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19TEACHING ENGLISH THROUGH AUTHENTIC MATERIALS *Axtamova Durdona Alisherovna, 2Rustamova A.E
1Samarqand Davlat Chet tillar Instituti talabasi, 2Teacher, PhD., ass.prof. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10815528
Abstract. The article discusses the problems of using authentic materials on teaching foreign languages. Using authentic materials in the class can be a useful tool to motivate pupils and make them feel comfortable using the foreign language. Authentic materials, if used properly in authentic learning environments, can have lots of uses in foreign language teaching though they are not specifically designed to teach a foreign language. For this reason, foreign language teachers should act as a guide for the students to interact with the authentic materials in constructivist learning environments. In addition, learning environments in which authentic materials are used should be organized when training prospective foreign language teachers to set an example for the teachers of the future to use authentic materials in their own classrooms. In that way, prospective teachers will have a chance to see and experience, themselves, the advantages of these materials and points to consider when using them. The aim of the present study is to focus on the importance and the uses of authentic materials in foreign language teacher training program and to come up with some suggestions concerning the matter. The new technology abetted the extant educational system and it gifted the contemporary educational system with a newfangled drift. As a result, there have been several innovations in the field of education and English has no exception. The concept of teaching English has drastically changed and the present generation of teachers as well as the learners depend more on the latest technology that brings a greater change in teaching and learning. In the modern world, the teachers of English have been using a variety of teaching materials in order to satisfy the needs and interests of the learners. In this process, they also go for the authentic materials in addition to the prescribed textbooks with an aim to improve the standards of the learners and to develop their learners' language skills enormously in the regular English classrooms.
Keywords: Technology, authentic materials, learning process, assess, audio books, ebooks, teacher, learner.
1.INTRODUCTION
First let's to pay attention, what do the authentic materials mean? Authentic materials are any information or materials which are written in English, they include print, video and audio materials students encounter in their daily lives, such as change of address forms, job applications, menus, voice mail messages, pod-casts, radio programs and videos. Authentic materials are not specifically to be used in the classroom, but they make excellent learning tools for students. Authentic material is a material which is used by the purpose to imitate the real-world situations. In addition, the use of authentic material is expected to bring the learners into direct contact with a reality so the students will interest during the learning process. However, the objectives of the research were to investigate kinds of authentic material, to explore the implementation of authentic material, to find out the problem faced by the Englishteacher in using the authentic material of SD PuriAsah Dasar Avesiena Green School Malang. Descriptive qualitative research design was used in this study. The techniques in collecting the data were observation and unstructured interview while field notes and interview guide were used as the instruments. The subject of this research was an English teacher of SD PuriAsah Dasar Avesiena Green School Malang. The result of the research showed that there were forty-eight authentic materials were used in five times
observations. The researcher classified those varieties of authentic materials into three kinds of authentic materials: by those forty-eight authentic materials, only one referred to Authentic Visual Material, two referred to Authentic Printed Material, and the rest forty-five referred to Realia which meant it was the most favorable Authentic Material used by the English teacher. In using the authentic material, the teacher usually conducted an outdoor class activity to find out the real object related to the topic. By seeing and holding the real thing, it made the students interested and experienced the real situation. In this case, the problem faced by the teacher was in finding the authentic material which adjusted the students' grade and topic.
There are two main categories of authentic materials-print and auditory.
Print materials include:
WIKIPEDIA
AGAZIIUESS
HADING
DFFICIALPUBLIC ATIONS III E III CI
DNLINENEWSPAPERS
SHORTSTORIES PRODUCTLi ■ NOVELS gB E PAPERS PB
S3 MAPS MANUALS
CHILDREN SBO
TjflA GOVERNMENTPUBLICATIDIUS ADVERTISEMENTS
USEHMANUALS COVERIV
BILLDOARDS MACAZINEWERSITE5
KI
Web sites
Utility bills
TV guides
Magazines Newspaper
Calendars Greeting cards
Street signs
Coupons
Food labels Packing slips
Order forms
Auditory materials include:
Phone messages Radio broadcasts
Podcasts
E-books
Movies Videos and DVDs
Television programs
OirportPnnouncements .
commercials ELdm .
Tto| I St G HI I 11 Q™YouTube
^^^ ^^^ ^^b conversations
0nlineTelevisionBlldiüBOükS MusicVideos
rad,° podcast XIf PublicServiceflnnouncements
TV
TrainStationflnnouncements
Using this content to teach the English language can make the learning process even more engaging, imaginative and motivating for students. The great thing about using authentic materials is that it is everywhere, which makes it easy to find, and simple for learners to practice English by themselves.
The new technology abetted the extant educational system and it gifted the contemporary educational system with a newfangled drift. As a result, there have been several innovations in the field of education and English has no exception. The concept of teaching English has drastically changed and the present generation of teachers as well as the learners depend more on the latest technology that brings a greater change in teaching and learning. In the modern world, the teachers of English have been using a variety of teaching materials in order to satisfy the needs and interests of the learners. In this process, they also go for the authentic materials in addition to the prescribed textbooks with an aim to improve the standards of the learners and to develop their learners' language skills enormously in the regular English classrooms. Due to the technological innovations, the twenty-first century has witnessed tremendous changes in all walks of life. According to Peacock (1997), "Authentic materials are more motivating for students, even lower level students, than artificial materials". Furthermore, Briton (1991 cited in Qura, 2001) states, "Authentic materials relate more closely to learners' need, for they build a connection between the language classroom and the outside world. The teachers have to use all the available authentic materials such as newspapers, magazines, story books, movies, radio, TV ads, songs, label products, bus or train timetables, realia like phones and dolls so that the learners show more interest towards their leaning. As authentic materials play a vital role in promoting the learners' learning and creates interests among learners to learn the English language in a natural way with proper motivation, the teachers of English should use these authentic materials in their day-to-day teaching profession. The present paper brings to light to the effective use of authentic materials by the teachers in the English language classrooms. For this purpose, this paper initially discusses the advantages of authentic materials in the field of education. Then this paper brings out the importance of the authentic materials that are used in the English language classrooms. Later, this paper emphasizes primarily on the effective use of the authentic materials and how they assist the teachers in their teaching and also how they help the learners to learn English in a better and easier way. Finally, this paper gives some expedient hints both to the teachers and the learners of English to how improve their teaching and learning skills colossally using the authentic materials in the English classrooms.
2.METHODOLOGY
How we can select authentic material?
The best content to select depends on learners, on their level of English and the course content the teacher wishes to focus on. It's a good idea to determine the learner's interests, there is no point trying to teach students with print materials if they are keen on auditory materials. The materials should reflect a situation that learners may face in English speaking environment-this will help them transition into a world where English is norm. In this world, people use abbreviations, body language is important and they'll use "filler" sounds - such as "umm" - when they are speaking English - and learners will encounter these in authentic material. It's important not to overwhelm learners with the first piece of authentic material. So to begin with, choose articles, songs or sections of TV programs or movies which aren't too difficult to understand or take too long to get through.
How can students benefit from using authentic materials in order to learn English?
Authentic materials help Students Bridge the gap between the classroom and the outside world. Many students enroll in school to learn or improve a language-related task, such as helping a child with homework or speaking English at work. Others enroll because they have personal long-term goals that involve education, such as becoming an engineer or business owner. In working with new students, teachers need to identify why students have come to class. When teachers know learner's motivations, they can target instruction to meet those goals. A key way to help learners reach their goals is to use authentic, goal-directed materials.
How can teachers incorporate authentic materials into teaching and learning?
Always start with need assessment. The first step in using authentic materials is identifying student's need and goals. Teachers can do this in a variety of ways: scheduling one-on-one intake interviews with students, concluding weekly learner focus groups and discussions, administering written needs assessment, the key objective is to pinpoint each student's goals. Teachers may need to make several attempts and reframe questions many times before students narrow their responses from a vague.
Invite students to participate in the process of identifying authentic materials. Students maybe puzzled when teachers ask them to bring order forms, coupons, recipes and other non-school materials to class. They may consider these materials inappropriate for school, based on their earlier academic experiences or their cultural perspectives. Teachers can engage them in conversations about the rationale for using authentic materials and ask them to collect and bring authentic materials to class to support their goals.
Collect local materials. Many teachers have a habit of collecting authentic materials wherever they go in the community. Authentic texts vary by type, region and context. Research tell us that students will benefit more from using local authentic materials than using ones that are a step removed from their lives (Jacobson, Degener and Purcell Gates 2003). For example, genetic charts and maps from life skills textbooks may not be as motivating to students as the local theater schedule, local rainfall charts or the municipal bus map. There is a wealth of local authentic materials available online, such as city council meeting agendas, library schedules, and recipes for favorite regional dishes.
Warn students of the challenges ahead. Authentic texts can be challenging for learners. Depending on the nature of the text, teachers should caution learners about frustrations they may encounter in reading a letter from their children's schools or studying the small print on parking tickets. Even if the student cannot read every word of the parking tickets, the teacher can scaffold (provide temporary support to students to reduce the complexity of a task) his or her reading skills and minimize the difficulty of the text by helping with vocabulary words and teaching scanning
skills. Some teachers scaffold students' check-writing skills by providing pre-printed wallet cards that show the spelling of each number. Although students may not independently read parking tickets or write checks, they will practice real-life materials, and the satisfaction of involving reallife problems will provide powerful motivation for future learning.
Assess in authentic ways. Students generally like having their learning assessed in authentic ways. Is a student's learning goal is to match packing slips with invoices at work, a simulate the task in the classroom. The teacher can keep a chart comparing performance on the same task week to week until the student masters the skill. Multiple-choice or fill-in-the blank tests are inauthentic ways to assess a skill such as invoice matching. Reproducing the task is a more meaningful way to assess learning because it measures how the student will perform the task in the real world. It measures exactly what the student came to class learn.
In conducting this research, the researcher used descriptive qualitative research design. The subject of this research was an English teacher of SD PuriAsah Dasar Avesiena Malang who used the authentic material in the learning process at the 1st -5 th grade. In collecting the data, the researcher conducted non-participant observation; the researcher joined the class without any intentional interaction during the teachinglearning activity. The research has been carried out in five times observation using field notes as the instrument to help the researcher in presenting the readable data. However, semi-structured interview was conducted with the English teacher while interview guides was used as the instrument to guide the researcher to conduct the interview structurally.
The Use of Authentic Material The topic of the first observation was about Gardening at the 4th -grade. First, teacher opened the class, and then discussed a little bit about the previous lesson. The teacher discussed about Gardening. The teacher asked "What is the meaning of gardening?" a student raised her hand then answer "berkebun." After that, the teacher asked the students to go around the school. They found banana tree. Next, they went back to the class, then the teacher sett the class into U-form so that the class circumstance conducive. The teacher took an orchid and explained its part; start from the root, stalk, leave, also the flower. Besides, the teacher took a broom and explained that the broom is also a wood product. The second meeting was held at the 3rd -grade while the topic was about the shape of thing. The teacher opened the class first, reviewed the previous lesson and told that they will learn about the shape of thing. There are three kinds of the shape of thing: solid, liquid, and air. Next, the teacher and the students walked around the school to find out some things related to the topic. They found a lot of thing such as lamp, broom, dustbin, wallet, clock, pot, teapot, statue, shoes, blackboard, whiteboard, calendar, window, water, ink, purse, poster, rubber, board marker, printed pictures of garden tools. They discussed its shape while walking around. After that, they came back to the class. The teacher continued the explanation using the students' equipment as the example such as hat, cap, ruler, bottle, pen, pencil, pencil case, correction pen, pencil sharpener, plastic, scissor, glasses, and balloon. In the end of the lesson, they reviewed the lesson and thank to Allah for the grateful day. The third observation was done at the 1st -grade. The topic was about the Afternoon Activity. The teacher opened the class and asked about the students' life. Next, the teacher asked what the students do in the afternoon to connect to the topic. Some students said that they are praying dhuhur. Then the teacher showed them the praying tools that have been prepared before such as sajadah, mukenah, peci, prayer seeds, and sarong. All students were excited answering the teacher's questions. Before going home, the teacher gave some questions. The one who cannot answer would go home late. This day, they spend the whole time to learn in the class. The fourth
observation have been conducted at the 2nd -grade. The topic was about the bean. It was apparently related to the Thematic lesson after the English lesson. The topic in the Thematic lesson was making mosaic from the bean, while the English lesson introduce the bean first. There were three kinds of bean that the teacher showed: green bean, rice bean, and corn beans. The teacher opened the class first and asked the students to prepare the English lesson. The teacher showed some kinds of bean, and asked the students to hold it. Students were excited during the learning process. Not only learned kinds of bean, the students also learned about the beans' color, its shape, and also count the seeds. The last observation was done at the 5th -grade. The topic was about Transportation. Initially, the teacher opened the class and asked about the students' condition. Then, the teacher asked some questions related to the topic like what kinds of transportation they know, what kinds of transportation they usually use to go to school, and so on. Some students raise their hands to answer the question excitedly. After a few minutes brain storming, the teacher asked the students to go around the school. They looked at one of the student's bicycle and start to learn about the parts of bicycle and its functions. The teacher asked the students one by one while mentions the parts of bicycle such as basket, pedal, steer, wheel, and many more. After that, they move to the aula then the teacher gave an assignment. In the end of the lesson, the teacher asked some questions, the one who could answer fast could go home first.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Based on the research findings, it showed that there were 48 authentic materials used by the teacher in teaching English at the 1st-5th grade of SD PuriAsah Dasar Avesiena Malang. Gebhard (1996) has classified the kinds of Authentic Material into four. Furthermore, the finding showed there are three kinds of Authentic Material used in Teaching English at SD PuriAsah Dasar Avesiena Green School Malang. They are: Authentic Visual Material, Authentic Printed Material, and Realia. By those 48 authentic materials, only one referred to Authentic Visual Material, two referred to Authentic Printed Material, and the rest forty-five referred to Realia which means it is the most favorable Authentic Material used by the English teacher. The researcher classified the findings based on the Gebhard theory as follow:
• Authentic Visual Material: poster
• Authentic Printed Material: calendar, printed pictures of garden tools
• Realia: pot, broom, banana tree, orchid, lamp, hat, cap, wallet, broom, dustbin, ruler, wallet, o'clock, teapot, statue, shoes, blackboard, whiteboard, window, water, ink, pencil, pen, pencil case, purse, pencil sharpener, rubber, correction pen, board marker, plastic, scissor, glasses, balloon, sajadah, peci, mukenah, sarong, prayer seeds. green beans, rice beans, corn beans, bicycle, motorcycle. However, the Authentic Listening-Viewing Material did not find since SD PuriAsah Dasar Avesiena is a Green School which is mostly learning activities are involving surrounding object and nature. The finding was actually appropriate with the concept of green school that mostly does an outdoor class activity, and utilize the nature. The Useof Authentic Material In applying the Authentic Material, the teacher always started the class by praying, then reviewed the previous lesson, and attracted the students' interest by asking their health, their activities, and so on. In a first few minutes, the teacher usually discussed a little bit about the topic. After that, the teacher and the students walked around the school to find out the real object related with the topic. By seeing and holding the real thing, it makes the students interest and experience the real situation. It supports the theory of Heitler (2005) who mentioned that Authentic Material bring learners into direct contact with a reality. Inaddition,Green School makes children not glued to the theory only, because they can also learn and experience knowledge from nature. The Problem
Faced by the English Teacher in Using Authentic Material Green Schools are also usually an inclusive school (Suhendi, 2011). It was one of the problems faced by the teacher of SD PuriAsah Dasar Avesiena Green School Malang about how to present the lessons well for both the regular students and the students with special needs. Furthermore, the use of Authentic Material was expected to make the students interest and easy in achieving the target of learning. It was a challenge for the teacher to find the appropriate authentic material according to the topic and the students' grade. However, the finding did not prove the theory of Tamo who mentioned:
1) Authentic Material takes much efforts and times to prepare.
2) Authentic Material containing difficult language and difficult vocab.
3) Authentic Material contains unfamiliar content.
4) Authentic Material were culturally biased.
It might be because the topic for elementary students were not that too complicated so it effected the use of the teaching material. Furthermore, the school environment supports the teacher to use the surrounding obj ects as the teaching material. However, the theory of green school proved that the kids are learning more when they are involved in open-class situation.
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