 Chapter Summary ............................................................................................61
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CHAPTER 5:CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS .......................................62
5.1 Summary of the findings .................................................................................62
5.1.1 What are teachers‟ perception of using authentic materials in speaking skill ....... 62
5.2 What are students‟ attitudes toward using authentic materials in
speaking skills? ...................................................................................... 62
5.3 Implications .....................................................................................................63
5.3.1 For Teacher ...............................................................................................63
5.3.2 For students ...............................................................................................64
5.3.3 For Administration....................................................................................64
5.4 Limitation of the study ....................................................................................65
5.5 Suggestion of futher study ...............................................................................65
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................66
APPENDICES

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CLT

Communicative Language Teaching

EFL

English as foreign language

HUFL

Hue University of foreign languages

MOET

Ministry of Education and Training

SPSS

Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1. Facets of authenticity according to Taylor (1994) and Breen (1985) ................... 7
Table 2.2: Authentic task types (adapted from Mishan 2005:91)........................................ 20
Table 3.1 Summary of instruments ...................................................................................... 29
Table 3.2 Summary of the questionnaire ............................................................................. 31
Table 3.3 The result of the questionnaire ............................................................................ 32
Table 4.1: The reliability of Questionnaire .......................................................................... 35
Table 4.2: teacher‟s perceptions using authentic materials in speaking skill ...................... 36
Table 4.4 : Students‟knowledge and skill ............................................................................ 41
Table 4.6: Students‟ learning methods and habits ............................................................... 44
Table 4.7: Approach and methods of practice using authentic materials in speaking skill . 47
Table 4.8: Students‟ responses to authentic materials in speaking skills ........................... 52
Table 4.9: Students‟ view on the teachers‟ tool /activities to develop speaking skills in
classroom ............................................................................................................................. 57

Table 4.10: The students‟ difficulties in practicing speaking using authentic materials ..... 59

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LIST OF FIGURE

Figure 2.1:The methodological framework of communicative activities (Littlewood,
1992, p.86) ................................................................................................................17
Figure 2.2: A framework for analyzing communicative tasks ..................................19

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LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 4.1: The necessity of using authentic materials ..............................................37
Chart 4.2: Teachers‟view toward authentic materials ...............................................39
Chart 4.3: The effectiveness of authentic materials toward teaching speaking ........40
Chart 4.4: Students‟ knowledge ................................................................................41
Chart 4.5: Students‟skills ..........................................................................................42
Chart 4.7: Students‟learning methods .......................................................................44
Chart 4.8: Students‟habits .........................................................................................45
Chart 4.9: Approach ..................................................................................................47
Chart 4.10: Methods ..................................................................................................49
Chart 4.11: The necessity of using authentic materials ............................................52
Chart 4.12: Students‟ view toward authentic materials ............................................53
Chart 4.13: The effectiveness of using authentic materials ......................................55
Chart 4.14: Students‟attitudes to authentic materials................................................56
Chart 4.15: Students‟view to the teachers‟tool .........................................................57

Chart 4.16: Students‟view on teachers‟methods .....................................................58
Chart 4.17: Students‟ view on the teachers‟ activities ..............................................59
Chart 4.17: The students‟ difficulties in practicing speaking using authentic materials ..... 60

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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
In the past ten years the use of authentic materials has become common in
classroom teaching. However, the question of whether such materials appear
authentic to the language learner seems to go unasked.
On the other hand, in the context of political renovation and open -door
policy in the past decades in Vietnam, the demand for foreign languages, especially
English has soared than ever and the number of leaners of English has therefore
increased remarkably.
Different methodologies with different strategies of teaching foreign
languages have also been introduced into Vietnamese schools. Commnicative
Language Teaching (CLT) as an approach has been highly appreciated and has
prevailed throughout the world over the decades. This communicative approach has
really made great contributions to changing the environment of teaching foreign
languages in Vietnam, especially in the higher education system. This communicative
language teaching has helped to build communicative competence for language
leaners, which is very neccessary for their job.
Consequently, to sucessfully build communicative competence for language
learners and to successfully produce employees who are really able to meet the
urgent demands of society in the development trend of the country, English
language teachers should take into consideration the ideal of text authenticity and
using authentic materials in teaching.

It is obvious that the communicative style teaching really requires authentic
language use and classroom exchanges where students actually engage in real
communication with one another. Breen and Candlin (1980), and Breen (1985)
reminded educators that the classroom has its own authenticity which is as
important as the authenticity of target culture. Apart from Breen and Candlin

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(1980), many other experts on methodology have also had many profound research
on this matter -authenticity and English language classrooms.
With an attempt to follow that trend, Vietnamese teachers of English have
tried their best to create more authentic enviroment in the classroom through the use
of authentic materials and textbooks for years. Many language teaching materials
used in most Vietnamese schools in general, and at HUFL in particular nowadays
are “authentic “ in the sense that they contain“authentic languag, authentic tasks,and
authentic focus of communication”(Candlin and Edelhoff, 1982:7). However, the
way many members of English faculty at HUFL (Hue University of Foreign
Language) use materials may not be authentic, and therefore the teaching of English
at this University tends to be inauthentic or artificial. This reality may be
contradictory to main goals of teaching and learning programs for higher made by
Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) that practicality and effectiveness
should be assured.
And how do the teachers use authetic materials in their teaching for speaking
skill at classroom and what is the students‟ responses with these methods?
As a reuslt, this study aims at investigating what is the teachers‟ perception
toward using authentic materials and students‟perception

of using authentic

materials in speaking class.
1.2 Rationale of the study
This research was conducted for the following reasons :
Firstly, the notion of text authenticity, despite being differently intepreted,
has played a very important role in the communicative language teaching in recent
years. It really helps motivate students to study the language well and is therefore
with the very teacher‟s concern. In the era of teaching foreign languages with the
communicative approach, language teachers are being encouraged to make their
teaching “authentic” by planing genuine situtations for their students by bringing
real-life materials into the classroom. However, the question of text authenticity and

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its vital roles seem to cause some confusion to many EFL (English as foreign
language) teachers and EFL students as well.
Secondly, what are the reasons for this authenticity and artificiality of EFL
classrooms? How can both EFL teachers and EFL learners give contribution to
increasing the authenticity of their language classrooms? Does the use of authentic
materials help to creat“real communication” in these general English classes at this
University?
Thirdly, as a teacher of English at HUFL for over ten years, I find it quite
essential to have more insights into the teaching strategies that may help the English
faculty members of our university to make the teaching and learning process more
effective and practical in this particular context through the use of authentic
materials. The experience from this study is also necessary for me, as a researcher
and instructor of English in evaluating, selecting and adapting materials in my
language classrooms.
For all these reasons, I would like to conduct this research with the hope to seek
better ways to use authentic materials in speaking classes of EFL context like Vietnam

1.3.Aims of the study
The study aims to explore teachers‟perception and students‟responses using
authentic materials
The study also attempts to provide some practical teaching as well as
professional advice on how to bring authenticity for 1st year students effectively in
EFL teaching context by using authentic materials.
The study also provides some suggestions for English teachers to overcome
difficulities in using authentic materials to develop speaking skill and other skills at
higher education level.
1.4 Scope of study
This study was conducted on a small scale at HUFL-English Department,
with the help of 11 teachers who have been teaching English at this University and
50 freshmen chosen randomly at 2 first year English classes.
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1.5 Research Questions
This study was conducted to answer the following research questions:
- What are the teachers‟ perceptions toward using authentic materials in
teaching speaking skills?
- What are the students‟attitudes to authentic materials in speaking classes ?
1.6 Structure of the study
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Chapter 2 : Literature Review
- Chapter 3: Research Methodology
- Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion
- Chapter 5: Conclusion and Implications

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CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
The purpose of this chapter focuses on investigating using authentic materials to
develop speaking skills. This study focuses on investigating the perceptions of teacher
about using authentic materials to teachers and develop speaking skills and what are the
student s‟attitudes to the teaching of authentic materials in speaking class.
The first section (2.2) of this chapter is the definition of key terms. The
second section (2.3) focuses on the use of authentic materials in Communicative
Language Teaching .The third section (2.4) introduces authentic materials in CLT.
The fourth section (2.5) presents the effect of authentic materials on
students‟motivation. The fifth section (2.6) introduces the definition of speaking
skill and the last section(2.7) presents review of previous studies.
2.2 The definition of key terms
2.2.1 The definition of authenticity
Many attempts to define „authenticity‟ have been undertaken, however no
universal idefinition seems to be formulated. The Dictionary of Applied
Linguistics (1987, p.27) defines this term as:
The degree to which language teaching materials have the qualities of
natural speech or writing. Texts which are taken from newspapers, magazines, etc.
And tapes of natural speech taken from ordinary radio or elevision programmes,
etc,are called authentic materials.
Widdowson's (1990) differentiation of the terms "authentic" and "genuine
material" has been a seminal one in the field so I 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 learners live.

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Furthermore, Little, Devitt and Singleton (1997) claim that authentic
materials are those which have a social purpose to be fulfilled in a community.
Wong, Kwok and Choi (1995) imply that “authentic materials are characterized by
the genuineness of time, location and people” (1995, p.318) and that their aim is
to expose learners to the real use of foreign language for communication.
Uzar (2005) states that it is possible to discern two levels of authenticity“the
believable and genuine quality of L2 resources and the real-life nature of the
language used in the classroom” (2005, p.44).
As Tatsuki (2006) implies, “we create our own sense of authenticity through
social interactions, through our use of language”(2006, p.3). It may be deduced
thereby that learners themselves can create authentic situations by using authentic
materials and vice versa (Lee, 1995).
According to Tatsuki (2006:1)“authenticity is taken as being synonymous
with genuineness, realness, truthfulness, validity, reliability, undisputed credibility,
and legitimacy of materials or practices.
In brief, it is easy to notice that no complete and exhaustive definition of
authenticity and authentic materials exists. They may be described as those which
are not designed for the purpose of language learning. On the other hand, it may be
argued that it is not important to provide learners with authentic materials, but
rather to use them in an authentic way, making them authentic in the view of the
learner and in the context of the situtation.
Taylor's first point was, "In many discussions it is not clear whether we are
dealing with authenticity of language, authenticity of task, or authenticity of
situation" (1994, p. 1). Back in 1985 Michael Breen further subdivided authenticity
of language as authenticity of the texts used as input data for learners, and
authenticity of the learners own interpretation of such texts. Authenticity of task is
restricted to the tasks conducive to language learning, and authenticity of situation

refers to authenticity of the actual social situation of the language classroom. (p.18).

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 Authenticity of
language
 Authentticity
of task
 Authenticity of
situation

 Authenticity of text used as imput dat for learners
 Authenticity of the leaners own interpretation of such texts
 Authenticity of the tasks conductive to language learning
 Authenticity of the tasks conductive to language learning

Table 2.1. Facets of authenticity according to Taylor (1994) and Breen (1985)
2.2.2 Types of authenticity
Breen (1985) identifies four types of authenticity within language teaching.
He indicates that these types are in continual interrelationship with one another
during any language lesson. These types include:
 Authenticity of the texts which we may use as input data for our learners:
This refers to the authentic qualities of a given text. Authentic texts for
language learning are any sources of data which serves as a means to help the
learner to develop an authentic interpretation.
 Authenticity of the learners‟ own interpretations of such texts:
Learner authenticity means that the learner must discover the conventions of
communication in the target language which will enable him or her to gradually
come to interpret meaning within the text in ways which are likely to be shared with

fluent users of the language.
 Authenticity of tasks conductive to language learning: Task authenticity
reflects the purpose to which language input is put. It means that the chosen tasks
should involve the learners not only in authentic communication with texts and
others in the classroom, but also in learning and the purpose of learning.
 Authenticity of the actual social situation of the language classroom:
The authenticity of the classroom is a special social event and environment
where in people share a primary communicative purpose that is learning. The
authentic role of the language classroom is the provision of those conditions in
7


which the participants can publicly share the problems, achievements and overall
process of learning a language together as a social activity.
2.2.3 What are authentic materials ?
It seems useful to elaborate on the possible sources of authentic materials as
well as their types, because not all the teachers exactly realise how easily accessible
and adaptable real-life materials are.
In The Oxford Dictionary of English, the term “authentic” has at least one
meaning: “of undisputed source or origin and not a copy; genuine”. For teaching
purposes this refers to English books, novels or articles that have been written by an
English speaking author to a native audience or speaker; in these cases the language
used has not been altered. Gehard (1996) gives more examples of authentic
materials EFL/ESL teachers have used. Some of his examples, which may serve as
source material for lesson planning, are shown below:
- Authentic Listening/Viewing Materials -- TV commercials, quiz shows,
cartoons news clips, comedy shows, movies, soap operas, professionally audiotaped short stories and novels, radio ads, songs, documentaries, and sales pitches.
- Authentic Visual Materials -- slides, photographs, paintings, children‟s
artwork, stick-figure drawings, wordless street signs, silhouettes, pictures from
magazines, ink blots, postcard pictures, wordless picture books, stamps

- Authentic Printed Materials -- newspaper articles, movie advertisements,
astrology columns, sports reports, obituary columns, advice columns, lyrics to
songs, restaurant menus, street signs, cereal boxes, candy wrappers, tourist
information brochures, university catalogs, telephone books, maps, TV guides,
comic books, greeting cards, grocery coupons, pins with messages, and bus
schedules.
- Realia (Real world" objects) Used in EFL/ESL Classrooms coins and
currency, folded paper, wall clocks, phones, Halloween masks, dolls, and puppets,
to name a few. (Realia are often used to illustrate points very visually or for roleplay situations.)
8


The definitions of authentic materials are slightly different in literature
written by different researchers of language. Rogers (1988) defines authentic
materials as “appropriate” and “quality” in terms of goals, objectives, learner needs
and interest and “natural” in terms of real life and meaningful communication.
Harmer (1991) defines authentic texts as “materials which are designed for native
speakers; they are real texts; designed not for language students, but for the
speakers of the language”. Jordan (1997) refers to authentic texts as “texts that are
not written for language teaching purposes”. Peacock (1997) describes authentic
materials as materials that have been produced to fulfill some social purpose in the
language community. In short, “authentic materials are materials that we can use
with the students in the classroom and that have not been changed in any way for
ESL students. A classic example would be a newspaper article that‟s written for a
native-English-speaking audience” (Sanderson, 1999).
Authentic materials are any materials which were originally directed at a
native speaking audience (Wilkins 1976), or any materials which have not been
specifically produced for the purpose of language teaching (Nunan 1989 ).
2.3.3.1 Visual
Among the speaking teaching materials the most important are those which

provoke communication most effectively by sufficient stimulation of speaking, and
not causing an excessive difficulty at the same time (Komorowska, 2001).
Komorowska, in her 2001 work, classifies visual aids as one of the stimuli enabling
communicationin teaching foreign languages. A visual aid, according to
Dictionary of Applied Linguistics, is “[a] visual device used by a teacher to help
learning. For example pictures, charts, flashcards” (1987, p.26)
Wright and Haleem (1991) include in their book all the visual media which
could be found for the classroom or are easily available for the teacher, namely
chalkboard and whiteboard, flannelboard, magnetboard and adhesive plastic,
wallpictures and wallposters, picture flash cards, word flash cards, workcards and
worksheets as wellas authentic printed materials.
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As far as the criteria for the classifications of visual materials are
concerned,Corder (1966, p.34) enumerates:
- Real things, people and events normally present in the classroom;
- Real things, people and events specially introduced into the classroom for
the languagelesson;
- Simulated or pictorially represented things, people and events;
- Purely visual materials, materials which may be accompanied by language
and materialswhich are always accompanied by language (audio-visual aids).
2.2.3.2 Audio-visuals
Accordingto Dictionary of Applied Linguistics (1987,p.26),audio-visual

aids

are“films, television and video” which may be used by the teacher to support
learning. Recently, video has been appreciated as an important resource for language
studying as it is able to present a total communicative situation (Stempleski, 1990).

As Cowlig(1999 p.262,)implies, films contain dialogues which are “clear,and
understandable the first time you hear it, yet also create the illusion of real
conversation.” Tatsuki (2006, p.5) claims that the dialogues appearing in
films“resemble naturally occurring data”, thereby it seems evident to call audiovisualaids authentic sources of foreign language
According to Stempleski (1990), there is an enormous variety of possible
activities with the use of video in the language classroom. The author states that“
what teacher does with a particular video sequence depends on the learners‟ needs,
the teacher‟s objectives, and the video itself” (1990, p.12).
2.2.3.3 Using Realia in the communicative classroom
The classroom is a part of the real world, with its own social context and, as
stated by Wright and Haleem (1991), is very visual. Each member of the class has
their own “experiences, hopes, ambitions, anxieties, joys and possessions which are
evidenced in visual information such as personal appearance, personal possessions,
abilities”(1991, p.94). These differences among learners and between the learners
and the teacher create information-gaps which, according to the authors, lead to the
10


natural need of speaking, reading and writing. Moreover, Corder (1966, p.32)
indicates that:
Any thing that the learner can see in the classroom or through the window is
potentially a visual element (...). This applies to the permanent fittings of the
classroom such as walls, doors, and windows; to its usual furnishings,
desks,cupboards, chairs, blackboards and bookshelves; to things which are
introducedinto it either normally, or abnormally, such as animals, plants and tools;
orindeed anything in the world which is transportable and small enough to be
gotthrough the door
Conceivably, it can be stated that the closest environment of the learners can
be used as a stimulus for speaking. Wright and Haleem (1990) enumerate various
possible uses of the objects in the classroom:

- They can be used for what they are: students can be asked to name objects
and describe their qualities, to open and close windows and so on
- The origin and manufacture of the object can be analysed.
- The objects can be used as symbols and metaphors.
All in all, it can be stated that the use of audio-visual and visual materials as
well as realia has a great contribution to the development of speaking skills.
2.2.4 The advantages of using authentic materials in the classroom
One of the main ideas of using authentic materials in the classroom is to
“expose” the learner to as much real language as possible. Even if the classroom is
not a “real-life” situation, authentic materials do have a very important place within
it. It has been argued that by taking a text out of its original context, it loses it
authenticity“As soon as texts, whatever their original purpose, are brought into
classrooms for pedagogic purposes they have, arguably, lost authenticity”.(Wallace
1992:79).
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
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