VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
***************

PHÙNG THỊ HUYỀN

TEACHERS’AND STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES
ON USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS IN TEACHING ENGLISH:
A SURVEY AT HA NAM TEACHERS’ TRAINING COLLEGE
QUAN ĐIỂM CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VÀ SINH VIÊN VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG
NGỮ LIỆU NGUYÊN GỐC TRONG VIỆC GIẢNG DẠY TIẾNG ANH:
MỘT KHẢO SÁT TẠI TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG SƯ PHẠM HÀ NAM

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111

HANOI - 2017


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
**********************

PHÙNG THỊ HUYỀN

TEACHERS’AND STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES
ON USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS IN TEACHING ENGLISH:

encouragement and support of a number of people.
First and foremost, I am thankful to to my supervisor, Dr. Lê Văn Canh
for his never – ending support and valuable guidance during this process.
Without his continual interest and encouragement, this thesis would not have
been completed.
Second, I would like to take the chance to express my great attitude to
our teachers at the Faculty of Postgraduate Studies of Vietnam National
University, University of Languages and International Studies for providing
with the precious knowledge from their practical and helpful lectures.
Besides, I greatly appreciate my colleagues and the participants in my
research because of their generosity in giving me time and suggestion.
Finally, I wish to thank my families, without whose love and support
this study could hardly become a reality.

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ABSTRACT
This study provides an overview of the current literature and a survey
of teachers’ and students’ perspectives on using authentic materials. This
paper mainly aims to (1) explore teachers’ perceptions towards the
advantages and challenges of the use of authentic materials, (2) explore
students’ perceptions towards the use of authentic materials, and (3)
investigate the difference between learners’ and teachers’ perspectives on
authentic materials. There were 93 students and 11 teachers participating in
the study. Findings from the descriptive statistics and content analysis were
analyzed based on the questionnaire and semi- structured interview. The
results of the study suggested that the general perspectives of the
participants on authentic materials were strongly positive. The study
concludes with some implications for classroom use and further research.

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1. 1. Rationale …………………………………………………………………...

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1.2. Objectives of the research…………………………………………...

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1.3. Research questions………………………………………………….. 10
1.4. Organization of the study…………………………………………… 10
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Definition: What are authentic materials?.....................................

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2.2. Advantages of using authentic materials in teaching English

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2.2.1. Developing language skills………………………………………..

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2.2.2. Exposing learners to real language ……………………………….. 16
2.2.3. Motivations ……………………………………………………….. 17
2.2.4. Developing intercultural communicative competence……………. 18
2.3. Challenges of using authentic materials in teaching English
2.4.


3.3.1. Cronbach alpha ……………………………………………………

27

3.3.2. The reliability of students‟ questionnaire ………………………… 28
3.4. Data collection ……………………………………………………... 29
3.5. Data Analysis ………………………………………………………. 29
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
4.1. Results ……………………………………………………………... 30
4.1.1. The results of students’ questionnaire ………………………… 30
4.1.1. 1. Students‟ perspectives on the benefits of using authentic
material .....................................................................................................
4.1.1. 2. Students‟ perspectives on the challenges of using authentic
materials………………………………………………………………….

30
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4.1.1.3. Students‟ perspectives on how to use authentic materials

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4.2. Interview results

33

4.2.1. Teachers‟ interviews ……………………………………………..

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LIST OF ABBRIVIATION
EFL : English as Foreign Language
HTTC: Ha Nam Teachers‟ Training College

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the rationale, objectives, research questions,
scope, and methods of the study. Also, it presents the structure of the study.
1.1. Rationale
Teaching materials play an important role in teaching learning process.
According to Grave (2000), using materials is identified as one of the most
important aspects in designing a language course. For this reason, teachers
rely on a different range of materials to support their teaching and their
students learning. There has been considerable discussion about the use of
authentic materials and demand for authentic material is getting stronger.
Authentic materials have proved useful in fulfilling the goal of
communication of learning foreign languages and the needs of the students. In
addition, these materials facilitate and support the teaching-learning process.
Epstein & Ormiston (2007) believe that a teaching material is a tangible factor
which a teacher can use to deliver instruction and assist students in learning
and acquiring a language.
It is believed that using authentic materials correspond the mastery of
four skills, make students to produce grammatical


materials on a daily basis and know what works and what does not. In my
study, I will take into account teachers‟ and students‟perspectives and make
differences between them with a view to draw reliable conclusions on the
matter of the use of authentic materials in the foreign language classrooms.
1.2. Objectives of the research
Objectives of this study are:


To explore teachers‟ perspectives on the use of authentic materials.



To explore students‟ perspectives on the use of authentic materials.



To identify the differences between teachers‟ and students‟

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perspectives toward the use of authentic materials, if any.
1.3. Research questions
Base on the objectives of the study, the study try to look for answers to
the following questions:
1. What do teachers think of the benefits and challenges of authentic
materials to students‟ learning?
2. What do students think of the benefits and challenges of authentic
materials to their learning?
3. Is there a gap between teachers‟ and students‟ perspectives on

In this chapter, a brief review of the literature related to the use of
authentic materials teaching English will be presented. The review will
include a brief discussion of definition of authentic materials, the advantages
and challenges of the use of authentic materials, teachers‟and students‟
perspectives toward authentic materials and some previous studies.
2.1. Definition: What are authentic materials?
A number of authors have given different definitions of authentic
materials. However, they have one feature in common: these are materials
not designed for the purpose of learning a foreign language.
Nunan (1989, as cited in Adams, 1995) refers to authentic materials as
any material that has not been specifically produced for the purpose of
language teaching.
Little et al (1988) define authentic materials as those that have been
produced to fulfill some social purpose in the language community in which
they were produced.
Bacon and Finnemann (1990) define authentic materials as texts
produced by native speakers for non-pedagogical purposes.
Gardner and Miller (1999) explain that authentic materials means any
texts (printed or digital) or tape which is produced for a purpose other than
teaching the target language. Similarly, Lee (1995) states that a text is
usually regarded as textually authentic if it is not written for teaching
purposes, but for a real life communicative purpose, where the writer has a

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certain massage to pass on to the reader. In this sense, students are expected to
expose the real language used by native speaker.
Textbooks or course books are the main materials in curriculums and
authentic materials do not replace them. However, authentic materials can be

2.2.1. Developing language skills
It is acknowleged that authentic materials can help in the acquisition of
the four macroabilities. In fact, many studies revealed that the use of
authentic materials helps improve language skills for the students at
all levels. Herron and Seay (1991) also supported the use of authentic
materials for teaching language skills. In this respect, Harmer (2001)
believes that, despite many textbooks‟ use of non-authentic materials to
practice specific language points, only authentic materials will „genuinely‟
improve listening and reading skills.
Ur (1984) argues that exposure to authentic speech affects second
language students to learn best that which has been planned, taking to
improve students‟ability in speaking. Moody (1984) highlights that training
in the implementation of speaking can be done in a language classroom
by teachers who have a wide range of knowledge in using authentic
materials.
Authentic materials are proved to be beneficial to teaching
listening skills. Studies, such as Miller (2005) and Thanajaro (2000),
have shown the use of authentic materials which lead to aural language
development. In addition, Otte (2006) studied the impact of aural
authentic texts on listening comprehension abilities of adult ESL
students of an American university. He found that exposure to authentic
materials would lead to better listening comprehension abilities and
motivation of the language learners. It is clear that the authentic listening
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materials have some features which are useful for students in developing
listening comprehension skills. These features can be listed such as real
communication, hesitations, the use of phrasal verbs, idioms, and
colloquial words, false starts, empty pauses, the speed of speech and the

An argument that has typically been used to back authentic materials is
that they help exposing learners to real language. Authentic materials provide
language learners with models of target-like language use and help learners to
interact the real language. Language learners feel that they are learning a
language in real life situation outside the classroom. This can promote their
ability for using the language in real life situations as they will become
acquainted with the active use of the target language (Hyland, 2003). In
addition, Melvin and Stout (1987) state that learners who work with authentic
materials have an interest in the language that is based on what they know it
can do for them in the future. This can lower the degree of anxiety when
learners face new situations in the target language (Moya, 2000). Nunan
(1999) explained this could be realized by bringing the content and subject
matter to their life and enable them making the important connections
between the classroom world and the outside world.
Authentic materials are considered by Peacock (1997) as a bridge
between the classroom and the real world. Moreover, authentic books, articles
and newspapers contain a wide variety of text types, language styles not easily
found in conventional teaching materials. This can encourage reading for
pleasure especially if students are involved in selecting the topics or kinds of
authentic materials to be used in class.
According to Brinton (1991), authentic materials can strengthen the
direct relationship between the language classroom and the outside world for
students. Gebhard (1996) considered authentic materials as a way to
contextualize

language

learning.

When

enjoyable. In addition, the use of authentic materials in the classroom can
motivate the students because there are three layers of learning that are:
language learning (the structure and vocabulary), cultural insight, and practical
application.
Tomlinson (2012) advocates that authentic materials can motivate
learners and help them develop a range of communicative competencies and
enhance positive attitudes towards the learning of a language.
Do (2011) found that using authentic materials is one way to effectively
increase university student's motivation in foreign language courses.

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Nuttall (1996) points out that, “authentic texts can be motivating
because they are proof that the language is used for real-life purposes by real
people.”
It may be concluded that students make use of authentic materials not
only by learning how to use the language in the real world but also by
mastering the linguistic knowledge and cultural knowledge of the target
language. Therefore, authentic materials with real-world language and contact
with culture of the target language can, at its best, make learning enjoyable
and motivating.
2.2.4. Developing intercultural communicative competence
Another advantage of incorporating authentic materials in the
language curriculum is the way they provide a meaningful context for
raising awareness of cultural issues. Using authentic materials in teaching
culture is a great motivational factor and it helps learners to recognize that
there is a community of users who live their lives in this other language.
Cruz (2010) quotes from Kramsch (1998) that it is important to be
aware that culture in language learning is not an expendable fifth skill; it is

too difficult for foreign language learners because authentic materials are used
for communicating and informing in the society, thus they might use some
abbreviation, slang or informal words. Besides, the content of the text
sometimes is not appropriate for the students.
However, concerning the challenges of using authentic materials,
Guariento and Morley (2001) assert that such difficulties can be overcome by
designing tasks that require only partial comprehension. In order to avoid the

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disadvantages, the teacher should be selective in choosing the materials before
delivering them to the students. Teachers should consider the suitability and
the readability of the text. Additionally, in teaching and learning process, the
teacher guided the students in understanding the text and also in finding the
difficult words. To help the students cope with the materials, the difficulties
that the students found in the text were discussed together with the whole
member of the class.
The difficulties associated with authentic materials did not have a
significant impact on participants‟ use of such materials. It was also suggested
that a successful authentic materials lesson requires broader knowledge of the
target language, which calls for training to raise teachers‟ language awareness,
particularly with regard to the use of authentic materials for ELT. Teachers
can often anticipate problems and deal with these when they plan authentic
materials. For example, difficult cultural information can be dealt with
when leading in to an authentic text and longer texts can be edited to
accommodate lesson time.
To sum up, although there is still the existence of some disadvantages,
the advantages of authentic materials are more than disadvantages. Using
authentic materials in language classes will bring lively educational

materials.
From a teacher‟s perspective, using authentic texts in the classroom is
time consuming, because it is not always easy to find appropriate authentic
texts and risky, because it is not always possible to predict how students will
react to the texts. Even more challenging than locating and modifying texts
was the process of finding ways in which the students could themselves
responding an authentic manner to what they had read.

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Furthermore, almost all students give positive responses through the
use of the authentic materials. Dealing with motivation, the students do not
feel learning English as a frightened and boring subject since the learning
atmosphere in classroom is more joyful (Young, 2003 as cited in Su, 2008:
Tarnopolsky and Degriatiova, 2003). Therefore , their motivations increase
and the interaction among the students and the teachers are also built and
developed well (Kelly et.al, 2002). In regard to the functions of authentic
materials as teaching aids, authentic visual materials such as video, pictures,
and realia benefit to students learning (Byrne, 1995; Brown, 2001). Those
media can attract and motivate the students and catch their attention.
In the survey carried by Chavez, the findings reveal that learners enjoy
dealing with authentic materials since they enable them to interact with the
real language and its use. Also they do not consider authentic situations or
materials innately difficult. However, learners state that they need pedagogical
support from especially in listening situations and when reading literary texts
such as the provision of a full range of cues.
One of the most important and essential tools in foreign language
teaching and learning are the materials used during the lessons. The
materials can have a significant effect on the language learners‟ motivation,

coursebooks because they find them sufficiently interesting or challenging.
Specially designed class- room materials that are put into the Moodle by the
teacher also offer opportunities for various activities in lesson planning for
teaching, listening, speaking, reading and writing. Another important aspect of
supplementary materials is that they facilitate the teacher‟s creativity.
However, there are advantages and disadvantages to using only coursebooks
or only specially prepared classroom materials, and both - coursebooks and

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