Luận văn thạc sĩ VNU ULIS a study on using authentic materials in teaching english in the context of bac giang high school for gifted students

1 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN DANH HÀO A STUDY ON USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS IN TEACHING ENGLISH IN THE CONTEXT OF BAC GIANG HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIFTED STUDENTS (Nghiên cứu việc sử dụng Tài liệu xác thực giảng dạy Tiếng Anh ngữ cảnh Trường THPT Chuyên Bắc Giang - Bắc Giang) MA MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Hanoi, 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN DANH HÀO A STUDY ON USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS IN TEACHING ENGLISH IN THE CONTEXT OF BAC GIANG HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIFTED STUDENTS (Nghiên cứu việc sử dụng Tài liệu xác thực giảng dạy Tiếng Anh ngữ cảnh Trường THPT Chuyên Bắc Giang - Bắc Giang) MA MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Cohort: MA 17 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Bach Thao, (M.A) Hanoi, 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Summary of selected students Table 2: Authentic materials and frequency Table 3: Types of authentic materials used Table 4: Authentic materials and skills Table 5: Usefulness of authentic materials from students‟ perspective Table 6: Problems in using authentic materials LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………… i Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………… ii List of tables …………………………………………………………………………… iii Table of contents ……………………………………………………………………… iv PART A: INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………… 1 Rationale for the study ………………………………………………………… Aims of the study……………………………………………………………… Scope of the study ……………………………………………………………… Significance of the study …………………………………………………………… Design of the study……………………………………………………………… PART B: DEVELOPMENT ………………………………………………………… CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW …………………………………………… 1 Authenticity and authentic materials …………………………………………… 1.1.1 Authenticity in CLT ……………………………………………………… 1.1.2 Authentic materials ………………………………………………………… 1.1.2.1 Definitions ………………………………………………………… 1.1.2.2 Types of authentic materials ……………………………………… 1.1.2.3 Criteria for selecting authentic materials ………………………… The use of authentic materials in the classroom ……………………………… 2.1 Reasons for using authentic materials …………………………………… 2.2 Possible problems in using authentic materials …………………………… 11 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY …………………………………………………… 13 Participants ……………………………………………………………………… 13 1.1 Students …………………………………………………………………… 2.1.2 Teachers …………………………………………………………………… 13 14 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2 Research settings ………………………………………………………………… 14 Research methods ……………………………………………………………… 16 3.1 Student Questionnaire …………………………………………………… 16 3.2 Teacher Interview ………………………………………………………… 17 3.3 Classroom Observation …………………………………………………… 17 Data collection procedure ……………………………………………………… 18 Data analysis procedure ………………………………………………………… 18 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS …………………………………………………………… 20 Data description and analysis ………………………………………………… 20 1.1 Research question ……………………………………………………… 20 1.2 Research question ……………………………………………………… 24 1.3 Research question ……………………………………………………… 27 1.4 Research question ……………………………………………………… 31 Implications ……………………………………………………………………… 35 PART C: CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………… 38 Summary of findings ……………………………………………………………… 38 Contribution of the research ……………………………………………………… 39 Limitation of the research …………………………………… ………………… 39 Suggestion for further research ……………………………… ……………… 40 REFERENCES ……………………………………………………………………… 41 APPENDIX 1: Student Questionnaire ……………………………………………… I APPENDIX 2: Teacher Interview …………………………………………………… IV APPENDIX 3: Interview Transcript ………………………………………………… V APPENDIX 4: Observation Checklist ……………………………………………… IX LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION This part provides the rationale for carrying out the research, the aims that need to be acquired, the scope, the significance as well as the design of the study Rationale for the study In recent years, English has become one of the major and compulsory subjects at schools all over Vietnam Together with the expansion of teaching and learning this subject, students today have been aware of its importance English is believed to be the basic requirement for anyone who would like to have a good job Thus, great efforts have been made to help students learn English better, among which the effort to search for new sources of materials supporting the process of English teaching and learning has always been encouraged In my observation, using authentic materials as supplementary materials in teaching and learning English is a good way to increase learners‟ language proficiency There are a number of reasons supporting this idea In the first place, it is the real situation of teaching and learning English at Bac Giang High School for Gifted Students, where the research study was carried out Bac Giang High School for Gifted Students is among a few schools in Vietnam having the best quality of foreign language teaching The students of the school are carefully chosen from all over Bac Giang province and most of them are assured to have high level of proficiency in English compared with those in other schools For this reason, the school curriculum designed for the textbooks often finishes at the end of the first term In the second term, it mainly focuses on developing the students‟ language skills with the help of other supplementary materials Thus, the demand for seeking new sources of materials has been taken into consideration by the teachers and authentic materials are found to be an effective solution to this task Secondly, it is the availability of authentic materials Due to technological advancements and the government open-door policy, it is easy to have access to authentic materials rich in content, diverse in forms, and of different levels of linguistic complexity This assists teachers and learners in using authentic materials with much convenience An enormous wealth of authentic materials enables teachers to have a wide variety of choice LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com based on the objectives of the lesson, as well as learners‟ age, language level, interests, needs, expectations and goals Consequently, teachers will be able to make their lessons more flexible, suitable and especially, interesting enough to motivate learners to learn and practice the language Thirdly, it is the benefits of using authentic materials in teaching and learning English The materials obtained from various sources can attract learners‟ attention and create their motivation towards learning a foreign language As the materials help learners bridge the gap between the classroom and the outside world and enable them to put their theoretical knowledge into practice, they open a way for positive transfer of learning Therefore, authentic materials can increase the quality of foreign language teaching Last but not least, it is the students‟ need of communication in English in and out of the classroom Besides English grammar and the fixed teaching points given in textbooks, there should be other materials to develop students‟ communicative competence, help students to express their ideas fluently and accurately Thus, authentic materials if used properly will encourage learners to communicate in the target language though they are not designed to teach a foreign language For the above reasons, the researcher decided to investigate the use of authentic materials as supplementary materials in teaching English at the context of Bac Giang High School for Gifted Students It is hoped that this study would be of practical benefits to the teachers at high schools for gifted students in particular and other high schools in general in developing students‟ language skills Aims of the study In doing the research, the author attempted to address four main issues Firstly, the study investigated how authentic materials are used as supplementary materials for English learning and teaching Secondly, it examined teachers and students‟ evaluation on the effectiveness of authentic materials Thirdly, the study aimed to identify possible problems when using authentic materials, followed by suggestions to deal with these problems LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 10 These objectives were accomplished by answering the following research questions: (1) How are authentic materials used as supplementary materials for English learning and teaching? (2) How effective are authentic materials in English learning and teaching? (3) What are problems in using authentic materials? (4) What solutions can be suggested to solve the identified problems? Scope of the study The study mainly focused on exploiting authentic materials as supplementary materials for English learning and teaching in the context of Bac Giang High School for Gifted Students The subjects in the study were restricted to three English specializing classes ranging from grade 10 to grade 12 and five teachers who directly taught English to these classes Significance of the study It is noteworthy that the study was a great attempt to examine an important issue in language teaching methodology Therefore, once finished, it can bring a number of benefits to involved parties namely students, teachers, educational administrators and researchers of the related fields Teachers and students at Bac Giang High School for Gifted Students are those who directly benefit from the information the research provides Teachers will have an overview of the situation of their own using authentic materials to increase students‟ language proficiency, identify difficulties that they themselves and their colleagues have encountered and consider solutions to adjust their teaching methods Students are likely to be well aware of the benefits of authentic materials, which leads to their positive attitudes and effective resulting in exploitation of authentic materials LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 11 Educational administrators may be provided close and comprehensive view into the current situation of using authentic materials in teaching English This urges them to implement necessary amendments in terms of curriculum, facilities and so on Researchers of the related fields can also refer to the present work for literature review In general, students, teachers, educational administrators and researchers are those who are likely to benefit from the study Design of the study The study consists of three parts: PART A, Introduction, provides the rationale, the aims, the scope, the significance and the design of the study PART B, Development, discusses the following contents of the study: Chapter 1, Literature Review, discusses the literature relating authenticity and authentic materials as well as the use of authentic materials in the classroom Chapter 2, Methodology, defines the methodology of the research including features of the participants, settings, research methods, data collection and data analysis procedure Chapter 3, Results, presents and discusses the findings, which gives comprehensive answers to the four research questions It also offers suggestions to solve all the identified problems for a higher effectiveness of authentic materials PART C, Conclusion, summarizes significant findings, highlights contributions of the research, addresses notable limitations, and puts forward practical suggestions for future research References Appendix LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 12 PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1 Authenticity and authentic materials 1.1.1 Authenticity in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) For many years, there have been many authors discussing the authenticity in language teaching such as Taylor (1994), Widdowson (1996), Michael Breen (1985) Among these authors, McDonough and Shaw (1993) have provided the most generalized idea that authenticity is much defined with the selection of the materials, the activities and methods teachers use in the classroom They describe authenticity as the following: “… a term which loosely implies as close an approximation as possible to the world outside the classroom, in the selection both of language material and of the activities and methods used for practice in the classroom” (cited in Murdoch, 1999) Authenticity appears to be naturally associated with CLT According to Richards and Rodgers (1986: 69), CLT is promoted as an approach to language teaching which supports the development of learners‟ abilities to use language fluently and meaningfully Thus, real communication is considered not only the goal of language teaching but also the tool helping teachers to achieve the aim These authors also stress one of the features of CLT as "learner-centeredness view of second language teaching" This means that teachers need to create a learner-centered classroom and engage learners in authentic and meaningful communications that require meaning negotiations, with the goal to increase comprehensible language input for learners and expect them to generate more output In order to so, teachers should develop methods, exploit materials, organize activities, and design tasks based on learners' demonstrated needs of a particular class Especially, CLT emphasizes the use of authentic materials in teaching language (Widdowson, 1996) Authentic materials give learners the opportunity to respond to genuine communicative needs in real-life situations This is to help learners develop strategies for understanding language as actually used by native speakers (Canale and Swain, 1980) LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 45 PART C: CONCLUSION The final part aims to summarize findings, highlight contributions of the research, address notable limitations and put forward practical suggestions for future research Summary of findings The study delved into the situation of using authentic materials in teaching English in the context of Bac Giang High School for Gifted Students The investigation into four main aspects of the issue was conducted by triangulating three data collection instruments namely questionnaire, interview and classroom observation Ninety students and five teachers were selected to participate in the survey The results can be noted as follows Regarding how authentic materials can be used as supplementary materials in English learning and teaching, most of the students and teachers in the survey reported that various types of authentic materials were often used in the classroom They also revealed that all the language skills (reading, listening, speaking and writing) were taught by the use of authentic materials However, reading and writing skills were focused much more than the others since they meet students‟ need to pass grammar-focused examinations The effectiveness of authentic materials was evaluated from students‟ perspective and teachers‟ perspective The results showed that using authentic materials was extremely effective in English teaching and learning However, they pointed out many difficulties they had in the process of incorporating authentic materials into classrooms Regarding problems with the employment of authentic materials, teachers pointed out five major ones The approval rating descended from time constraint and students‟ low level of language proficiency & poor background knowledge to students‟ sole desire for passing grammar-focused examinations and unfavourable teaching - learning conditions and finally teachers‟ lack of knowledge and experience The identified problems were partly solved by a number of measures Time constraint was believed to be properly solved by thorough lesson planning, especially by building and sharing plentiful resource banks of authentic materials To deal with students‟ low level of language proficiency & poor background knowledge, teachers needed to pay special attention LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 46 to the job of providing students with comprehensible input, give students pedagogical supports as well as introduce cultural content in the classroom Although authentic materials sometimes appeared not to meet immediate students‟ need of language learning, teachers could minimize this possibility by investing time in material selecting and scientific methods of conducting the materials Teachers‟ lack of knowledge and experience could be solved by participating in some teacher training programs in order to exchange experience as well as knowledge of the subject Making full use of available facilities was claimed to treat the inadequacy of teaching and learning conditions On the whole, those findings fully addressed the four research questions, which offered a vivid account of the investigated issue Contribution of the research The research found out how authentic materials could be used as supplementary materials for English learning and teaching, how efficiently authentic materials were used, what difficulties teachers encountered and what solutions teachers suggested in order to overcome those hindrances The results of the research could best reflect the situation, based on which meaningful implications were put forward for practice For instance, teachers and students can make some necessary alterations in teaching and learning strategies, educational administrators can also consider drawing up new plans to improve the teaching environment so that authentic materials can be used effectively In general, the study has significant contributions for both pedagogical and research practices Limitation of the research Despite considerable investment in terms of time and efforts, the research could not avoid some shortcomings which should be acknowledged as follows Firstly, due to time constraint and the limited number of participants, the survey scope was not as broad as expected Hence, the researcher had to restrict the study to the context of Bac Giang High School for Gifted Students With this restraint, the study could only analyze LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 47 some of the facts of using authentic materials in teaching English in three classes Therefore, further studies could be implemented in a larger scale, making the results more valuable Besides, since this study is just a basic research, there would be further practical researches which evaluate the benefits of using authentic materials in developing different language skills The limited scope and participant-related problems, more or less, may pose limit to the outcome of the study and should be taken into account in future research of the same field Suggestion for further research The research delved into the use of authentic materials in the classroom and generated several significant results However, the investigation should not be limited to those findings Actually, researchers may have other approaches to the issue as follows As stated in the previous part, the study restricted the survey scope to one school and targeted at a certain number of participants Therefore, if time, finance and energy allow, researchers can expand the scope for more valid and reliable data Non-specializing students are potential subjects for the research in the same field In addition, the employment of authentic materials to increase students‟ language proficiency can be examined in a particular stage of the lesson, or in a particularly language skill Those are two main directions which future researchers can follow to gain further insight into the field In a nutshell, a summary of the findings, contributions, limitations and research suggestions have been discussed in this chapter It is hoped that teachers and educational administrators can find it a reliable referential source in order to exploit authentic materials more effectively and in a larger scale LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 48 REFERENCES Breen, M.P (1985) Authenticity in the language classroom Applied Linguistics 6/1, pp 60-70 Canale, M and Swain, M (1980) Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1, 1, pp.1- 47 Davies, A (1984) Simple, simplified amd simplication: what is authentic? In Alderson, J.C.& Urquhart, A.H (1984) Reading in a Foreign Language London, Longman pp 181198 Jordan, R.R (1997) English for Academic Purposes: A Guide and Resource for Teachers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press http://www.jrc.sophia.ac.jp/kiyou/ki21/gaio.pdf Mackey, A and Gass S.M (2005) Second language research: Methodology and Design London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Manion, L and Morrison, K (2000) Research methods in education London: Routledgefalmer Martinez, A.G (2002) Authentic Materials: An Overview on Karen‟s Linguistic Issues Retrieved from http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/authenticmaterials.html on November 15, 2009 McDonough, J and Shaw, C (1993) Materials and methods in ELT Oxford: BLACKWELL 10 McGrath, I (2002) Materials Evaluation and design for language teaching Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Ltd 11 Murdoch, Y (1999) Using authentic texts in the language classroom Retrieved from http: // scholar google.com/ on November 15, 2009 12 Nunan, D (1988) The learner-centred curriculum Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 13 Nunan, D (1999) Second language teaching and learning Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle 14 Nuttall C (1996) Teaching Reading Skills in a foreign language (New Edition) Oxford: Heinemann 15 Peacock, M (1997) The Effects of Authentic Materials on the Motivation of EFL Learners ELT Journal 51, p LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 49 16 Richard, J.C (2001) Curriculum Development in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 17 Richards, J.C & Rodgers, T (1986) Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching: A description and analysis Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 18 Shanahan, D (1997) Articulating the relationship between language, literature and culture: Toward a new agenda for foreign language teaching and research The Modern Language Journal, 81 (2), pp 164-174 19 Spelleri, M (2002) From lessons to life: Authentic materials bridge the gap ESL Magazine Retrieved from: http: // www.eslmag.com on December 20, 2009 20 Taylor, D (1994) Inauthentic Authenticity or Authentic Inauthenticity? Retrieved from: http: // www-writing.berkeley.edu/test-ej/ej02/a.1.html on December 20, 2009 21 Wallace, C (1992) Reading Oxford: Oxford University Press 22 Widdowson, H G (1996) Authenticity and autonomy in ELT ELT Journal, 50, pp 6768 23 Wilkins, D (1976) Notional Syllabuses Oxford: Oxford University Press LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 50 APPENDIX STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRE I am Nguyen Danh Hao from K17 - Teacher Development Project, Postgraduate Department - Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies I am conducting a research on “A study on Using Authentic Materials in Teaching English in the Context of Giang High School for Gifted Students” and this questionnaire is an indispensable part of the research Hence, your response is highly appreciated It is assured that the contents of this form are confidential and information identifying the respondent will not be disclosed under any circumstances Please give your answers sincerely to guarantee the success of this research I would like to thank you very much for your cooperation A Personal information  You have been learning English for: …… years  Grade: …………………………  English grade of the previous term: ……… B Questions on using authentic materials in English learning and teaching How frequently your teachers use authentic materials to teach English in the classroom? A Never B Rarely C Sometimes D Often E Always Which types of authentic materials your teachers often use in the classroom? (More than one option can be chosen) A Printed Materials B Audio Materials C Visual Materials D Audio- Visual Materials E Realia (Real Objects) Please tick (√) the materials your teachers often use in the classroom A √ B √ C √ D √ E newspapers songs posters movies toys magazines speeches pictures documentaries masks stories/novels talks postcards radio and TV ads dolls letters conversations stamps broadcasts puppets news news on radio street signs quiz shows √ bills/ receipts Others: (Please specify) ………………………………………………………………… Which language skills your teachers often use authentic materials to develop and how often they use them? LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 51 Frequency Never Rarely Sometimes Often Skills Listening Speaking Reading Writing As far as you can assess, are authentic materials useful in English learning? Please explain A No, not at all useful  B Yes, a little useful C Yes, extremely useful Reasons for Yes: (More than one option can be chosen) Authentic materials: make the lessons more interesting and motivate students to learn English relate more closely to students‟ needs expose students to real language in a real context give authentic cultural information give students a sense of achievement contribute to the development of individual learning style and learner autonomy contain a wide variety of text types, language types, which are not easily found in textbooks lower the degree of anxiety and improve confidence in a real communication situation Other reasons: (Please specify) ……………………………………………………………  Reasons for No: (More than one option can be chosen) Authentic materials: de-motivate students to learn English contain difficult language, unnecessary vocabulary items and complex language structures are time-consuming are unfamiliar and irrelevant in contents not satisfy the desire for passing grammar-focused examinations are too culturally biased, difficult to understand outside the language community Other reasons: (Please specify)… …………………………………………………………… What you think your teachers should to make authentic materials really useful and interesting? LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 52 ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… Do you expect your teachers to use authentic materials more or less in the classroom? ………………………………………………………………………………………………… THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION!  Should you need any clarification, please contact me on 0982 094 866 or via haohuyen.cbg@gmail.com LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 53 APPENDIX TEACHER INTERVIEW I Personal information  Male/ Female …………………  Degree(s) obtained ……………  Working experience: + Years of teaching English: ………………… + Students (specializing students / non-specializing students): ……………… + Working environment (urban/ suburban/rural): ………………………… II Interview questions How often you use authentic materials to develop your students‟ language skills? Why? What kinds of authentic materials you often incorporate in your lessons (printed, audio, visual, audio- visual, realia)? Why? Which language skills are authentic materials often used to develop? Why? Do you find authentic materials effective in developing your students‟ language skills (writing, speaking, reading, and listening)? In what ways you think they are effective? What problems you have in using authentic materials (time, students‟ levels of proficiency, sources of authentic materials, facilities…)? What you or suggest doing to deal with the identified problems in using authentic materials? LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 54 APPENDIX INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (Sample) I Personal information  Male/ Female: Female  Degree(s) obtained: MA in English teaching methodology  Working experience: + Years of teaching English: 20 + Students: English specializing students + Working environment: Urban II Interview (R is short for researcher and I is short for interviewee) R: Good afternoon How are you? I: Hi Thank you R: Thank you for attending the interview today As far as you know I am doing a research on “Using Authentic Materials in Teaching English in the Context of Bac Giang High School for Gifted Students” Now, I would like to seek your opinion on this issue Hope to have your cooperation Please feel free to share the information as your identification will not be disclosed under any circumstances I: Ok Sure! You‟re welcome R: The first question for you is how often you use authentic materials to develop your students‟ language skills? I: Oh! I often it I can say for sure R: Ok Could you please tell me the reasons? I: I can say that there are a lot of reasons for this But let me see….Oh! It is the effectiveness of authentic materials in developing students‟ language skills I think that using authentic materials is an ideal way to contextualize language learning It not only helps lower students‟ degree of anxiety but also improves their confidence in real communication R: What‟s more? I: Authentic materials contain a wide variety of text types and language types which are not easily found in textbooks Therefore, they motivate students to learn English LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 55 R: I see Among five types of authentic materials such as printed materials, audio materials, visual materials, audio- visual materials, and realia (Real Objects), what types you often incorporate in your lessons? And the reasons? I: I often use various types of them, depending on certain contexts, language skills being developed and language knowledge being taught For example, I often use audio, visual, or audio-visual materials to lead in the topics of the lessons or to improve students‟ listening and speaking skills whereas printed materials are often used to increase students‟ ability of writing and reading R: That‟s a good idea Thank you Which language skills you often develop when dealing with authentic materials? I: Under CLT approach, all the four language skills are developed but … I still give preference to reading and writing skills R: Why? I: Of the four skills, reading and writing skills meet students‟ immediate need of learning English - that is passing grammar-focused examinations Do you see my point? R I see According to your observation and evaluation, how effective are authentic materials in developing your students‟ language skills? I: I think authentic materials are quite effective in developing students‟ language skills R: Can you name some reasons why you think they are effective? I: Yes Firstly, they enable students to learn in an environment where they forget that they were actually „learning‟, but communicating Therefore, they motivate students to learn Secondly, authentic materials provide students with the knowledge of the target language culture, politics and society Thirdly, they expose students to a real language in a real context, which helps lower the degree students‟ anxiety and improve their confidence in a real situation Finally, they contribute to the development of individual learning and learner autonomy R: Obviously, using authentic materials is very effective in teaching English as you said However, I am wondering what problems you have in the process of applying them to the classroom I: Oh, yes Despite the effectiveness of using authentic materials in teaching English, some problems often arise R: Can you list some? LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 56 I: The first problem is that using authentic materials takes time For example, pictures take me much time to search, to edit and to prepare In class, using pictures to introduce something new to students is also time-consuming R: Any other problems? I: The limited effectiveness has something to with students Some of the students are of low level of language proficiency and poor background knowledge, I have to admit! When I introduce a printed material and ask students to read and tell the class what it is about, some of them cannot give the answer They explain that the language in the materials is too complicated and sometimes culturally biased Therefore, they cannot make sense of it I: One more problem, sometimes I feel that students not pay much attention their teachers‟ using authentic materials since they think that authentic materials not meet their immediate desire for passing grammar-focused examinations When giving my students authentic texts, I have a feeling that some of them not enjoy the given texts There are a number of reasons, one of which, I guess, is that those texts are not of students‟ immediate needs They seem to pay too much attention to learning English for passing grammar-focused examinations, not for communication Therefore, they often underestimate language skills R: Any problem related to learning and teaching conditions? I: We, as teachers, are well aware of the importance of the application of hi-tech into English language learning and teaching But due to tight budget, we cannot have a set of computer with the internet, projector installed in every class How can my students benefit from the hitech teaching if there are no hi-tech devices in classrooms? We are at great disadvantage R: So you have listed problems including, time constraint, students‟ low level of language proficiency & poor background knowledge, students‟ desire for passing grammar-focused examinations and unsupportive learning & teaching conditions Right? What you to overcome those problems? I: For the first one, time constraint As you know that preparing and adapting authentic materials take us so much time So why don‟t we work together to build banks of authentic materials of different topics and language items Moreover, sharing authentic materials among colleagues is a good way of saving time R: That‟s a good idea Thank you How about dealing with the students‟ low level of language proficiency & poor background knowledge? I: You have to provide students with suitable and comprehensible input by pre-teaching and explaining key language elements or by simplifying the materials, etc Equipping students LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 57 with necessary skills will help students deal with unknown language items, especially lexical ones R: I see How about the third problem, students‟ desire for passing grammar-focused examinations? What you do? I: Pay much attention to material selecting first and then exploit authentic materials effectively and meaningfully in the classroom R What about the current examination system in Vietnam? I: According to CLT approach, grammar-focused examinations, school curriculum, and textbooks are not suitable and need improving Thus, teachers, educational administrators and researchers of the related fields have to work together to find out the most effective way in order to meet students‟ desire for language learning R: The last question With unsupportive learning and teaching conditions, what you to overcome? I: Don‟t wait until the infrastructure is improved Take actions! Try to make full use of what are available to make up for the shortage (Smile) Although we can look on the bright side, we are still in desperate hope that educational reform can bring radical changes to the teaching and learning conditions so that we can gain more success R: Thanks so much for sharing valuable opinions In case there is anything unclear, can I contact you again? I: Sure Don‟t worry! It‟s time I had to go now See later R: Thank you See you soon LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 58 APPENDIX OBSERVATION CHECKLIST Date: 24 Match 2010 Time: 8:20-9:5 (45 minutes) Location: 10 English, Bac Giang High school for Gifted Students Unit: 12- Music - Lesson 2: Listening Participants: 30 students and teacher of English Teacher Students Authentic materials (A.M) - Types of A.M used: printed  / audio  / visual  / audio - visual  / realia  - Language level: ……………………………………………………… - Content: - Students’ participation: + active  / passive  ……………………… familiar  / relevant  / interesting  - Students’ attitudes: Using A.M in teaching English - Skill(s) developed: reading  / writing  / speaking  / listen ing  - When presented: …………………… + interested / bored  …………… …………… - How presented: + Pre-teaching new words/ structures: Yes  / No  + Introduction of topic/ background: Yes  / No  + Statement about purposes: Yes  / No  + Clear instruction: Yes  / No  - Problems: + Knowledge: …………… + Language skills: ……………………… - Tasks/ Activities: + related to the lesson (topic / language focus / skill training): Yes  / No  + related to students‟ life: Yes  / No  + relevant to students‟ needs: Yes  / No  + interesting/ motivating: Yes  / No  Problems (time, learners‟ language level, facilities) ………………………………………………………………………… Solutions …………………………………………………………………… LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 59 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ... suggestions for future research Summary of findings The study delved into the situation of using authentic materials in teaching English in the context of Bac Giang High School for Gifted Students The investigation... language For the above reasons, the researcher decided to investigate the use of authentic materials as supplementary materials in teaching English at the context of Bac Giang High School for Gifted. .. uncertainty in understanding or using target language Finally, authentic materials are available everywhere A vast amount of materials can be accessed on the Internet Teachers can take these materials