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Authentic content: Why not?
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Mon, 03/16/2009 - 12:28
As a materials writer, one of the biggest problems I always thought was trying to produce core content (texts and conversations etc.) that seemed kind of authentic. More and more I felt this process needed to be rejected. I think students need authentic content and there is so much of it around on the internet now, that the only point I can see in not using authentic content is issues of copyright.
It seems that an artificial restriction has been placed on materials developers which only really serves the interests of publishers.
Best
Nik
Tue, 03/17/2009 - 13:35
#2
Hi Nik,
The main problem with authentic content is that it is often messy (too many structures/infrequent words) which makes it inaccessible for lower levels. I know that we should 'grade the task and not the text' (forget who said that) but actually I do think at lower levels we can easily reduce an authentic text to something semi-authentic, which still looks a little bit real without putting too much strain on the reader.
I use a lot of student texts because they are an appropriate level for other students to aim for. I don't give them just as models to copy. We might do some in-class writing and then collaborate to make a model that incorporates ideas from lots of students. Or I might pick one good example text and we then analyse it to work out why it is good, i.e. how its organisation gets the message across.Students can then try using that framework ot rework their own texts.
Olwyn
Mon, 03/23/2009 - 12:12
#3
Hi Olwyn
As you rightly point out. Authentic language is messy, but isn't that why we should be developing a syllabus around authintic tasks and texts? Are we really doing our students any favours by tidying it up for them so that it fits more neatly and teachably into our syllabus?
Best
Nik
Mon, 03/23/2009 - 22:15
#4
Hi Nik,
I think we could tidy it a little bit :-) In fact I've been thinking about this for the low level EAP coursebook I'm writing. I wanted to use a text that looked like a research article abstract but there was just too much distracting vocabulary in there for my purpose in using it - evaluating why it was more reliable as a source of academic ideas than a text from a blog. So I decided to simplify the text a little but to keep the generic features such as author, title, source journal, in-text referencing authentic. I wanted to give the students a feeling of what it is like to read a text they might have considered 'beyond their competence'.
I do think we have to consider purpose when we are designing materials and I do think that texts and tasks should fit into a syllabus - but not a structural syllabus with a focus on verb tenses. We are using a functional syllabus with a focus on the kinds of texts and tasks students have to read and do at university.I think that slightly tidied up authentic texts fit well into that kind of syllabus.
Olwyn
Hi Nik
I think you are very right. I'm not sure how you see "content", but I would include activities as well as text, audio and video content. I see activities involving the vast array of web 2.0 activities that are changing how we use the internet (to do things we would have done offline just a few years ago)...
My current fascination is Google Docs Street View - I am especially fond of its immersive qualities (in the direction of a virtual world) and yet it is a very real tool. So I see it as an example of how real and practical web 2.0 tools can be used in language lessons to do real things and yet also be a stimulus for broader conversations.
Students and teachers alike seem to respond well to being shown these tools - perhaps because they seem so useful and yet enjoyable at the same time. So I think that the web (especially in its "2.0" form) has gone way beyond what books (or even books with CD ROMs) can offer. However, I am touching on a parralel discussion on this forum.
I see a very real need to support teachers with using the web as a major resoruce in lessons. Teaching without coursebooks (but with web 2.0) involves very different methods than following (or even adapting) a coursebook for lessons. I see the Dogme ELT movement as offering web 2.0 teaching some very relevant guidance. I'll be very interested to see the new book from Thornbury and Meddings next month - However, looking at the contents page, I'm not so sure there will be much direct mention of technology in the book.
I guess one of the key questions here is what is the best way to encourage and support teachers in using web 2.0 applications in the classroom.