Authenticity in Materials Development for Language Learning [1 ed.] 9781527504271, 9781443879507

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Authenticity in Materials Development for Language Learning

Authenticity in Materials Development for Language Learning Edited by

Alan Maley and Brian Tomlinson

Authenticity in Materials Development for Language Learning Edited by Alan Maley and Brian Tomlinson This book first published 2017 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2017 by Alan Maley, Brian Tomlinson and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-7950-9 ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-7950-7



CONTENTS

Contributors ............................................................................................... vii Preface ...................................................................................................... viii Brian Tomlinson Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 Brian Tomlinson Chapter One ............................................................................................... 10 ‘Authenticity 2.0’: Reconceptualising ‘Authenticity’ in the Digital Era Freda Mishan Chapter Two .............................................................................................. 25 Introducing Curriculum Authenticity Bazma Bouziri Chapter Three ............................................................................................ 44 Principled Application of Authenticity as an Alternative Teaching Paradigm for Pakistani ESL Classrooms Asma Aftab Chapter Four .............................................................................................. 65 A Discussion of Global Englishes and Materials Development Claudia Saraceni Chapter Five .............................................................................................. 84 Amir Hossein Sarkeshikian - Teacher Authenticity and Emergent Classroom Needs: The Case of EFL in Iran Chapter Six .............................................................................................. 101 How Do Writers Evaluate Potentially Usable Authentic Materials? Tony Waterman



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Contents

Chapter Seven.......................................................................................... 119 ELT Textbook Evaluation: The Philosophy-Based Language Teaching Approach Sasan Baleghizadeh and Zahra Javidanmehr Chapter Eight ........................................................................................... 140 Evaluating Authenticity in Spoken Discourse: The Case of Português XXI 1 Sofia Martinho Chapter Nine............................................................................................ 158 Soap Operas as Models of Authentic Conversations: Implications for Materials Design Christian Jones Chapter Ten ............................................................................................. 176 Purposeful Sampling of the Use of Authentic EAP Teaching and Learning Materials in a South African University Setting Junia Ngoepe Chapter Eleven ........................................................................................ 192 Authentic Materials to Fulfil Workplace Requirements for Vietnamese Graduates Vo Thi Hong Le Chapter Twelve ....................................................................................... 212 ‘Gone with the Wind’ as Text in the Integrated English Course in China: Voices from the Teacher and the Students Yi Yong Chapter Thirteen ...................................................................................... 229 Teachers’ Use of Materials for Cultural Elements Lessons through Coursebooks in EFL Classrooms Saw Thanda Swe Chapter Fourteen ..................................................................................... 247 Authentic Video: Using a Text-Driven Approach Marie McCullagh Conclusion ............................................................................................... 260 Alan Maley





CONTRIBUTORS

Asma Aftab (The University of Birmingham) Sasan Baleghizadeh (Shahid Beheshti University, Iran) Bazma Bouzira (Universite Catholique de Louvain, Belgium) Zahra Javidanmehr (Shahid Beheshti University, Iran) Christian Jones (The University of Liverpool) Vo Thi Hong Le (The University of Portsmouth) Alan Maley (Freelance) Marie McCullagh. (The University of Portsmouth) Sofia Martinho (The University of Leeds) Freda Mishan (The University of Limerick) Junia Ngoepe (The University of Limpopo) Claudia Saraceni (The University of Bedfordshire) Amir Hossein Sarkeshikian (Islamic Azad University, Qom, Iran) Saw Thanda Swe (The University of Essex) Brian Tomlinson (The University of Liverpool, Shanghai International Studies University, Anaheim University) Tony Waterman (The Royal Air Force of Oman) Yi Yong (Changzhou University, China)





PREFACE BRIAN TOMLINSON

This book is a development from the MATSDA/University of Liverpool Conference on Authenticity and L2 Materials Development held at the University of Liverpool on June 18th-19th, 2016. MATSDA (www.matsda.org) is an international materials development association which I founded in 1993 to bring together researchers, teachers, materials developers and publishers in a joint effort to improve the effectiveness of language learning materials. We publish a journal, Folio, we run materials development workshops and we organise international conferences on specific themes related to significant themes and issues in the field of materials development. The 2016 Conference focused on issues related to authenticity in materials development and attracted presenters from twenty eight countries around the world. Some of the papers focused on defining what authenticity means and involves, some on questions about the value of authenticity in facilitating language acquisition and competence, some on ways of resourcing and utilising authentic texts, some on ways of developing authentic tasks and some on achieving cultural authenticity, contextual authenticity and learner authenticity. These topics are reflected in the papers in this volume, with each one focusing on a different aspect of authenticity and many of them introducing the reader to previously unexplored facets of authenticity. They are sequenced so that the book moves from general discussion about the value of authenticity to reports of evaluations of authenticity to reports of the exploitation of authenticity in specific learning contexts. Many questions are raised, a lot of revealing data is reported and many suggestions are made. The chapters in this book have been written so that they are of potential value to teachers, to materials developers and to researchers. They are written to be academically rigorous but at the same time to be accessible to newcomers to the field and to experienced experts alike.



INTRODUCTION BRIAN TOMLINSON

Authenticity has been a frequent and hotly debated topic ever since materials development became a focus of research attention. If you google ‘authenticity in language learning’, you will find page after page of articles, chapters, quotations and blogs about authenticity stretching back, for example to Rivers and Temperley (1978) and Littlewood (1981). You will also find reference to two substantial volumes which are devoted to the investigation of authenticity in materials for language learning, Mishan (2005) and Gilmore (2007b). Mishan (2005) gives a detailed account of the history of the debate about authenticity and offers a thorough and principled rationale for the use of authentic materials. The debate has very much focused on the characteristics and the potential value (or otherwise) of authenticity with most attention being given to authentic texts and authentic tasks. However in recent years the debate has widened into a consideration of other aspects of authenticity such as curriculum authenticity and learner authenticity. All these new perspectives are reflected in the chapters in this volume in ways which make it both a comprehensive review of current research and theory related to the role of authenticity in materials development for language learning and a collection of research reports and position statements from both newcomers to and experts in the field.

Text Authenticity If we consider a text to be a spoken or written representation of a language in use we will see that most coursebooks (and digital materials) from the very early days until now feature texts which cannot be said to be authentic because the language is not being primarily used for communication (the stock definition of authenticity of text). Instead the language is being deliberately contrived to help the learner to learn the language. The justification often given for this is that such simplification and contrivance enables the learner to focus on a specific and repeated target feature thus enhancing their opportunities for learning it. However,

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Introduction

as Tomlinson and Masuhara (2017, p. 31) say, “this contradicts what is known about how languages are acquired and … does not prepare them for the reality of language use outside the classroom”. They refer to such researchers as Little et al. (1994), Bacon and Finneman (1990), Kuo (1993), McGarry (1995), Wong, Kwok and Choi (1995), Nuttall (1996), Mishan (2005), Gilmore (2007a, 2007b), Rilling and Dantas-Whitney (2009) and Tomlinson (2013a, 2013b, 2016) who argue that authentic texts “can provide the rich and meaningful exposure to language in use which is a pre-requisite for language acquisition” (Tomlinson and Masuhara, 2017, p. 31). Some of these researchers and others also claim that such exposure can (but does not always) motivate learners, that it can contribute to the learners developing a range of communicative competencies and that it can help to develop positive attitudes towards the learning of the language used in the texts. For example, Wong, Kwok and Choi (1995) claim that “authentic materials can help us to achieve the aims of enriching students’ experiences in the learning and use of English, sensitizing them to the use of English in the real world …” (1995, p. 318). I would add though that the potential value of authentic texts is only likely to be realised if the texts are relevant and engaging for the learners and if the learners’ exposure is to a wide range of genres and text types. A number of researchers have compared data from sources of authentic language use with data from coursebooks and have been critical of the lack of authentic texts in the coursebooks, for example, Cullen and Kuo (2007), Lam (2010) and Timmis (2010). Tomlinson (2010b) compares data indicating how people typically get others to help them do something (e.g. by using “If you can …”) with data showing how textbooks usually teach learners to do this (e.g. by using the imperative) and Cohen and Ishihara (2013) report numerous studies which indicate how unreliable intuition based materials can be. Not all researchers advocate the use of authentic materials. For example, Widdowson (1984, 2000), Yano, Long and Ross (1994); Day and Bamford (1998), Ellis (1999), Guariento and Morley (2001), Day (2003) and Brown and Menasche (2006) point out that authentic materials can be difficult to understand for learners (especially those at lower levels) and they advocate sometimes constructing texts which simplify and focus understanding and learning. Widdowson (1984, p. 218) asserts that “pedagogic presentation of language … necessarily involves methodological contrivance which isolates features from their natural surroundings”, Ellis (1999, p. 68) argues for “enriched input” which has been deliberately flooded with examples of a target structure for use in a meaning focused activity, Day (2003, p. 2) opposes the ‘Cult of

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Authenticity’ and Brown and Menasche (2006) advocate gradually increasing the degree of text authenticity as learners progress. Moore (2014) suggests preparing students to read EAP texts in the real world by first helping them by, for example, introducing the content of a long authentic text through short key sentences, by abridging long texts and by removing complex examples. I think you can actually find and develop authentic texts which are both comprehensible and engaging for lower level learners but I do sometimes introduce demanding written texts by reporting them orally and focusing on impact before inviting learners to read them. A number of researchers have presented data investigating the similarities between language used in films, tv soaps and tv sitcoms with that used in ‘natural’ data. For example, Tatsuki (2006) presented data from numerous sources showing many similarities in use between the pragmatic use of language in films and language in ‘natural’ data and Jones in Chapter 9 of this volume presents data justifying the use of soap operas as models of authentic conversations. Other chapters in this volume focusing on authentic texts are Martinho in Chapter 8 (conversational texts), Ngoepe in Chapter 10 (EAP texts), Yong in Chapter 12 (Gone with the Wind as an authentic text) and McCullagh in Chapter 14 (videos of authentic doctor/patient interviews).

Task Authenticity An authentic task is usually considered to be one in which the learners perform a real life task which is meaning focussed, has a communicative purpose and aims to achieve intended effects. So persuading someone to donate money to a charity, designing and advertising a C6 vehicle which is cheap, easy to maintain and safe, and making a telephone booking for a hotel room are authentic tasks. Using a given set of adjectives to describe a picture, changing direct to reported speech in a story and using the passive to report an accident are not. An authentic task needs a context, addressees, a reason for communicating and a purpose for communicating. However it has been argued that no task can really be authentic in the classroom because of the artificiality of it being located in an environment created primarily for the purposes of learning. I would say that there are three kinds of authentic tasks. One is the task which meets the conditions for authenticity specified above and which is carried out outside the classroom without any teacher contribution (e.g. actually buying a ticket from a real booking office), another is the task which replicates in the classroom a real life task (e.g. developing a tv advert for a specified

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Introduction

product) and the third is a pedagogic task which requires the use of ‘real life’ skills or strategies to achieve a purpose unlikely to be aimed at outside the classroom (e.g. a group reproduction of the drawing of a building seen and reported only by one member of the group). All three types can be useful in preparing learners for the reality of communication outside and after their course. Whether such inauthentic tasks as using a given set of adjectives to describe a picture provides such preparation is debatable. Chapter 11 in this volume by Junia Ngoepe, Chapter 12 by Vo Thi Hong Le and Chapter 14 by Marie McCullagh focus in particular on the use of authentic tasks in the classroom in preparation for the real life tasks which their students will need to perform when they have completed their course.

Curriculum Authenticity One unfortunate consequence of many attempts at innovation in materials development has been a glaring mismatch between the materials and the curriculum which teachers are expected to follow. This often leads to inauthentic adaptation of the materials in order to achieve curriculum authenticity (see, for example, Thomas and Reinders, 2015). On a coursebook project I was involved with in Namibia (Tomlinson, 1995) we achieved curriculum authenticity by following a text-driven approach which made use of authentic texts from many genres and text types and authentic tasks which emerged organically from the texts. I told the 30 writers to ignore the Curriculum but every night I ticked off the curriculum items we had covered and after six days we had written a new national textbook which achieved text and task authenticity whilst achieving over 90% curriculum authenticity too. On the last day I consulted a Ministry official and we agreed that some of the curriculum items which we had not covered were trivial and should be deleted from the Curriculum and that others should be included in the units as ‘authentically’ as possible. Chapter 2 in this volume by Bazma Bouziri explores the issue of curriculum authenticity.

Learner and Teacher Authenticity Materials which seem authentic to the developer and to the teacher might not achieve authenticity with the learners because they do not enjoy them, understand them, consider them relevant or consider them useful. It could be said therefore that it is not the text or the task which is authentic but the

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learner’s interaction with it Breen (1985, p. 61) focuses on “the authenticity of the learner’s own interpretation” and Lee says, “learner authenticity” is only possible if learners feel positive about the materials and react to them as was pedagogically intended (Lee, 1995, p. 323, cited in Tatsuki, 2006). The same can be said for teachers. If they feel that the so called authentic materials they are required to use are not relevant, interesting or useful then they are unlikely to be able to provide the conviction and energy needed to achieve classroom authenticity when using them. This is an issue investigated by Amir Hossein Sarkeshikian in Chapter 5. Prodromou (1992) and Trabelsi (2010) explore the issue of authenticity of materials in connection with the learners’ culture. What might be perceived as authentic in the UK or the USA might not be perceived as authentic, for example, in Prodromous’ Greece or Trabelsi’s Tunisia. Also what is authentic for one learner in a particular context might be perceived as inauthentic by a different learner in the same context.

Context Authenticity The situation in many classrooms around the world is that a coursebook is being used which has not been developed to meet the needs and wants of the learners in that classroom. It might achieve authenticity in its target classrooms but in the other classrooms which it is used in it might be perceived as culturally alien, as pedagogically unsuitable and as irrelevant to the learning and examination objectives of the learners. This lack of context authenticity was reported by many of the teachers whose use of coursebooks I surveyed in Tomlinson (2010a) and it is the main factor that many of the writers in a survey of the implementation of task-based materials by Thomas and Reinders (2015 ) blamed for the weakening of task-based materials by teachers in Asian classrooms. Trabelsi (2010) is one of many researchers who make a case for context authenticity when he advocates providing university students in Tunisia with materials which are authentic because they “are tailored to the learners’ profile and are suitable to the stakeholders’ … expectations and demands” (116).

Theoretical Authenticity Another type of authenticity to receive attention these days is theoretical authenticity. This reflects a concern with the materials achieving consistent adherence with a principled and evidence-driven theory.

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Introduction

Whenever I develop materials or guide others to do so I make use of a flexible text-driven framework which is informed by second language acquisition principles of rich exposure, affective engagement, cognitive engagement, opportunities for noticing and discovery and opportunities for communicative use (Tomlinson, 2013c). Chapter 7 in this volume by Sasan Baleghizadeh and Zahra Javidanmehr advocates achieving theoretical authenticity through using a philosophy-based approach.

Conclusion I hope that this introduction has whetted your appetite for the chapters which follow. In addition to the ones mentioned already there are chapters exploring the issues raised by the concept of authenticity (e.g. Chapter 1 by Freda Mishan and Chapter 3 by Asma Aftab), chapters considering the evaluation of authenticity in materials (e.g. Chapter 6 by Tony Waterman and Chapter 7 by Sasan Baleghizadeh and Zahra Javidanmehr ) and a chapter exploring the relationship between the concept of global English and the concept of authenticity (Chapter 4 by Claudia Saraceni). All the chapters ask important questions about authenticity in materials development for language learning and they all make recommendations which are well worth considering. I would like to end this Introduction though by making a point which is not made in any of the chapters. What is considered authentic in design because it is seen as representative of how the target language is typically used and because it meets the conditions for authenticity specified above might not be perceived as authentic in action or in reflection. It could be that when learners are responding to an authentic text or are carrying out an authentic task (i.e. authenticity in action) they do not understand the text, they focus on micro-processing the text by decoding it word by word, they are not engaged by the text, they perform the task in their L1 or they do not perceive the relevance or value of the materials. In such cases materials which were apparently authentic in design are not authentic in action. It could also be that when learners reflect on authentic materials they have used they cannot remember much about them, they consider them to have been irrelevant or not engaging or they do not think they have gained anything from them. In such cases materials which were considered to be authentic in design are not authentic in reflection. “The ideal is therefore for the designers to try to ensure that their materials achieve authenticity in design, in use and in reflection.” (Tomlinson & Masuhara, 2017, p. 33).

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References Bacon, S.M. & Finneman, M. D. (1990). A study of the attitudes, motives and strategies of university foreign language students and their disposition to authentic oral and written input. Modern Language Journal 74 (4), 459í473. Breen, M. (1985). Authenticity in the language classroom. Applied Linguistics 6(1), 60-70. Brown, S. & Menasche, L. (2006). Defining authenticity. Accessed July 29, 2006 at http:www.as.ysu.edu?~english/BrownMenasche.doc Cohen, A. D. & Ishihara, N. (2013). Pragmatics. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Applied linguistics and materials development (pp. 113-126). London: Bloomsbury. Cullen, R. & Kao, I. C. (2007). Spoken grammar and ELT course materials: a missing link? TESOL Quarterly 41, 361-386. Day, R. (2003). Authenticity in the design and development of materials. In W. A. Renandya (Ed.), Methodology and materials design in language teaching (pp.1-11). Singapore: SEAMEO Regional Language Centre. Day, R. & Bamford, J. (1998). Extensive reading in the second language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ellis, R. (1999). Input based approaches to teaching grammar: a review of classroom oriented research. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 19, 64í80. Gilmore, A. (2007a). Authentic materials and authenticity in foreign language learning. Language Teaching 40, 97í118. —. (2007b). Getting real in the language classroom: developing Japanese students' communicative competence with authentic materials. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Nottingham. Guariento, W. & Morleym J. (2001). Text and task authenticity in the EFL classroom. ELT Journal 55(4), 347-353. Kuo, C. H. (1993). Problematic issues in ESP materials development. English for Specific Purposes 12, 171í181. Lam, P. W. Y. (2010). Discourse particles in corpus data and textbooks: the case of well. Applied Linguistics 31 (2), 260í81. Little, B. L., Devitt, L. S. & Singleton, D. (1989). Learning foreign languages from authentic texts. Dublin: Authentik Language Learning Resources Ltd. Littlewood, W. T. (1981). Communicative language teaching: An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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McGarry, D. (1995). Learner autonomy 4: the role of authentic texts. Dublin: Authentik Language Learning Resources Ltd. Mishan, F. (2005). Designing authenticity into language learning materials. Bristol: Intellect. Rilling, S. & Dantas-Whitney, M. (Eds.). (2009). Authenticity in the language classroom and beyond: adult learners. Alexandria, Virginia: TESOL. Nuttall, C. (1996). Teaching reading skills in a foreign language. Oxford: Macmillan. Prodromou, L. (1992). What culture? Which culture? ELT Journal 46(1), 39í50. Rivers, W.M. & Temperley, M. S. (1978). A practical guide to the teaching of English as a second language. New York: Oxford University Press. Tatsuki, D. (2006). Authentic communication. Proceedings of the 5th Annual JALT Pan-SIG Conference, Tokai University College of Marine Science, Shizuoka, May 13-14, 2006, 1-15. Thomas, M. & Reinders, H. (Eds.). (2015). Contemporary task-based language teaching in Asia. London: Bloomsbury. Timmis, I. (2010) Teachers telling tales: Exploring materials for teaching language. In F. Mishan & A. Chambers (Eds.), Perspectives on language learning materials development (pp. 63-86). Bern: Peter Lang. Tomlinson, B. (1995). Work in progress. Folio 2(2), 26-30. —. (2010a). What do teachers think about EFL coursebooks? Modern English Teacher 19(4), 5í9. —. (2010b). Helping learners to fill the gaps in their learning. In F. Mishan & A. Chambers (Eds.), Perspectives on language learning materials development (pp. 87-108). Bern: Peter Lang. —. (2013a). Humanizing the coursebook. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Developing materials for language teaching (2nd ed., pp. 139-156). London: Continuum. —. (2013b). Applied linguistics and materials development. London: Bloomsbury. —. (2013c). Developing principled frameworks for materials development. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Developing materials for language teaching (pp. 96-118). London: Bloomsbury. —. (2016). Achieving a match between SLA theory and materials development. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), SLA research and materials development for language learning (pp. 3-22). New York: Routledge.

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Tomlinson, B. & Masuhara, H. (2017). The complete guide to the theory and practice of materials development for language learning. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell. Trabelsi, S. (2010). Developing and trialling authentic materials for business English students at a Tunisian university. In B. Tomlinson & H. Masuhara (Eds.), Research for materials development in language learning: Evidence for best practice (pp. 103í120). London: Continuum. Widdowson, H. G. (1984). Explorations in applied linguistics 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press. —. (2000). On the limitations of linguistics applied. Applied Linguistics 21(1), 3í25. Wong, V., Kwok, P. & Choi, N. (1995). The use of authentic materials at tertiary level. ELT Journal 49(4), 318í322. Yano Y., Long, M. H. & Ross, S. (1994). The effects of simplified and elaborated texts on foreign language comprehension. Language Learning 44(2), 189í212.

CHAPTER ONE ‘AUTHENTICITY 2.0’: RECONCEPTUALISING ‘AUTHENTICITY’ IN THE DIGITAL ERA FREDA MISHAN

Introduction As language use today moves increasingly into digital fora - social media, social networking and so on, accompanied by an internationalization of English, the language most associated with the Internet, the concept of 'authenticity' becomes ever more evasive. In this chapter, it will be suggested that one route for achieving authenticity in today’s language learning environment can be found, ironically perhaps, in the work of predigital theorists such as Van Lier (e.g. 1996). Van Lier maintained that authenticity was not intrinsic to learning materials themselves but was a factor of the learners' engagement with them and of the tasks enacted with them. In this chapter, I will demonstrate that this conception of authenticity is a perfect fit for the digital era, where more and more of the language use is in interaction on a plethora of different media and applications. I will argue therefore that it is to interaction – and its pedagogical realization ‘task’ - that we should turn, for our 'authenticity 2.0'.

Defining Authenticity In order to understand how this evolution has occurred, it is useful first of all to look briefly at the historical development of the elusive concept of ‘authenticity’ and its significance for language pedagogy. Authenticity is not, and never has been, an absolute concept. It is even less so today, due to how entangled our lives are with the media, be these traditional; radio and television, or the newer social media. In general discourse, ‘the gap between

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the genuine and the convincing representation’ is commonly elided because ‘so much of our knowledge and interaction with our social surroundings is mediated by television or by the virtual reality of computer-based communication’ (Seargeant, 2005, p. 330). In fact, as Seargeant argues, the use of the term ‘authentic’ in today’s parlance most often means ‘the appearance of genuineness’ (as in product descriptions like ‘authentic home-cooked taste’ ‘authentic Thai cuisine’). It is useful to bear this in mind as we refine the concept through the prism of the technologies that mediate so much of today’s language learning. Even in a pre-digital age, of course, theorists grappled with the ‘illusion’ of authenticity; ‘authenticity is a term which creates confusion because of a basic ambiguity’, Widdowson argued (1983, p. 30). Even Widdowson could never have predicted how ‘confusing’ and ‘ambiguous’ the term was to become. Such proclamations as Widdowson’s heralded the so-called ‘authenticity debate’ enacted over the course of the following three decades in works such as Breen (1985), Hutchinson and Waters (1987), Bachman (1990), Lee (1995), Widdowson himself (e.g. 1996, 1998) and Mishan (2005). The vacillations of the debate notwithstanding, Widdowson’s famous early distinction between ‘genuineness’; a characteristic of the text and its provenance, and ‘authenticity’; ‘the relationship between the [text] and the reader … which has to do with appropriate response’ (Widdowson, 1979, p. 80) have remained useful touchstones. However, the parameters of each - that is, genuineness referring to ‘text’ and authenticity referring to activity – have expanded, as I now plan to demonstrate, due to the affordances of the online media in which language learners – and we as a society as a whole - operate. This shift in parameters is most evident with regard to the notion of text ‘genuineness’, in terms of this referring to ‘attested instances of language use’ (Widdowson, 1983, p. 30). Even before the internet became society’s default information resource, the advent of corpora (in the 1990s), (electronic databases of language comprising hundreds of millions of ‘attested’ language use fed from newspapers, novels, transcripts of spoken dialogues and the like), precipitated stormy debate that hinged on context as a factor of authenticity. It was argued by some (notably, Widdowson, 2000, 2001, Cook, 1998), that massing language that had come from thousands of different sources and contexts into a single interface defiles authenticity ‘this is decontextualized language, which is why it is only partially real’ (Widdowson, 2000, p. 7). The same can be argued, a hundredfold, about the internet – a uniform interface containing millions of ‘texts’ ranging from ancient works, to the literary ‘canon’, to recorded casual interactions, to photographs and images, newspapers archives and news reports. It is a

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truism that access to this environment has ‘desensitised’ us to a degree. This could be interpreted as the interface itself and the capacity for repeated viewing and replaying, ‘de-authenticating’ the material. It is to resolve this quandary that I move away from defining authenticity in terms of ‘genuineness’, or context of production (Cook’s criterion, 1998), opting for ‘authenticity’ as the Widdowson and Van Lier notion of response and interaction, and this will be developed in the main part of this chapter. First though, the internet as an international playground for its language speakers is discussed below, using another seminal definition of authenticity as a starting point.

Refining Authenticity Morrow’s early description of authenticity, like Widdowson’s, reveals the ambiguous nature of the concept: ‘An authentic text is a stretch of real language, produced by a real speaker or writer for a real audience and designed to convey a real message’ (Morrow, 1977, p.13). While acknowledging that the term ‘real’ is, in lay terms, open to the same abuse as ‘authentic’ (as Carter points out with examples from advertising such as ‘Real ale’ ‘Coca Cola – the real thing’ (1998, p. 43)), in pedagogy it seems to have achieved greater credibility. For instance, terms like ‘real world tasks’ are acceptably used to contrast with ‘pedagogic tasks’ (for example by Nunan, 1989 etc.). This accepted, Morrow’s description can be seen as remarkably prescient in its scope in that all four criteria (indicated by my italics in the quotation above) can be applied 40 years on, albeit with some realigning (see below), to online materials produced by and for members of the global online community. First of all, how to characterise a ‘real speaker or writer’ today? It is significant that Morrow’s definition does not use ‘native speaker/writer’ production as a criterion for authenticity, although other early definitions do: ‘Authenticity can … refer to actually attested language produced by native speakers’ (Widdowson, 1983, p. 30). However, the notion of what it means to be a ‘speaker’ of a language - and notably, of the English language - have expanded over the past forty years or so. The works of early theorists such as Kachru (1985) illustrated the gradations and complexities involved in ‘native speakerness’ in the context of World Englishes, leading to the recognition of ‘a diverse set of equally valid Englishes’ (Pinner, 2016, p. 34). This was followed by increasing acknowledgement of the contemporary reality of the global use of English as an international language (EIL) and a lingua franca (ELF). These have problematised the criterion ‘native speaker production’ in contemporary definitions of authenticity to the extent,

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arguably, of its exclusion from them (see discussion on this in Pinner, 2016, Chapter 3). This is particularly important as we consider the interactions among millions of language users interacting online in English, at varying proficiency levels and degrees of ‘nativeness’. These interactions certainly constitute ‘real’ messages (to revert to one of Morrow’s criteria) in the sense that there is genuine communicative intent. Looking back at Widdowson’s early definition of authenticity as being a factor of ‘the relationship between the [text] and the reader’ and being dependent on ‘appropriate response’ (1979, p. 80), we can see how these types of online interactions fit this characterisation of authenticity as ‘responsive’ – and indeed, this will be the focus of the main part of the chapter. Once more, Widdowson’s definition can be seen to coincide with Van Lier’s concept of authenticity as something that is not only ‘responsive’ but dynamic, in that it involves perception and engagement; ‘authenticity is the result of acts of authentication’ among the users of the language (Van Lier, 1996, p. 128). Interpreted from a pedagogical slant, authenticity is therefore not a factor of the input itself, but of the task; what we do with the input, the activity performed and the learner’s involvement with it. The notion that ‘task authenticity’ supersedes ‘text authenticity’ for pedagogical expediency derives from this theoretical perspective (see, for example, Guariento and Morley, 2001) and will be the subject of the main part of this chapter. This conceptualization of authenticity is, furthermore, a perfect fit with some of the factors we know to be most essential to language acquisition, and makes for its significance in language teaching. It includes, first of all, engagement ‘authentication is … a personal process of engagement’ (Van Lier, 1996, p. 128) which we know to be a crucial affective factor in language learning (see, for example, Tomlinson 2016, Masuhara 2016). We can see that there is a symbiosis between the task and the degree of engagement with it, the degree of engagement authenticating the task. Authenticity has also been characterized in terms of motivation: ‘authenticity relates to processes of … intrinsic motivation’ (Van Lier, 1996, p. 125) with motivation largely accepted as the most fundamental factor for (language) learning (as Dornyei and Ushioda say of their 2013 book; ‘cultivating motivation is crucial to a language learner's success’). It is, however, the association of authenticity with response (see the Widdowson quote above, 1979, p. 80), that most resonates with contemporary language use in the online environment. The significance of response, of course, is that it is a crucial factor for language learning, in the sense that it externalises affect (see, for example Arnold, 1999).

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Digital Behaviour In order to see how ‘response’ has emerged as a key signifier for twenty-first century language learners, it is necessary to characterise both the learners and the online environment in which they mingle. Can we claim, first of all, that cyberspace is the ‘natural habitat’ of this generation of learners (see discussion on ‘digital natives below)? While economic differences between first and third worlds materially influence the digital devices and networks which people have access to, it is clear that the internet is nonetheless a worldwide presence. According to 2016 statistics (from Internet World Stats 2016), the continent with lowest internet usage, Africa, with only 10% of world users of the Internet, still has 126 million users of the most popular social networking site, Facebook, within its population of over a billion. If we look at another continent with high proportions of English language users and learners, namely Asia (India, China, Korea, Japan, Pakistan etc.), we see 44% internet penetration within its four billion inhabitants, with just under a third of internet users accessing Facebook. The statistics for Europe are predictably higher, with just under 75% internet penetration and just over 33% of the population on Facebook. North America, at the top end of the scale, has extremely high internet penetration, nearly 90% of its population, with 66% of networked users on Facebook. A 2015 report on international youth and technology has proved invaluable for focusing on the online behaviour of the younger generation. The 2015 OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) report is based on data from 42 countries collected via the PISA programme of 2012. PISA (The Programme for International Student Assessment) evaluated educational systems by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-olds internationally. PISA revealed these young people to have almost universal access to at least one computer in all the OECD countries. The OECD average for children’s daily computer use outside of school was 104 minutes on weekdays and 138 minutes at weekends, and technology was clearly found to be pervasive in the daily lives of the respondents. The term ‘digital native’, signifying ‘a generation comfortable with technology’, was coined by Prensky (2001) to describe the current generation growing up in the digital era. This useful term has become somewhat controversial in the research partly because it is taken to imply a sophisticated knowledge and ability for critical use of the digital/online environment, which many digital natives do not have. It has been said that they are not ‘tech-savvy’ so much as ‘tech-comfy’ and indeed, the OECD report findings suggest that there is not a strong correlation between

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familiarity with digital interfacing and competent evaluation skills. The term is nevertheless useful shorthand to describe the digital generation so I therefore use it ‘critically’ in this chapter. The internet has undoubtedly transformed the way, and the language, in which we interact. One of these changes has to do with pragmatics, the connection between language and the message it conveys. So much of what we see, hear and read in both the traditional media and digital media today, boils down to the exchange of audio and/or visual ‘sound bites’. These are presented on social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat as ‘memes’ (photographs with captions), ‘vines’ (six-second amateur videos) etc., the communicative purpose of which are to prompt reaction and response. The semiotics of response, in the online media, has developed correspondingly; there are thousands of ‘emoticons’ (known colloquially as emojis) expressing feelings from the original ‘like’ (thumbs up symbol or smiley face) to sadness, embarrassment, flirtatiousness, anger and so on. With these digital realisations of response, along with the ‘comments’ facility of social media, response has become a key signifier for the digital media and in effect, the ‘common parlance’ of this generation of learners. To see how response emerges as almost a default mode in their behaviour, let us briefly characterise the behaviour of this generation of ‘digital natives’. Connectivity is the driving force for the digital native. Attachment to shared digital communities is essential, which accounts for the popularity of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. Social networking sites had 2.2 billion users worldwide in 2016 (Internet World Stats 2016). Within these environments, digital natives show themselves to be multimodal manipulators, producers and creators of media/messages as well as receivers and responders ; we see them authoring, processing and publishing pictures, sounds and videos via the various media. The shift from ‘tell’ to ‘show’ – from language to semiotics - is evident, epitomized, perhaps, by the ubiquitous ‘selfie’.

Towards Task Authenticity 2.0 If digital native interaction is characterised by, and is conducted via, messages whose chief ‘communicative purpose’ is to stimulate response, then response can be said to be an authenticating act for digital natives. The giving and receiving of response acts consolidates belonging within this environment. For digital natives, then, this dynamic mass of collaborative, user-generated material represents their authentic materials,

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defined as that which is learner-authenticated (see reference to Van Lier, 1996 above). It is important at this point to relate the above to what we know about conditions for learning in order to see its striking potential. The affordance of knowledge-transferability on Web 2.0 can be seen as a ‘concretisation’ of the education philosophy of social constructivism (e.g. Vygotsky, 1978), and the idea of ‘collective learning’, knowledge as being socially constructed; ‘Web 2.0 is fuelled by collective intelligence’ (Kárpáti, 2009, p. 144). A second aspect is the affordance for creativity; creativity being the ultimate high-level thinking skill in terms of learning, according to Bloom’s Taxonomy (revised version, Anderson, Krathwohl & Bloom, 2001). The corollary of all this is that if response is an authenticating act for digital natives, it is all the more essential to design response into learning tasks in order for them to be perceived as ‘authentic’ in the digital native learners’ terms. The importance of ‘task authenticity’ as a learning concept, therefore, re-emerges ever more strongly in the digital era. ‘Re-emerges’ because of course the notion of task authenticity has strong antecedents. The crucial effect that task can have on learning was most clearly acknowledged in the teaching methodology termed task- based language teaching (TBLT), originally known as TBL, task-based learning (Willis, 1996). In TBLT, the key learning factor was the purposeful nature of the learning task, the fact that it was goal-based; in other words, it was presented to, and intended to be perceived by the learners as ‘authentic’. This shift of authenticity as an attribute from text to task, had been initiated by Widdowson is his early genuineness – authenticity distinction (1979) referred to above, and was pursued in works such as Guariento and Morley (2001), who saw the necessity of ceding ‘genuineness’ to the achievement of authentic response via the task. Building on this evolution, in my own previous recommendations for ‘task authenticity’ (Mishan, 2005), in a book published on the cusp of Web 2.0 (which dates from 2004), the proposed principles of task authenticity already had response at their core: ‘In order for tasks to be authentic, they should be designed to … elicit response to/engagement with the text on which they are based’ (Mishan, 2005, p. 75) (see Figure 1). The need to ‘approximate real-life tasks’ (my original principle 4, ibid.) loops back to response, which, as I have argued above, has become the norm in contemporary online interactions. In order for tasks to be authentic, they should be designed to

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1. Reflect the original communicative purpose of the text on which they are based. 2. Be appropriate to the text on which they are based. 3. Elicit response to/engagement with the text on which they are based. 4. Approximate real-life tasks. 5. Activate learners’ existing knowledge of the target language and culture. 6. Involve purposeful communication between learners. Figure 1: Task authenticity principles, Mishan, 2005, p. 75.

These original principles took ‘task’ as being enacted in relation to a ‘text’, with factors of task authenticity including ‘reflection of the original communicative purpose of the text on which they are based’ (principle 1, ibid), but I maintain that with some slight shifting of focus they can relate as well to interactions in the online environment. Today, the notion of ‘text’ embraces the likes of memes, vines, YouTube videos and comments on them, as well as extracts from mainstream media such as a newspaper posted on social media. The chief ‘communicative purpose’ of such ‘texts’, as I have argued above, is to promote reaction and response. They stimulate communication and interaction, once more emphasising response as a central, driving mechanism for today’s digital generation. It is clear from the above that the notion of task authenticity is relative to historical as well as geographical context. One of the earliest enactments of task was working with railway timetables in India (reported in Prabhu’s seminal book on task-based learning, 1987), which would not be perceived as relevant or authentic to many of today’s learners or learners in contexts in which rail travel is little used. This highlights the principle that familiarity with an environment is also a factor of perceived authenticity – and for many of today’s learners, their default comfort zone is online. A final criterion for task authenticity emerging from the above has to do with authorship. This is pointed out by Kramsch, Ness and Lam (2000) who note that authorship – users generating their own contributions to the digital community – is another authenticating factor within this environment. (Interestingly, Kramsch et al. were already writing in 2000 in a pre-Web 2.0 era about the ‘World Wide Web’). Kramsch et al. emphasise that authorship endows learners with the authenticating potency of ‘agency’– the power to take meaningful actions and see the results of these decisions (Murray 1997, p. 126 cited in Kramsch et al. 2000). There is a mutual relationship between authorship and response: authorship is in a way the ‘flip-side’ of response, and is thus an aspect we need to build into our contemporary notion of task authenticity, our ‘task authenticity 2.0’.

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This revised version of my original concept of task authenticity is given in Figure 2: In order for tasks to be authentic, they should be designed to: 1. Reflect the original communicative purpose of the text or interaction on which they are based. 2. Be appropriate to the text or interaction on which they are based. 3. Elicit response to/engagement with the text or interaction on which they are based. 4. Approximate real-life tasks. 5. Involve authorship. 6. Activate learners’ existing knowledge of the target language and culture. 7. Involve purposeful communication. Figure 2: ‘Task authenticity 2.0’

‘Task authenticity 2.0’, my shorthand for ‘task authenticity for the digital age’, thus embraces previous elements of task authenticity while also extending beyond them. It offers parameters for the design of tasks based on the reciprocal relationship between texts, interactions and users, and which exploit and stimulate the dynamic nature of authenticity in such a way as to be perceived by learners as authentic and thus authenticated by them; thereby upholding the conception of authenticity proposed by Van Lier and put forward at the start of this chapter. It should be clear from this that the concept of ‘task authenticity 2.0’, while obviously echoing ‘Web 2.0’, is intended to coincide with contemporary learner mind-sets and is not intended to limit tasks to using material from the Web or to require learners to use digital devices.

Task Authenticity 2.0: From Theory to Practice Applying theory to practice, some samples from my own teaching are given here to illustrate these redefined task authenticity principles. Task 1. Cyberbullying A multi-cultural group of University students at CEFR B2 level studying at a university in Ireland had been working within the theme of teenage behaviour. For this task, the group was shown a short but affecting video on cyberbullying that was available on YouTube. The video had been made by

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a secondary school pupil within the local community and was thus in itself ‘genuine’ to use the Widdowson distinction. In order to garner response, and as the class was not in a PC lab and students could not simply click their reactions, I presented the universal ‘happy’ and ‘sad’ emojis on screen and asked learners to turn to their neighbour and share these reactions. (I observed that this multi-cultural group were thoroughly familiar with these symbols as members of the global digital community). Building quickly from this response, the learners were asked to participate in a role-play in which they were either a youngster being cyberbullied or a teacher to whom the youngster turns for advice. The final step in the task requires learners to develop various sets of guidelines about cyberbullying suitable for parents, for pupils and for teachers. They were encouraged to create mnemonic devices as in the original video they had viewed, which had used ‘Stop, Block, Tell’. Using response as its starting point, therefore, and building in authorship, purposeful interaction and fulfilment of a real-world task, this activity can be successfully matched against the conditions for ‘task authenticity’ in Figure 2 above. Task 2. Getting to know you This simple ‘getting to know you’ activity is considered to be authentic for today’s learners partly in its use of that most ubiquitous digital native tool, the mobile device. Another authentic aspect is that it coincides with the characterisation of the digital generation (see above) as favouring graphics over text. In this activity, it can be seen that media accessed on the mobile device, in this case photographs, substitute printed photographs that might have been used in an earlier era. This familiarisation activity is intended for one of the first classes of a language course. Students are asked to take out their mobile devices and find partners and are given the following prompt: Show your partner a picture of: x A friend x A member of your family x Your pet x A place x A social event x Someone doing something funny (This activity is based on Hockly 2013, IATEFL conference)

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(The prompts can be adjusted to suit the profile of the learner group: these prompts were designed for university students level B1 and above). The enactment of this task is interesting. The rubric ‘show your partner a picture of…’ strategically avoids prompts such as ‘talk about’, ‘discuss with your partner’, as conversation naturally ensues when people show each other ‘personal’ pictures of people and activities in their lives. The conversation is, likewise, intrinsically ‘communicative’ in line with Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) principles, in the sense that it is meaningful and purposeful. This corresponds to principle number 7 of the task authenticity principles above (Figure 2), with the other principles, notably reflecting a real-life task (number 4) and number 3, eliciting response, likewise fulfilled. Activity 3. Meme This version of the previous ‘getting to know you activity’ builds on developing relationships within the class so is recommended once the class rapport has been established. As with the previous activity, students use their mobile devices as a tool or resource: they are asked to work in pairs to create a ‘meme’. As described earlier, memes are effectively photographs with humorous captions. These can be generated using Apps which can be easily downloaded to mobile devices, such as the iTunes ‘Meme Producer’ (available on Apple devices such as iPads and iPhones). A basic theme can be set, such as ‘pets’, ‘holidays’, ‘leisure time’, ‘eating out’, or depending on the students’ age and how well they know each other, more stimulating rubrics such as ‘get me out of here!’, ‘What you don’t know about me/us…’. The stated task aim given to the learners is to create a meme, i.e. write a humorous or poignant caption for a photograph and submit the meme for ranking by the class. (This can be done by submitting the meme to a class web-page or social media site or, in tertiary institutions, to the class site on an institution’s virtual learning environment (Blackboard, Moodle etc)). The procedure is therefore to find a suitable photograph in the archives on their devices, or take a photograph specifically for the purpose and add the meme caption. Figure 3 shows a sample meme produced on iTunes’ Meme Producer for the theme ‘pets’ in a Spanish language learning class. This task complies with task authenticity principles on the same grounds as the previous one, and, with a well-designed rubric, it can be both intellectually and linguistically challenging.

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Figure 3: Meme: ‘When you buy wine for your cat … and he plays with the box’

Activity 4. Debate Like the ones above, this task also has graphics at its core, this time a cartoon. The cartoon for this activity was generated from the website Makebeliefscomix.com. Makebeliefscomix, as its name suggests, allows the user to author comic strips. It offers a short comic strip (of two to four panels) which can be populated by a wide cast of characters with speech/thought balloons, and a choice of backgrounds, background colours and objects. The potential of this genre for instigating debate/discussion is illustrated in this sample by that perennial topic, the environment, but of course any issue of the teacher or students’ choosing can be used.

Figure 4: Cartoon used to introduce debate or discussion: ‘the environment’

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The characters are used here to introduce the topic for discussion/debate and two panels are left blank for the participants to continue it. The cartoon can also be used to spark a more extensive discussion. Alternatively, the teacher might opt for a formal debate style, with one of the two characters’ utterances being the motion e.g. ‘Global warming is a hoax’. Students then take or are allocated sides and are given time to research and prepare their arguments for presenting in the debate forum. As in the previous tasks, this activity plays to this generation’s preference for, and disposition to respond to, image rather than text. The use of cartoons and images for serious political and social satire is highly prevalent on social and other media (and is of course rooted in a strong historical tradition), and is thus very familiar to today’s learners. Other authenticating aspects of the task (see Figure 2 task authenticity principles) include the way it stimulates response, engagement and authorship and activates learners’ own world knowledge and social awareness. The task constitutes a ‘real-life’ spoken genre, a debate or discussion. Its communicative aspect enhanced by the strong element of competitiveness.

Conclusion In this chapter, starting with a snapshot of ‘where we are today’ in refining the concept of authenticity, I have suggested that authenticity has of necessity shaken off its association with the ‘text or material’ Widdowson’s ‘genuineness’. This is due to the now indefinable shades of ‘native speakerness’ of origin and the translocation of so much ‘text’ or ‘material’ onto the insubstantial interface that is the internet. I have endeavoured to characterise the present generation of learners within the digital environment which permeates society, and I have emphasised how response and authorship are central to their interactions within this. This led us to revisit the notion of task authenticity and to rework it as a concept that can be said to have ‘come of age’ in the digital era in the re-invigorated form of ‘task authenticity 2.0’.

References Anderson, L. W., Krathwohl, D. R., & Bloom, B. S. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. New York: Longman. Arnold, J. (Ed.). (1999). Affect in language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Bachman, L. F. (1990). Fundamental considerations in language testing. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Breen, M. (1985). Authenticity in the language classroom. Applied Linguistics, 6(1), 60-70. Carter, R. (1998). Orders of reality: CANCODE, communication, and culture. ELT Journal, 52(1), 43-56. Cook, G. (1998). The uses of reality: A reply to Ronald Carter. ELT Journal, 52(1), 57-63. Dörnyei, Z. & Ushioda, E. (2013). Teaching and researching: Motivation. New York: Routledge. Guariento, W., & Morley, J. (2001). Text and task authenticity in the EFL classroom. ELT Journal, 55(4), 347-353. Hockly, N. (2013). Moving with the times: Mobile literacy and ELT. IATEFL Conference, Liverpool, 9-12 April 2013. Hutchinson, T. & Waters, A. (1987). English for specific purposes: A learning-centred approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kachru , B.B. (1985). Standards, codifications and sociolinguistic realism: The English language in the outer circle . In R. Quirk , HG Widdowson , & Y. Cantu (Eds.), English in the world: Teaching and learning the language and literatures (pp. 11 – 30 ). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kárpáti, A. (2009). Web technologies for net native language learners: A ‘social CALL’, ReCALL, 21(2), 139-156. Kramsch, C, F., Ness, A. & Lam, W. (2000). Authenticity and authorship in the computer-mediated acquisition of L2 literacy. Language Learning and Technology, 4(2), 78–104. Lee, W. Y. C. (1995). Authenticity revisited: Text authenticity and learner authenticity. ELT Journal, 49(4), 323-328. Masuhara, H. (2016). Brain studies and materials for language learning. In Tomlinson, B. (Ed.), SLA research and materials development for language learning (pp. 23-32). Abingdon: Routledge. Mishan, F. (2005). Designing authenticity into language learning materials. Bristol: Intellect Books. Morrow, K. (1977). Authentic texts in ESP. In S. Holden (Ed.), English for Specific Purposes (pp. 13–15). London: Modern English Publications. Nunan, D. (1989). Designing tasks for the communicative classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. OECD Report 2015. Students, computers and Learning: Making the connection. (2016, October 19) Retrieved from

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http://www.oecd.org/edu/students-computers-and-learning9789264239555-en.htm Internet World Stats (2016, October 19) Retrieved from http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm Pinner, S. (2016). Reconceptualising authenticity for English as a global language. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Prabhu, N. S. (1987). Second language pedagogy (Vol. 20). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9 (5), 1-6. Seargeant, P. (2005). ‘More English than England itself’: The simulation of authenticity in foreign language practice in Japan, International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 15 (3), 326-346. Tomlinson, B. (2016). Achieving a match between SLA theory and materials development. In Tomlinson, B. (Ed.), SLA research and materials development for language learning (pp. 3-22). Abingdon: Routledge. Van Lier, L. (1996). Interaction in the language curriculum: Awareness, autonomy and authenticity. Harlow: Longman. Vygotsky, L. (1978). Interaction between learning and development. Readings on the development of children, 23(3), 34-41. Widdowson, H. G. (Ed.). (1979). Explorations in applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. —. (1983). Learning purpose and language use. Oxford: Oxford University Press. —. (1996). Comment: Authenticity and autonomy in ELT. ELT Journal, 50 (1), 67-68. —. (1998). Context, community and authentic language. TESOL Quarterly, 32 (4), 705–716. —. (2000). On the limitations of linguistics applied. Applied Linguistics, 21(1), 3-25. —. (2001). Interpretations and correlations: A Reply to Stubbs. Applied Linguistics, 22(4), 531-38. Willis, J. 1996. A framework for task-based learning. London: Longman. 





CHAPTER TWO INTRODUCING CURRICULUM AUTHENTICITY BASMA BOUZIRI

Background Curriculum is broached in this chapter in line with Wang's definition (2014): The curriculum of a university […] is usually seen as an educational plan to engage learners in the acquisition of knowledge and skills leading to a degree, diploma or certificate. The curriculum can be viewed at various levels, namely: institutional, faculty, programme, course and class levels (p.31). In this simple yet clear description of curriculum, a distinction is drawn between various levels of curriculum design. In ELT, Richards (2001) and Finney (2002) distinguish between curriculum as syllabus and curriculum as an educational program. The latter view is “more comprehensive” (Richards, 2001, p. 2) and encompasses a set of processes that guide curriculum planning and implementation. Nation and Macalister (2011) examined these processes in terms of three components: principles, needs, and environment. For them, principles involve the setting of goals for the selection and the sequencing of content, its format and presentation, and the way it will be assessed. Richards (2001) differentiates between curriculum goals and course objectives and planning. The former refers to linguistic and non-linguistic goals, processes, and assessment standards targeted by the curriculum innovation or reform. The latter is more specific and relates to the content of a particular course, its gradation and sequencing. The second component of curriculum development, i.e. needs, considers learners’ necessities, wants, and lacks. Findings of a needs analysis assist the curriculum designer in articulating the objectives of the various courses in the curriculum, their content, as well as the course materials and the teaching and testing approaches that best accommodate those needs (Finney, 2002; Richards, 2013). The last component,



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environment analysis, involves assessing the profiles of learners and teachers as well as the context where the curriculum is to be implemented (Nation & Macalister, 2011). Besides the compilation of ethnographic information, environment analysis identifies “informal orders” within the context of implementation (Holliday, 1992). These describe what really happens in an institution. Policies that do not take into account the beliefs, attitudes, and behavioural patterns i.e. the informal orders of the context of its implementation, are doomed to failure. I adopt the definition of curriculum as an educational program. The focus is on both individual academic courses and the connections these may have with one another across the curriculum. Following Nation and Macalister (2011), the curriculum design processes discussed above establish the ground upon which curriculum authenticity is defined. Thus, a curriculum is authentic when its content is relevant, coherent, and not remote from the learning and real world experiences of students. An authentic curriculum would plan an adequate coverage of both knowledge and skills that are not limited in scope but extend to novel and unplanned situations. Curriculum authenticity can only materialise when the means to implement the above features are both secured and deployed. The rationale behind advancing this notion is described in the section that follows.

Rationale Discussions of authenticity in ELT tend to depict a fragmented overview of the concept. Indeed, ELT research usually highlights one aspect over another (Trabelsi, 2006). Furthermore, Finney (2002) maintains that the fields of TEFL and TESOL have been disconnected from developments in educational and curriculum research; they have relied more on research in linguistics and applied linguistics. He argues that there is a need “to put language back in touch with educational theory in general and curriculum studies in particular” (Finney, 2002, p. 75). A holistic approach to authenticity is not only valuable but also necessary. My proposal is that the notion of curriculum authenticity has the potential to promote this approach. Not only does curriculum authenticity embed various facets of authenticity such as text, task, learner, or assessment, but it also embraces the way these are selected, graded, and implemented as well as the way they interact with one another. From this perspective, authenticity would be evaluated in terms of whether the assemblage and interaction between all these aspects is conducted in a principled way. Moreover, authenticity in the ELT literature has been mostly discussed with reference to English as a subject whether in secondary schools, as



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part of a wider curriculum, or in higher education, as part of a degree program in engineering, marketing, or business. When English is taught as a program of study, a set of English courses such as literature, cultural studies, linguistics, and language courses form the curriculum. In this case, authenticity needs to be assessed not only at the micro level but also at the macro level. Curriculum authenticity at the macro level is evaluated with reference to the sequencing of various courses throughout a degree program and the educational goals this sequencing serves. In higher education institutions, instructors tend to have more power and authority than their counterparts at secondary schools do to design courses and choose the materials they use (Parent, 2011). The former have more freedom, for instance, to develop the materials that best address the level and needs of their students. Therefore, curriculum rather than materials authenticity may be more significant in higher education. This is not to suggest that there are no issues pertaining to materials authenticity at university. The assumption is rather that these issues are situated at the level of the instructor, and thus, may be easier to resolve. The present study investigates curriculum authenticity for an undergraduate professional program, entitled Business English, proposed as a course of study in most institutions of higher education in Tunisia. Investigating this setting represents an opportunity to introduce the concept of curriculum authenticity for two main reasons. The first is that this setting exhibits issues which are distinct from those encountered in secondary schools where instructors work with prescribed textbooks. Another reason pertains to specific features of the Tunisian higher education system. In fact, a curriculum reform of higher education was imposed on institutions of higher education in 2006. Within this context, instructors have not been trained with regard to the way this reform would be implemented (Bettaieb, Bahloul & Chebchoub, 2015). As a result, issues of authenticity at the level of the curriculum have arisen.

Objectives The objectives of the present chapter are manifold. First, it aims to put forward a holistic view of authenticity in ELT based on the notion of curriculum authenticity as well as to conceptualise and model this notion. A second objective is to apply curriculum authenticity to a case study, namely the Business English curriculum in Tunisia. Finally, recommendations to enhance curriculum authenticity, as well as challenges that this concept and its application present, are discussed.



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C Conceptualizing Curriculum Autthenticity Based on thhe processes of curriculum design d outlineed above, my approach has been to w work out the underlying u principles and, aas a next step, to adopt These indicaators are these as inndicators of curriculum authenticity. a relevance, scope, coherennce, proximity y, and feasibillity. A proposed model for curriculuum authenticitty is displayed d in Figure 1 bbelow:

Reelevance Co oherence

Curriculum authentticity

Scope Proximity

Feasibility

Figure 1. A m model for curricculum authenticity

Indicators oof curriculum authenticity are formulateed as a set off criteria, against whicch the authentticity of a currriculum is asssessed by praactitioners and curricullum designerss. Each indicaator is definedd and discusssed in the following seection. The model m propossed in Figure 1 is dynamiic, which implies a coonstant appraissal of all indiccators while thhe curriculum m is on the move. The pproposed moddel also suggeests that it is thhe interaction n between all indicatorrs above that renders a currriculum authhentic. In the words of Kosten (20133), “these featu Buendgens-K ures do not crreate authentiicity - the social proceess creates autthenticity” (p. 273). This iss because, for instance, the curriculuum may coveer the needs of learners bbut the scope of those needs may be limited too technical sk kills at the exxpense of ind dependent learning or ccritical thinkinng skills. On the t other handd, whereas thee scope of needs may be appropriaate for learneers, the graddation of content may present pitffalls in termss of proximity. Hence, aauthenticity sh hould be viewed holiistically as thhe simultaneo ous interactionn of several variables instead of onne curriculum m aspect at a tim me.

Indicatorss of Curriculum Auth henticity The first inndicator of curriculum c au uthenticity iss motivated by b needs analysis. Fiinney (2002) describes neeeds analysis “[…] as th he logical of a languagge program which is starting poiint for the development d

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responsive to the learner and learning needs” (p.75). Data on needs offer the basis for constructing curriculum goals and objectives. The first indicator of curriculum authenticity; thus, is relevance to learners’ needs. A product-oriented approach to needs is an approach that is concerned with the language items that are essential for learners to achieve the desired learning outcomes. Writing reports or taking telephone messages are examples of tasks which reflect a product-oriented approach to needs. Process-oriented needs, on the other hand, cover the learning processes involved in gaining those skills. Taking into account learners’ attitudes and learning preferences when developing language learning materials reflects a process-oriented approach to needs analysis. According to Tomlinson (2012), this could promote the affective engagement of learners when working with those materials. An authentic curriculum should embody both types of needs. Once the goals and objectives of a curriculum have been set, content is selected and scope is determined. Richards (2001) defines scope as “the breadth and depth of coverage of items” (p. 149). The scope of content should balance knowledge and skills. This is particularly significant for undergraduate students who need to build a knowledge base before acquiring advanced skills (Valcke, 2016; Wang, 2014). As for skills, the scope of learners’ needs may vary from specific to general. Specific skills are limited scope skills and are applicable to a particular situation. An example of a task with limited scope skills is writing the minutes of a meeting. Broad scope skills refer to skills learners develop in order to cope with new, unexpected, and unplanned situations. Typically, problemsolving tasks have the potential to develop such skills. A curriculum is, thus, authentic if its scope combines the appropriate knowledge base and skills that transcend the visible, practical needs of learners in order to develop adaptability, critical thinking, and independent learning. Coherence is the logical progression and unity of items for either a set of interrelated courses or a single course delivered across different study terms within a degree program. The purpose is to strengthen established skills and develop new ones. Coherence is related to the content sequencing stage. In my view, it has both an internal and an external dimension. Internal coherence applies to a view of the curriculum as syllabus. It is achieved when the items of a course syllabus are interconnected, reflecting a sound progression of knowledge and skills. External coherence refers to the content of a course that stretches over one study term. An example of such course is “Communication Strategies” which is taught throughout five semesters during the Business English BA at the Faculty of Letters, Arts and Humanities (FLAH), University of



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Manouba. External coherence may also be assessed across different but interrelated courses, e.g. ESP, Business English, Secretarial English, and Corporate Culture, taught at the FLAH. Proximity refers to opportunities students have to use, consolidate, and evaluate the knowledge and skills they have been taught in real contexts of use. These should not be remote from their learning experiences at university. Closely tied to coherence, proximity also refers to authenticity in the organisation and gradation of content. Lombardi (2007) argues that learners strive to set up connections between what they are being taught and their experience and knowledge. Content may be relevant to learners’ needs and coherent in relation to other items in the curriculum. Nevertheless, its position in the curriculum might not be adequate. I refer to this phenomenon as remote authenticity. Remote authenticity describes the way some genuine content fails to adhere to the principle of proximity in its external and/or internal dimension. As far as external proximity is concerned, Freedman (1993) gives the example of business writing taught to college students. She explains that “likely exposure to the relevant contexts constitutes far too long a gap” (p. 244) for this task. Here, she stresses the notion of “proximity in time”. In the same vein, Lombardi (2007) argues that “long lived attachments come with practice” (p.8). It is unlikely that junior Business English students in Tunisia will have regular opportunities to use and consolidate the specialised knowledge and skills developed in class. If the learning experiences of students are remote from real world applications, curriculum authenticity may be compromised. On the other hand, internal or cognitive proximity relates to the process of needs analysis where assessments of learners’ proficiency represent the first step before content selection (Nation & Macalister, 2011; Richards, 2001). Cognitive proximity is essential for learners to assimilate content properly. Buendgens-Kosten (2013) notes that the importance of authenticity in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is due to “its assumed support of transfer” (p. 274). In fact, content that has not been integrated within the schemata of learners is often rejected. This is because learners’ cognitive development and maturity is incomplete or inadequate to handle and contextualise that content. Pienemann (1985) discusses this phenomenon within the theory of learnability, which maintains that previously taught and learnt language items pave the ground for learning new ones. Feasibility is associated with the principle of environment analysis in curriculum design theory. Curriculum authenticity begins with the choice and gradation of an educational content that is relevant to the immediate and long-term needs of learners. This content needs to be organised in a



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manner that is coherent both internally and externally. However, curriculum authenticity can only be achieved if the appropriate resources for the development and implementation of such content are available. Feasibility, hence, refers to the availability of the human resources, equipment and materials, the specification of teaching and learning guidelines, their development through teacher training and learners’ support centres, etc. It is the result of an effective analysis of the context where the curriculum will be implemented.

The Research Context The higher education system in Tunisia has undergone a reform known as the License/Master/ Doctorate (LMD) reform in 2006. The reform was introduced in part as a response to a predominantly cognitive and information processing educational model which presumably produced graduates with no practical skills for the real world. Another factor that pushed towards this reform is the international pressure to conform to the Bologna reform, a reform of higher education in countries within the European Union. The reform revolved around three main axes. The first is the establishment of a credit system, the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS), with credits that are transferable within and across institutions of higher education in Europe. The second axis of the reform is the enforcement of quality education and its relevance for the workplace. Finally, the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has been set at the heart of the learning and teaching processes at university. In Tunisia, the LMD reform meant to encourage independent learning and to render the use of ICTs central within the curriculum (Zriba, 2014). The reform has been the subject of a lot of controversy even before its inception. Teachers and administrators complained that it ignored the characteristics of the Tunisian context in terms of both the infrastructure which is vital for the support of learner autonomy and the learners’ profiles. Bettaieb et al. (2015) argue that resistance to the LMD reform is explained in terms of two main reasons. First, there was no training for the teaching and administrative staff, despite the fact that the reform enforces different approaches to teaching and learning as well as new administrative procedures for examinations. Second, the content of the curricula has been designed by regional committees often disconnected from the realities and needs of the regions or contexts of implementation. As far as English language teaching at university is concerned, one outcome of the LMD reform was the creation of a vocational course of



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study, the Business English curriculum. The objective was to respond to the frequent complaints of recruiters about students’ tendency to possess theoretical rather than pragmatic knowledge and skills for the professional world (Bastiaens & Martens, 2000). Key features of the Business English curriculum are worth mentioning at this point. First, this degree has been designed to train students for the workplace. This is reflected in the inclusion of specialised content courses such as “Marketing”, “Trade law”, or “Finance”. Second, its focus is on practical rather than theoretical skills. The purpose is to facilitate students’ professional integration and expand their employment prospects. The Business English curriculum has also promoted authentic forms of assessment such as portfolio, peer, and selfassessment. The above characteristics reflect efforts to enhance the authenticity of the curriculum especially with regard to students’ future career needs. A close inspection and trial of the Business English curriculum; however, unveils issues regarding its authenticity.

The Research Approach An appraisal of the authenticity of the Business English curriculum as implemented at the FLAH has been conducted, using the indicators of curriculum authenticity introduced and discussed in the previous sections. The approach adopted has relied on official document analysis, course descriptions as well as research conducted on the LMD reform in general and the reform of the English undergraduate program in particular. The first official document is a general policy document dating back to 2006 and is entitled “The LMD Reform in Tunisia: Guidelines.” The second official document is “Academic and vocational licences degrees: Recommendations of the National Committee for English majors” published in 2009. These two documents have been designed and published by the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and the National Committee for the English Program respectively. My professional experience as an instructor of courses within the Business English curriculum at the FLAH has also played a role. An insider view holds the advantage of assessing the curriculum in action. This is more significant given the gap that often exists between policy and implementation.



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Curriculum Authenticity in the Business English Curriculum Relevance Because relevance to students’ needs is one indicator of curriculum authenticity, a statement of objectives has been sought in the data at hand. The goal statement “Creating flexible and effective programs of study that can be academic or vocational in order to offer to students at all levels possibilities to integrate the professional world” has been extracted from the first official document on the LMD reform. Because this document is a general policy document, the above goal was stated in general terms. The second reference analysed was more specific since it relates to the English program as prepared by the national committee appointed for this subject. It was expected; therefore, to contain a specification of needs and objectives that is discipline specific. This expectation, however, was not met. The document comprised a program of study that stretches over three years with all courses, hours, coefficients and credits included. Upon the request of the national committee, individual instructors prepared the attached course descriptions. One may conclude that learner needs have been left out for the other instructors who were more likely to rely on ESP textbooks as well as their own perceptions of needs rather than on a needsbased study of learners’ actual professional needs. Scope The second indicator of curriculum authenticity is scope. The metaphor of “the head and the legs” adopted in the article « Système LMD: le temps de l’évaluation » (2010) discusses issues related to scope. For those students who selected the academic path, university training still neglects practical skills. The students who opted for the vocational path lacked a theoretical grounding for the professional skills targeted by the program of study. More recently, Zriba (2014) observed that the applied aspect of both degrees has become now more prominent. With regard to the Business English curriculum, the data in table 1 below illustrates issues of scope reflecting an imbalance between theory and practice.



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S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 Total Numberoflanguageandskillscourses 4 4 4 4 3 2 21 Numberofspecializedlanguageandskillscourses 0 0 3 3 4 2 12 Numberofspecializedcontentcourses 1 1 2 2 3 1 10 Numberofothercontentcourses 4 4 0 0 0 0 8 NumberofspecializedcontentcoursesinEnglish 0 0 1 1 1 1 4 NumberofspecializedcontentcoursesinFrench 1 1 0 0 0 2 4 NumberofspecializedcontentcoursesinArabic 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 Languagecourses(FrenchforSpecialPurposes/ArabicforSpecialPurposes) 0 0 2 2 0 0 4 1 1 1 1 0 0 4 ComputerandInternetskills Internshipandreport NA NA NA NA NA 1 1 Coursehourvolumeperweek 17hours 17hours 20hours 20hours 20hours 13hours Coefficientofspecializedcontentcourses NA NA 1 1 1 2 5 Coefficientofspecializedlanguageandskillscourses NA NA 4 4 4 4 16

Table 1. Overview of the Business English curriculum

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Table 1 shows the type of courses, the course hour volume, and their coefficients for the Business English curriculum. One observation is that the proportion of skill and language courses is higher than that of content courses. In fact, there are thirty-one language and skill courses against eighteen for content courses. The emphasis on skills can as well be observed in the coefficient of specialised content courses as compared to specialised language and skills courses. The total coefficient for the first type of courses is five whereas the coefficient for the second type is twelve. It is also worthwhile mentioning that not all specialised content courses are assessed. This fact may discourage students’ attendance, and hence, reduce their learning outcomes. The data above exemplifies the way the scope of the business English curriculum is inclined towards skills i.e. the applied rather than knowledge i.e. the theoretical. This may be explained by policy decisions geared towards applications rather than theory. It is essential; however, that university students build a knowledge base particularly before the development of advanced skills (Vlacke, 2016). Tunisian instructors often complain that students are empty vessels who understand the mechanics of writing and speaking at the theoretical level, but experience difficulties applying these skills. The reason commonly invoked is that students lack the content necessary to develop these skills. Feasibility As mentioned earlier, the LMD reform in Tunisia experienced “tissue rejection” (Holliday, 1992, p. 403). This is explained by the absence of a means analysis, a process which should be planned and carried out in the early stages of curriculum planning. In this regard, Kennedy (2001) highlights the value of “distinguish[ing] policy, as a statement of aims and objectives, from planning, the attempt to turn a policy statement into action and implementation” (p. 34). In the present case, formative evaluation may be regarded as an authentic way of assessing students’ progress and promoting independent learning. In the absence of regulations on absenteeism, however, formative evaluation makes little sense. With regard to independent learning and the use of ICTs, the issues are twofold. First, Business English students at the FLAH have an average of eighteen hours of courses per week. Because those courses stretch over five or six days, it is still difficult to promote independent learning among students. The second issue is the inadequacy of the university infrastructure in terms of ICT and libraries towards fostering independent learning. Such issues cast doubts on the authenticity of the curriculum



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since the means necessary for its implementation have not been planned at the outset. As far as human resources are concerned, some specialised content courses could not be delivered due to the paucity of English speaking instructors. At the FLAH, only four out of the ten specialised content courses are taught in English. Four of these courses are taught in French and the two others are taught in Arabic. “E-commerce” and “employment law”, are courses that are not provided altogether. In this context, language instructors may take the initiative to design and teach such courses to the best of their capabilities. However, the course quality and learning outcomes are often limited as non-expert teachers are likely to deliver a shallow overview of specialised content. Coherence Common issues related to coherence are overlap, content gradation, and redundancy. Overlap denotes content that is taught in several courses across the curriculum using sometimes the same material. Content gradation refers to situations where learners are exposed to content that is less advanced than what was covered at a previous level. Finally, some courses stretch over two or three years with no clear or tangible effect on students’ academic development. I refer to this phenomenon as redundancy, which is likely to affect students’ motivation and the quality of the curriculum. Overall, the Business English curriculum displays a lack of coherence reflected in the official document regulating the organisation of the English major program in Tunisian universities. The course descriptions included have not been organised in terms of any particular criteria such as whether the course was a skill and/or content course. Besides, there is no trajectory for courses stretching over one academic semester. Typical courses displaying the aforementioned issues are “Secretarial English”, “Business English”, “ESP” and “Communication strategies”.



2ndyear 2ndyear

Reading/Writing ESP



3rdyear 2ndyear

SecretarialEnglish ESP 1 1

1 1

Year Semester 3rdyear 2 3rdyear 1

Course BusinessandCommercialEnglish SecretarialEnglish

Table 2. Content overlap in the business English curriculum

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Coverletterforajobapplication Businessadsandlettersofapplication

Telephoningskills Telephoningskills

Theme/Skill Money Generalfinancevocabulary

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Secretarial English, for instance, is part of Business English which in turn is an ESP course. These represent three distinct courses and present issues of overlap. In addition, some skills are developed in more than one course. One case in point is the inclusion of telephoning skills in courses such as “Business English”, “Secretarial English”, and “Communication Strategies”. The latter course is also taught throughout the three years of the degree program. A considerable amount of redundancy has also been reported. In informal encounters after classes or exams, students often commented that the organisation of the curriculum lowered their motivation and uptake from the course. Finally, gradation of content is at stake. Courses such as Secretarial English are taught during the final year whereas instruction in a more advanced content takes place during the second year with the course “Enterprise Culture”, for instance. Proximity The last indicator of curriculum authenticity that is discussed here is proximity. This component has been defined as closeness to learners’ cognitive maturity as well as to contexts of use. In some cases, the business and professional culture and knowledge of students is inadequate to understand concepts and ideas related to the reality of the professional world. In other words, students’ lack of or limited background knowledge hinders them from relating content to their existing schemata. Tunisian instructors often report this problem as a major hindrance for the development of advanced skills among students. Because of a low-level language proficiency, they may not benefit from some courses in the curriculum. This is the case of translation courses delivered to junior students with low English proficiency level. What the aforementioned examples illustrate is that the requirement for internal proximity has been flouted. External proximity is equally challenged. For example, although students may be instructed in telephone or social skills, the transfer of those skills may be delayed, as they will not probably have the opportunity to consolidate those skills outside the classroom.

Recommendations Discussing issues of curriculum authenticity in the context of the Business English curriculum in Tunisia has given rise to a few recommendations. Although these are inspired from the context of this study, they are likely to apply to other contexts. The first recommendation pertains to the way educational policies need to be planned and implemented. Holliday (1992)



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discusses “tissue rejection” in ELT projects in relation to materials and course “implants”. Adopting unpopular policies can also engender tissue rejection. In this regard, Bettaieb et al. (2015) criticized top-down approaches to curriculum development in Tunisia. They observed that actors responsible for curriculum implementation have shown resistance, which has brought about the failure of the curriculum. The recommendation here is that a bottom-up as well as a top-down approach to curriculum design, implementation, and evaluation should be endorsed. A second recommendation pertains to the significance of creating databased professional profiles. In their book “Needs analysis for language course design”, Huhta, Vogt, Johnson and Tulkki (2013) describe the value for establishing the Common European Framework (CEF) professional profiles i.e. reports describing the educational institution, students and their learning needs. In the Tunisian context, one way of creating professional profiles is to invite organisations, associations, professionals, and companies for talks or for participation in fairs within the university. The aim is for practitioners to construe detailed accounts of the professional needs of their students. For local practitioners, these kinds of events may support their design of context specific materials that would respond to the needs of their students. Materials development in this case may greatly contribute to enforce curriculum authenticity. A third recommendation would be the combination of content and task-based approaches. To apply a particular set of skills, some content, information, and knowledge are required. For example, to be able to write a letter of application, students must first know what to write about before proceeding on to develop the necessary writing skills. Content Based Language Instruction (CBLI) appears to be an effective teaching approach for EFL Tunisian students who display gaps with respect to their content knowledge. The efficiency of CBLI as an educational approach goes beyond language learning to cover developments in subject competence, cognitive abilities, and learner confidence (Marsh & Martin, 2013). In Tunisia, the theme-based model of CBLI is applied in many language classes. Theme-based models use specific themes or subjects to teach grammatical points and/or develop vocabulary (Snow, 2013). One main critique addressed against this approach is the tendency for language teachers to discuss themes in a superficial manner and move rapidly to the language points which are the target of instruction (Snow, 2013). This is likely to occur due to time constraints. As a response to students’ low proficiency level, adding content courses in English seems be a more effective solution than investing on more language courses. In content



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courses delivered in English, students would learn about a new topic or extend their knowledge of an existing topic. A final recommendation is a call for coordination across the curriculum. Besides internal coordination i.e. coordination between teachers of the same course, teachers of the same course or of interrelated courses across different levels need also to synchronise content. The result would be a better coherence of the curriculum and maximal proximity to students’ needs. In turn, this would enhance curriculum authenticity. Different obstacles may stand against coordination across the curriculum. First, a constant permutation of instructors from one course and/or a teaching team to another is likely to cause instability in the curriculum and a loss of motivation among instructors. As they do not have the opportunity to gain enough teaching experience, instructors may fail to strengthen their skills and improve their teaching performance. The reverse is also true for practitioners who have been teaching one course for several years and who may cease to upgrade its content along with the teaching approach they are using.

Challenges to Curriculum Authenticity Balancing authenticity requirements and the reality of the foreign language classroom is challenging due to difficulties in authenticating learning experiences in EFL contexts. Tatsuki (2006) argues that much of the discussion on authenticity in language learning was carried out in relation to English as Second Language (ESL) contexts where the target language is widely used outside the classroom. In ESL contexts, the degree to which learning is authentic can be evaluated against some external criteria. One of these criteria would be the type of tasks that are likely to confront the learner outside class. In EFL environments, however, authenticity is evaluated based on either some predictions on what the learner will encounter, or criteria related to ESL contexts. Another challenge to curriculum authenticity is the conflict that may occur between two indicators. A few years ago, I designed an ESP course for second year students based on the courses they take during the same academic year and on courses they will study in their third year. Even though the course did not display issues of redundancy and met students’ level, it was still more advanced than third year courses such as “Secretarial English”. As faculty members do not have the necessary powers to introduce changes to the curriculum, the issue of content gradation could not be amended. Finally, the model of curriculum authenticity introduced may contain other indicators. Other challenges also



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include the need to develop evaluation instruments besides setting up criteria for curriculum authenticity (Tomlinson, 2012). In other words, given the dynamic nature of context, curriculum authenticity should be systematically measured.

Conclusion In this chapter, I have attempted to set curriculum authenticity as a guiding principle for curriculum design in higher education. To this aim, I have proposed a set of five indicators of curriculum authenticity namely relevance, scope, coherence, proximity, and feasibility and argued for their value in that context. To conclude, I would like to stress the need for university practitioners to engage in educational research prompting changes of the way curricula are designed and managed at the national and institutional levels. The fields of TEFL and TESOL have been disconnected from developments in educational research feeding exclusively from research on applied linguistics (Finney, 2002). It is, therefore, necessary “to put language teaching back in touch with educational theory in general and curriculum studies in particular.” (Finney, 2002, p.73). In turn, administrators should be responsive to the realities of the educational context and to practitioners’ invaluable feedback drawn from their day-to-day experiences. Their role in setting the proper conditions for teaching and learning to take place has a significant impact on curriculum authenticity.

Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Habib Abdesslem, King Khalid University and The University of Manouba and Professor Brian Tomlinson for their insightful comments and reviews of an earlier version.

References Bastiaens, T., & Martens, R. (2000) Conditions for web-based learning with real events. In B. Abbey. (Ed.), Instructional and cognitive impacts of web-based education (pp.1-32). London: Idea Group Publishing. Bettaieb, A., Bahloul, M., & Chebchoub, A. (2015). Réforme LMD, dix ans aprèsௗ: cas de l’université tunisienne. Revue Recherches et Études En Sciences Humaines, 10–2015, 37–51.



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Buendgens-Kosten, J. (2013). Authenticity in CALL: three domains of “realness.” ReCALL, 25(2), 272–285. http://doi.org/10.1017/S0958344013000037 Finney, D. (2002). The ELT curriculum: A flexible model for a changing world. In J. C. Richards, & W. A. Renandya, (Eds.), Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Freedman, A. (1993). Show and tell? The role of explicit teaching in the learning of new genres. Research in the Teaching of English, 27(3), 222–251. Holliday, A. (1992). Tissue rejection and informal orders in ELT projects: Collecting the right information. Applied Linguistics, 13(4), 403–424. http://doi.org/10.1093/applin/13.4.403 Huhta, M. Vogt, K., Johnson, E. & Tulkki, K. (2013). Needs analysis for language course design: A holistic approach to ESP. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kennedy, C. (2001). Language use, language planning and EAP. In J. Flowerdew & M. Peacock (Eds.), Research perspectives on English for academic purposes (pp. 25–41). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lombardi, M. (2007, January 1). Authentic learning for the 21st century: An overview | EDUCAUSE.edu. Retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/authentic-learning-21stcentury-overview Marsh, D., & Martín, M. J. (2012). Content and language integrated learning. In C. A. Chapelle (Ed.), The encyclopedia of applied linguistics (Vol. II, pp. 911–920). Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing. Ministry of Higher Education, Administration of University Reform (2006). The LMD reform in Tunisia: Guidelines (2006). Retrieved from http://www.isetkr.rnu.tn/new/pdfs/note_de_cadrage_LMD_VersionFrancaise.pdf —. Scientific Research and Technologies (2009). Academic and vocational BAs. Recommendations of the National Committee for English majors. Retrieved from www.mesrst.tn/lmd/pdf2009/anglais/la_lf_anglais.pdf Nation, P., & Macalister, J. (2011). Introduction. In J. Macalister & P. Nation (Eds.), Case studies in language curriculum design: Concepts and approaches in action around the world (pp. 1–7). New Yorkௗ; London: Routledge.



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Parent, K. (2011). The teacher as intermediary between national curriculum and classroom. In J. Macalister & P. Nation (Eds.), Case studies in language curriculum design: Concepts and approaches in action around the world (pp. 186–194). New Yorkௗ; London: Routledge. Pienemann, M. (1985). Learnability and syllabus construction. In K. Hyltenstam (Ed.), Modeling and assessing second language acquisition (pp. 23–75). Clevedon, Avon: Multilingual Matters. Richards, J. C. (2013). Curriculum approaches in language teaching: Forward, central, and backward design. RELC Journal, 44(1), 5–33. doi:10.1177/0033688212473293 —. (2001). Curriculum development in language teaching. Great Britain: Cambridge University Press. Snow, M. (2013). Content-based language instruction. In C. A. Chapelle (Ed.), The encyclopaedia of applied linguistics (Vol. II, pp. 906–911). Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing. Système LMD : le temps de l’évaluation (2010). Retrieved from http://www.letemps.com.tn/article-44093-15062010.html Tatsuki, D. (2006). What is authenticity? In Proceedings of the 5th annual JALT Pan-SIG conference (p. 1 - 15). Shizuoka, Japan: Tokai University College of Marine Science. Tomlinson, B. (2012). Materials development for language learning and teaching. Language Teaching, 45(2), 143–179. http://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444811000528 Trabelsi, S. (2006). Towards a framework for authentic business English teaching materials for Tunisian intermediates. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260096406_Towards_A_Fra mework_for_Authentic_Business_English_Teaching_Materials_for_T unisian_Intermediates Valcke, M. (2016). Rethinking university curricula: What was the relevance of your university education? How prepared are students for professional practice? Powerpoint presentation presented at the Stop teaching: Making them work, Université Catholique de Louvain. Wang, L. (2014). Curriculum and curriculum integration of information literacy in higher education. In M. Hepworth & G. Walton (Eds.), Developing people’s information capabilities: Fostering information literacy in educational, Workplace and community contexts (pp. 31– 49). Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Zriba, H. (2014). Appraising teaching/learning English cultural studies in LMD system in Tunisia. TAYR Quarterly Journal, 1 (2): 1-15.



CHAPTER THREE PRINCIPLED APPLICATION OF AUTHENTICITY AS AN ALTERNATIVE TEACHING PARADIGM FOR PAKISTANI ESL CLASSROOMS ASMA AFTAB

Introduction The emergence of the concept of authenticity and its application is neither a recent phenomenon nor completely innovative in many language learning milieus (Mishan, 2004, p.16). Yet views about authenticity have been shifting parallel to changes in language teaching pedagogies and approaches and thus the prevalent interest in the concept does not appear to diminish. At the same time, just as no specific teaching methodology can be applauded as the ultimate technique or rejected as the most ineffectual, similarly no assumption about authenticity can be considered completely adequate or totally deficient since each belief or approach reflects both strengths and limitations. The important thing is to assess which viewpoint is actually relevant in the specific teaching context. Thus in this chapter I will be examining authenticity in relation to one ESL scenario, that is the English language teaching (ELT) situation in Pakistan. The focus will be on recapitulating the issues dominating ELT in Pakistan, analyzing the varied theoretical beliefs about authenticity while attempting to understand the term, highlighting the findings elicited from my Pakistan based materials evaluation research and developing appropriate materials.

Defining the Pakistani ESL Context As a result of my experience of training English language teachers in Pakistan for the past eight years and an English language materials

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evaluation research project in the country, the following aspects related to the Pakistani ESL context have come to light. First of all, though English has the status of a second language in Pakistan being important in academic and professional spheres, a very small section of the population employ the language in their daily life; “English speakers are more likely to be part of the business, political and economic elite” (Pinon & Haydon, 2010, p. 114). The majority of Pakistanis are not proficient in the language; generally, only those sections of the society can communicate efficiently in English who use the language regularly and (as stated above) these represent a very small proportion of the Pakistani public. In fact, it is believed that Pakistani English learners are unable to communicate effectively, fluently and accurately in the language (Warsi, 2004). Some educational appraisal projects such as the “Learning and Education Achievements in Punjab Schools" (LEAPS) (2007) and the “Punjab Education and English Language Initiative” (PEELI) (2013) revealed that students and teachers belonging to the majority province of Punjab were weak in English, while the “Annual Status of Education Report” (ASER) (2013) highlighted the dismal performance of children in the language countrywide. Moreover, analysis of the English written work (specifically the Masters and M Phil dissertations) of English teacher trainees (September, 2005 – December, 2010) substantiates the findings presented above. Expressions such as “some teachers said that few of the students are engage in appropriate behaviour” (Aftab, 2011, p. 368), “some of the teacher’s said yes, physical arrangement of the classroom may contribute to students’ misbehaviour at very large extent” (2011, p. 368), “the books are long”, and “any new language learning or structures has not happened” indicate that these language users have difficulties utilizing correct and suitable verb forms, prepositions, reported speech patterns and lexis. In other words, in spite of undertaking formal English courses in schools since the first grade, the students have not been able to acquire grammatical and lexical competence in the language. The possible reasons for these deficiencies can include the activity types which are widely incorporated in the prescribed textbooks, given the overdependence on these resources for English language learning. (Aftab, 2011) Mechanical and controlled tasks such as discrete-point gapped exercises and oral drills were listed as the most preferred activities by a group of students studying in grade VI of a private sector school (Aftab, 2011) implying the partiality for texts/activities which are cognitively less challenging. In addition, both teachers and learners are assumed to be familiar with a small range of language activities and genres rendering their experience of language teaching/learning limited (Shamim, 2011, p.

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8). Moreover, my research and teacher training experience have lead me to believe that generally Pakistani English teachers are not familiar with the concept of ‘authenticity’, while most English language teacher training and professional development programmes do not focus on this area, probably once again due to the lack of awareness on the part of the trainers and programme developers or because of assigning authenticity secondary importance.

Revisiting the Authenticity Debate The theoretical perspectives related to authenticity in the context of second/foreign language teaching have been altering and evolving in the course of the last few decades. Consequently, the applied linguistics literature is replete with different assumptions and categorizations which can result in confusions among researchers and practitioners. The concept of ‘authentic texts’ has received the most attention and consequently most varied viewpoints about this term have been highlighted. A few sections of the literature (such as Morrow, 1977, p. 13, cited in Mishan, 2004, p. 12) have equated an authentic text with ‘real’, but (as I have realized) ‘real’ can have diverse implications. For example, some practitioners may believe ‘real’ to mean ‘original’ and ‘not fake’, while a group of ESL teachers (which I trained) assumed that a ‘real text’ is one which does not incorporate any imaginary content, implying that fairy tales or fantasy stories cannot be authentic. According to Joy (2011, pp. 9-11), an authentic text is one which can be understood. But this viewpoint makes the concept variable and unpredictable; the same text can be comprehended to varied degrees. Authentic texts have also been considered those texts which are relevant for the target learners (Shomoossi & Ketabi, 2007, pp. 151, 153). However, learners’ needs can be diverse, which once again renders the concept fluid. An authentic text is additionally believed to be a text which provides occasions for interaction (Shomoossi & Ketabi, 2007, pp 151, 153), but reading and listening imply some kind of interaction, which makes all texts authentic in this sense. Moreover, linguists have categorized authentic texts as those which have not been only prepared for language learning purposes (Tomlinson, 1998). However, these texts can be used in non-authentic ways, that is, in ways for which they were not intended; for instance, one textbook (prescribed in Grade VI in Pakistan) incorporates an extract from an informative brochure, but the learners are required to ‘fill in the blanks with the appropriate relative pronouns’ (Jones & Mann, 2006, p. 82), instead of interacting with the provided information as is the

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original aim of this text. Activities making use of the real purposes of the used texts and those supporting appropriate and real life behavior have been categorized by some linguists (such as Mishan, 2004 and Guariento & Morley, 2001) as authentic. Nevertheless, the classroom situation makes the performance seem unreal since these roles are meant for outside classroom contexts. In addition, activities motivating learners and personally engaging them are also believed to be authentic (Joy 2011; Mishan, 2004; Guariento & Morley, 2001); however, what may be engaging or motivating for one student or one group may not be so for another. Joy, (2011) also believes that tasks favoured by learners can be labelled as authentic, but students can have a variety of tastes and preferences, while in some educational contexts learners can have limited expectations, beliefs and experiences, leading them to accept any classroom material without questioning. From a recent perspective, classroom lessons eliciting effective language from learners are assumed to reflect authenticity (Joy, 2011), but the word ‘effective’ is ambiguous and can reflect different interpretations. Finally, Richards (2014, p. 26) promotes “authenticity of processes” (in place of authentic texts) which implies the use of the “intended” purposes of texts such as identification of “cause and effect” (p. 26); in many ways this emphasis on utilization of authentic processes seems to mirror Mishan’s (2004) viewpoints about authentic tasks (discussed above).

Exemplifying Authenticity The above discussion illustrates the theoretical complexity of the concept ‘authenticity’ which not only makes it difficult to apply in actual language classrooms, but can also create doubts about whether it is indeed necessary to define, discuss, research, focus on and utilize authenticity at all in educational contexts. However, I have attempted to elucidate the term for both research and classroom use purposes using some of the original dictionary meanings of the word and to interpret the concept from the point of view of helping learners rehearse for real life. Figure 1 presents the varied definitions of ‘authenticity’ and related terms as given in the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2000, p. 68):

“actually existing or happening and not imagined or pretended” (p. 1054)

“known to be real”

“not a copy”

“having all the important qualities that it should have to deserve to be called what it is called” (p. 1054)

“known to be genuine”

‘Authenticity’

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Figure 1. Dictionary meanings of ‘authenticity’

“accurate”

“exact” (p. 1392)

“true”

(emphasis added) (Adapted from Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 2000)

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“what it appears to be and not artificial” (p. 536)

“made to be exactly the same as the original”

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Authentic text can be taken as that material which has been created for actual readers and listeners and is “not a copy” (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 2000, p. 68). Nevertheless, the literature has accentuated the fallacy of using such texts in classrooms, that is, outside the “contexts” for which they were “originally” created (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987, p. 15) and calling them authentic (Widdowson, 1998, p. 711-12, cited in Mishan, 2004, p. 13). However, the specification of the situation and audience for which the authentic materials were intended in the form of the activities based on the texts can in a way help recreate or transfer the original context to the classroom (see the following paragraphs for details). At the same time, many texts meant to be used by readers or listeners similar to the learners are available and these can be used in educational institutions; for instance, students reading fiction or consulting encyclopedias in the school or college libraries. Authentic activities can be assumed to replicate real-life behavior reflecting the characteristics which are represented in Figure 2: Relevant Roles for Learners

Proper Reasons for using the language

Authentic Language Behaviour

Communication of Meaning Figure 2. Three dimensions of authentic activities

In other words, authentic tasks are “exactly the same as the original” (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 2000, p. 68) (that is, outside classroom activities), “having all the important qualities” (2000, p. 1054) that they should possess as language tasks and are “not artificial” (2000, p. 536). Here it is important to point out that the epithets ‘authentic’ and ‘communicative’ as well as the label ‘tasks’ are widely used in the literature for activities which either possess these characteristics or are similar to the ones defined here. However, I will be employing ‘task’ and ‘activity’ interchangeably irrespective of whether the material is authentic or non-authentic and I will be only using the term ‘authentic’ (and not ‘communicative’) in this chapter.

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Obviously authentic tasks (as defined above) involve creating ‘imaginary’ or ‘unreal’ contexts in most cases; in other words, learners are asked to imagine scenarios beyond the language classroom where they are not placed at present. Thus this observation can make one question labelling these activities as ‘authentic’ since these classroom tasks represent situations which are not “actually existing or happening” (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 2000, p. 1054) and are in fact “imagined or pretended” (2000, p. 1054). Nevertheless, these activities reflect real world language use by recreating the original contexts. Moreover, these task types have certain strengths which can facilitate language learning and the next section illustrates the possible reasons for focusing on authenticity in the specified sense for ESL learning environments.

Rationale for Targeting Authenticity in ESL Classrooms The necessity of focusing on authenticity in Pakistani ESL classrooms can be understood by underscoring some notable assumptions which have been derived from my observations, analysis, and research.

Observation 1 – Authentic Texts as Rich and Creative Linguistic Storehouses Non-authentic texts generally utilize “accurate” language which may not be very similar to the language used in real life, and thus they may be more suitable for teaching grammar rather than developing reading skills (Berardo, 2006, p. 62). On the other hand, texts which have been prepared for real readers or listeners generally incorporate varied sentence constructions, vocabulary, and other linguistic features aiming to fulfill the objective of communication. In other words, these texts have been created for particular purposes and so use language specifically to achieve these aims; in fact, while attempting to achieve their purposes the speakers or writers try to control the responses of the target audience and this makes the language manipulative. Moreover, these texts utilize language in interesting and appealing ways in order to attract the attention of the audience. These assumptions can be illustrated by the following analysis of some coursebook texts prepared solely for language learners and excerpts taken from material prepared for real readers/listeners. Two extracts selected from Pakistani textbooks (one prescribed in grade VI and the other in grade V) are presented in Figure 3:

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(a) He took a new wife each day. After one day’s marriage, he cut off her head and married again. This went on for some time. All the people in the country were very unhappy. (Howe, Kirkpatrick, & Kirkpatrick, 1997, p. 96)

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(b) I think people did live here once, about 5000 years ago. Then the Ice Age came. Most of the continent of Asia stayed under ice cap for thousands of years. Now the earth’s temperature is warming up again, it might be possible to live here again. (Jacques, 2006, p. 87)

Figure 3. Excerpts from texts prepared solely for language learning purposes

Excerpt (a) has been adapted from the book The Thousand and One Nights. The language of this extract is very straightforward and simple while being limited, monotonous and prosaic. This text has the sole aim of assessing students’ reading comprehension primarily related to the provided facts (that is, the series of events narrated in the extract), and the events are presented using similar sentence patterns without any vivid and descriptive details. Excerpt (b) is also a narrative and it involves a father informing his son about a mysterious land where they have landed on a boat. Once again in this case the utilized language is mundane, unimaginative, and non-descriptive making the text impersonal, detached and unemotional while the description is superficial and sketchy. Two excerpts taken from English materials which are not meant to be used primarily for language teaching purposes are provided in Figure 4:

(c) “Bohol, ever smiling, ever friendly” (Fun in the Philippines – Bohol, n.d., n.p.)

(d) Antarctica! It seems like the last place on earth. It’s a land lost to eternal ice! Temperatures drop to minus eighty degrees Celsius. Yet in this frozen desert there is life… (Marshall & Buhleier, 2003, n.p.)

Figure 4. Extracts from texts meant for real readers and listeners

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Excerpt (c) is from a web travel brochure about Bohol (a province of Philippines). The main aim of this text is to promote Bohol as a popular tourist spot. The figurative language is expressive, emotional & creative and reflects the message that tourists are welcome in the province and their visit will be a worthy experience. Extract (d) is taken from a National Geographic documentary on emperor penguins. The quoted lines are informing the audience about the continent of Antarctica where the penguins reside. In the beginning, Antarctica is likened to “the last place on earth” (Marshall & Buhleier, 2003, n.p.); these evocative words can motivate the interested audience to continue watching the documentary in order to find the reason behind this ‘provocative’ declaration. A little ahead, the continent is said to be “a land lost to eternal ice” (2003, n.p.); this creative and powerful phrase highlights that Antarctica is covered by ice most of the time. Finally, additional vivid and descriptive details are provided by calling the continent a “frozen desert” (2003, n.p.). In short, the used lexis makes the text meaningful and emotional while attempting to attract the audience’s attention as well as to provide the relevant information in a precise and effective manner. Thus the use of these kinds of authentic material for language learning can provide ample opportunities for learners to encounter the target language as it is actually used to achieve diverse aims, instead of just providing them with accurate samples of the language which do not reflect any purpose.

Observation 2 – Diversity as Reflected in Exposure to Authentic Texts While non-authentic texts used in textbooks are limited as far as topics and text-types (generally narrative and factual texts having no specific genres) are concerned, authentic texts are diverse reflecting wide-ranging themes and genres. For instance, two textbooks (prescribed in Pakistan) incorporating authentic texts, namely Oxford Progressive English 6 (Redford, 2005) and Step Ahead 1 (Jones & Mann, 2006), focus on varied themes such as Italian cuisine, charity organizations, myths, archeological findings, surfing, turtles, hobbits, witches, racial bias, space exploration, medical achievements, journalistic ethics and atypical sports. Similarly, since these two coursebooks use material taken from outside the classroom, the target students are exposed to different genres including ballads, e-mails, brochures, advertisements, diaries, film reviews, folk tales, autobiographies and travelogues. Seen from this perspective, the authentic texts can be beneficial in the language classrooms in two main interrelated ways. First of all, they can cater to the varied tastes of the

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target students; in addition, since more comprehensive exposure is ensured, generally authentic material can also help to broaden the interests and outlooks of the learners. In fact, the viewpoints of 80 students who were using the above mentioned textbooks were investigated and it was found that these children “displayed wide ranging tastes” (Aftab, 2011, p. 248); for example, the respondents liked to spend time reading and watching fantasy, tragic, adventurous, historical, humorous, dramatic, mysterious, horror, folktale based, and action oriented books and movies, and prefered a variety of programmes such as cartoons, quiz programmes, informative documentries, sporting events and soap operas.

Observation 3 – Disparity between Mainstream Textbook Activities and Outside Classroom Tasks The typical controlled and mechanical activities being used in Pakistani textbooks require learners to compose, alter, complete, and repeat decontextualized sentences with the aim of practicing grammatical or phonological concepts and assessing comprehension of the provided lexis. The content to be used is usually explicitly presented in the form of vocabulary items or outlines, sentence patterns, and/or pictures providing no or very limited elements of choice and making the produced language and ideas predictable. As such these tasks do not require any higher order cognitive and creative abilities and no affective responses. For instance, in one textbook activity, the students are required to use the provided pictures, guide phrases (which constitute the main content words and adverb phrases), and conjunctions to write a “paragraph” about the beginning of fish farming (Jacques, 2006, p. 51). The term “paragraph” does not indicate which specific genre (such as a letter, a story, a magazine article, or an encyclopedia entry) is to be composed and thus no communicative purpose is suggested; moreover, the content, main vocabulary and grammatical structures are explicitly given. In short, the learners will neither be using their linguistic repertoire, ideas, and higher order critical abilities nor are they being trained to understand what real communication implies. In contrast, outside classroom language tasks involve exchange of meaning using appropriate linguistic resources so that effective communication is achieved and the produced language and ideas are obviously unpredictable. Moreover, the language users have to utilize their cognitive and creative skills and respond emotionally to what they hear and read. For instance, composing a curriculum vita will require a job applicant to present his/her educational and professional achievements in

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such a way so as to promote them for the specific job, while the perspective employer will examine the CV to see how far this applicant is suitable for the relevant position in his/her organization. Since ESL learners will be undertaking such task types in their future lives, it is important that they are trained to cope with the real world situations effectively by being made to undertake activities which have similar requirements in the classrooms.

Observation 4 – Limitations in the Prescribed English Language Materials I examined six textbooks (two coursebooks prepared for the public schools and four textbooks developed by private sector publishers) being prescribed in Pakistan in order to highlight the types of tasks which have been incorporated in these books. Interestingly, authentic activities (that is, those fulfilling the criteria identified in this chapter) constituted a negligible percentage of the books. Table 1 Percentage of incorporated authentic activities in Pakistani ESL textbooks Textbook Title English 6 (Akhtar-ud-din, Siddiqui, & Hassan, 2003) Every Day English 6 (Nasir, 2009) Guided English (Book 0) (Howe, 2007) Oxford Progressive English 6 (Redford, 2005) Advance with English 1 (Howe, Kirkpatrick, & Kirkpatrick, 1997) Step Ahead 1 (Jones & Mann, 2006)

Percentage of Authentic Activities 0 4% 0 3% 7% 13%

The few authentic tasks utilized in Every Day English (Nasir, 2009) include role plays involving informal telephonic conversations and a dialogue between a railway passenger and an information officer. Advance with English (Howe, Kirkpatrick, & Kirkpatrick, 1997) utilizes a number of contextualized oral drills which require students to communicate in the specified situations using the provided sentence patterns. Step Ahead (Jones & Mann, 2006) incorporates a few contextualized writing and speaking activities in each unit (such as giving a sales presentation and preparing web reports aiming at different types of audience). Nevertheless,

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as can be seen, even when authentic activities are used they mainly focus on the productive skills, while listening and reading skills are predominately handled through the traditional comprehension questions requiring either detailed factual recall or intensive understanding of most of the lexis used in the texts. Clearly in Pakistan English language teaching needs to extend beyond superficial and undemanding tasks and to help language learners use English in ways which replicate the language exposure outside their classrooms; authentic activities can provide such useful opportunities and keeping the dearth of these kinds of materials in the typical language teaching resources in mind, it is important that some relevant revisions are undertaken in the prescribed textbooks.

Observation 5 – Research Based Evidence It is important to look for evidence which supports the assumption that the use of authentic materials is beneficial for language learners. Some recent studies have investigated the effects of authentic texts, though admittedly, the elicited findings are context bound and cannot be widely generalized. Guo’s (2012) experimental study illustrated that the use of authentic discourse improved vocabulary development and motivation in 49 Taiwanese college EFL learners. Ihtiari, Sundari, and Andayani (2013) demonstrated the positive co-relation between the use of authentic texts and the EFL reading comprehension skills of 100 Indonesian learners studying in Grade VIII. Marzban & Davaji (2015) illustrated the improvement in the reading comprehension abilities and motivational levels of 24 intermediate level Iranian students. Aftab and Salahuddin (2015) demonstrated the positive effect of authentic material on the ESL reading comprehension abilities of 154 Pakistani learners belonging to grades VI and VII. Moreover, the participants displayed a very positive attitude towards the use of authentic texts in their classrooms (Aftab & Salahuddin, 2015). Studies investigating the effects of authentic activities on learners’ language acquisition are few; most of this research focuses more on learner motivation or students’ and teachers’ perceptions instead of on the learning outcomes. There can be possible reasons for this limited interest; authenticity has predominately been associated with texts and moreover, generally it is easier to introduce students to authentic reading texts since these are readily available than prepare special authentic tasks. Nevertheless, the small number of studies that have been undertaken (such as Chujo, H. Okazaki & Okazaki, 1992; Tabrizi & Nasiri, 2011; Gilmore,

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2011; Rastegaran, 2016) have highlighted the positive correlation between authentic tasks and the acquisition of various aspects of language (for instance, adjectives, communicative competence, speaking skills, and vocabulary development). Sample Activities – Application of the Authenticity Framework to Materials Development Authenticity and its empirical value can be best understood once examined within the perspective of language materials development. I prepared the following two ‘authentic’ activities meant for ESL intermediate level students (aged 10 to 12 years): Sample activity I (pair work) Text: The YouTube video version of the song “Friends to the End” from the movie Tom and Jerry: The Movie (excerpts provided in the Appendix) You will watch an excerpt of a movie (a song) with a cousin who lives in the United States of America (one of your class fellows). The song focuses on Tom and Jerry and two other characters whom they meet. After watching the video exchange your views with your cousin based on the following questions: 1. Did you enjoy the song? Why or why not? 2. What is the message of the song? How far do you agree with the message? 3. What do you think will happen in the movie after this song? 4. Do you want to watch the movie? Why or why not? (Adapted from Aftab, 2011, p. 476) Sample activity II (pair work) Texts: The blurbs of two books titled Jason and the Argonauts and Dexter’s Laboratory: The Dex-Terminator (excerpts provided in the Appendix) You are at a bookshop in Dubai with a friend (one of your class fellows) who wants to buy a book. You come across two books which seem interesting. The figures show the blurbs given on the back covers of these books. The titles and the names of the writers are given below the blurbs. Discuss with your friend: 1. Are you familiar with any of these books or the characters mentioned in the blurbs?

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2. Which one of the books do you think your friend should buy? Read the book blurbs and give suggestions. Also give appropriate reasons for your choice; in other words, share with your friend what made you decide (the title; the kind of book; the given story; the characters). (Adapted from Aftab, 2011, p. 474) Evaluation of the Authenticity of the Sample Materials The activities were evaluated from the point of view of the framework derived from the definition of authentic tasks discussed in this chapter. The evaluation highlighted the following characteristics: Real audience The text used for Activity I is meant for real listeners since it is a movie song. Similarly, the two texts provided for Activity II (book blurbs) are intended for real readers. Real-life like roles In Activity I the target learners are given the role of kids watching a movie excerpt and exchanging opinions with each other and in the second activity the students are required to undertake the roles of children buying books for which they may need to read book blurbs. Communicative purposes The purposes reflected in the first activity are entertainment, responding emotionally, critical thinking about the expressed ideas, prediction, exchanging opinions, and making decisions about whether the movie should be watched or not. The aims of Activity II are exchanging opinions about the two books and deciding which book should be bought. Relevant situations The situation suggested in Activity I involves two cousins watching an excerpt from a movie meant primarily for children and reacting as they would to texts of this kind. In addition, one of the members in the paired activity is assigned the role of someone who lives in a native English context in order to create a scenario that requires learners to communicate with each other in English. The second task implies a situation involving two friends going over blurbs of two books meant primarily for children of this age group and responding as they would to these genres. Moreover, the suggested context is Dubai whose international setup implies that both

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friends can belong to different national backgrounds and so they have to communicate with each other in a lingua franca or a common language (English). Focus on meaning The first activity directly requires learners to respond to what is being said in the song, the visuals, and the sound effects. In the same way, in order to undertake Activity II, students will be purely focusing on the content of the book blurbs. In short, both the tasks helped to illustrate how authentic language use contexts can be created in the ESL classrooms.

Piloting of Sample Activities – Students’ Perceptions It is imperative that materials are actually used in the classroom with language learners; thus I piloted Activities I and II with two different groups of 20 Grade VI Pakistani learners (Group 1 and Group 2). The members of both groups were 10 to 12 years of age, displaying low to average level of English language proficiency, studying in English medium private sector schools, and belonging to middle class urban social backgrounds. The students’ perceptions about each activity were investigated through short closed-ended questions. The findings highlighted that all the respondents belonging to Group 1 overwhelmingly enjoyed Activity I, while a simple majority (55%) of the Group 2 members enjoyed Activity II to a great extent. Differences in opinion were also apparent between the two groups about the usefulness of the relevant activity; a substantial majority (82%) of Group 1 participants favoured Activity I, while Group 2 respondents were equally divided with one half of the learners believing that Activity II helped them learn English to a great extent and the other half assuming that it provided support for language acquisition only to some extent.

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Table 2 Target students’ perceptions about the sample activities How far did you enjoy the activity?

Very much

Somewhat

Not at all

Activity I

100%

0

0

Activity II

55%

45%

0

How far do you think the activity helped you learn the English language?

Very much

Somewhat

Not at all

Activity I

82%

18%

0

Activity II

50%

50%

0

Though both activities utilized authentic texts, roles, and purposes, watching cartoon videos about Tom and Jerry seemed to be a more popular activity than reading book blurbs (especially those about Greek legends). Nevertheless, none of the participants had any negative viewpoints about either of the activities.

Authenticity as a Criterion for Materials Development in Pakistan Empirical data highlighting the positive effects of authentic texts and tasks has emerged from studies with English learners belonging to different contexts which shows they can be beneficial for Pakistani students since they provide opportunities for flexible, context-driven, and purposeful language use which can help them cope with English communication beyond the formal learning environment. In fact, the deficiencies in the English language skills of Pakistanis can be linked to the minimal exposure to authentic tasks in the English programmes being conducted in the country (see the above sections for details). The aim of presenting the sample authentic activities was to suggest new teaching ideas for English teachers so that their experiences can be broadened and consequently they

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can be inspired to use wide ranging texts and tasks moving beyond the traditional discrete point comprehension questions, gapped exercises, drills, and controlled production activities. At the same time, the favourable perceptions of a group of Pakistani students about the sample tasks is encouraging and lends support for incorporating these materials in mainstream ELT programmes.

Conclusion – Looking Forward There is no doubt that authentic activities can provide some kind of support for language acquisition. However, at the same time, it is important that long term research is conducted in different educational contexts in order to investigate the effects of authentic materials on language acquisition. After using authentic tasks for a period of about six to eight years, learners could be assessed for the degree of language acquisition using both formal tests and informal techniques (such as interviews and projects). Only once we have elicited conclusive data indicating the positive co-relation between authenticity and language learning, will we be in a position to promote authentic tasks. Another important proposal is related to the use of authentic material in the classrooms. The teachers (and administrators) should provide opportunities to learners to choose their own texts from outside the classroom and suggest possible activities which are similar to the real life tasks. After all, asking students to undertake role plays which have little appeal or use for them just because they appear to replicate real life tasks may not prove to be beneficial for them. But providing them freedom to choose could make learning a motivating experience for them since they will be reading and listening to what they like and producing language for purposes which they value. However, procedures which provide learners with some kind of control over materials development require special training, especially in contexts such as Pakistan; for instance, the students should be made aware of the variety of texts and tasks which can be used in the language classroom as well as of how to evaluate materials critically. Views about authenticity vary based on the theorists’ own teaching and learning experiences. Thus the aim of this chapter was not to promote one specific assumption or type of materials at the expense of other beliefs and approaches, but to illustrate one perspective about authenticity and show how the presented framework can be applied in ESL classrooms in the form of specifically prepared activities. After all, it is imperative that theoretical viewpoints related to applied linguistics are effectively

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disseminated and elucidated to practitioners so that benefits are ultimately passed on to the major stakeholders, specifically the language learners.

References Aftab, A. & Salahuddin, A. (2015). Authentic texts and Pakistani learners’ ESL reading comprehension skills: A mixed-method study. Language Education in Asia, 6(2), 122-134. http://dx.doi.org/10.5746/LEiA/15/V6/I2/A4/Aftab_Salahuddin Aftab, A. (2011). English language textbooks evaluation in Pakistan (Doctoral dissertation). University of Birmingham, UK. Akhtar-ud-din, Siddiqui, A. M. & Hassan, A. (2003). English 6. Lahore, Pakistan: Punjab Textbook Board. ASER Pakistan 2013. (2014). Annual status of education report (National). Lahore, Pakistan: South Asian Forum for Education Development (SAFED). Berardo, S. A. (2006). The use of authentic materials in the teaching of reading. The Reading Matrix, 6(2), 60-69. Retrieved from http://www.readingmatrix.com/articles/berardo/article.pdf Brooks, F. (2002). Jason and the Argonauts. London, England: Usborne Publishing Ltd. Brown, D. (2016, July 31). Friends to the end Tom and Jerry (Video File). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cacBaT8Ar9U Chujo, K., Okazaki, H. & Okazaki, T. (1992). An examination of effects on communicative activities in vocabulary learning. The Japanese Journal of Educational Psychology, 40(3), 323-330. Retrieved from https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jjep1953/40/3/40_323/_article Gilmore, A. (2011). “I prefer not text”: Developing Japanese learners’ communicative competence with authentic materials. [Abstract]. Language Learning, 61(3), 786–819. doi:10.1111/j.14679922.2011.00634.x Guariento, W. & Morley, J. (2001). Text and task authenticity in the EFL classroom. ELT Journal, 55(4), 347-353. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/elt/55.4.347 Guo, S. C. (2012). Using authentic materials for extensive reading to promote English proficiency. ELT Journal, 5(8), 7-21. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/elt.v5n8p196 Howe, D. H. (2007). Guided English for Pakistan (Book 0). Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford University Press. Howe, D. H., Kirkpatrick, T. A. & Kirkpatrick, D. L. (1997). Advance with English (Book 1). Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford University Press.

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Hutchinson, T. & Waters, A. (1987). English for specific purposes: A learner-centred approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ihtiari, K. B., Sundari, S., & Andayani, M. A. (2013). The effect of using English authentic reading materials on the eighth grade students’ reading comprehension achievement at SMP Negeri 1 Tempurejo.Pancaran, 2(2), 85-98. Retrieved from http://jurnal.unej.ac.id/index.php/pancaran/article/download/685/503 It’s more fun in the Philippines – Bohol. (n.d.). Retrieved September 4, 2016, from http://www.morefunphilippines.co.uk/brochure/ Jacques, C. (2006). Oxford progressive English 5. Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford University Press. Jones, H., & Mann, R. (2006). Step ahead 1. Singapore: Panpac Education.͒ Joy, J. J. L. (2011). The duality of authenticity in ELT. The Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 7(2), 7-23. Retrieved from http://www.jlls.org/index.php/jlls/article/viewFile/111/111 LEAPS Team. (2007). Learning and educational achievements in Punjab schools (LEAPS): Insights to inform the education policy debate. Retrieved from http://www.leapsproject.org/assets/publications/ LEAPS_Report_FINAL.pdf Marshall, G. & Buhleier, B. (Producer/Camera). (2003). National Geographic's crittercam: emperor penguins [Documentary]. United States: A National Geographic Television and Film Production WGT Inc. Marzban, A., & Davaji, S. (2015). The effect of authentic texts on motivation and reading comprehension of EFL students at intermediate level of proficiency. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 5(1), 85-91. http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0501.11 Mishan, F. (2004). Designing authenticity into language learning materials. Bristol, England: Intellect. Nasir, A. (2009). Every day English 6. Jamshoro, Pakistan: Sindh Textbook Board. Oxford advanced learner’s dictionary (6th ed.). (2000). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pinon, R., & Haydon, J. (2010). English language quantitative indicators: Cameroon, Nigeria, Rwanda, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Retrieved from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/ Euromonitor%20Report%20A4.p df Punjab Education and English Language Initiative (PEELI). (2014). Can English medium education work in Pakistan? Retrieved from http://www.britishcouncil.org/peeli_report.pdf

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Rastegaran, S. (2016). The effect of using authentic task on teaching adjectives. Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 7(2), 18-24. Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.18 Redford, R. (2005). Oxford progressive English 6. Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford English Press. Richards, J. C. (2014). The ELT textbook. In S. Garton and K. Graves (Eds.), International perspectives on materials in ELT (pp. 19-36). Hampshire, England: Palgrave Macmillan Shamim, F. (2011). English as the language for development in Pakistan: Issues, challenges and possible solutions. In H. Coleman, (Ed.), Dreams and realities: Developing countries and the English language. Retrieved from http://www.teachingenglish.britishcouncil.org.cn/sites/ teacheng/.../Z413%20EDB%20Section14.pdf Shomoossi, N., & Ketabi, S. (2007). A critical look at the concept of authenticity. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 4(1), 149-155. Retrieved from http://e-flt.nus.edu.sg/v4n12007/shomoossi.pdf Tabrizi, A. R. N. & Nasiri, M. (2011). The effect of using task-based activities on speaking proficiency of EFL learners. Proceedings of the Asian Conference on Education, Osaka, Japan, 333-345 (The International Academic Forum). Retrieved from http://iafor.org/ace_proceedings.html Tomlinson, B. (Ed.). (1998). Materials development in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Warsi, J. (2004). Conditions under which English is taught in Pakistan: An applied linguistic perspective. Retrieved from www.saridjournal.org/2004/warsi.html Weiss, B. J. G. & Weiss, D. C. (2009). Dexter’s laboratory: The DexTerminator. New Delhi, India: Sterling Publishers Private Limited for Cartoon Network.

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Appendix Excerpts – “Friends to the End” from Tom and Jerry: The Movie We two, we’re friends to the end! Aren’t we, my friend?͒ We kind of blend together, Coffee and Cream, Boy, what a team!͒ …True the sun may turn to rain,͒ We don’t mind a drop of rain,͒ But you won’t hear us complain; Doesn’t help to stop the rain,͒ What’s to gain if we complain? …The greatest gift in life’s a friend, Pays a daily dividend,͒ Be like us and start a trend: Be friends to the end. (Adapted from Brown, 2016, n.p.)

Excerpt – Jason and the Argonauts (Blurb) …Struggling onwards through enemy territory, over mountainous seas and unchartered lands, Jason and his fearless crew, the Argonauts, battle giants, dragons, monsters and a merciless sea god to bring the legendary Golden Fleece back to Greece. (Adapted from Brooks, 2002, n.p.)

Excerpts – Dexter’s Laboratory: The Dex-Terminator (Blurb) Oh, no! Dexter’s lab has been invaded by a robotic rodent! He had never imagined that a tiny little mouse could create such havoc… Will the boy genius be ever free to pursue science again? (Adapted from Weiss, B. J. G. & Weiss, 2009, n.p.)

CHAPTER FOUR A DISCUSSION OF GLOBAL ENGLISHES AND MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT CLAUDIA SARACENI

Introduction In his article entitled The African Writer and the English Language, Chinua Achebe stated the following: I feel that the English language will be able to carry the weight of my African experience. But it will have to be a new English, still in full communion with its ancestral home but altered to suit its new African surroundings. (Achebe, 2014)

In many ways the above statement represents the central starting point of this chapter and its core focus, as well as also its main purposes. Embedded in this brief statement there are two main aspects: one relates to the acceptance and acknowledgement of the English language as a tool to communicate and tell a story; the second point recognises the fact that the English language has to be changed or adapted to form a new English (in Achebe’s own words) to give voice to its vast variety of speakers, in order to enable them not only to communicate, but also to express their identity. The above specific case is not the exception but the rule: whenever it is used, English needs to be interpreted, adapted, adjusted to its contexts in order to allow it to be used to communicate and also as a tool to create relationships amongst its speakers. Language use becomes meaningful, expressive, hence authentic, when it is adapted by its users in order to convey their thoughts and as a tool for self-expression. This makes language and authentic language use rather diverse, multifaceted, dynamic

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and changeable, as it is adapted to a large number of speakers for a numerous number of purposes and contexts, as represented below:

constantly evolving

dynamic

language use multifaceted

diverse

adaptable

Diagram 1: characteristics of language use

Authenticity in Language In the specific case of English the above characteristics are, of course, relevant to all its potential uses: from its varieties based on its local and regional dialects and accents, to its varieties related to its speakers’ identities, backgrounds, age groups and social status. This is also relevant to its most localised contexts within every country where English is the official language and is also a global language, used as a tool to communicate between those speakers whose most dominant language does not necessarily involve English in the so called expanding circle (Kachru, 1992), as briefly described here. Global English and its uses have been categorised in numerous ways, but perhaps one of the most common is what is often referred to as the three-way categorization as mentioned above (Kachru, 1992) and reported in countless references in this field, such as for example in Jenkins (2015: pp.12 - 14). This framework presents an inner circle, an outer circle and what is referred to as the expanding circle. The inner circle lies at the core of this categorisation and it includes traditionally Anglophonic countries like the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, whereas the outer circle encompasses countries that have English as an official language as a result of colonisation, such as Nigeria, India, Kenya and Malaysia, for example. Finally the expanding circle includes those countries where

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English is used as a Lingua Franca, such as Germany, China or Saudi Arabia.

Authenticity in Language Learning Authenticity is a concept that is very commonly referred to in the field of language teaching and learning, also often defined in contrast with what typically happens in the language classroom, which is sometimes considered somewhat artificial hence not authentic. In this context, authenticity is very often perceived in a positive manner associated with a number of potential benefits, as portrayed in the following diagram:

Effective

Beneficial Authenticity

Useful

Real Genuine

Preferable

Diagram 2: main advantages associated with authenticity in language learning

This chapter questions the way authenticity is seemingly used in the materials produced for language teaching and learning and it emphasises a discrepancy between authentic language uses and the type of language input learners are often exposed to in the classroom. It is divided into three sections: the first underlines the role of the diverse nature of English as a global language also outlining its characteristics using examples drawn from authentic narrative texts; the second aims to emphasise a gap between authentic language use and the type of language input typically included in materials produced for language teaching and learning purposes; finally, the third section explores ways of using Global Englishes in language learning and offers a few suggestions and

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recommendations for the development of a more authentic dimension to the language teaching and learning context and to materials for language learning purposes.

Language Use Consider the following exchange: Text 1 So resolved, I grasped the latch and shook it vehemently. Vinegar faced Joseph projected his head from a round window of the barn. ‘Whet are ye for?’ he shouted. ‘T’ maister’s dahn I’ t’ fowld. Goa rahnd by th’ end ut’ laith, if yah went ruh spake tull him.’ ‘Is there nobody inside to open the door?’ I hallooed, responsively. ‘They’s nobbut t’ missis; and shoo’ll nut open ‘t an ye mak yer flaysome dims till neeght.’ ‘Why? cannot you tell her who I am, eh, Joseph?’ ‘Nor-ne me! Aw’ll hae noa hend wi’t,’ muttered the head vanishing.

The above is, of course, a brief extract from Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights which reports a short conversation between Mr Lockwood and Joseph in the second chapter of the novel (Brontë, 1992, pp. 5-6). What is immediately noticeable is the difference in the language used by the two speakers: one is based on what we may refer to as Standard English, and the other is associated with a local variety of Yorkshire dialect (Gezari, 2014). This linguistic gap between the two interlocutors is present for a number of reasons: one which is often associated with some of the main distinctive characteristics of the two protagonists and is mostly related to education, social class, locality and background. The other is, however, related to the fact that language also creates distance between the two speakers, who may purposely maintain and perhaps highlight such distance through their language use, mostly conveyed with their use of profoundly different accents and dialects. Thirdly, those differences relate to the fact that they belong to different social groups, hence they may want to emphasise their sense of belonging by using language to also express their identity. If a more standardised variety of English were used in the above extract, the conversation would not have been so vivid and it would have

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lost some of its narrative credibility. The above extract provides, therefore, an example of how Emily Brontë chose to give voice to her characters also as a way of maintaining the authenticity of her story. The above extract provides just one example of how language is used in authentic contexts. Numerous other examples can also be drawn from infinite sources, from many different social, cultural, regional and historical contexts, which can also be found beyond the national boundaries of any particular country or of any particular language. However, perhaps examples of different varieties of language use can be even more numerous with English, as it is used worldwide. Language Use: Authentic Texts There are endless different examples of the above uses of English in all its varieties which somewhat deviate from what is normally referred to as Standard English. These have been acknowledged, researched and discussed for a number of years in numerous contexts mostly related to descriptive linguistic study. Within a British context, for example, Hughes and Trudgill provided a comprehensive description as early as 1979, and then in the various editions that followed (Hughes & Trudgill, 1992). However, as widely acknowledged, English is used in all its varieties beyond the British national boundaries, and it is in this context that it is often referred to as World Englishes: The term World Englishes refers to a well-established academic field in sociolinguistics, whose main concern is the study of world […] Englishes, namely the varieties that emerged around the world […] from the eighteen century to the middle of the twentieth century. (Saraceni, 2015:1)

As mentioned earlier in this chapter, Kachru’s three-way categorization is very often referred to in relation to World Englishes (Kachru, 1992). However, this framework is rather debatable and there are various criticisms to such categorisations as these somewhat over-generalised categories seem rather simplistic and limited. This chapter sees World Englishes as a concept referring to English as a global language and its uses are, therefore, not considered as revolving around what is mostly an anglocentric environment, but can be found in different forms and in different parts of the world and are to be considered as equally relevant and valid worldwide as one another. Therefore, for the above reasons, authentic language use should be described not in relation to its national boundaries but rather focusing more on its users and their purposes,

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backgrounds, identities and functions, thus in a more user-centred and context-driven approach. As stated above, there are as many possible examples of authentic language use as there are of its speakers and of possible language utterances. However, for the purposes of this chapter I have, for the most part, arbitrarily selected examples of texts from literary, narrative sources. In many ways literary narrative texts can provide a relevant, universally appealing source of examples of authentic language use, which can be representative of World Englishes as defined above (this point will be discussed further later on in this chapter). The following texts 2, 3 and 4 represent examples of World Englishes drawn from literary texts written in different varieties of English:

Text 2 is taken from: Sam Selvon’s short story Cane is Bitter. “Well, if he married Doolsie everything might work out.” “How you mean if? I had enough of all this business. He have to do what I say, else I put him out and he never come here again. Doolsie father offering big dowry, and afterwards the both of them could settle on the estate and he could forget all that business.” Rookmin was silent. Ramlal kept testing the blade with his nail, as if he were fascinated by the pinging sound, as if he were trying to pick out a tune. But in fact he was thinking, thinking about the last time his son Romesh had come home… It was only his brothers and sisters, all younger than himself, who looked at Romesh with wonder, wanting to ask him questions about the world outside the canefields and the village. (Selvon, 2005)

Text 3 is taken from: John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men. ‘He ain’t neither. George won’t do nothing like that. I’ve knew George since – I forget when – and he ain’t never raised his han’ to me with a stick. He’s nice to me. He ain’t gonna be mean.’ ‘Well he’s sick of you,’ said the rabbit. ‘He’s gonna beat hell outta you an’ then go away an’ leave you.’

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‘He won’t,’ […] He won’t do nothing like that. I know George. Me an’ him travels together.’ (Steinbeck, 1994) Text 4 is taken from: Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novel The Secret Garden. ‘What is that?’ she said, pointing out of the window. Martha, the young housemaid, who had just risen to her feet, looked, and pointed also. ‘That there? She said ‘Yes.’ ‘That’s th’ moor,’ with a good-natured grin. ‘Does tha’ like it?’ ‘No,’ answered Mary. ‘I hate it.’ ‘That’s because tha’rt not used to it.’ Martha said, going back to her hearth. ‘Tha’ thinks it’s to big an’ bare now. But tha’ will like it.’ ‘Do you? inquired Mary. ‘Aye, that I do,’ answered Martha […] (Burnett 2008) There are a number of points to make about the above extracts in relation to their use of authentic language. What may be most interesting, perhaps, is the fact that, for all the above examples the linguistic features included that are not part of Standard British English are mostly used in the dialogues reported in the text, and not in the narrative. Those features are used for various purposes, mostly with the aim of constructing the characters and creating their identity through their voice. This is most expressively realised with the representation of spoken language in the text. In some cases there is also a sense of contrast between the characters where, for example in Burnett’s extract, one interlocutor is using what may be associated with Standard British English, whereas the other is using a Yorkshire dialect. As also mentioned above, this creates distance between the characters and emphasises the gap between their social class, background and identity. Generally, all the above extracts represent examples of some of the main features of authentic language use and demonstrate its main characteristics, as multifaceted, diverse, plural, dynamic and ever changing.

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Language Use: Authentic Purposes Authentic language is always used in context and never in isolation, therefore to be understood it needs to be interpreted in relation to its specific functions, its participants, their identity and background, their purposes, and its setting. In the specific case of the above extracts, their purposes and the message they convey are, of course, also context-driven, hence they should be interpreted accordingly. ***

Language Use in Materials for Language Teaching and Learning The Texts Exposure to language use in the classroom, typically reflected in published materials produced for language teaching and learning, is provided through various different audio and written texts from a great variety of different sources and presented in different styles - for example a description of a daily routine or of a common job are often found. However, there are a number of commonalities between these texts and, perhaps the most noticeable common point is the fact that they mostly tend to be written in Standard English, and tend to avoid showing any features of a local variety of English. The main purpose and value of this characteristic is probably related to the attempt to make the texts intelligible and accessible to learners of English. Traditionally behind this choice, there are also a number of assumptions: very often the idea that the standard variety of a language is also often associated with accurate language use, which is also often perceived by learners and teachers, as most suitable for language learning. By contrast, the same assumption also implies that other varieties, which seem to deviate from that standard language, are to be considered incorrect hence not acceptable or suitable for learners. This approach underlines a rather prescriptive view of language use which is mostly associated with those standard varieties that are considered part of the so-called inner circle within the three-way characterisation (Kachru 1992), namely generally British Standard English or perhaps, in a few cases, American Standard English or Australian Standard English. On the other hand, this example of language use may also be seen as so sanitised and neutral that it does not seem to allow speakers to acquire character or authenticity,

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hence it seems to lack credibility. It is standardised, thus perceived to be intelligible, and perhaps more accessible, but also static, voiceless and somewhat neutralised.

The Tasks As possible examples of the type of activities that are often included in published materials, the following may be considered: in response to an audio or written text, learners are typically required to answer a set of comprehension questions, often by answering multiple choice questions and/or to fill in the gaps in sentences, often with pre-determined answers to select from. The main purpose of what, in many ways, can be considered representative of what language learners are typically required to do in the classroom, is characteristically related to the idea of providing controlled practice, generally based on the aim of enabling students to pass an internationally recognised examination. This is where the potential value of this type of activity lies. However, often tasks also seem to be based on context-less language, considered mostly in isolation, and used without a specific, authentic purpose in a sort of neutralised type of language use. It can be argued that the above are only isolated examples of materials which, perhaps, present certain characteristics that cannot be generalised. Moreover, particularly the use of what is referred to as Standard British English in the practice of the language classroom, seems to be supported by very strongly held views on both sides, the practitioners’ and the learners’, as it is commonly considered to be correct. By contrast, everything else that seems to deviate from this norm is seen to be incorrect, thus inappropriate and therefore unsuitable for the language classroom.

Authentic Language Use and Language Learning As mentioned above, in the great majority of cases, learners are exposed to and encouraged to use Standard English, as this variety is generally considered to be the most appropriate for language teaching and learning and it seems, for various reasons, to hold a high social status, which is not shared by other varieties. To a great extent, therefore, there seems to be an undeniable mismatch at different levels between what authentic language use is based on and what it involves, on the one hand, and on the other the practice of language teaching and learning and, more specifically, what is typically included in

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materials produced for language learning. This mismatch seems, therefore, to lead to a lack of authenticity in the language classroom with very few exceptions (for example, Tomlinson, 1994). This aspect becomes also more evident as materials are often described and marketed as providing opportunities for authentic language use. Table 1 emphasises the above described discrepancy. Authentic Language Use Multifaceted

Materials Language Exposure Voiceless

Variable Adaptable

Repetitive Static

Complex Context-driven Localised

Simplified Neutral Standardised

Materials Activities Mostly based on controlled practice Context-less Language presented in isolation Exam-driven Purposeless

Table 1: Authentic Language Use and Materials Development The above described mismatch underlines the fact that language teaching practitioners, such as language teachers and learners as well as materials developers, seem to have ignored, to a large extent, the overwhelming presence of different varieties of English. These, however, demonstrate linguistic authenticity as they simply show how language is used by its speakers. Seyyed Asadollah Asadi wrote a critical, research-driven article in the MATSDA Folio March edition of 2013, reviewing the lack of representation of the extremely diverse English speaking population in international EFL text books, and he reported the following as one of his starting points: In spite of all these debates, it would seem that many ELT practitioners are still unaware of the veiled variables feeding English proliferation. (Asadi, 2013, p. 5)

There are a number of underlining assumptions behind the above point that perhaps can be used to attempt to explain the possible reasons for this gap: 1. The standard variety of English, particularly what is normally referred to as British Standard English, is what learners are still

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3.

4.

5.

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very often encouraged to learn as it is seen as correct, appropriate, suitable and intelligible; Languages are very commonly seen as confined to national boundaries and Standard English is normally associated with countries that lie within the so called inner circle (Kachru 1992) as described above, namely the UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand; The speakers that belong to the above mentioned inner circle are also seen as native speakers, thus they are considered to share language ownership; Those concepts that are normally related to what is associated with the standard form of English and to what is often referred to as native speakers of English, seem to hold a higher social, political and ideological status than those referred to as non-standard varieties and as non-native speakers; Different varieties of English are seen as deviations from the above described norm, hence are often considered not acceptable for language teaching and learning purposes.

It is also interesting to note that, perhaps to different extents and in different ways, all the above points are not only limited to the English language but they can be related also to other languages. Perhaps because of all the above reasons, language teaching and associated materials still seem to be overwhelmingly based on Standard English and on approaches that ultimately relate to language learning through imitation. This can be noticed most distinctively in the teaching of pronunciation but also very often in the teaching of other areas of language such as vocabulary, grammar and syntax. Encouraging learners to imitate what is perceived as native speaker English almost inevitably creates in the learners a sense of inadequacy as they are made to aspire to become someone they are not (Saraceni, 2014). This may also be, to a certain extent, potentially misleading because, as described above, language use by the so-called native speakers from the inner circle is equally diverse and localised as that of those who are commonly associated with nonnative speakers from the outer circle or the expanding circle. Developing Authenticity in Language Learning Materials As practitioners, the following questions need to be considered (Saraceni 2015):

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x What factors can determine language ownership? x Are those boundaries created by the above categorisations valid and legitimate? x If so, where do those afore-mentioned boundaries lie?

described

And perhaps the most significant question to pose for the purposes of this chapter is: x What implications are there for language teaching and learning and for materials development? From the above discussion, there seems to be an inevitable need for reducing the identified gap between language use and language teaching and learning, as well as the development of materials produced for the same aims. For this purpose, I will now include a brief practical example based on the following text 5, to illustrate how authentic language use can become part of language teaching and learning and, more specifically, of materials used for promoting more authentic language learning. Text 5 (extract from Sam Selvon’s Brackley and the Bed) One evening Brackley was cruising round by the Embankment looking for a soft bench to rest his weary bones, and to cogitate on the ways of life. […] Brackley hail from Tobago, which part they have it to say Robinson Crusoe used to hang out with Man Friday. Things was brown in that island and he make for England and manage to get a work and was just settling down when bam! he get a letter from his aunt saying that Teena want to come England too. Teena was Brackley distant cousin and they was good friends in Tobago. In fact, the other reason why Brackley hustle from the island is because it did look like he and Teena was heading for a little married thing, and Brackley run. (Selvon, 1987) The tasks associated with the above extract should focus on the learners’ individual response to the text, also comparing it with their own experience, and their interpretation, which contribute to creating the profiles of the two characters described in the extract: Brackley and Teena. These represent the main starting points of the activities suggested here, as they are two interesting and potentially engaging elements involved with

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the reading of this text. These activities also aim at combining the content of the story with the language used, in order to enable learners to develop their awareness of the way language contributes to constructing meaning and to stimulating interpretation. Pre-task: the students may be asked to read only one sentence first, which is included a bit later on in the story: … he have a feeling this girl would make botheration if she come England.

The teacher should then encourage learners to predict what they think the story is going to be about and perhaps also to discuss who they think this girl is in this story. Main Task: Once the learners have had a chance to activate their mental schemata (Stockwell, 2002) about the story, later on, once they start reading the rest of the extract they can perhaps compare their initial ideas, expectations and/or experience with their revised, more detailed impressions of the story and of two characters. Students could also be asked to discuss the following two points: x Why do you think Brackley, the main character, had that certain reaction when he heard about Teena’s visit? x Why do you think Teena was coming to visit him? At this point, the teacher could briefly introduce the type of variety of English used in this extract. Students may, then, be encouraged to read the text again and focus on the language used by asking them to identify and discuss the differences they noticed between the linguistic features used in this text and those related to British Standard English. This could be encouraged with the use of one example from the text which can be a starting point, for example the following sentence: Things was brown in that island and he make for England...

Once students have become familiarised with this concept they can then be encouraged to work more independently and can be asked to discuss and suggest possible functions and purposes for those identified language features found in this extract. The teacher can ask them, for example, why they think this specific variety of English is used and what effect it contributes to the meaning conveyed in the story and how it would change if Standard English were used.

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Post-task: students should, at this point, be also encouraged to respond to this story by perhaps writing a review focusing on its content and language. They can then also carry out different projects aiming at finding other examples of texts where similar linguistic features are used for similar purposes and functions from other sources. The learners can also be encouraged to find other examples of features of non-standard English from the rest of this short story, which would encourage them also to continue reading this text independently, and ultimately enhance learner autonomy. The above example represents a possible adaptation of the Text-Driven Approach as put forward by Tomlinson (2013). A Brief Rationale For the purposes of the activity proposed here, and also the examples provided in the rest of this chapter, I have decided to select short extracts from narrative texts for a number of reasons. These relate mostly to the level of authenticity involved with narrative texts, which effectively demonstrates some of the distinctive characteristics of the approach proposed in this chapter. More specifically, these characteristics can be mostly summarised in the following four points: a. In many ways, this text represents one of the many world varieties of English used in the UK, and more specifically in London. This aspect is reflected not only in the dialogues included (as can be found in the previous examples used in this chapter – texts 1, 2, 3 and 4) but also in the narration of the story – text 5; b. Narratives can be potentially universally appealing as they are used across countries and cultures: […] narrative is the basis of our experience, we understand things and events and we remember them through narrative. […] story-telling is present in all cultures and all traditions. Narrative forms our perception of the world. (Saraceni, 2010:12)

c. Narrative texts can provide a rich and varied language exposure to learners which combines focus on content and form (Tomlinson, 1994).

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d. Narrative texts can offer distinctive and effective opportunities for the development of language and culture awareness in the language learning context. It is important to note that, on the one hand, narrative texts can represent a beneficial source of authentic language exposure, on the other hand these texts may not be suitable for all learners and many other texts can be equally suitable for providing authentic language input.

A Few Recommendations In order to consider possible implications of the above discussion in teaching and learning, there is undoubtedly a need for further research so that practitioners may start considering the diversity of language use in language teaching and materials development. However, here are a few principles and recommendations on the basis of the approach put forward in this chapter with the ultimate aim of developing the use of authenticity in language learning and teaching, and using authentic texts drawn from a variety of English uses. x Texts should be carefully selected in order to allow learners to gradually become familiar with different varieties of English, perhaps starting from those that contain a few features of World Englishes in the dialogues included, and later on to also use extracts that are entirely written in different English varieties. x Activities should be designed to encourage learners to develop their awareness of how meaning is conveyed through the language used in the text with a focus on combining content and form. Language should therefore be considered in context and in relation to its authentic functions and purposes, not in a neutralized, isolated form. x Language exposure should provide students with opportunities for coming in contact with and accessing different varieties of English according to their needs and purposes. This should primarily aim at making learners better equipped to access English in a more authentic way also outside the classroom.

Conclusion In relevant language teaching and learning literature the concept of Authenticity has played a very important role, and it has become almost

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synonymous with beneficial for learners, effective for teaching and perhaps also preferable in terms of teaching and learning techniques. This is also particularly evident in the description of materials for language teaching and learning, which are often promoted with an emphasis on their authentic use of texts and tasks. This chapter has underlined a discrepancy between the widely acknowledged role of authenticity in language use, and the rather sanitised and standardised approach to the practice of language teaching, and particularly to the development of L2 materials. As discussed in this chapter, authentic language use is multifaceted, diverse, plural, dynamic and ever changing, However, language use in the classroom and in L2 materials generally seems rather static and standardised. On the other hand, it is important to acknowledge that generally language learners tend to associate Standard English with what is preferable in language learning as it is seen to be correct and appropriate. Also language teachers commonly seem to consider this variety as more accessible and intelligible thus more suitable for classroom use. These views also seem to be mostly driven by a rather generic focus on standard language use commonly considered more appropriate in published materials. However, in my view exposure to different varieties of English cannot be neglected or ignored, it needs to be acknowledged in the language classroom as based on more authentic, context-driven language uses, present beyond certain accepted cultural, social and national boundaries. This paper is based on a presentation I delivered at the 2016 MATSDA/University of Liverpool Conference, which focused on Authenticity in Materials Development (Saraceni, 2016). Despite its title, this conference did not seem to draw a concluding definition of what authenticity means in terms of language teaching and learning and of materials development. This is probably due to its open-ended nature which can potentially lead to a variety of different interpretations and definitions. For these reasons, and in keeping with true MATSDA tradition, I also have decided not to attempt to provide a definition of this concept. However, the following are a few suggestions I am putting forward to provide a concluding point to this chapter and to also open the debate presented here further.

Englishes in the Classroom Language teaching and learning should also move away from standardised language forms and language uses, and break away from the common perception of languages seen in terms of national borders. Instead it should

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focus on language users. If this were also reflected in language teaching and learning, Global Englishes would play a significant role in language learning. In this context, learners would then also have the opportunity to experience a more realistic and authentic exposure to language. This would develop authenticity in the language classroom and in the materials, but it would also allow learners to develop an understanding of their own language use and that of other speakers of the same language.

Context-Driven and Localised Approaches In order to promote a more authentic approach to language learning, rather than developing language categorisations in an attempt to identify one specific language variety to consider dominant and most suitable for language teaching purposes, practitioners should move away from what is mostly an anglocentric approach and, instead focus on more localised, context-driven approaches. These should take into account language learners and prioritise their characteristics, purposes and objectives (Bax, 2003a, 2003b).

Native/Non-Native Speakers? Language teaching and learning should also move away from the apparent distinction between native and non-native speakers and do without concepts related to native speakerisms, but rather simply focus on language speakers.

Language Learning: Imitation or Self-Expression? Consider the following citation: My quarrel with the English language has been that the language reflected none of my experience. But now I began to see the matter another way…. Perhaps the language was not my own because I had never attempted to use it, had only learned to imitate it. (Baldwin as reported in Achebe 2014)

In terms of their main aims, language teachers should have the responsibility of enabling learners to use their target language as a tool to express themselves, convey their identity and develop a critical understanding of language use. This cannot be achieved through imitation but rather through the development and enrichment of their identity and

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background. Language learning, therefore, implies also language ownership.

References Achebe, C. (2014) The African writer and the English language. The African Book Review, (para 36 [2016, 14 October]) retrieved from http://www.theafricanbookreview.com/achebe-essay/ Asadi, S. A. (2013). A distorted image of the global village: Revisiting Kachru’s Model in international EFL textbooks. MATSDA Folio 15 (2), 5 - 12. Bax, S. (2003a). The end of CLT: a context approach to language teaching. ELT Journal, 57 (3), 278 – 287. —. (2003b). Bringing context and methodology together. ELT Journal, 15 (3), 295-6. Brontë, E. ([1847] 1992). Wuthering heights. Ware, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Classics. Burnett, F. H. ([1911] 2008). The secret garden. London: Puffin Classics. Gezari, J. (2014). The annotated wuthering heights. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Hughes, A. & Trudgill, P. ([1979] 1992). English accents and dialects. An introduction to social and regional varieties of British English. London: Edward Arnold. Jenkins, J. (2015) Global Englishes, A resource book for students (3rd ed.). New York: Routledge. Kachru, B. B. (1992). The other tongue. English across cultures. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. Saraceni, C. (2010). Readings. An Investigation of the role of aesthetic response in the reading of narrative literary texts. Unpublished PhD Thesis. Leeds: Leeds Metropolitan University. —. (2014). Rethinking the native speaker (L1) and non-native speaker (L2) distinction. The MATSDA/University of Liverpool 2014 Conference - SLA and Materials Development. June 28th-29th, 2014 at the University of Liverpool. —. (2015). Rethinking language ownership to create motivation in materials development. The MATSDA/UL PhD TESOL Summer School Conference 2015 Creating Motivation with L2 Materials. June 20th 21st 2015 at the University of Limerick. —. (2016). Use of Englishes, culture awareness development and L2 materials authenticity. The MATSDA/University of Liverpool 2016 Conference – Authenticity in L2 Materials Development. June 18th-

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19th, 2016 at the University of Liverpool. Saraceni, M. (2015). World Englishes, A critical analysis. London: Bloomsbury. Selvon, S. (2005). Cane is bitter. In S. Selvadurai (Ed.), Story-Wallah (pp. 15-28). New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. —. ([1957] 1987). Brackley and the bed. In S. Selvon (1987). Ways of sunlight. New York: Longman. Steinbeck, J. ([1937] 1994) Of mice and men. London: Penguin Books. Stockwell, P. (2002). Cognitive poetics, An introduction. New York: Routledge. Tomlinson, B. (1994). Openings. Language through literature, An activities book. London: Penguin English. —. (2013). Developing principled frameworks for materials development. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Developing materials for language teaching (2nd ed., pp. 98-118). London: Bloomsbury.

CHAPTER FIVE TEACHER AUTHENTICITY AND EMERGENT CLASSROOM NEEDS: THE CASE OF EFL IN IRAN AMIR HOSSEIN SARKESHIKIAN

Background The language classroom is a complex system, yet the traditional and linear paradigm applied to educational systems seems inappropriate, since it fails to consider the dynamic nature of needs. This study examined the types of emergent needs experienced by 48 Iranian teachers of English as a foreign language. The participants of the study were gathered through purposive sampling. They were heterogeneous in terms of age, teaching experience and gender. Interview data were analyzed to understand whether they had ever faced unexpected needs and how they had addressed them. The teachers reported unexpected needs and hurdles as key factors which limit their teaching practices and their students’ learning. More experienced teachers reported their own tactics for addressing those needs were based on their own experiences rather than on a well-structured strategy. Less experienced teachers however reported failure to deal with such situations efficiently. Overall, the results of the qualitative data analysis using grounded theory pointed to six categories of emergent needs (i.e., educational, socio-cultural, personality-related, institutional, healthrelated, and economic). Based on the results, it can be argued that contextual authenticity (Taylor, 1994) can be materialized in the complex context of EFL classrooms by means of authentic materials and genuine practices. Hence, grounded in complexity theory, the ecology of language classrooms and culturally responsive pedagogy, the findings of this study offer implications for teacher educators, materials developers and language teachers. The implication is that what is crucial in teacher

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education is to prepare teachers to react appropriately and authentically to the unexpected.

Introduction For some four decades the concept of authenticity in the literature on language curriculum development has been characterized by diverse and sometimes inconsistent views. Such views have ranged from authenticity as classroom activity or as instances of language use (Breen, 1985), authenticity in the uses to which texts are put (Widdowson, 1990,1998) , and authenticity as a cline (i.e., genuine input authenticity, altered input authenticity, adapted input authenticity, simulated input authenticity and inauthenticity) (Brown & Menasche, 2006, as cited in Tatsuki, 2006). Yet, these conceptualizations do not seem to be comprehensive. Taylor (1994) has contended that “authenticity is a function not only of the language but also of the participants, the use to which language is put, the setting, the nature of the interaction, and the interpretation the participants bring to both the setting and the activity” (p.4). However, given the assumption that the language classroom is “a complex system in which events do not occur in linear causal fashion, but in which a multitude of forces interact in complex, self-organizing ways, and create changes and patterns that are part predictable, part unpredictable” (van Lier, 1996, p.148), and the attention paid to the language classroom as a complex system (Beckner et al., 2009; Larsen-Freeman & Cameron, 2008, van Lier, 1996), there is still a dearth of research into the unexpected needs that emerge in the complex ecosystem of the language classroom. Yet teachers are rarely, if ever, trained to operate in this complex system.

Review of the Related Literature The Language Classroom as a Complex System It is a truism that societies are in a state of change, and therefore, the paradigms for understanding society are expected to change too. As Morrison (2003, p. 282) asserts, Change is ubiquitous, and stability and certainty are things of the past. The compression of time and space into a celebration of the ahistorical present has brought with it a range of features which, it is argued here, are best characterized by a complexity-driven paradigm of society, replacing positivism with complexity theory (Lewin, 1993; Morrison, 2002).

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As a consequence, certainty cannot be guaranteed, even in the act of needs analysis since it is “so complicated that in most circumstances, there is never time to put it into practice” (Coffey, 1985, p.53, as cited in Özyel, Özdemir & Rezvani Kalajahi, 2012). Nevertheless, educational systems continue to be dominated by the traditional, positivistic, linear paradigm (Jonassen et al., 1997, as cited in Harshbarger, 2007). Within this paradigm, classrooms are considered as controllable systems, composed of separate components (i.e., learners, teachers, syllabus, etc.) that can be predicted and regulated for equilibrium. Moreover, such a paradigm assumes that there exists linear causality that results in predictable changes in learners’ performances (Harshbarger, 2007). Such assumptions have over-simplified the world and reduced human learning and performance to an account of controllable factors. However, the second language classroom is much more complex and much less certain than these assumptions imply, because complex systems are made up of agents that interact with one another, adapt to one another and the environment, co-evolve and self-organize without any control (Kauffman, 1993, 1995). As van Lier (1996) asserts, “we can neither claim that learning is caused by environmental stimuli (the behaviorist position) nor that it is genetically determined (the innatist position). Rather, learning is the result of complex (and contingent) interactions between individual and environment” (p.170). There is a growing body of evidence to support the contention that second language acquisition is a complex system as it inherently adapts to different internal and external conditions (Beckner, Ellis, Holland, Ke, Christiansen, Larsen-Freeman, Croft, & Schoenemann, 2009). Similarly, Larsen-Freeman and Cameron (2008) assert that such theory brings a new focus for Applied Linguistics research; one which rests on dynamics, emergency and change, and which is able to account for the fact that, when talking about human beings, predictability is impossible to be achieved; just probable patterns can be mapped out. In this direction, Complexity Theory not only offers new metaphors to look at the same phenomena with a new perspective, but also works as a bridge that takes us into a new way of thinking. (p. 15)

It follows that the second language classroom needs to be understood not as a static system but as a non-linear complex system, composed of interacting subsystems. Language classrooms, like complex systems, “go through periods of chaos and order as do other living systems. Furthermore, their creative growth occurs at the border between these two” (Larsen-Freeman, 1997, p.158). As a result, they invariably change as chaos brings about a new order. Yet, this is not an end product, but the

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onset of another chaotic state in the system. Hence, the complexity paradigm can be seen as “a metaphorical lens through which diverse perspectives can be accommodated, indeed integrated” (Larsen-Freeman, 2002, p.38), because it has implications for the social sciences (Underwood, 2000).

Approaches to Needs Analysis Different approaches to the definition of learners’ needs have been proposed and put into practice in the past few decades. The often-quoted model to specify the content of language programs was the sociolinguistic model developed by Munby (1978). It presents a profile of communication needs, comprising communicative events, purposive domain, medium, mode, channel of communication, setting of communication, main communicator/s, person/s with whom the communicator/s communicate, dialect, attitudinal tone, subject content and level of English ability required for the communication. In spite of being so detailed, the model is criticized for being impractical, inflexible, complex and time-consuming as well as collecting “data about the learner rather than from the learner” (West, 1994, p. 9). Richterich and Chancerel (1977) attempted a systemic approach to the analysis of adult foreign language needs. They recommended using multiple methods of data collection for needs analysis, such as surveys, interviews and attitude scales before and during the course by the learners themselves. Nevertheless, concerns remain about lack of attention to learners’ real-world needs and over-reliance on learners’ perceptions of their needs (Kaewpet, 2009). The main objection to this approach is that it does not propose any systematic method or procedure to meet the learners’ present situation and emergent needs. This may be linked to the inadequacy of the definition of needs and methodological deficiencies in the process of needs analysis itself (Brackhaus, 1984; Griffith, 1978). Hutchinson and Waters (1987) also offered a learning-centered approach to needs analysis in ESP. They argued that more attention should be given to the processes of learning. As a result, they approached learner needs from two directions; target needs and learning needs. In this approach, needs involve issues as to “who the learners are, their sociocultural background, learning background, age, gender, background knowledge of specialized contents, background knowledge of English, attitudes towards English, attitudes towards cultures of the English speaking world and studying English” (Kaewpet, 2009, p. 211). The constant analysis of needs and the use of multiple methods of data

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collection to deal with the complexity of target needs were stressed in this approach (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987). Berwick (1989) and Brindley (1989) proposed learner-centered approaches to needs analysis. They looked at learner needs from three angles: 1) perceived vs. felt needs; 2) product- vs. process-oriented interpretations; and 3) objective vs. subjective needs. Perceived needs are expert-oriented while felt needs are learner-oriented (Berwick, 1989). In the product-oriented perspective, learner needs are viewed as the language that learners need to use in target situations, so needs analysis starts before the course. In process-oriented interpretation, the focus is on the needs of learners in the learning situation (Brindley, 1989). Finally, objective needs are “derivable from different kinds of factual information about learners, their use of language in real life as well as their current language proficiency and language difficulties” (Brindley, 1989, p.70), whereas subjective needs are “derivable from information about cognitive and affective factors” (Brindley, 1989, p.70). Long (2005) recommended a task-based approach to needs analysis and regarded tasks as the units of analysis. He asserted that “learners are far more active and cognitive-independent participants in the acquisition process than is assumed by the erroneous belief that what you teach is what they learn, and when you teach it is when they learn it” (p. 3). For him, task-based needs analyses relate to insider expert views, language use, the dynamics of language classrooms and learner-centeredness.

Data Collection for Needs Analysis According to Richards (1984), the sources of information for needs originates from target language (i.e., varieties of a target language and language usage), the learners (i.e., linguistic, biological, socio-cultural, psychological factors, etc.), delivery systems(i.e., educational context), learning theories, teaching theories, as well as assessment and evaluation procedures. Data collection for needs analysis can be done through a variety of methods. Jordan (1997) listed the following most common procedures to gather information about needs as follows: 1) pre-course placement/diagnostic tests; 2) entry tests identifying learners’ language weaknesses and gaps on arrival; 3) observation of classes for deficiency analysis; 4) surveys; 5) structured interviews; 6) learner diaries; 7) qualitative information; and case studies; and 8) final evaluation/feedback. Because a source of information or a single method of data collection is incomplete or partial, Long (2005) recommended a triangulated approach to needs analysis as it…

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can involve use of different data-collection procedures, such as logs, nonparticipant observation, interviews, questionnaires, and testing, or, for those working within a quantitative paradigm, different research designs, e.g., a multiple case study of EAP students' progress through a medical course, and a quasi-experimental, criterion group design comparing examination scores of students able and unable to read medical texts in English. (Long, 2005, p.29)

Statement of the Problem and Purpose “With the number of school-age children who speak languages other than English growing, the need is great to ensure that teachers gain the knowledge and skills to be responsive to all students in their classrooms” (Taylor & Sobel, 2011, p.6). However, meeting learners’ diverse needs due to differences in culture, language, abilities, and family has been a challenge for teachers (Nieto, 2007) for at least four reasons; inexperienced teachers’ lack of skills to address such differences (DarlingHammond, 2010; Wong-Fillmore & Snow, 2002), a feeling of unpreparedness to support the diversity of the student population (Dinham, 2008), teachers’ biases against students with diverse life realities (WalkerDalhouse & Dalhouse, 2006; Trent, Kea, & Oh, 2008), and lack of a welldefined categorization of unexpected needs in the literature. To narrow this gap, the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) has tried to engage language practitioners in valuing the diversity of language, racial/ethnic background, religion, ability, gender, and socioeconomic status in language classrooms. However, in spite of efforts by teacher education programmes to prepare teachers for today’s complex educational contexts, the problem still persists (Taylor & Sobel, 2011). Until recently, several different approaches to needs analysis have been proposed by applied linguists and needs analysts. However, “the reliability and validity of the findings produced by such procedures are rarely discussed” (Long, 2005, p.20). As indicated in the literature review above, due attention has not been paid to an ecological approach to needs analysis. This shift is supposed to take the attention of needs analysts away from the traditional, positivistic, linear paradigm (Jonassen et al., 1997, as cited in Harshbarger, 2007) and re-direct it to unexpected needs in the language classroom. . This new swing of the pendulum encourages needs analysts and language teachers to attend to unexpected needs in language classrooms, where “a multitude of forces interact in complex, self-organizing ways, and create changes and patterns that are part predictable, part

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unpredictable. Such changes must be analyzed from the bottom up” (van Lier, 1996, p.148). Hence, this ecological approach calls for considering the needs that emerge unexpectedly in language classrooms and helping teachers react to them authentically. Accordingly, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the emergent needs in the ecosystem of the language classrooms, besides generating a typology of emergent needs in an EFL context in Iran, where no research has been conducted.

Method Setting and Participants This study was conducted in the context of 28 state-run high schools in two Iranian provinces. Face-to-face interviews were conducted and recorded in a quiet location in the same schools so that participants felt comfortable to answer the questions with consent. The participants of the study were 48 EFL teachers, selected through purposive sampling, well in excess of Creswell’s (2013) recommendation of 20 to 30 cases to saturate the categories in grounded theory research. They held BA or MA degrees in English language teaching or English translation. In order to increase the external validity of the study, the sample was heterogeneous in terms of age, teaching experience and gender. They were all teaching English as a foreign language at secondary and tertiary levels in Iran at the time of conducting this study.

Design and Procedure The qualitative design that best served the purpose of this study was grounded theory. According to Creswell (2013), this is “a qualitative research design in which the inquirer generates a general explanation (a theory) of a process, an action, or an interaction shaped by the views of a large number of participants” (p.57). This design is used when a process cannot be explained or understood with other available theories (Creswell, 2013). Initially the research explored how individuals had experienced the phenomenon of unexpected, emergent needs of EFL learners. Then, more detailed questions were asked as prompts, whenever needed. Using the retrospective interview as the data-collection technique, the researcher constantly compared data collected from participants with the emerging categories. Data analysis was done using the three iterative coding stages of grounded theory (Corbin & Strauss, 2008). In the initial open-coding phase, the data were analyzed, and different categories were identified.

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Then, during the axial coding phase, subcategories were connected to main categories. In the selective open-coding phase, the core categories were identified and decided upon (Corbin & Strauss, 2008). To avoid undermining the reliability of the findings, the data were also analyzed separately by a colleague. Calculation of the number of agreements over disagreements indicated 90% inter-rater agreement.

Results Qualitative data analysis revealed six categories of emergent needs. As Figure 1 shows, the most frequently reported category involved educational needs (n= 13), supported by two subcategories (proficiencyrelated needs and purpose-oriented needs). The second most frequently cited category was socio-cultural needs (n=12), which was supported by two subcategories (i.e., distance-related and usefulness). The third category was personality-related needs (n=8), supported by two subcategories (i.e., affect-related needs and behavior-related needs). The fourth most frequently reported category referred to “institutional needs” (n=5), supported by two subcategories (i.e., facilities and management). The health-related needs were found to be the fifth most frequent category (n=4), including one subcategory (i.e., learning disabilities). The least frequently reported category referred to “economic needs” (n=2), supported by a single subcategory (i.e., income-related).

(12)

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Affectrelated

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Figure 1. Cattegories of emergent need ds in an EFL classroom coontext

socio-cultural

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Learningg disabilitie es

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Incomerelated

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Educational Needs The category of educational needs subsumed students’ proficiency-related needs and purpose-oriented needs as two subcategories. To begin with, students’ proficiency-related needs, for instance, an interview, perceived the imbalance among his students’ oral fluency as critical for their language learning. The teacher asserted that students find it challenging when they are placed in such a heterogeneous classroom with different levels of English oral fluency. The second subcategory refers to students’ purposes for language learning. Purpose-oriented needs are not practically addressed by institutions nor by language learners themselves in advance of placement decisions and class participation. The following excerpt illustrates an example of a purpose-oriented need: Their needs were different; some needed English for business purposes, some wanted to improve their English for better comprehension of academic texts, and a majority of them asked questions about street talk. Socio-cultural Needs The second category incorporates socio-cultural needs (n=12). The first subcategory involved the socio-cultural distance that the EFL learners felt in the classroom because of the topics covered in the textbooks. Such distance-related needs require teachers to narrow the gap or distance, felt or perceived by students, in order to increase the learners’ gains from their classroom. As an example, Sometimes I find that the topic of the lesson is strange for my students because of the differences between our cultures, our societies, our religions…. The second subcategory of socio-cultural needs refers to the usefulness criterion in the local domain. In EFL contexts, where the foreign language is not used very much, or not at all, outside the classroom, the students feel that learning a foreign language is useless. Therefore, they do not make adequate efforts to learn the language. In cases where all EFL students collectively think of English as useless in their lives, they are in need of a teacher who highlights the indirect usefulness of knowing and using English as an international language. The following excerpt exemplifies such a need in an EFL classroom:

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The students said we don’t want to learn English. … . It does not have any role in our daily activities. Personality-related Needs The third category included personality-related needs (n=8) with two subcategories (i.e., affect-related and behavior-related needs). When learners’ affect-related needs unexpectedly emerge in the classroom, the teacher should be able to efficiently respond to them so that the flow of the classroom interaction is not affected negatively. The following incident evinces such needs and their effects on language learning in the classroom: I asked one of the girls her father’s name. All of a sudden, she burst into tears and I lost my control over the class… The other subcategory embraces EFL learners’ behavior-related needs, which may disrupt the classroom environment. Although such needs may result from different causes, teachers need to find the sources for those behaviours and respond to them appropriately. The following case evidences aggression in an EFL classroom as a kind of behaviour-related need that has resulted from a familial problem: Once there was a student whose parents had divorced… She had turned to aggressive … actions that disrupted classroom activities and ruined the environment. Institutional Needs The fourth category refers to institutional needs, supported by two subcategories. The first sub-category involves insufficient materials, including audio-visual and supplementary materials that are not available to some EFL classrooms, especially in remote institutes and schools. Lack of facilities like overhead projectors also falls into this sub-category. The second sub-category has to do with the managerial aspects of the institutions that dictate how classes should be run. The following extract shows how a decision beyond classroom borders affects learners’ language learning: Since the seats in the classroom are arranged in a U shape, learners tend to lose interest and … stop listening all together.

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Health-related Needs The fifth category includes EFL learners’ health-related needs that every EFL teacher will inevitably face in their career history. This category is supported by the sub-category of learning disabilities, which covers a wide spectrum of conditions. The following extract shows the case of an EFL learner with a learning disability that may affect studentstudent and teacher-student interactions: I found that she was hard of hearing…. I found out that she wanted to guess the words and looked at my mouth, and could not take part in communicative activities. Economic Needs The final category of the emergent EFL classroom needs refers to economic needs. When in desperate economic conditions, learners fail to attend class, and if they do, they do not participate in class activities. Teachers who work in rural or suburban areas feel such needs more: I am in a village and had a student who did not come to the class. We noticed that his father was a farmer and needed help on the farm…

Discussion The purpose of this study was to explore the unexpected needs that EFL teachers encounter in their classrooms in Iran. As a result of qualitative data analysis using grounded theory, a typology of emergent needs in an EFL context was developed. At the same time, this typology may be expanded or revised with new findings in future studies. All the same, the findings of this study were consistent with those studies in the literature that have pinpointed the complexity of language classrooms (Beckner et al., 2009; Larsen-Freeman & Cameron, 2008, van Lier, 1996), the diversity of needs in classrooms (Nieto, 2007) and scarcity of experienced teachers in the face of such needs (Darling-Hammond, 2010; Dinham, 2008; Wong-Fillmore & Snow, 2002). The findings of this study may have implications for teacher educators, needs analysts and practitioners. In the first place, teacher education programs need to develop language teachers who are strategically prepared to meet the demands of such needs and able to react authentically, appropriately and in the moment. As to needs analysis, this typology highlights a new area of inquiry that does not analyze the learner

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needs a priori (e.g., Munby, 1978) or constantly (e.g., Hutchinson & Waters, 1987), nor does it consider only the proficiency-related needs of the EFL learner (e.g., Richterich & Chancerel, 1977). Rather, it considers the complex system of language classrooms as filled with different instances of needs to be met in situ or a posteriori. The following list of possible actions, though not exhaustive, would be helpful in responding to such needs: a) create cooperative project-based settings, such as “peer-tutoring groups and mini-projects,” to respond to proficiency-related needs of adults in “heterogeneous and unpredictable populations” (van Lier, 2004), b) use scaffolded materials and tasks such as guided examples (IRIS, 2005) so that less proficient learners or even learners with healthrelated needs find opportunities to see how a task is done or can be accomplished collaboratively with more proficient learners, c) use contents that are familiar and interesting to learners with distance-related needs in order to motivate them and shorten their perceived or felt distance, d) involve students in “linked intercultural activities” (Taylor & Sobel, 2011) in order to highlight socio-cultural differences in the classroom and promote socially authentic experiences for learners with low cultural awareness, e) use materials that reflect everyday experiences of learners like illustrations and analogies (Scott, 2017) to highlight the usefulness and relevance of an L2 to the lives of students, f) include opportunities like opinion- and reasoning-gap activities that let learners look at the world from multiple perspectives to stop them from stereotyping certain groups of learners (Scott, 2017), particularly those with learning disabilities or economic needs, g) accommodate materials to best meet the needs of learners with different leaning styles, h) compensate for scarcity of materials or equipment in language classrooms with creativity, energy and enthusiasm (Maley & Peachey, 2015).

Concluding Remarks Materials development is still a progression from a study of the environment and needs to a list of content items and then to the writing of the lessons. As a consequence, language materials and teachers’ practices

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may be devoid of contextual authenticity (Taylor, 1994) unless the ecological validity (see van Lier, 2004) is taken into consideration. Moreover, the complexity paradigm requires a change in thinking about how needs have been viewed so far, since “human institutions are not amenable to prediction and manipulation in simple linear terms” (Brodnick & Krafft, 1997, p.3, as cited in Phelps & Hase, 2002). To conclude, if needs analysis is done in a natural setting that “involves objects and activities from everyday life” (Brunswik, 1943, as cited in van Lier, 2004), it can be said it is ecologically valid and authentic. We need also to recognize that, however well-designed materials may be, it is the authenticity of the encounter in which they are used which is paramount. To that end, authentic materials and genuine practices should be put into use to deal with the diversity of unexpected needs in the context of language learning.

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Widdowson, H. G. (1990). Aspects of language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. —. (1998). Context, community, and authentic language. TESOL Quarterly, 32(4), 705-716 Wong-Fillmore, L., & Snow, C. (2002). What teachers need to know about language. In C. Adger, C. Snow & D. Christian (Eds.), What teachers need to know about language (pp.7–53). Alexandria: Center for Applied Linguistics.

Secondary Sources Brodnick, R. J., & Krafft, L. J. (1997, May). Chaos and complexity theory: Implications for research and planning in higher education. Paper presented at the Association for Institutional Research thirty-seventh annual forum, Orlando, FL. Brown, S., & Menasche, L. (2005). Defining authenticity. Accessed July 29, 2006 at http://www.as.ysu.edu/~english/BrownMenasche.doc Brunswik‚ E. (1943). Organismic achievement and environmental probability. The Psychological Review‚ 50‚ 255-272. Coffey, B. (1985). ESP- English for specific purposes. In V. Kinsella (Ed.), Cambridge language teaching and linguistics (Vol. 3, pp. 7893). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Jonassen, D. H., Hennon, R. J., Ondrusek, A., Samouilova, M., Spaulding, K. L., Yueh, H. P., … Birdwell, D. (1997). Certainty, determinism, and predictability in theories of instructional design: Lessons from science. Educational Technology, 37, 27-34.



CHAPTER SIX HOW DO WRITERS EVALUATE POTENTIALLY USABLE AUTHENTIC MATERIALS? TONY WATERMAN Background This paper reports the findings and implications on one aspect of my doctoral thesis exploring materials writers’ activities. This aspect explores the rationale and strategies used by writers when they are sourcing, evaluating and selecting material for exploitation in the English language training (ELT) classroom. All the participants in the study are active materials producers working mainly in tertiary education in the Sultanate of Oman with their writing focusing on general English, English for specific purposes (ESP) and English for academic purposes (EAP). The paper outlines relevant aspects of authenticity in classroom learning and an overview of evaluation procedures carried out at the inception stage of the materials development process. The study explores materials production from an interpretative and socially-constructed viewpoint using both quantitative and qualitative data. The resulting themes are presented, analysed and then discussed in relation to the relevant literature. From this discussion, I highlight several strategies and practices these writers employ to evaluate authentic materials for potential use which could be adopted, adapted or inspire innovative practices by writers working in a wide variety of learning contexts worldwide.

How do Writers Evaluate Potentially Usable Authentic Materials? Authenticity in ELT is not a new concept (Sweet, 1899) but it is a recent and on-going preoccupation for researchers, teachers, learners, examiners and materials writers. Researchers have focused largely on authentic language, particularly in presentation material, see Gilmore (2007, pp. 99100) for eight differing definitions and for a comprehensive history of the



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debate on authentic language in ELT. An emphasis on actual materials came later (Widdowson, 1978) and how to exploit such materials even more recently (Willis, 1996; Guariento & Morley, 2001; Widdowson, 2002). Examiners have begun to experiment with authentic tests using tasks which reflect real-world use of language (Coombe, Purmensky & Davidson, 2012; Shehadeh, 2012) and ELT writers now include authentic content materials in their courses (Mishan, 2005). This study seeks to focus on the factors ELT writers take into account when selecting potential texts and what informs this evaluation process. What factors do active writers consider when determining which authentic material to select? How do writers decide whether to present authentic material to learners unedited or to adapt it in some way?

Context This study was conducted in the Sultanate of Oman with twenty participants, all of whom are practicing ELT writers. Most of these practitioners produce ESP or EAP materials for tertiary education, with only two involved in secondary or primary education. Most writers’ course books represent unmediated materials; that is materials which have no formal editorial oversight but which remain in-house, either in a single institution or for use in ministry schools countrywide. The study included only one writer producing UK-published mediated materials; that is materials edited and published by UK-based publishing houses. Whilst these writers’ courses are specifically designed for Omani learning scenarios, the majority of challenges such work poses will be similar and familiar to ELT writers worldwide.

Authentic Material Authentic text-use has been advocated by many academics from Allwright and Allwright (1977) to Tomlinson (2011) with many supporters in between, whilst advocates of adapting texts include McGrath (2002) among many others. Widdowson (1979) proposed a positive descriptor for the somewhat negative label of contrived texts with his “material for linguistic purposes” (p. 165) and Hutchinson and Waters (1987) turned the focus from using authentic texts for their intrinsic authenticity to using them for their pedagogic value. For the purposes of this study, authentic material refers to any artefacts taken from the world at large and used with/by learners and teachers within the unique and protective environment of the classroom.



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Nuttall (1996) suggests authentic texts are motivating because they depict real-world users producing English for real-world uses. AlMahrooqi and Denman’s (2014) study found that Omani learners at tertiary level were driven mostly by instrumental forms of motivation to achieve social and academic rewards, and this is in line with other studies of Gulf and other Muslim learners (Al-Tamimi, 2009; Fahmy & Bilton, 1992; Karahan, 2007; Mostafizar Rahman, 2008). In other words, these learners placed high value on English learning activities that enhanced their abilities to achieve success socially and/or academically in real-world scenarios. For many years, pedagogic specialists such as Harmer (2007), Scrivener (2011) and Ur (1996) have been encouraging trainee-teachers to select authentic materials to link the teacher-trainee classroom to the world outside and thereby increase “a student’s capacity to participate in real world events” (Wilkins, 1976, p79). Yet, authentic materials are not always a convenient and reliable substitute for mediated or unmediated course books which offer contrived content (Grant, 1987). At the lower levels of English competence, learners can find authentic texts too challenging (Richards, 2006), preventing them from enjoying meaningful learning experiences. Such negative exposure tended to lead to demotivation (Guariento & Morley, 2001). In response to these negative learning scenarios, MacWilliam (1990) calls for materials to be “authenticlike” (p160), that is to say the language and any visual components should mirror authentic material even though the content and language has been adapted to offer challenging learning affordances without being overly challenging or impossible for learners to tackle. Widdowson (1978) believes that a text can be simplified and yet retain its authenticity in terms of the learners’ response to its language, message and purpose. Lynch (1996) asserts that “successful simplification contributes both to the current communicative event and to longer-term development” (p15). Hutchinson and Waters (1987) declared that the overriding aim of an ESP course book, and I would suggest all ELT course books, is to provide language practice in real-life scenarios requiring completion of tasks which mirror those identified by a needs analysis (NA) to determine what learners will meet in future professional or academic environments. According to Dunkel (1995) it is essential for teachers (and writers) to assess the level of text authenticity which is appropriate for particular learners and/or tasks. This conforms to Shomoossi and Ketabi’s (2007) assertion that “pragmatic and pedagogic appropriateness should be the primary consideration in syllabus design” (p. 153). Hidalgo, Hall and Jacobs (1995) contend that if authentic



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material is adapted, then the writer’s creativity in producing apparently authentic materials and tasks should ensure learners view their learning experience as authentic although clear pedagogic goals should always inform such materials (Senior, 2005). In terms of EAP, Flowerdew and Miller (1997) highlight the paucity of EAP material to prepare university learners to cope with lengthy lectures and how this is an area in need of authentic materials together with authentic academic tasks.

Writing for the Local Context As Ellis (2009) points out, teachers (and writers) must provide a learning environment which will maximize learning (in Burns & Richards, 2009), so writers need to ensure their materials predict and cater for the classroom’s inherent complexity and situatedness (Gieve & Miller, 2006). Locally-produced materials with locally-appropriate English language methodologies (ibid) need to address the beliefs, attitudes and expectations (Tudor, 2001) of learners and also local teachers. By linking and encouraging learners to engage with others outside the classroom who represent Oman’s L2 community members, such as non-native speaker (NNS) expatriates, learners can enjoy sociolinguistic authenticity while participating in these L2 interactions (van Compernolle & McGregor, 2016). Furthermore, such learning outside the classroom has been identified as very significant in promoting language learning (Benson & Reinders, 2011; Nunan & Richards, 2015). Pennycook’s (2001) advocacy of “a pedagogy of inclusion” (p100), in which learners are encouraged to develop their own voice and find possibilities of articulation presents writers with a crucial duty to promote classroom activities which “help learners participate in authentic, communicative interaction that involves context-appropriate meanings” (Oxford, 2011, p90). Material which connects classroom learning with the outside lives of the learners should be a pre-requisite for much of what writers produce, thereby matching Wenger’s (1998) claim that practice should promote meaning in relation to learners’ real-world lives. As Sade (2011) points out, “language educators bring the students’ communities of practice into the classroom – such as those formed around sports, leisure activities, ethnicity or other things that students value” (in Murray, Gao & Lamb, 2011, p. 54). This is pertinent to writers’ approaches to materials production and resonates with McIntyre, Pedder and Rudduck’s (2007) supposition that “authenticity of (learners’) learning experiences could be enhanced by bringing tasks closer … with the mental and social worlds that they inhabit



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both inside and outside the classroom” (p. 154). This reinforces the notion of linking classroom learning to real-world use by including both authentic texts and authentic tasks (Mishan, 2005). It also suggests that doing so increases learner’s feelings of agency and ownership (McIntyre et al, 2007) which will then promote a powerful motivational influence on learning (Arnold, 1999) and encourage members of the classroom community to invest emotionally, socially and psychologically in the situation (Wenger, 1998; Norton, 2000; Breen, 2001, cited by Wright, 2005). Pinner (2016) has constructed “an authenticity continuum” (p103) which covers the individual, the learning context, the community and the use domain and which would be informative and useful at the evaluation stage of materials selection, covering as it does most of the above aspects of materials production.

Authentic Materials versus Created Materials There is clear agreement in both the academic and pedagogic worlds as to the efficacy of including authentic materials in ELT courses. However, created materials, as Richards (2001) observes, can also be both motivating and may even be superior to authentic materials since they have been created in response to a graded syllabus and therefore offer a systematic coverage of teaching items. Richard’s (ibid) advocacy for both authentic and created materials shows the complex nature of the apparently at times binary debate for using either one or the other. Indeed, Richards takes issue with those who adopt a negative opinion of ELT writers who produce materials which are pedagogically-sound resources for learning (ibid). Here is the crux of the issue for materials writers – to produce material which is seen to be of a high quality and, crucially, which promotes learning in an informed, professional and well-designed way. In practice, ELT practitioners use both authentic and created materials (Harwood, 2010), following a continuum of lower levels using more created materials and higher levels tackling more authentic material. Materials writers need a keen awareness of the trade-off between using authentic material, which may offer Mishan’s concept of currency (2005) in terms of being up-to-date and topical, against potential problems of linguistic difficulty and cultural inappropriacy. As Harwood (2010) suggests, “materials writers will therefore need to consider their purposes and priorities carefully when choosing texts and balancing the authentic against the inauthentic” (p6).



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Evaluation Strategies at the Inception Stage Initial evaluation of potential material is automatically undertaken by the writers themselves as they source it on-line or from other sources such as magazines, newspapers, posters and many more. Once material has been selected as potentially usable, the writer will begin to match it to syllabus requirements, and appropriate tasks will be constructed to ensure predetermined learner outcomes are met. The next step will involve the inclusion of colleagues who can approach the material with the benefit of their intimate appreciation of the local learning context (Tin, 2006). Clearly, the institution’s teachers can make for effective evaluators (Masuhara, 2011) as can peers from the writer’s own communities of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991), such as other writers, examination writers or teacher educators. Involving these educationalists enables the writer to engage in a critical process of research and development (McKernan, 2008) taking informed feedback to review and re-work material before it is piloted in the classroom.

Methods My research question regarding ELT writers’ approaches to authentic material in their course books was: How do ELT writers source, evaluate and select authentic material for classroom use? This feature of materials writers’ activities formed one aspect of my doctoral study entitled An exploration of the process of materials writing with reference to the academic, professional and practical needs of ELT writers in the Sultanate of Oman. My study followed the interpretivist paradigm to educational research with a social constructivist approach and focused on writers’ realities using exploratory methodology with a sequential mixed-method design. The quantitative data collection tools comprised (a) a 45-item ranking questionnaire, see Table One and (b) a 14-item Likert-scale questionnaire, which does not feature in this study. These tools provided numerical data covering the twenty writers’ beliefs and strategies. The qualitative data collection tools comprised (c) a written component embedded with the Likert-scale questions to gather rich data relating to each Likert-scale question, which all twenty participants responded to and (d) face-to-face interviews with fourteen of the participants. Each interview was carefully prepared according to a semi-structured design to include generic questions for all participants together with focused questions relating back to both the quantitative and qualitative data already collected by the questionnaires. During the interviews follow-up questions



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were also inserted where appropriate in reaction to surprising responses or new information being offered. Quantitative data were analyzed and presented as numerical data in tabular form (Tables One and Two). Qualitative data were coded and these codes were then amalgamated, reduced or excluded to form categories which were then placed into themes so that the resulting findings would be coherent and intelligible whilst also being both valid and reliable. For the purposes of this paper, aspects of two of my major doctoral themes are presented, (a) authentic and created materials and (b) materials evaluation.

Participants Out of a population of thirty-six discovered expatriate and three Omani writers working in Oman, thirty-three received both questionnaires, with twenty returning usable data, giving a response rate of 61%. The one Omani who returned the questionnaires, had unfortunately not produced materials for five years and so was excluded from the study as no longer being a practicing writer. The twenty writers were all expatriates, both native speakers (NS) and NNS with only two having produced mediated materials in conjunction with publishers. Experience of producing materials ranged from one year to thirty-plus. Eighteen were working in tertiary education in either EAP or ESP and the other two writers were working in secondary and primary education producing general English course books. Of the twenty, I interviewed fourteen writers so as to include a range of experience and types of material being produced.

Results The results presented here show relevant responses in respect of evaluating authentic material for potential use in the classroom. Responses are both quantitative, from the ranking questionnaire (RAQ) and qualitative, from written comments collected with the Likert-scale questionnaire and from interview responses. All the names quoted below are pseudonyms.

The Local Learning Context The writers placed a high level of importance on the local learning context as shown in Table 1 below:



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RAQ23: To be an effective materials writer I think appropriacy and relevance to the local learning context is … a = essential.

Total: n = 20

b = very important.

c = important. a 10

b 8

d = somewhat important. c 2

d -

Table 1: Ranking questionnaire results relating to appropriacy and relevance to the local learning context Naithan explained how he selects material “using locally produced magazines … the students I teach are very westernized and they are certainly not conservative Muslims … probably not magazines from Britain, no but certainly from here … because they would already be culturally appropriate.” In this way, Naithan uses locally-written magazines to avoid many potential problems with global topics which are not suitable with Omani learners. Diane outlined a novel approach to authentic materials generation with her inclusion of local Omani colleagues. We … asked Omani colleagues who are … very proficient in English to … write their opinion in a letter in a newspaper format and then we used that as the … input text. Beforehand … we found out what their opinion was and we chose two people with opposing opinions, and asked them to write and then we, as writers of the book, would edit what they had written.

By involving local writers and locally-relevant topics, Diane was able to exploit potentially-motivating, and certainly relevant, opinions of local people with the caveat that some editing was undertaken. Diane gave a further example of how she and her writing team take account of their local context to record and exploit a video. I used a former student of mine – he’s Palestinian, and he studies here at the university. So, we produced a video with him, more to do with study skills, and adjusting to life at university and we just felt that the students would believe it a bit more if it’s coming from an Arab and a student of (the university) ... in the library, … the writing centre.

Using a current Arab student in the university has enhanced the likelihood of engaging Omani learners, whilst also presenting materials both with face validity (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987) in terms of relevance



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to learner wants and needs and because the learners should find it easy to empathize with the content and the main character of the video. Julie related another strategy for generating locally-relevant material. In response to an American-produced course book with no relevance to her learners in terms of public speaking on her business English course, Julie used her in-depth knowledge of her learners to collect authentic but relevant linguistic devices for public speaking. I’m not a Muslim but I can see that for many of my students this religious aspect really is a driving force. … One of my students … went on line and he found bits from the Koran (in English) that have those devices! Scholastic devices and this is a much better way of delivering these devices to a Muslim audience! You might not as non-Muslim appreciate it, however, your learners will!

Julie’s awareness of how Islamic language, already translated into English, could fulfill her learners’ needs much more effectively than a global textbook shows the potential of focusing on learners whilst simultaneously encouraging learner-involvement in materials development, which should lead to greater learner engagement. Against these positive examples of generating authentic, learnerfocused materials, Bonnie states the reality of working in an Omani context, which will no doubt resonate with writers in many countries, when she says “we do have restrictions here … we can’t be free, we can’t put anything we want into the materials because we have to be aware of the cultural restrictions.” Such restrictions vary depending on local contexts but form a working reality which writers have to be aware of and adapt to in terms of materials development.

Authentic Versus Created Materials From the results presented in Table 2 which asked the writers about how they view authentic and created materials, none of these writers see authentic materials as essential but do consider their inclusion in course work as important. However, those that commented at length on this described pragmatic reasons when deciding whether to exploit authentic material or adapt/create material.



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RAQ24: To be an effective materials writer I think the use of authentic materials versus created materials is … a = essential. b = very important. c = important. d = somewhat important.

Total: n = 20

a -

b 7

c 9

d 4

Table 2: Ranking questionnaire results for the aspect of materials production relating to the use of authentic materials versus created materials Lulu gave a flavour of how she selects material: authentic material for me is interesting as a teacher but again difficult to judge. Is this material really going to be useful in the classroom? Is it appropriate for my learners? Should I be using this with these students in this environment? So it’s important and when I do find it, it’s easy to use but it’s very difficult to be selective.

Her questions cover the key areas of usefulness and appropriacy, which can inform when not to exclude particular authentic material more easily than when to select it. The difficulty she describes will, I suggest, be felt by the majority of ELT writers and may account for why none of these writers selected the essential option in RAQ24 for practical and pragmatic reasons. Tara tempered her appreciation for authentic materials by saying that “although authentic materials are great, so are pedagogic materials if they’re well-written.” Her prioritizing materials which she assesses as pedagogically-effective means she is open to both forms of materials. Conversely, Steve considers created materials as superior. They are in ways better because they are designed with specific language learning objectives in mind at a certain level. Authentic material could be extremely mixed. It may contain some of that level but then be far too advanced in other parts.

Steve is concerned with learners’ level of English competence and clearly prefers to select created materials which cover particular linguistic elements and do not pose overly-challenging language. Don favours created materials citing a number of concerns with authentic materials. He argues that “the material has to be comprehensible to the learner. Authentic materials will bewilder them very often … if



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they’re bewildered, they can learn nothing.” Don’s many years teaching Omani learners at low levels of English attainment no doubt informs his dismissal of authentic material. He continues “If you want to teach them a skill, then you have to frame it in a context which is understandable to them - authentic contexts more often are not.” Don’s use of context is not clear but he obviously feels his Omani learners are not able to cope with authentic texts and therefore any associated skills work will not be successful. Sidney views authentic materials as usable with learners he knows, but talking about mediated course books for a global market he reveals his approach as a published writer. “A course book has to be comprehensible to everybody. I wouldn’t go for authentic material - I never have. I’ve usually re-written and not usually from one source! I’ve combined information from a number of sources.” He employs this synthesization strategy using content from multiple sources not only for written texts but also for listening material and while some of his publications have centred on the Middle Eastern market, others have been for the global market. Orson highlights other problems with authentic materials. They may be difficult for students to understand and in many cases may be based on concepts they may not actually have! So … you need to be able to adapt them slightly, I’m not saying dumb them down, but in some cases you can split complex sentences into simple sentences, and it makes it easier to follow.

Orson’s pre-occupation with the degree of linguistic difficulty echoes Steve’s and Don’s but he has added the notion of concepts being beyond the experience and understanding of his learners at a cognitive, conceptual level.

Learners’ Lack of World Knowledge Five of the fourteen writers interviewed commented on how this affects their choice of content, depending on whether they (a) think the learners need to study a topic and increase their knowledge of the world or (b) whether this topic should be excluded from course content. Heather relates how she and her colleagues at tertiary level …tend to shy away from topics which we think, (the learners) will have zero background knowledge on … they are fresh out of high school, their experiences are very limited. And their knowledge and perception and opinions are very culturally limited.



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Working in a Muslim country, Heather already has the PARSNIP topics - politics, alcohol, religion, sex, narcotics, isms and pork - (Gray, 2010) to avoid, so her learners’ apparent lack of world knowledge is a further limitation placed on her text selection process. Lulu recounts how her learners “are not really interested in politics or in sensitive matters. They just want to ignore it. They’d rather not say anything perhaps because of fear or because it’s not appropriate in this country.” Clearly, her learners have sensitive topics they would like to avoid in the public arena of the classroom which may or may not align with those of PARSNIP. Fear is a very strong demotivating factor in language learning. Another factor affecting learners’ knowledge of the world is detailed by Don when he describes a change he has identified in recent years. (My learners) really don’t know a great deal about anything. They have even stopped watching television … they are getting the news and their knowledge from social networking on apps like Whatsapp, Facebook things what are one bit of news which may well be rumour or a hoax passed on from one person to the next.

Such a scenario may sound like a Luddite argument against technology but Don has worked in the same tertiary institution for many years and he feels that the innovation of social networking is not increasing his learners’ world knowledge but quite the opposite, reducing it further. Bearing in mind these negative scenarios, Naithan explains how his learners “know nothing about the world at all - they’ve never studied geography or history. If I use realistic materials, it’s my way of getting across a little bit of knowledge as well.” So, different writers react to a perceived learner lack of knowledge in a variety of negative or positive ways.

Discussion The writers in the study place the learners and teachers they are writing for at the forefront of their evaluation strategies for selecting and exploiting authentic material. They select materials to fulfil the requirements of the syllabus and thereby provide for learners’ present and future needs whilst also catering to the English level of competence of their learners. These writers show extensive awareness of what is, or is not, appropriate in the religious, cultural, social and pedagogic contexts they are working in here in Oman. This requires them to refine their selection strategies when sourcing potential authentic material and demonstrates their knowledge of prescribed Islamic behaviour, Middle-Eastern customs, Omani-specific



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social etiquette and Koranic and Omani-based methods of teaching and learning. Consequently, these writers exhibit considerable creativity in the variety of ways they source authentic material. Favouring locally-written newspapers, magazines and other publications reduces concerns over inappropriacy. Negotiating parts of the syllabus (Breen & Littlejohn, 2000) by involving Omani and/or Arab teachers and learners in the production of texts, listening and video recordings ensures a level of editorial overview before texts are produced with the authentic voice of local people presenting their local beliefs, knowledge and opinions within a localized learning environment. Moreover, such an approach to generating authentic but localized material provides a level of inclusiveness (Pennycook, 2001) which should engage learners and promote greater motivation to invest more of themselves in their learning (Pinner, 2016). In so doing, these writers aim to engage their learners’ identities (Ushioda, 2011) using their writers’ intuition derived from their experience (Atkinson & Claxton, 2000) to create a classroom environment conducive to learning (Pinner, 2016). Focusing on the local learning context to facilitate successful learner outcomes should also have positive institutional consequences as local stakeholders recognize the efficacy of such materials. While the selection and use of authentic materials is prevalent and popular with many of these writers, some had reservations about how pedagogically-successful such unedited materials would be, particularly with lower levels: beginner; elementary; and pre-intermediate. Some of the writers exploit demanding authentic texts by writing simple tasks to authenticate their classroom use (Widdowson, 1978) thus ensuring successful learner outcomes with undemanding tasks. Many of these writers are also keen to promote the pedagogic efficacy of created materials with their carefully graded input (Amor, 2002), thereby balancing inherent benefits which authentic material brings to the classroom against the perceived difficulties of challenging language, alien topics and even poorly-written authentic texts. Many of these writers also detailed ways in which they edit authentic texts and in so doing create semi-authentic texts which are crafted to meet pedagogic realities. At all times, the writers positioned their target learners front and centre, making sure that classroom materials enabled learners to complete tasks with success. This pedagogically-based approach also supports Taylor’s (1994) call for materials and tasks to support the authenticity which learners and teachers themselves contribute to the reality of classroom learning. A factor mentioned by a number of the writers was the limitation on topic inclusion in courses stemming from Omani learners’ lack of actual



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knowledge of the world. Different writers gave different reasons for this, including: learners not valuing or pursuing reading for pleasure, interest or to gain knowledge at school and beyond; and learners seeking knowledge from unreliable internet platforms and sources. Writers also cited reasons such as: learners being closed to alternative cultures, behaviours and values; apathetic learner-approaches to school subjects and real-world topics; and a sense that many topics are not suitable for public discussion but best-restricted to family and close friends.

Conclusion ELT writers produce materials to provide a platform for classroom learning to take place and if this material is unmediated and written for a local learning environment, then writers are going to want to ensure their material is interesting, engaging, motivating and that it leads to successful learning as set out by an informed syllabus and within the constraints and norms of the local context. Amor (2002) offers a range of creative and potentially useful strategies and practices which writers can employ to select and use only materials which will facilitate such learning, whether the material is unedited, somewhat modified or specially-written. ELT writers worldwide can examine these and adopt, adapt or derive inspiration from them to develop materials not from “some abstract concept of ‘authenticity’, but rather the practical concept of “fitness to the learning purpose” (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987, p159) for their own learners in learning contexts around the world.

References Allwright, J., & Allwright, R. (1977). An approach to the teaching of medical English. English for Specific Purposes, 58-62. Al-Mahrooqi, R., & Denman, C. (Eds.). (2014). Issues in English education in the Arab world. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Al-Tamimi, A. (2009). Motivation and attitudes towards learning English: A study of petroleum engineering undergraduates at Hadhramout University of Sciences and Technology. GEMA Online Journal of language studies, 9(2), 29-55. Retrieved from http://www.ukm.my/ppbl/Gema/pp%2029_55.pdf Amor, S. (2002). Authenticity and authentication in language learning. Distinctions, orientations, implications. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.



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Arnold, J. (1999). Affect in language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Atkinson, T., & Claxton, G. (Eds.). (2000). The intuitive practitioner: on the value of not always knowing what one is doing. Buckingham: Open University Press. Benson, P., & Reinders, H. (Eds) (2011). Beyond the language classroom. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Breen, M. P. (2001). Learner contributions to language learning: new directions in research. Harlow: Longman. Breen, M.P. & Littlejohn, A. (2000). Classroom decision-making: Negotiation and process syllabuses in practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Burns, A. & Richards, J. C. (Eds.). (2009). The Cambridge guide to second language teacher education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Coombe, C., Purmensky, K & Davidson, P. (2012). In Coombe, C., Davidson, P., O'Sullivan, B. & S. Stoynoff, (Eds). The Cambridge guide to second language assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dunkel, P.A. (1995). Authentic second/foreign language listening texts: Issues of definition, operationalization, and application. In P. Byrd (Ed), Material writers’ guide (pp. 95–106). Boston, MA: Heinle and Heinle. Ellis, R. R. (2009). SLA and teacher education. In Burns, A. & Richards, J. C. (Eds.), The Cambridge guide to second language teacher education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Fahmy, J. J., & Bilton, L. (1992). The sociocultural dimension of TEFL education: The Omani file. Journal of Multilingual & Multicultural Development, 13(3), 269-289. Flowerdew, J., & Miller, L. (1997). The teaching of academic listening comprehension and the question of authenticity. English for Specific Purposes, 16(1), 27-46. 6. Gieve, S. & Miller, I. (Eds). (2006). Understanding the language classroom. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Gilmore, A. (2007). Authentic materials and authenticity in foreign language learning. Language Teaching, 40(02), 97-118. Grant, N. (1987). Making the most of your textbook. Harlow: Longman. Gray, J. (2010). The Construction of English: culture, consumerism and promotion in the ELT global coursebook. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.



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Guariento, W., & Morley, J. (2001). Text and task authenticity in the EFL classroom. ELT Journal, 55(4), 347-353. Harmer, J. (2007). The practice of English language teaching. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. Harwood, N. (Ed). (2010). English language teaching materials: theory and practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hidalgo, A. C., Hall, D. & Jacobs, G. M. (1995). Getting started: materials writers on materials writing. Singapore: SEAMEO Regional Language Center. Hutchinson, T. & Waters, A. (1987). English for specific purposes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Karahan, F. (2007). Language attitudes of Turkish students towards the English language and its use in Turkish context. Journal of arts and sciences, 7(1), 73-87. Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lynch, T. (1996). Communication in the language classroom. Oxford: Oxford University Press. MacWilliam, I. (1986). Video and language comprehension. ELT journal, 40(2). Reprinted in R. Rossner & Bolitho, R. (Eds), Currents of change in English language teaching. (pp. 157–161). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990. McGrath, I. (2002). Materials evaluation and design for language teaching. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. McIntyre, D., Pedder, D., & Rudduck, J. (2007). Pupil voice: comfortable and uncomfortable learnings for teachers. In Research Papers in Education. 20 ( 2), 149-168. McKernan, J. (2008). Curriculum and imagination. Abingdon: Routledge. Masuhara, H. (2011). What do teachers really want from coursebooks? In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Materials development in language teaching. (2nd ed., pp. 236-266). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Mishan, F. (2005). Designing authenticity into language learning materials. Bristol: Intellect Books. Mostafizar Rahman, A.R. M. (2008). Attitudes towards English among Malaysian undergraduates. Language in India, 8. Retrieved from http://www.languageinindia.com/feb2008/malayenglishattitude.html Murray, G., Gao, X. & Lamb, T. (Eds). (2011). Identity, motivation and autonomy in language learning. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Norton, B. (2000). Identity and language learning: gender, ethnicity and educational change. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.



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Nunan, D., & Richards, J. C. (Eds.). (2015). Language learning beyond the classroom. New York: Routledge. Nuttall, C. (1996). Teaching reading skills in a foreign language (2nd ed.). Oxford: Heinemann. Oxford, R. L. (2011). Teaching and researching language learning strategies. Harlow: Pearson. Pennycook, A. (2001). Critical applied linguistics: a critical introduction. New Jersey: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates. Pinner, R. S. (2016). Reconceptualising authenticity for English as a global language (Vol. 102). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Richards, J. C. (2001). Curriculum development in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. —. (2006). Materials development and research - making the connection. RELC Journal, 37(1), 5-26. Sade, L. A. (2011). Emerging selves, language learning and motivation through the lens of chaos. In G. Murray, X. Gao, & T. Lamb (Eds.), Identity, motivation and autonomy in language learning. (pp. 42-56). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Scrivener, J. (2011). Learning teaching. London: Macmillan Education. Senior, R. (2005). Authentic responses to authentic materials. English Teaching Professional, 38, 71. Shehadeh, A. (2012). Task-based language assessment: components, development, and implementation. In Coombe, C., Davidson, P., O'Sullivan, B. & S. Stoynoff (Eds.), The Cambridge guide to second language assessment. (pp. 156-163). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Shomoossi, N., & Ketabi, S. (2007). A critical look at the concept of authenticity. Electronic journal of foreign language teaching, 4(1), 149-155. Sweet, H. (1899). The practical study of languages. London: Dent. Taylor, D. (1994). Inauthentic authenticity or authentic inauthenticity. TESL-EJ, 1(2), 1-11. Tin, T.B. (2006). Looking at teaching through multiple lenses. ELT Journal, 60 (3), 253-261. Tomlinson, B. (2011). Materials development in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Tudor, I. (2001). The dynamics of the language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ur, P. (1996). A course in language teaching: practice and theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.



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Ushioda, E. (2011). Motivating learners to speak as themselves. In G. Murray, X. Gao, & T. Lamb (Eds.), Identity, motivation and autonomy in language learning. (pp. 11-24). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. van Compernolle, R. A., & McGregor, J. (Eds.). (2016). Authenticity, language and interaction in second language contexts (Vol. 96). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Widdowson, H. G. (1978). Teaching language as communication. Oxford: Oxford University Press. —. (1979). Explorations in applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. —. (2002). Text and pretext in language use and learning. Paper presented at British Council, Osaka, November, 2002. Wilkins, D. (1976). Notional syllabuses. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Willis, J. (1996). A framework for task-based learning. Harlow: Longman. Wright, T. (2005). Classroom management in language education. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.



CHAPTER SEVEN ELT TEXTBOOK EVALUATION: THE PHILOSOPHY-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING APPROACH SASAN BALEGHIZADEH AND ZAHRA JAVIDANMEHR

Introduction Critical thinking and its significance in the realm of education has been a focus of attention in recent years (McKinley, 2013; Mok, 2009; Talebinezad & Matou, 2012). Many scholars believe that to transform society we need to foster critical thinking in our students from the very beginning (Dewey, 1933; Elder & Paul, 2008a, 2008b; Ennis, 1958; Paul, 1987). As a result, many approaches and methods have been introduced to create critical thinkers out of individual students. Philosophy-based language teaching (Shahini & Riazi, 2011), which has critical thinking and philosophy for children (Lipman, 1981) as its foundation, is a step forward to this end. Philosophy is the most powerful tool used for the inquiry into the meaning of concepts that are pivotal to human beings’ lives (Cam, 1995). This approach is first and foremost in line with the main assumptions of the strong version of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), which inspires the learning of a language by performing it (Shahini & Riazi, 2011). PBLT also has its roots in Vygotsky’s (1987) ideas that human knowledge is constructed in social interactions. Authenticity has also been highlighted in formal education in the Vygotskian approach. He argues that activities involving language must have authentic purposes, for which students need to do something. Tasks, to this end, should mimic the social reality of the learner, and reflect real world activities. Textbooks are the most concrete elements of learning to learners and teachers. Textbooks can be considered as “the visible heart of any ELT

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program” (Sheldon, 1988: p. 237) and looking at them from different angles seems to be necessary and inevitable. Various principles of English language teaching (ELT) in textbooks have been investigated so far, for example authenticity (Guilani, Yasin, & Hua, 2011), situational authenticity (Chan, 2013), dialogic engagement with readers (Chen, 2010), pragmatic and meta-pragmatic content (Nguyen, 2011), and intercultural issues (Méndez García, 2010). Putting these two important components of education together, namely PBLT and textbook evaluation, we have arrived at the theme of the present study. There are some studies, few though, carried out on textbook evaluation with the kernel of critical thinking or critical pedagogy (for example, Birjandi & Alizadeh, 2013); however, there is a paucity of research on textbook evaluation through the lense of philosophical thinking. Fostering philosophical thinking, PBLT claims, is done by means of asking in a philosophical way and getting involved in a philosophical community, which is open to cast doubt on and challenge the present situation. PBLT, in this regard, is a creative approach which can depict the employment of a Socratic approach in second/foreign language learning classrooms (Hemmati & Hoomanfar, 2014). The main objective of this study, therefore, is to investigate if different widely-used ELT textbooks are designed in a way that facilitates learner engagement in a philosophical community. The following research questions have been framed to this end: 1. To what extent are PBLT principles practiced in the New Headway, Interchange, and Summit series? 2. Which of these textbooks is (are) more in line with PBLT principles? How could they be ranked based on the presence of philosophical thinking?

Literature Review In this section, we will discuss PBLT in more detail. We will begin with philosophy for children; afterwards different elements of PBLT and also authenticity of PBLTwill be investigated.

Philosophy for Children: The Foundation of PBLT Philosophy for Children (P4C) was developed by Matthew Lipman (1981) based on the Socratic tradition of dialogue. In the philosophy for children approach, for the sake of making a connection between philosophy and education, questioning, thinking, making judgement, and being reasonable on the part of students are the fundamental issues. Lipman, contrasting the

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standard paradigm with the reflective paradigm, argues that in the former, education means transferring knowledge from those who know to those who do not know. On the other hand, the reflective paradigm encourages valuing children’s right to reason, to engage in the community of inquiry, and to ask critically (Juuso, 2007). The objective of philosophy for children is the development of critical thinking in children by means of philosophical dialogue, which increases group achievement through cooperation, versus competitive argumentation, where victory is the individual’s sole goal (Lipman, Sharp & Oscanya, 1980; Lipman, 1995, 2003). Philosophy for Children emphasises logic and criticality and has been identied as a key thinking skills approach (McGuiness, 2005; Barrow, 2010). It is the dialogic exchanges that encourage children to learn to engage in reasoned argumentation and help them to clarify their understandings and facilitate their thinking (Reznitskaya, Anderson, & Kuo, 2007). A meta-analysis of 18 studies that used the Philosophy for Children approach (Garcia-Moriyon, Rebollo & Colom, 2004) reported that children in the philosophy for children groups gained higher reasoning skills than their control group peers. Philosophy for Children has its own materials translated into 20 languages to support the stimulating of critical thinking in the young. The purpose of these materials, as conceived by Lipman, is to trigger skills and attitudes related to both critical thinking and the capability of holding a dialogue with peers in order to solve a common problem (Daniel & Auriac, 2011). The Philosophy for Children approach can be considered as the building block of PBLT for the reason that they both touch upon the same procedures to reach a common goal, namely thinking in education. P4C has been shown to enhance learning in different groups of learners, and PBLT experimental groups have outperformed their control groups on speaking and writing tasks in some studies (Shahini & Samani, 2010; Shahini & Riazi 2010, 2011). Hemmati and Hoomanfard (2014) also have reported the enhancement of EFL learners' speaking ability and willingness to communicate in PBLT groups.

PBLT and Authenticity One main feature of PBLT, which distinguishes it as an approach to teaching, is its tie to reality. Authenticity may target different aspects of education. Researchers have targeted different elements of authenticity or the combinations of all levels (Canale & Swain, 1980; Lee, 1995; MacDonald, Badger, & Dasli, 2006; Mishan, 2004, 2005). Mishan (2005) elaborates on authentic texts and authentic tasks in learning and clarifies

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the ways authenticity can be practiced in classroom settings. Besides these two levels of authenticity, Breen (1985) has authenticity of situation (context) as the main and critical factor, which refers to a social environment where learners share a primary communicative purpose: learning. Authenticity of the learner is another constituent of the bigger picture argued by some scholars. For example, Widdowson, (1979, as cited in McDonald et al, 2006) argues that authenticity is gained by even non-native learners who respond appropriately to texts. As it carries a Vygotskian (1978) approach as its baseline, PBLT, likewise, puts emphasis on authenticity in both activities and materials. PBLT has been related to Life Syllabus (Pishahang & Zabihi, 2012) in which the philosophical questions are about life-related issues (Dabbagh & Noshadi, 2016). Life Syllabus aims to change the direction of ELT from language-only to a life-and-language phenomenon (Pishahang & Zabihi, 2012). Pointing to the main features of PBLT, such as improving classroom discussions and providing opportunities for language learners to discuss diverse social, scientific and political issues, Dabbagh and Noshadi (2016) attempt to bring PBLT under the Applied ELT heading, with language and learning authenticity at its heart.

PBLT This approach, proposed by Shahini and Riazi (2011), is an attempt to turn Lipman’s theories into practice in the field of second language acquisition. They assert that “philosophy” in PBLT “is not the complex, abstract, and specialized philosophical discussions one might expect in philosophy as a discipline” (p. 171). Rather, it means to encourage students to delve into the issues they face by discussing and reasoning their understandings. PBLT, adhering to Lipman’s (2003) framework, makes use of a) community of inquiry and b) philosophical dialogue/questions to put critical thinking into practice in classrooms. a. Community of Inquiry To Lipman (2003), Community of Inquiry (CoI) is the essential part of philosophizing. To him, students should enter a “pedagogical space” in which they have to listen to one another with respect, build on one another’s ideas, challenge one another to offer reasons for unsupported opinions, help each other to get some inferences from hidden meanings, and seek to identify one another’s theories. Swanson and Hornsby (2000), likewise, consider “dialogue” to be at the heart of community of inquiry. They maintain that dialogue in CoI is something different from dialogue in

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traditional classes. Members of the community must have effective skills in listening, oral proficiency, and the ability to properly translate visual signals. In the same vein, Sharp (1991) illustrates CoI as a collaborative dialogue where members continue with the contributions of others. CoI is a progressive dialogue where members build upon contributions from the group. The term community in CoI is exactly equal to the concept of society and social interaction of Vygotsky (Shahini & Riazi, 2011). Gardner (1995) emphasizes that a CoI is neither teacher-centred, nor learnercentred, but it revolves around truth. It is the progress towards the truth that keeps participants interested in getting involved in discussions. She asserts that discussions are not the end, but they are means to achieve the goal of approximating the truth. The progress towards truth is gained by means of philosophical dialogues. Citing Gregory (2008), Shahini also states that in PBLT’s CoI, there is no right or wrong answer. Students find out the most reasonable one and try to make it more reasonable together. Learner autonomy, although students are working in groups, is encouraged. Answering philosophical questions requires a deep level of reflection. They make students think deeply, explain assumptions for themselves, synthesize them, and relate them to their own and universal contexts (Shahini & Riazi, 2011). Lipman (2003, as cited in Shahini, 2010) counts the following features and skills that are developed through philosophizing and community of inquiry: cognitive skills, evaluating reasons and arguments, exploring and analyzing concepts, drawing inferences, and so on. In Shahini and Riazi's (2011) original study, the CoI is introduced through the task that informs their study. By means of Lipman's (2003) three-step framework, they present some stimuli that create open-ended issues. Afterwards, students raise some questions from the stimulus. One question is chosen and then discussed in dialogues. The teacher, who has taken part in some philosophical thinking training sessions, acts as a facilitator. b. Philosophical Dialogues/Questions The second component of PBLT is posing philosophical questions. Philosophical questions stand out against routine questions, which solely call upon students’ knowledge of facts. They focus on ambiguous meanings, uncertainties, and challenges. Philosophical questions cannot be answered through calculation, consultation, or memory work. To answer these questions, one should delve into the deepest levels of thought (Gregory, 2008, as cited in Shahini, 2010). Philosophical questions, as Splitter and Sharp (2005) argue, come to ideas that are of central concern

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(rather than peripheral) to our lives and are common in human experiences. In her experimental research on teaching children how to question, King (1994) concludes that practicing such questions can enhance higher order thinking and engage students in more complex knowledge construction. Shahini (2010) talks about two categories of philosophical questions: general concepts and academic disciplines. In the first category we encounter the questions that cover general experiences of human life, for instance: What is beauty? What is reality? Does everything have a cause? In the second category we come upon the concepts challenging students’ minds in educational settings, for example: Why are some reasons stronger than others? How does science operate? What is education? Why do we go to school? Following Lipman’s (2003) proposition, Shahini and Riazi (2011) developed a creative approach to run a class in harmony with philosophical questions: At first, a stimulus is provided to the students, which might be in the form of a text, a video, an audio track, or even a picture. Students, then, cooperate in groups and ask challenging questions. A few questions which are more compatible with philosophical discussion will be selected afterwards. Thereupon, students will be in the optimal stage, which is the discussion. At this stage, they are supposed to act as philosophers to understand and try to express their own ideas. This suffices to say that PBLT, on its own, is a new approach to ELT, so there is a long way to go in order for it to be introduced comprehensively in classrooms. Textbooks, subsequently, are not looked upon from this specific perspective. This is the gap to be filled through conducting this research. Some authentic philosophical questions are suggested by Shahini and Riazi (2011) and also by Dabbagh and Noshadi (2016) as pre and post tasks for some reading comprehension texts. The questions need to be answered in pair and group arrangements and make the learners use their own logic and understanding: 1. How important is it for you to join a book club? (Dabbagh & Noshadi, 2016) 2. Is Peter bad? (Shahini & Riazi, 2011) 3. What makes you call a thing or a person ‘good’ or ‘bad’? Can something be good and bad at the same time? (Shahini & Riazi, 2011)

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Studies Conducted To the best of our knowledge, to date, no study has focused on PBLT in teaching materials. Shahini and Samani (2010), however, examined the development of the L2 speaking skill and its related components which results from philosophical questions and dialogs. They observed the improvement in the fluency but not accuracy of the learners in the PBLT group. Hemmati and Hoomanfard (2014) have also investigated the effects of PBLT on EFL learners’ speaking ability and their willingness to communicate. They reported an increase in students’ willingness to talk and the amount of student talk. They concluded that this increase in the amount of student talk provides learners with more opportunities to work with the language in an online, productive way which can lead to a higher communicative competence level. There are other lines of research that have addressed community of inquiry (Dumitru, 2012; Knight & Collins, 2010; Topping & Trickey, 2007; Gillies, Nichols, Burgh, & Haynes, 2014) and dialogic approaches from a philosophical standpoint (Barrow, 2010). In the realm of textbook evaluation, the studies allied most closely with PBLT are those conducted with the focal point of critical thinking. These kinds of studies are mainly conducted taking advantage of Bloom’s taxonomy (Hoeppel, 1981; Riazi & Mosalanejad, 2010; Birjandi & Alizadeh, 2013).

Methodology Corpus In this study, a content analysis of the following three well-known course books was conducted: Soars, J., & Soars, L. (2003). New headway: Advanced student’s book. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Richard, J. C., Hull, J., & Proctor, S. (2005). Interchange 3 (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Saslow, J., Allen, A. (2006). Summit: English for today’s world. New York: Pearson Education. As being involved in PBLT’s community of inquiry and philosophical dialogues calls for a good command of the second language, the present study checked all the lessons of the advanced levels of each series. These levels were selected for the reason that the learners were of an adequate communicative competence level to be able to speak for a couple of

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minutes. It seems students at these levels of proficiency are equipped with the main tool of manifesting philosophical thinking, which is language. As mentioned earlier, two facets of PBLT, community of inquiry and philosophical questions, are of paramount importance. Shahini (2010) claims that the most obvious arrangements for collective thinking in community of inquiry are the discussions in classrooms. For this reason, all activities under the headings of group work, pair work, and class activities of all three series were investigated to observe if they were in line with community of inquiry principles or not. It should be noted that in New Headway there was no separate section allocated to group discussion. To be in harmony with the other two series and for ease of data collection and analysis, we went through other sections to analyse pair and group activities. The size of the corpus is as follows (Table 1): Books Interchange 3 Summit 1, 2 Headway

Number of lessons 16 10 12

Number of activities 33 22 25

Table 1: The number of group and pair activities in each book. (Community of Inquiry) To check the second aspect of PBLT, philosophical questions, we reflected upon the readings’ follow-up questions in each series (Table 2) and divided the questions into conventional and philosophical questions based on the framework available. Books Interchange 3 Summit 1, 2 Headway

Number of lessons 16 10 12

Number of questions 150 57 168

Table 2: The number of readings’ follow-up questions in each book. (Philosophical and conventional questions)

Data Collection and Data Analysis With the above-mentioned corpus, the study was conducted in two phases. At the first stage, the readings’ follow-up questions were classified into philosophical and conventional categories. At the second stage, all pair and group work (or discussion) activities were divided into two separate classes being examined whether they were in line with community of

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inquiry or not. These classifications were made taking the principles and concepts of PBLT into account. For instance questions like: “Who was Jean talking to?” (Interchange 3, lesson 3) “What do you understand by “cult of celebrity”?”(New Headway, lesson 4)

which involve extracting facts and checking text comprehension, are considered as conventional questions by both coders. On the other hand questions like: “Do teachers have the right to tell students and parent what is right or wrong?” (Interchange 3, Lesson 15) “Do you think the suggestions above would be effective for everybody? Why? Why not?” (Summit 2A, Lesson 4)

which need to be answered by delving into the deepest levels of thought (Gregory, 2008), are considered as philosophical ones. The same is true with involvement in the community of inquiry. The following example: “What kinds of difficulties do you face or want to overcome? Give each other advice and encouragement.” (Summit 2A, Lesson 4, Group work)

that urges the participants to build on one another’s ideas and challenge one another to offer reasons for unsupported opinions (Lipman, 2003), is labeled as “in line with community of inquiry” activities. On the contrary this example: “Work with a partner. Look at the logos. What is the name of each company? What does it produce or sell?” (New Headway, Lesson 3, Pair work)

was categorized as “not in line with community of inquiry” because of the unchallenging nature of the activity. Ending up with these steps, we went through estimating the reliability of the obtained codes. To this end, the corpus was scanned once again by a colleague familiar with the notion of philosophical thinking in general and PBLT in particular. The phi coefficient value of 0.91 acquired indicated a high inter-coder reliability for the analysis. Pressing the frequencies and percentages into service, and meanwhile visualizing the results in graphs, we attempted to provide a comprehensive image of the practice of PBLT in these three ELT series. A chi-square test was employed to demonstrate the significance of the results reported.

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Results and Discussion First of all, the study attempted to examine three ELT series to extract the PBLT elements woven in different activities. Next, it examined the series through a comparative lens, drawing a line between PBLT and non-PBLT activities. Hence, this section commences with reporting the frequencies and percentages of PBLT in each book.

PBLT in the Three Series New Headway Inspecting its reading questions and discussion activities, we came up with these findings. From 165 total reading questions extracted from 16 lessons, 64 were counted as philosophical and the remaining 101 questions as conventional ones. Regarding the discussion activities’ power in involving learners in a community of inquiry, the findings showed that 17 out of 25 total activities encouraged CoI and the other 8 did not. The findings are illustrated in Figure 1.

New Headway Philosophica l Questions CoI PBLT

+

-

total

64

101

165

17

8

25

81

109

190

Figure 1: Philosophical-conventional questions and community of inquiry in New Headway

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Although New Headway’s reading questions stimulate philosophical thinking to a large extent, most of them are stereotypical ELT materials questions; referring students to the text to find answers. A substantial number of questions, but not all, do not necessitate learners to go even beyond the classroom’s boundaries to get the problems solved. It should also be borne in mind that about 37.5% of the questions foster philosophizing. As a sample of philosophical questions, which require thinking and demand further investigations that invite reflection (Cam, 1995), we present the following extracted from lesson 5: ¾ Do you believe in fate? ¾ Looking back on your life are there any events where you believe fate played a part? The following instances, which do not call for any kind of deep thinking, are taken from lesson 1: ¾ Do you have many immigrants in your country? ¾ Do you know of any who have become famous or successful? As mentioned earlier, there is no separate heading allocated to group work and discussion in the book. Thereupon, it could be concluded that community of inquiry is not to be established in classes conducted by New Headway. Nevertheless, regarding the speaking corpus we gathered from other sections and the frequency gained, we can argue that most of the conversations are in line with community of inquiry. The obtained result, however, is relative, inasmuch as the comparison has been made within the book. Adding up the elements of PBLT in the book, that is to say philosophical questions and CoI activities, we constructed the pie chart above, which indicates a considerable proportion of PBLT practice. There seems to be a large percentage of philosophical questions, mostly encouraged by philosophical texts (for more information about philosophical texts, refer to Shahini, 2010). In a comprehensive study of the New Headway series, Ramazani (2010) talks about advantages and disadvantages of the textbook. He argues that the book’s emphasis on communicative skills urges students to produce oral discourse. The series also attempts to motivate students by encouraging them to add information of their own to that presented in the textbook itself. This second part of Ramazani’s argument is exactly what is to be encouraged in philosophybased language teaching.

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Interchange Counting the elements of PBLT, we found that (as illustrated in Figure 2.) 22 out of 150 readings’ follow-up questions are philosophically oriented and the other 128 are conventional. Concerning CoI, though, 25 discussion activities out of 33 encourage involvement in a community.

Interchange Philosophica l Questions CoI

+ 22

128

total 150

25

8

33

PBLT

47

136

183 PBLT

nonͲPBLT

Figure 2: Philosophical-conventional questions and community of inquiry in Interchange

As Figure 2 illustrates, the Interchange series makes more use of conventional questions, with no promotion of philosophizing on the side of the learners. Most of the questions can be answered simply by referring to the text at hand: finding the meaning of the words, synonyms, matching, and so on (For example: “Read the article and find the words in italics”, Lesson 8). Few questions, if any, require students to go beyond the text. It should be noted that the situation is not the same for generating community of inquiry. The group work, pair work, and discussions in the book are by and large in accordance with community of inquiry. They essentially encourage members of a community to challenge each other, seek new information, support other members (Lipman, 1991; McGuiness,

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2005) and in short they are the same as Sharp’s (1991) progressive and collaborative dialogues. For instance, let’s examine the pair work and group work of lesson 7: ¾ Describe the problems shown in the photos. Then make suggestions to solve the problem. ¾ Share your solutions [with the class]. Which ones are the most innovative? With this group work, learners as members of a community, have to share their world knowledge, provide evidence for it, and use each other’s information to reach the most comprehensive results (Perkins, Jay, & Tishman, 2006). And then the class, as a bigger community, can decide on its appropriateness and draw inferences and make premediated judgments (Burgh, 2003; Cam, 2006). We added philosophical questions and community of inquiry to get the whole PBLT percentage in the series and we reached the pie chart presented in Figure 2. The percentages of PBLT= 0.28 and non-PBLT= 0.72 manifest the scant amount of PBLT practice in this series. This acquired result is, to a large degree, justified by other studies which have investigated the facets of critical thinking in the Interchange series (Razmjoo & Kazempourfard, 2012; Zare-Moayedi, 2007; Jahangard, Soodmand Afshar, & Rahimi, 2012). Summit Just as with the other books, the reading sections’ questions and discussions were examined. Out of the total of 57 questions, 21 are philosophical and 36 conventional. From 22 discussion activities in the book, 13 are in line with CoI and the other 9 do not stimulate philosophical discussions.

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Summit Philosophica l Questions CoI PBLT

+ 21

36

total 57

Summit PBLT

13 34

9 45

22 79

nonͲ PBLT

Figure 3: Philosophical-conventional questions and community of inquiry in Summit

Figure 3 illustrates approximately the same features observed in the two other series. That is to say questions are primarily conventional, with not enough space allocated to learners’ reflective thinking. Although 36.6% of the questions induce consideration of issues, arousing learners’ inquiring minds, a large proportion of the questions do not. The following extracts from the corpus present philosophical and conventional questions respectively: ¾ ¾ ¾ ¾

Do you agree that the husband “won”? If you had to write a moral for this story, what would it be? Complete the chart based on the information in the text. What steps did Jane take to fulfill her dreams?

Likewise, Summit engages learners in community of inquiry when it encourages them to converse in order to reach a collective solution. In the same vein, we tallied all elements of PBLT to get the pie chart above. With its offering of 0.42 per cent of PBLT opportunities, we can claim

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that even though there is a large proportion of philosophical thinking, Summit is not at the summit of PBLT practice in EFL classrooms. Summit per se has not been the target of investigation for critical and philosophical engagement, though other parts of the series, Top-Notch, have been explored by some researchers. Jahangard, Soodmand Afshar, and Rahimi (2012) have discussed the main features of the Top-Notch series in a comprehensive study. Some parts of their study can be implicitly related to the results of the present study. They figure out that most of the activities in the series often require learners to express themselves rather than be a listener. They also came to the conclusion that the series needs more involvement of the learners in classroom events.

Ranking the Textbooks: A Comparative Tool The second question posed was related to the comparison of the three series regarding the presentation of PBLT maxims. It was asked in order to draw a line between PBLT and non-PBLT materials and rank them based on their PBLT activities. It should also be elucidated that, as it was presented in the previous section, each of the series has a portion of both PBLTs and non-PBLTs. To avoid going into details, we have added up all elements of PBLT, philosophical/conventional questions and community of inquiry, in order to report them in a succinct graph.

Figure 4: PBLT presentation in different textbooks

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Series Interchange Summit Headway Total

PBLT 47 34 81 162

NonPBLT 136 45 109 290

Total 183 79 190 452

Table 3: PBLT frequencies in Headway, Interchange, and Summit series Pearson Chi-Square Likelihood Ratio Linear-by-Linear Association N of Valid Cases

Value 45.72 47.06 45.59 452

df 2 2 1

Sig .001 .001 .001

Table 4: Chi-Square test Figure 4 illustrates that New Headway, compared to the other two series, is more in line with the principles of PBLT. The chi-square test shows that the difference observed is not accidental. As can be seen by the frequencies cross tabulated in Table 1, there is a significant difference in practicing PBLT in these three series. The chi-square value of 45.720 and sig= .000 (p< 0.05, df= 2) indicates that PBLT is practiced in New Headway more than the two other series (see Table 4). One reason that contributes to this result seems to be the application of philosophical texts more than others. Shahini (2010) believes that one way to increase philosophical thinking in EFL classrooms is to present learners with philosophical materials. In this series, some of the readings and the titles per se encourage thinking deeply on the part of the learners. One of the lessons, for instance, tries to compare different newspapers’ headlines on the same subject, which is one of the concerns of critical thinking. In this list, Summit is at the second rank and Interchange comes last.

Conclusion The current study was an attempt to figure out the extent to which different ELT textbooks take advantage of PBLT principles in order to foster critical thinking in educational settings. It is worth noticing that at the outset, the selection of these textbooks was done with the purpose of investigating the historical trends of critical and philosophical thinking in different time periods when each of the textbooks had been in vogue. Due to the fact that a wealth of studies had targeted the prominence of

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fostering thinking skills in classrooms in recent years, the researchers expected to identify more philosophical thinking elements in recently published ELT textbooks. Put in simpler words, the results were unanticipated as the process observed was completely the other way around, with New Headway first in the practice of philosophical thinking and Interchange last. The study has some significant implications for materials writers. They need to take heed of the learners’ intellectual growth along with their command of language knowledge when they are preparing materials for ESL markets. Authenticity of materials, as introduced in PBLT in order to bring reality of life into learning settings, should be of focal attention. To make real thinkers out of learners, there is a need for philosophical texts and philosophical questions, which cannot be easily answered by referring to the text, and also for establishing communities of inquiry by means of different modes of discussion in order to reach common solutions. In selecting reading texts, materials writers should take advantage of any text which triggers students’ minds, induces their deep thinking, and leads them outside of the classroom so that they will not be book-bound.

References Barrow, W. (2010). Dialogic, participation and the potential for Philosophy for Children. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 5, 61–69. Birjandi, P. & Alizadeh, I. (2013). Manifestation of critical thinking skills in the English textbooks employed by language institutes in Iran. International Journal of Research Studies in Language Learning, 2, 27-38. Breen, M. P. (1985). Authenticity in the language classroom. Applied Linguistics, 6(1), 60-70. Burgh, G. (2003). Democratic education: Aligning curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and school governance. In P. Cam (Ed.), Philosophy, democracy and education (pp. 102–120). Seoul, Korea: Korean National Commission for UNESCO. Cam, P. (1995). Thinking together: Philosophical inquiry for the classroom. Maryborough, Victoria: Australian Print Group. —. (2006). 20 thinking tools: Collaborative inquiry for the classroom. Camberwell, Victoria: ACER. Canale, M. & Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics 1(1), 1-47. Chan, J. Y. H. (2013). The role of situational authenticity in English language textbooks. RELC Journal, 44(3), 303-317.

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Chen, Y. (2010). Exploring dialogic engagement with readers in multimodal EFL textbooks in China. Visual Communication, 9(4), 485-506. Daniel, M.F. & Auriac, E. (2011). Philosophy, critical thinking and philosophy for children. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 43, 415435. Dewey, J. (1933). How we think. Boston: Mass, D. C. Heath and Co. Dumitru, D. (2012). Communities of inquiry: A method to teach. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 33, 238 -242. Elder, L. & Paul, R. (2008a). Critical thinking: Strategies for improving student learning. Journal of Developmental Education, 32, 32-33. —. (2008b). Critical thinking: Strategies for improving student learning. Journal of Developmental Education, 32, 34-45. Ennis, R. H. (1958). A concept of critical thinking. Harvard Educational Review, 32, 81-111. Feng, A,. & Byram, M. (2002). Authenticity in college English textbooks: An intercultural perspective. RELC Journal, 33(2), 58-84. García, M. C. M. (2005). International and intercultural issues in English teaching textbooks: The case of Spain. Intercultural Education, 16(1), 57-68. Garcia-Moriyon, F., Rebollo, I., & Colom, R. (2004). Evaluating philosophy for children: A meta-analysis. Thinking: The Journal of Philosophy for Children, 17(4), 14-22. Gardner, S. (1995). Inquiry is no mere conversation (or discussion or dialogue): Facilitation is hard work! Critical and creative thinking. The Australasian Journal of Philosophy for Children, 3(2), 38-49. Gillies, R. M., Nichols, K., Burgh, G., & Haynes, M. (2012). The effects of two strategic and meta-cognitive questioning approaches on children’s explanatory behaviour, problem-solving, and learning during cooperative, inquiry-based science. International Journal of Educational Research 53, 93–106. —. (2014). Primary students’ scientic reasoning and discourse during cooperative inquiry-based science activities. International Journal of Educational Research, 63, 127–140. Gregory, M. (2008). Philosophy for children: A practitioner handbook. Montclair, NJ: Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children. Guilani, M. A., Yasin, M. S. M., & Hua, T. K. (2011). Authenticity of Iranian English textbooks for schools. Canadian Center of Science and Education, 1(2), 25-30. Hemmati, F. & Hoomanfard, M. H. (2014). Effect of Philosophy-Based Language Teaching on EFL Learners’ speaking ability and their

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willingness to communicate. Journal of Social Issues & Humanities, 2(10), 240-246. Hoeppel, F. (1981). A taxonomy analysis of questions found in aiding skills developmental books used in Maryland Community College. Dissertation Abstracts International, 41(12), 5040-A. Jahangard, A., Soodmand Afshar, H., & Rahimi, A. (2012). Textbook evaluation: Analysis of ELT materials. Saarbrucken: Lambert Academic Publishing. Juuso, H. (2007). Child, philosophy, and education: Discussing the intellectual sources of Philosophy for children (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Oulu, Finland. King, A. (1994). Guiding knowledge construction in the classroom: Effects of teaching children how to question and how to explain. American Educational Research Journal, 31, 338-368. Knight, S. & Collins, C. (2010). Enlivening the curriculum: The power of philosophical inquiry. Theory and Research in Education, 8(3), 305– 318. Lee, W.Y. (1995). Authenticity revisited. ELT Journal 49(4), 323-328. Lipman, M. (1981). Philosophy for children. In A. L. Costa (Ed), Developing minds: Programs for teaching thinking. Volume 2 (pp. 3538). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curricular Development. —. (1995). Good thinking. Inquiry: Critical Thinking across Disciplines, 15, 37–41. —. (2003). Thinking in education (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lipman, M., Sharp, A. & Oscanyan, F. (1980). Philosophy in the classroom. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press. MacDonald, M. N., Badger, R., & Dasli, M. (2006) Authenticity, culture and language learning. Language and Intercultural Communication, 6(3&4), 250-261. McGuiness, C. (2005).Teaching thinking: theory and practice. Pedagogylearning for teaching. BJEP Monographs series, 3(3), 107–126. Mishan, F. (2005). Authenticating corpora for language learning: A problem and its resolution. ELT Journal, 58, 219-227. —. (2005). Designing authenticity into language learning materials. Bristol: Intellect Books. Nguyen, M. T. T. (2011). Learning to communicate in a globalized world: To what extent do school textbooks facilitate the development of intercultural pragmatic competence? RELC Journal, 42(1), 17-30. Paul, R. (1987). Dialogical thinking: Critical thought essential to the acquisition of rational knowledge and passions. In J. Baron & R.

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Sternberg (Eds.), Teaching thinking skills (pp. 127-148). New York: F. W. Freeman. Perkins, D., Jay, E., & Tishman, S. (2006). Beyond abilities: A dispositional theory of thinking. Retrieved June, 2014, from http://learnweb.harvard.edu/alps/thinking/does/merrill.htm. Pishghadam, R. & Zabihi, R. (2012). Life Syllabus: A New research agenda in English language teaching. TESOL Arabia Perspectives, 19(1), 23-27. Ramazani, M. (2010). An extensive evaluation of the American Headway Series. Paper presented at the international conference of ICT for language and learning. Florence, Italy. Razmjoo, S. A. & Kazemporfard, E. (2012). On the presentation of Bloom’s revised taxonomy in Interchange course books. Journal of Teaching Language Skills, 4(1), 171-204. Reznitskaya, A., Anderson, R., & Kuo, L. (2007). Teaching and learning argumentation. The Elementary School Journal, 107, 449– 472. Riazi, M., & Mosallanejad, N. (2010). Evaluation of learning objectives in Iranian high-school and pre-university English textbooks using Bloom’s Taxonomy. TESL-EJ, 13(4), 1-16. Richard, J. C., Hull, J. & Proctor, S. (2005). Interchange (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Saslow, J. & Allen, A. (2006). Summit: English for today’s world. New York: Pearson Education Inc. Shahini, G. H. (2010). Philosophy-based approach to TESL: Enhancing EFL students’ productive language and reasoning skills (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Shiraz University, Iran. Shahini, G. H. & Riazi, A. M. (2011). A PBLT approach to teaching ESL speaking, writing, and thinking skills. ELT Journal, 65, 170-179. Shahini, G. H. & Samani, S. (2010). The development of L2 speaking skill and the related components: Insight from philosophical questions. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 5, 716–721. Sharp, A. M. (1991). The community of inquiry: Education for democracy. Thinking: The Journal of Philosophy for Children, 9, 3137. Sheldon, L. (1988). Evaluating ELT textbooks and materials. ELT Journal, 42, 237-246. Soars, J. & Soars, L. (2003). New headway: Advanced student’s book. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Splitter, L. & Sharp, A. (1995). Teaching for better thinking. The Australian Council for Educational Research Ltd. Retrieved August 5,

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2012, from www.scribd.com/Teaching-Thinking-the-practice-ofphilosophy-with-children. Swanson, K. & Hornby, K. (2000). The community of inquiry: A survey of traditional classroom and web course application. Analytic Teaching, 21, 87-105. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Zare-Moayedi, I. (2007). An in-depth evaluation of Interchange series (Unpublished master’s thesis). Shiraz University, Iran.

CHAPTER EIGHT EVALUATING AUTHENTICITY IN SPOKEN DISCOURSE FOR THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOM: THE CASE OF PORTUGUESE XXI 1 SOFIA MARTINHO

Introduction From the 1970’s onwards, there has been a consensus amongst foreign language teachers that the use of authentic materials facilitates L2 acquisition and claims of authenticity have been a selling point for materials for the foreign language classroom since then. However, an agreed definition of ‘authenticity’ is still awaited and not all textbook authors are actually applying the concept when designing teaching materials. The aim of this chapter is to analyse the spoken discourse presented in the bestselling textbook for teaching Portuguese as a Foreign Language, Português XXI 1, on the basis of a reflection on the concept of authenticity when applied to language learning materials; and to present examples of how these dialogues could be adapted to be used more authentically. First, the chapter discusses the term ‘authenticity’ and suggests one definition of it. Then, it reviews the literature pertaining to the importance of this concept when applied to aural texts and analyses a sample of dialogues. Finally, it suggests some adaptations to the materials on the basis of the previous discussion on authenticity.

Authenticity – the Challenges of a Multi-Dimensional Concept Authentic texts were originally defined in terms of their origin as “any material which has not been produced for the purposes of language

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teaching” (Nunan, 1989, p. 54). However Rogers and Medley (1988, p. 468) argue that, other than its source or initial purpose, the material’s authenticity depends on its “naturalness of form, and an appropriateness of cultural and situational context that would be found in the language as used by native speakers”. Researchers have since then claimed that these definitions are too broad (Taylor, 1994; Chavez, 1998) and if we are to understand the concept fully we have to define and distinguish different kinds and levels of authenticity. Breen’s influential study (1985, p. 61) distinguishes four types of authenticity: authenticity of the texts which we use as input data for our learners, authenticity of the learners' own interpretations of such texts, authenticity of tasks conducive to language learning and authenticity of the actual social situation of the language classroom. In simple terms, the use of authentic texts is advocated because they can offer good models for learners, while inauthentic author-produced textbook texts usually misinterpret language use by oversimplifying it (use of short sentences, simple structures, one verb tense at a time, etc). This can be pedagogically counterproductive if the learner perceives such contrived texts as being representative of natural language use. However, when we take Breen´s four types of authenticity into account, alongside the inherent authenticity of a text, the tasks undertaken with the material become important as well. For Willis (1996), authentic tasks are those where the students use the language to communicate with it rather than to “practise” it, because this is what we use it for outside the classroom. While I agree that we primarily use language to communicate, I argue that the students are in the classroom to learn a language and therefore they will accept language practice as something “natural” in the context of the classroom. To a certain extent, I accept that the language learning environment is capable of generating its own authenticity (Clarke, 1989). As a result, I agree with Breen (1985, p. 66), who advocates the choice of tasks “which are authentic to how people best undertake learning and, simultaneously, engage the learner in authentic communication (...) conducive to both learning and communicating.” Besides, authentic tasks are able to engage the students because they understand their relevance to the learning process. Not all tasks are suitable, however, even if the learner authenticates them. Common practice exercises, such as filling in the blanks, matching the sentence, true or false, etc., can contribute little to the development of spoken language use and competence. In fact, “it might be more revealing to move from questions concerning the relative qualities of texts towards more pedagogical questions, such as: “Can the learner's own prior knowledge, interest, and curiosity be engaged by this text?” (Breen, 1985, p. 63). The learner needs to authenticate the

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materials presented, by responding appropriately and positively to them (Lee, 1995; Widdowson, 1980). The interpretation that learners bring to the text, the setting and the activity will play a major role (Taylor, 1994). According to Breen (1985, p. 62), “the learner will re-define any text against his own priorities, precisely because he is a learner”. This unveils the false dichotomy between authentic and non-authentic texts because it shows that an “authentic text” (according to Nunan’s definition) may be perceived by the learner as a non-authentic one, and vice versa. Finally, one must not forget the important role of the teacher, whose behaviour may determine students’ engagement, given that “even if the materials are learner authentic they will cease to be so if the teacher assumes an authoritarian role in class, or opts for a traditional teaching approach which does not give students the chance to interact with one another” (Lee, 1995, p. 325). All the factors mentioned above are interdependent and contribute to the quality and degree of authenticity. Rings (1986, p. 207) proposes sixteen levels of authenticity, from “native speakers” spontaneous conversations produced for their own purposes (no knowledge of being monitored)” to “composed conversations printed in textbooks”. Some authors would say that the authenticity of a text depends on its features; others would argue that it resides in the use that is made of it. As Taylor puts it, “we move away from looking at the authenticity of language texts towards considering the authenticity of language use” (Taylor, 1994, p. 3). In summary, “authenticity” is a multi-dimensional concept that should not be applied exclusively to teaching materials and discourse samples because, in fact, how it is manifested is limited by and depends on many other context-dependent factors. In an attempt to define what is indefinable, I suggest that authentic materials are those which allow engaged students to develop their L2 language skills, in order to communicate with others, in any situation. However, more important perhaps than agreeing on a definite notion of authenticity is to consider what we do with texts in class and ask ourselves whether they serve our pedagogic aim of developing language proficiency.

Analysis of Portuguese Materials – Spoken Discourse in Português XXI 1 Português XXI 1 is a textbook aimed at beginner students of Portuguese, designed for young adult learners, first published in 2003 (and reprinted in 2012), by Lidel, the leading publisher of Portuguese as a Foreign Language materials in Portugal. I have chosen to analyse this book

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because it is the most used commercially-produced material in this area worldwide. In the book’s introduction, the author proclaims a communicative approach to language learning and teaching by highlighting the fact that the book favours the development of listening comprehension and oral production in situations of real verbal communication.1 The concept of authenticity was brought to practitioners’ attention following the adoption of the communicative approach. It was thought that exposure to authentic texts would help learners to develop the necessary communicative competence to face the real world (Wilkins, 1976, p. 79). Given this and in view of the author’s initial statement, one would expect some degree of authenticity in Português XXI 1. In fact, pictures of Portuguese cities, cafes, food, shops, metro maps, etc. were included but no authentic dialogues: in the sense that all are produced by the textbook authors. If we were to adopt Rings’s scale of authenticity, these texts 2 would be placed in 15th place out of 16, corresponding to “conversations composed for textbooks and acted out by native speakers”, therefore inauthentic discourse. Porter and Roberts (1981, p. 41) consider that “if the learner is to achieve any degree of real proficiency in language use - as opposed to a rather abstract proficiency, which operates only under the strictly controlled, laboratory-like conditions of the classroom - then he or she must be given the chance to listen in authentic ways”. Some scholars (Feyten,1991; Meyer, 1984; Rings, 1986; Vandergrift, 1997) even advocate the use of authentic materials from the very first classes with beginner students, given that the task is appropriate to their level and that the teacher acts as a bridge between the student and the text. Perhaps we should ask if, in a beginner’s course, such aural material would allow learner authenticity, defined by Lee (1995) as “learner's interaction … in terms of appropriate responses and positive psychological reaction” (Lee, 1995, p. 323). If the texts do not take students’ level into consideration, I believe learners cannot relate and respond to them in an authentic way. I agree with Guariento and Morley (2001, p. 348) that, at lower levels, “the use of authentic texts may not only prevent learners from responding in meaningful ways but can also lead them to feel frustrated, confused, and, more importantly, demotivated”. So, I consider that the non-authentic .

 1

From the original: “O Português XXI é um material que tem uma preocupação especial pelo desenvolvimento da compreensão e da expressão oral do aluno em situações reais de fala” (Tavares, 2003, p. 3). 2 For the purpose of this chapter, “text” will be used as a synonym of speech sample.

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origin of these dialogues should not be regarded as a problem per se and, instead of discarding these texts on the basis of an uncritical acceptance of the authenticity dogma, we should first analyse them to see if they serve their pedagogical aim. Simplified dialogues can, in fact, stimulate authenticity in terms of learners’ response if they “engage the learner’s interest and impress him as being in some way relevant to his concerns” (Widdowson, 1978, p. 90). However, when analysing Português XXI 1’s texts (see appendixes A - I), for example dialogues 1 and 7, one would have to accept that these are short and oversimplified versions of speech acts. In my experience, in consequence, students find them uninteresting. So in terms of learners’ authenticity regarding “positive perceptions” of texts (Lee, 1995, p. 323), these are not authentic. Texts 5 and 8 seem acceptable in written form but they are quite artificial when considered as an oral performance. It is important to be aware of the differences between spoken and written Portuguese when creating dialogues. Rather than offering a sample of a spontaneous telephone conversation in the target language, by presenting neatly constructed sentences in formal Portuguese, text 5 appears to aim solely to raise extended awareness of particular grammar constructions. In fact, most of the dialogues in the book concentrate on knowledge of the language rather than its use (see also 6 and 8). Attention to form, metalinguistic thinking and deliberate mastery of rules are what we naturally expect from the language class but perhaps not only at the expense of the aural texts, as happens with Português XXI 1. Unlike Breen (1985), I believe that modelling or didactic exposition of the language is not always to be avoided, as long as the textbook author is able to provide rich language samples to illustrate language use and help develop authentic interpretation rather than just teach about language form. In 1981, Porter lamented that Received Pronunciation exchanges with distinct turns and uniform pace were the norm in recorded texts. Unfortunately, this is still the case with Português XXI 1, in 2016, where “texts lose their redundant features and are shortened (and hence lose the repetitions upon which L2 learners so depend), in the name of efficiency” (Guariento & Morley, 2001, p. 348). There is an immense mismatch between the characteristics of these dialogues - intonation, enunciation, structural repetition, turn-taking, pace, formality – and those which the learners would be performing even with an interlocutor well aware of his/her linguistic limitations. The absence of spontaneous speech features may lead to two problems: one in terms of receptive ability, this being “a major reason for the classic situation in which students do well in the

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classroom but are unable to transfer their skills to the world outside” (Porter & Roberts, 1981, p. 39); the other regarding production: these dialogues prompt the production of similarly implausible language use. When analysing the tasks accompanying the aural texts, I was surprised to find that, in most of the cases, there is simply the instruction to listen to the text and then read it. A significant number of aural texts (1, 2, 3, and 8) are used as language input and could well be replaced by a written equivalent. Hence, the opportunity to practise listening as a skill has been lost. When tasks are provided, they aim to assess comprehension (4, 5 and 8) and/or to focus on grammar structures (5, 8 and 9). There are no pre-listening tasks and the post-listening activities concentrate on knowledge of the language (5, 6 and 8). The exception is text 7(2), where the students are asked to listen and identify the shops where the dialogues take place. Generally, the teacher is encouraged to skip the listening task and use the passage as a reading exercise, also because the author opts to provide the dialogue’s transcript in the unit itself, rather than at the back of the book. While recognizing that this could be helpful with more challenging texts, in recognizing weak forms and aiding segmentation, for example, this procedure seems unhelpful with such simple speech samples. In terms of the dialogues’ topics, Português XXI 1 includes the ones we generally find in any book for beginners: asking directions, holidays, in the restaurant, at the doctor’s, etc. but, unfortunately, their communicative potential is not explored as the texts are not used as springboards to develop speaking skills. Overall, the texts offered by Português XXI 1 cannot be considered authentic representations of conversational exchanges and the related tasks do not promote learner’s development of either listening or speaking skills.

Proposal for Adaptation of the Material I firmly believe that language proficiency cannot be achieved without a sound knowledge and awareness of language structure and, as a result, I adopt a language teaching paradigm that reinstates a focus on the form of language alongside its communicative purpose. Attitudes to language teaching do not need to be either structuralist or communicative; concentrating on form or function. In fact, a successful teaching approach needs to focus both on the form of language and conventional meaning; and teaching material should be chosen in accordance with this principle. Although authentic materials per se do not guarantee effective language

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acquisition, let us not fall into the trap of “alternative methodologies” (Cook, 1997, p. 231). Instead, let us support the idea that there are several degrees of authenticity that suit different contexts. For beginner students, there is a need “for transactional materials which, while not in themselves authentic, can be authenticated by the learner” (Clarke, 1989, p. 84). In fact, as Breen (1985, p. 63) suggests, “perhaps the criteria to guide the teacher's selection and use of texts (both written and spoken) reside initially, not in the texts themselves, but in the learners”. Material and task should be tailored according to learners’ needs. Therefore, I advocate the use of modified speech samples in the beginner’s class, in the same way as we have adopted graded readers. The problem for beginning learners is getting to the threshold where they can start to learn from unmodified language. As Nation and Waring (1997) explain, the student needs a considerable amount of vocabulary and language proficiency to deal with and learn from an unmodified text in the target language. In order to ensure learners’ authentication, these aural samples need be created according to the level and interest of the student as well as in line with the thematic and structural goals of the language programme. After all, “appropriateness of text refers primarily to the extent to which the content and linguistic complexity of the message are compatible with the students’ cognitive and affective frames of reference and abilities” (Rogers & Medley, 1988, p. 471). Care must be taken, however, to avoid speech that is obviously scripted. Speech features of spontaneous conversation, such as incomplete sentences, redundancy, hesitations, pauses, speech overlap, fillers, discourse markers, should be taken into account. To address this, Bacon (1989, p. 549) suggests the creation of speech samples from a topic, and not a script, allowing the individual speaker some degree of freedom in the conversation according to the situation of communication. For example, prior to the recording for the textbook, speakers would be given the relevant information about the setting of the conversation, the interlocutors, the aim and objective of the dialogue and then they could be allowed to interact freely. Another possible way would be for the textbook to include dialogues where a beginner learner of the target language is conversing with a proficient speaker. In this case, as in real life, the proficient user would automatically adapt his/ her communication in order to facilitate understanding by the less able learner. Also, nowadays, technology and the reality of language corpora (written and oral) enable us to better analyse oral production and identify the features of real speech in order to “deliberately build in certain features into specially devised materials so that they resemble the real thing” (McGrath, 2002, p. 105). As

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a result, instead of the oversimplified plain texts in Português XXI 1, we would be dealing with samples that are rich examples of speech and, simultaneously, take into account the students’ low level of language proficiency. This type of sample can “help students not only develop listening strategies that will help them comprehend more complex and more context-reduced language later in their study, but also give them the satisfaction of understanding real language” (Bacon, 1989, p. 549).  In addition, semi-scripted aural texts can contribute to the development of students’ receptive competence by replicating spontaneous conversation while, at the same time, providing a model for oral production. I agree that “to integrate input and output, reception and production, is to mirror real world communicative processes, and is something that all teachers concerned with moving towards authenticity should aim to” (Guariento & Morley, 2001, p. 352). However, exposing the students to semi-authentic speech samples with no instructional guidance from the tutor would be unproductive. Listening tasks can give students not only the opportunity to develop their linguistic and communicative competence, but also their awareness of conventions of communication, which will enable them to make use of alternative styles according to different communicative contexts (Bacon & Finnemann, 1990). In short, well developed listening tasks can focus the students’ attention on content, form and pragmatics. Listening tasks should also provide opportunities for selective listening and partial comprehension in order to develop and put into practice effective remedial listening strategies, such as guessing from context. The richness of semi-scripted texts, accompanied by appropriate tasks, in opposition to inauthentic author-constructed textbook dialogues, can help students recognize the features of spontaneous speech, taking “account of the true nature of real-life L2 listening, where understanding is partial, and inferencing is crucial” (Field, 1998, p. 110). Also, tasks should place less emphasis on assessing listening comprehension and more on activities that involve gathering information or using it, because in ‘real life’ we listen either to engage in communication or to gain information (Bacon, 1989, p. 544). Finally, trying to recreate reality in the classroom will not ensure L2 acquisition. The classroom has its own identity that students recognize. As Taylor (1994, p. 8) reminds us, “the whole point of pedagogy is that it is a way of short-circuiting the slow process of natural discovery and can make arrangements for learning to happen more easily and more efficiently than it does in natural surroundings”. If we are to ensure effective language acquisition, it is crucial to assist beginner students to approach fully

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authentic texts and tasks progressively, instead of making them lifelike from the start (Schmitt, 2002, p. 206). In summary, an authentic aural text for a beginner’s class would not necessarily be a recording of a conversation between high-proficient speakers unaware of the recording device but one that engages the students, develops their listening skills, mirrors the target language and serves as a plausible model for oral communication.

Conclusion Within a learner-centred, communicative, proficiency-oriented language teaching approach, teaching materials need to be compatible with the students’ cognitive and affective frame of reference and ability. Therefore, “the authenticity of texts (genuineness) may need to be sacrificed if we are to achieve authentic responses in our students” (Guariento & Morley, 2001, p. 352). Hopefully, this modest reflection on authenticity has made a strong case for pedagogical processing of materials and, in particular, semi-scripted dialogues for low ability students. As Brown and Menasche (2005) caution, “we need to stop thinking about authenticity as a moral imperative” and discuss it in terms of pragmatic and pedagogical appropriateness. In other words, the suitability of teaching material does not depend solely on its authenticity but, more importantly, on its pedagogical effectiveness.

References Bacon, S. (1989). Listening for real in the foreign-language classroom. Foreign Language Annals, 22, 543-551. Bacon, S. & Finnemann, M. (1990). A study of the attitudes, motives, and strategies of university foreign language students and their disposition to authentic oral and written input. The Modern Language Journal, 74(4), 459–473. Breen, M. (1985). Authenticity in the language classroom. Applied Linguistics, 6, 60-70. Brown, S. & Menasche, L. (2005). Defining Authenticity. Accessed June 12, 2016 at http://www.as.ysu.edu/~english/BrownMenasche.doc Chavez, M. (1998). Learner's perspectives on authenticity. IRAL 36(4), 277-306. Clarke, D. (1989). Communicative theory and its influence on materials production. Language Teaching 22(2): 73-86.

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Cook, G. (1997). Language play, language learning. ELT Journal, 51(3), 224 - 231. —. (1998). The uses of reality: A reply to Ronald Carter. ELT Journal, 52(1), 57–63. Feyten, C. (1991). The power of listening ability: an overlooked dimension in language acquisition. The Modern Language Journal, 75, 173-180. Field, J. (1998). Skills and strategies: Towards a new methodology for listening. ELT Journal, 52, 110-118. Gilmore, A. (2004). A comparison of textbook and authentic interactions. ELT Journal. 58 (4): 363-374. —. (2007). Authentic materials and authenticity in foreign language learning. Language Teaching, 40, 97-118. Guariento, W. & Morley, J. (2001). Text and task authenticity in the EFL classroom. ELT Journal, 55(4), 347-353. Herron, C. & Seay, I. (1991). The effect of authentic oral texts on student listening comprehension in the foreign language classroom. Foreign Language Annals, 24, 487-495. Lee, W. (1995). Authenticity revisited: text authenticity and learner authenticity. ELT Journal, 49(4), 323–328. MacDonald, M., Badger, R. & White, G. (2000). The real thing?: authenticity and academic listening, English for Specific Purposes, 19(3), 253-267 McGrath, I. (2002). Materials evaluation and design for language teaching. Edinburgh: University Press. Meyer, R. (1984). Listening to my children, and you shall hear. Foreign Language Annals, 17, 343-344. Nation, P. & Waring, R. (1997). Vocabulary size, text coverage, and word lists. In Schmitt, N. & McCarthy, M. (Eds), Vocabulary: description, acquisition, pedagogy (pp. 6-19). New York: Cambridge University Press. Nunan, D. (1989). Designing tasks for the communicative classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Peacock, M. (1997). The effect of authentic materials on the motivation of EFL learners. ELT Journal, 51(2), 144-156. Porter, D., & Roberts, J. (1981). Authentic listening activities. ELT Journal, 36, 37-47. Rings, L. (1986). Authentic language and authentic conversational texts. Foreign Language Annals, 19, 203-208.

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Rogers, C. & Medley, W. (1988). Language with purpose: Using authentic materials in the foreign language classroom. Foreign Language Annals, 21(5), 467-478. Schmitt, N. (2002). An introduction to applied linguistics. Oxford: Hodder Arnold Press. Tavares, A. (2003). Português XXI 1, Lisbon: Lidel. Taylor, D. (1994). Inauthentic authenticity or authentic inauthenticity? TESL-EJ, 1(2) A-1. Vandergrift, L. (1997). The strategies of second language (French) listeners. Foreign Language Annals, 30 (3), 387-409. Widdowson, H. (1998). Context, community, and authentic language. TESOL Quarterly, 32, 705-716. —. (1978). Teaching language as communication, Oxford: University Press. —. (1980). ‘The authenticity of language data’ in H. G. Widdowson. Explorations in applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Wilkins, D. (1976). Notional syllabuses. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Willis, J. (1996). A framework for task-based learning. Harlow: Addison Wesley Longman.

Appendixes: Português XXI 1 – Sample material Appendix A Text 1: Onde fica…? A A - Desculpe. Onde fica o Hotel Lisboa? B - O Hotel Lisboa é ali, ao lado da pastelaria. A - Obrigado. B - De nada. B A - Desculpe. Podia dizer-me onde há um supermercado? B - Há um supermercado ali em frente do jardim. A - Muito obrigada. B - De nada. Tavares (2003, p. 27)

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Appendix B Text 2: Diálogo no café Empregada: Bom dia. Faça o favor. Cliente: Bom dia. Queria um galão, uma torrada e um copo de água. Empregada: O galão é escuro ou claro? Cliente: Escuro. E queria a torrada com pouca manteiga, por favor. Empregada: Muito bem. ... Empregada: Aqui está. Cliente: Pago já. Quanto é? Empregada: São 2,14€ (dois euros e catorze cêntimos) Tavares (2003, p. 44)

Appendix C Text 3: No restaurante A - Boa tarde. B - Boa tarde. A - Têm mesa reservada? B - Não, não temos. A - Bem, a esta hora não há problema. Preferem esta mesa ou aquela perto da janela? B - Eu prefiro aquela perto da janela. A - Sim, sim. Também acho. B - Então façam favor. A - Aqui têm a lista. B - Obrigada. Tavares (2003, p. 52)

Appendix D Text 4: Queres ir ao Coliseu? Paulo: Olha Ricardo! Os Madredeus vão tocar no Coliseu no próximo fimde-semana. Queres ir? Acho que vai ser um bom espectáculo e há tempo que não vou a um concerto.

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Ricardo: Gosto muito dos Madredeus. A música deles é fantástica. Também não vou a um concerto desde Dezembro. Mas não achas que os bilhetes são muito caros? Não tenho muito dinheiro. Paulo: Sim, não devem ser baratos. Mas acho que vale a pena. Ricardo: Também acho que sim, mas na próxima semana tenho exame e tenho de estudar. Acho que prefiro voltar para casa dos meus pais em Serpa. Lá, tenho mais sossego e concentro-me melhor. Paulo: Que pena! Mas acho que tens razão. Aqui em Lisboa não consegues estudar. Há sempre muitas coisas para fazer. Bom, vou perguntar ao Rui se ele quer ir. Vou telefonar-lhe hoje à noite. Não quero ir sozinho. Ricardo: Tenho a certeza que o Rui vai. Os Madredeus são o grupo preferido dele e ele não tem problemas de dinheiro, nem exame na próxima semana. Divirtam-se! Tavares (2003, p. 66)

Appendix E Text 5: Fazer planos para as férias. O João telefona ao Miguel. Miguel: Está? João: Estou. Miguel? Olá! Sou o João. Miguel: Ah! Olá! Estás em Lisboa? João: Não, estou em Viseu. Só vou ter férias no próximo mês. E tu? Quando é que vais de férias? Miguel: Olha, eu vou no próximo sábado. Já estou a precisar. João: Vais para o Algarve, como é habitual? Miguel: Não, este ano vamos para a praia da Ilha de Porto Santo. Tenho um amigo que vai sempre para lá e diz que aquilo é um paraíso: um mar transparente e com uma temperatura muito agradável e uma praia enorme de areia branca. Normalmente alugamos um apartamento no Algarve e costumamos passar lá um mês. Mas este ano vamos duas semanas para a Praia de Porto Santo e vamos ficar mais uma semana, na ilha da Madeira, que fica mesmo ao lado. Na ilha da Madeira não vamos a praia, mas temos a piscina do hotel. João: Eu já conheço a Madeira e o Porto Santo e acho que vocês vão adorar! E as crianças vão passar o tempo dentro de água. Mas, assim só tens três semanas de férias. O que é que vais fazer na quarta semana? Miguel: Fica para o Natal. Este ano vou fazer uma semana no Inverno. João: São mesmo umas férias diferentes do habitual. E vão para um apartamento no Porto Santo?

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Miguel: Não, desta vez vamos ficar num hotel com pensão completa. A Leonor não vai precisar de cozinhar. Ela diz que nunca faz férias a sério quando ficamos num apartamento. Assim, vão ser umas férias mais tranquilas para todos. E tu? Para onde vais? João: Ainda não sei bem, mas acho que vou passar duas semanas na praia com os meus pais, em Sesimbra, e depois vou a Praga. Miguel: Hum! Também vai ser interessantíssimo. Mas vais sozinho a Praga? João: Não, a Joana vai comigo. Bom, olha, tenho de ir para uma reunião. Desejo-te umas óptimas férias e depois eu telefono-te e combinamos qualquer coisa. Miguel: Está ótimo. Umas boas férias para ti também. Adeus e beijinhos a todos lá em casa. João: Adeus, Miguel! Tavares (2003, p. 82)

Appendix F Texto 6: Ir ao médico. No consultório: - Boa tarde, Sra. Doutora. - Boa tarde. Sente-se. Então, o que se passa? - Olhe, Sra. Doutora, venho aqui porque me sinto muito cansado, doemme as pernas, e às vezes, dói-me o peito. Eu acho que não é nada de especial, mas a minha mulher está sempre a dizer que tenho que consultar o médico e... - E ela tem razão. Há quanto tempo é que não vem à consulta? - Há mais de cinco anos, talvez... - Bem, deixe-me auscultar e vamos medir a sua tensão arterial. Algum tempo depois... - A sua tensão está muito alta, Sr. Oliveira. E o seu coração precisa de um exame maior. Quanto é que senhor pesa? - Uns 90 kg., acho eu. - Pois é! O senhor está muito gordo. Precisa de emagrecer e principalmente de ter muito cuidado com o que come e com o que bebe. Bom, mas primeiro vai fazer esses exames. Faça estas análises e um electrocardiograma. Temos de ver como está esse coração. - Acha que posso ter algum problema de coração?

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- Não sei. Temos de esperar pelos resultados do exame e das análises. Mas, entretanto, Sr. Oliveira, não coma gorduras nem doces, não beba bebidas alcoólicas e faça exercício: ande todos os dias um pouco a pé. - Bem eu ao Domingo dou sempre um passeio a pé com a minha esposa. - Mas não pode ser só ao Domingo. Tem de andar a pé mais vezes.

Appendix G Texto 7: Nas lojas. 1. 1. Nos correios. - Boa tarde. - Boa tarde. Olhe, queria um selo para os Estados Unidos. - Aqui está. - Agora queria enviar esta carta em correio azul. - Muito bem. Mais alguma coisa? - Não. É tudo. Quanto é? 2. No banco. - Muito bom dia. Faça favor de dizer. - Bom dia. Queria abrir uma conta à ordem, por favor. - Com certeza. Tem o seu bilhete de identidade? - Sim, Tenho. Está aqui. - Então, preencha este impresso e depois assine aqui em baixo, se não se importa. 3. Na loja de roupa - Boa tarde. Posso ajudar? - Sim, queria umas calças destas, mas azuis. - Qual é o seu número? - É o 38. - 38… Ah! Aqui tem estas. - Quanto custam essas? - Deixe-me ver. Sim, está aqui o preço. São 62 euros. - E aquelas ali? - Aquelas são mais baratas. - Então posso experimentar as duas? - Com certeza. Pode experimentar naquele gabinete ali à direita.

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2. Diálogo 1 - Boa tarde. Faça favor. - Boa tarde. Olhe, queria um quarto para uma noite. - De casal ou individual? - De casal e com pequeno-almoço incluído. - Com certeza. Fica no quarto n.º 504 no 5º andar. Aqui tem a chave. Diálogo 2 - Bom dia. - Bom dia. - Queria uma borracha e um lápis n.º3, por favor. - É tudo? - Sim. Ah, não. Também queria esta revista. - Quanto é tudo? Diálogo 3 - Boa tarde. Queria levantar este cheque. - Tem o seu bilhete de identidade? - Sim. Aqui está. - Obrigado. Diálogo 4 - Bom dia. - Bom dia. Tem uma camisa igual a esta, mas cor-de-rosa? - Qual é o tamanho? - O médio. - Não, em cor-de-rosa já não temos. Só em azul. - Humm… não. Em azul não quero. Bem, obrigada e bom dia. - Obrigada eu. Diálogo 5 - Boa tarde. - Boa tarde. Queria uma caixa de aspirinas e umas pastilhas para a tosse, por favor. - Mais alguma coisa? - Não, é tudo. Quanto é. Diálogo 6 - Bom dia. - Bom dia.

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- Queria levantar esta encomenda. - Tem o seu bilhete de identidade? - Sim. Aqui tem. Queria também um selo para a Europa. Tavares (2003, pp. 105-106)

Appendix H Texto 8: Preparar uma festa. Avó: Então, já preparaste tudo para a festa? Cristina: Já está quase tudo. Ontem fui ao supermercado e fiz as compras todas. Depois, encomendei o bolo de anos, os salgados e as miniaturas para o meio-dia. Comprei tudo na pastelaria do costume. O Luís acabou de chegar com a encomenda. Este ano não fiz tantas sandes como no ano passado. Ah, é verdade! Trouxe a mousse de chocolate? Avó: Claro que trouxe. Está aqui no saco. Toma. Põe no frigorífico. Já puseste a mesa? Cristina: a Inês já pôs. Ontem decorámos a sala com balões. Ficou giríssima. Vá lá ver! Avó: Já vi, já vi. Já te esqueceste que eu também ajudei? Cristina: Ah, pois foi! Então, porque é que o pai ainda não veio? Avó: Olha, disse que queria fazer uma surpresa ao André. Acho que foi buscar uma pessoa para a festa. Cristina: Uma pessoa? Quem? Avó: Parece que a festa vai ter um palhaço. Ele só vai chegar às quatro horas. Não digas nada ao André. Inês: Que ideia tão gira! Ele vai adorar. Inês: Pronto, mãe! A mesa já está preparada. Acho que já pus tudo. Venham ver! Tavares (2003, pp. 148)

Appendix I Texto 9: O André está a falar com a tia sobre os presentes que recebeu. Tia: Então o que é que os teus pais te deram? André: Deram-me uma bicicleta nova. Tia: Ena! E gostaste do que eu e o teu tio te demos?

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André: Adorei! Um colega meu tem esse jogo e eu há muito tempo que eu queria ter um igual. Tia: Quem é que te deu esta cassete? André: Foi a Inês. Tia: E tu o que é que lhe deste quando ela fez anos? André: Dei-lhe uma pulseira. Tavares (2003, p. 151)



CHAPTER NINE SOAP OPERAS AS MODELS OF AUTHENTIC CONVERSATIONS: IMPLICATIONS FOR MATERIALS DESIGN CHRISTIAN JONES

Background In recent years, work in corpus linguistics has done much to uncover language and discourse features of unscripted, authentic conversations. Despite this, the availability of such conversations for materials writers is often very limited. In addition, many unscripted conversations can be difficult for learners to engage with, for cultural and linguistic reasons. As a result of this, materials writers often need to look at scripted conversations as models of spoken language. This chapter will explore data from a recent study Jones & Horak (2014), which analysed a small corpus of soap operas from the UK soap opera EastEnders. The analysis sought to investigate the extent to which some key features of unscripted conversations were either present or absent. Following a discussion of this analysis, the chapter will evaluate some of the potential benefits and drawbacks of using soap operas to create materials which focus on spoken language.

Introduction The benefits of using authentic materials, which can be broadly defined as materials which ‘fulfil some social purpose in the language community’ (Little & Devitt, 1989, p. 25) and are not specifically designed for use in the EFL/ESL classroom, have long been discussed within ELT. Many researchers have sought to show the advantages of these materials for language learning and learner motivation (Gilmore, 2011; Peacock, 1997), although the inherent advantages of authentic materials have also

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been questioned (King, 1990). There has also been a debate revolving around definitions of ‘authentic’. Some have suggested that authenticity lies in the interaction with materials and not the materials themselves (Widdowson, 1998), while others (Al-Surmi, 2012) have suggested that there is a distinction between authentic and natural materials. Al-Surmi (2012) suggests that something authentic (i.e. not designed for teaching purposes but to fulfil some social purpose in a language community) may be more or less natural, depending upon the extent to which the materials contain features of conversation evident in spoken corpora While this debate is valid, terms such as ‘natural’ carry with them an implication of a value judgment which is not always helpful or illuminating. After all, one person’s ‘natural’ conversation may be another person’s unnaturally contrived conversation. Therefore, in this chapter the broad definition of the term ‘authentic’ as described above will be used and ‘spoken language’ taken to mean unscripted conversations of the type found in spoken corpora. The term ‘scripted spoken language’ will be used to refer to conversations found in soap operas. One reason for the drive toward authentic materials has been dissatisfaction with textbooks, something which has often centred upon the treatment of spoken language within them. Representations of spoken language have often been found to be overly contrived (Gilmore, 2004; McCarthy & Carter, 1994) and can fail to provide an accurate representation of many common aspects of conversations such as repetition, ellipsis, hesitation, response tokens, discourse markers and vague language (Cullen & Kuo, 2007). One option to help alleviate this issue is to modify recordings captured for use in developing spoken corpora and create texts and exercises based upon these recordings (e.g., Carter, Hughes, & McCarthy, 2000; McCarthy, McCarten & Sandiford, 2014). Another is to use recordings of real conversations (e.g., Carter & McCarthy, 1997) which are then transcribed and analysed. However, it is surprising how few recordings of spoken language are available with transcriptions. Moreover, the motivational aspects for students of listening to audio recordings of corpus data have been questioned (e.g., Cook, 1998). A final option is to use authentic materials which replicate conversations as a halfway point between real recordings and textbook dialogues. One type of text which has been researched fairly extensively in this regard is the soap opera (e.g., Al-Surmi, 2012; Grant & Starks, 2001). Although scripted, soaps are based on everyday topics, and the conversations are meant to replicate spoken English. While soaps have been compared with textbooks (e.g., Grant & Starks, 2001) few studies have compared them with general

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spoken corpora in order to understand degrees of similarity and difference between soap opera dialogues and naturally occurring data. Thus, a corpus of soap opera scripts (from EastEnders) was compiled to address this lack, specifically through a focus on the following research questions: 1. What percentage of the frequent words in the soap opera data are contained in the top two thousand words from the BNC (British National Corpus) ? 2. Are the most common words and chunks in this data comparable to a larger corpus of soap opera English and corpora of general spoken English? 3. Which features of spoken discourse commonly found in general spoken corpora are evident and which are missing? This chapter will look at the some of the results found for each of these questions and then discuss the implications for materials development which arise from this.

Literature Review The first argument for at least some use of authentic materials in classes in ELT (e.g., Allwright,1979; Little & Singleton, 1991; Watkins &Wilkins, 2011; Wilkins, 1976) is the suggestion that such materials are often more motivating for learners. Although there has been very little empirical classroom research seeking to prove either the benefits or drawbacks of authentic materials, some studies that do exist seem to suggest that they can be motivating. Peacock (1997), for example, suggested that authentic materials increased motivation significantly compared to textbooks in a study of Korean EFL learners at beginner level. However, the learners sampled did not necessarily find authentic materials to be more interesting than textbooks but were perhaps more motivated to learn from them because they knew they were samples of real English. A second argument for the use of authentic materials is that textbooks have not always offered a realistic model of spoken language. Gilmore (2004), for example, compared seven service encounter listening dialogues in textbooks to authentic dialogues recorded using the same opening line. He found that the textbook dialogues excluded many of the features of the authentic dialogues including hesitation, pausing and overlapping turns. In a more recent survey, Cullen and Kuo (2007) examined twenty four general English textbooks at a range of levels published from 2000– 2006 and found that many common features of spoken grammar were

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given little attention. They divided aspects of spoken grammar into three categories. Category A included those features which need grammatical encoding such as noun phrase heads ‘This food, it’s nice’ or past progressive to report speech ‘John was saying…’. Category B included fixed lexico-grammatical units such as discourse markers (e.g., ‘well’, ‘I mean’) or vague language (e.g., ‘sort of’) which cannot be changed by use of grammatical means such as inflection. Category C included nonstandard forms which are frequently accepted in conversational English such as ‘If I was rich…’ but which may be labelled as incorrect in grammars. Their findings show that Category B features did receive some attention in textbooks but category A received almost no attention, except at advanced levels and little attention was given to Category C. This leads them to suggest that textbooks are omitting some key features of spoken English. This is concerning when there is also some evidence that authentic materials can improve communicative competence. Gilmore (2011), for instance, reports on a study comparing the use of authentic materials with the use of textbooks for Japanese learners. His results show that the students using authentic materials achieved significantly better results over time on five out of eight measures, all of which were designed to test different aspects of communicative competence. Despite this evidence, as mentioned in the introduction, it is a fact that recordings of spoken English are difficult to obtain for most language teachers .The scripted spoken English of soap operas may therefore be a useful ‘halfway house’ between spoken English and textbook dialogues. Previous research into soap operas has, above all, explored speech acts and made comparisons with either naturally-occurring conversations or textbooks. For example, McCarthy and Carter (1994) analysed a section of the Australian soap Neighbours to examine the speech act of ‘asking for a favour’. They found that the soap dialogue was much more complex than the sequences often presented in textbooks. Grant and Starks (2001) took a conversation analysis approach in examining how conversations are closed in EFL textbooks when compared to fifty episodes of the New Zealand soap Shortland Street. They found that the closings in the soap opera data were linguistically much more varied than the textbook models. They also found that the soap dialogues were better able to follow the typical moves involved in closing conversations, as described by Schegloff and Sacks (1973). More recently, Quaglio (2009) analysed a corpus of the American sitcom Friends in comparison with a corpus of conversational English. His findings show that Friends was similar to unscripted conversations in many respects and shared core lexico-grammatical features. The sitcom differed in that it featured fewer instances of vague language and

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narratives and more instances of informal and emotional language. He suggests that these differences can largely be accounted for by the expectations of the sitcom genre. Al-Surmi (2012) has developed this analysis and taken a multi-dimensional, corpus -based approach to compare the spoken language used in a corpus of the American Soap The Young and The Restless with the sitcom Friends and with the American conversation sub-corpus as used by Biber, Johansson, Leech, Conrad and Finegan, (1999). Al-Surmi’s findings suggest that the sitcom data have more features of spoken English as found in the conversation corpus in the areas of involved vs. informational, overt expression of argumentation or persuasion, while the soap opera data were closer to the corpus data on narrative vs. non-narrative discourse (p.692). He therefore suggests that soap operas may be more useful for modelling certain types of spoken English narrative discourse, while sitcoms may be more useful for features such as non-narrative descriptive discourse. Many of the studies reviewed suggest that soap opera data offer a model of spoken language which is at least closer to spoken English than that found in many textbooks. However, the research has tended to focus on specific speech acts, rather than how soap operas in general replicate the lexico-grammatical and discourse features of spoken English. AlSurmi’s (2012) paper does address this issue and the results are interesting but, as the writer acknowledges, it is not the type of research which most language teachers would be able to undertake. It is these gaps which this chapter seeks to fill. The intention in the study (Jones & Horak, 2014) was to analyse the data in order to find out the extent to which the sample soap replicates the lexico–grammatical and discourse features of spoken English. This was approached by using open-access corpus tools, as a model for the kind of analysis which teachers could carry out for themselves to inform classroom practice and materials development.

Methodology Research Design This research followed a mixed-methods approach. A small-scale corpus was built and compared with larger reference corpora. Quantitative analysis was undertaken in order to ascertain frequency patterns of common words and chunks. Following this, the data was analysed more holistically to look for common features of spoken language.

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Data Sources In order to answer the research questions, a mini-corpus of EastEnders, the popular UK soap, was created. The corpus consists of two complete scripts from two thirty minute episodes, a number of memorable dialogues posted as episode ‘tasters’ on the programme website (BBC, 2012), dialogues from a ‘memorable quotes’ website (IMDb,2012) and eleven transcripts of episodes from a fan website (Oocities, 2012). In total, the corpus consisted of 58,142 words. The scripts were from two episodes in 2006 and 2007, the transcripts from the early to mid-nineties and the memorable quotes and ‘tasters’ from early episodes to 2014. All stage instructions were removed for the purposes of the analysis and in the case of the transcripts, spellings were standardized. Data Analysis The data were first analyzed in Compleat lexical tutor (LexTutor) (2016) to discover the most frequent words and chunks and the percentage of the common words which matched the most common two thousand words in the British National Corpus . Frequency comparisons were made with three reference corpora: the Cambridge and Nottingham Corpus of Discourse in English (CANCODE) (as described in O’Keeffe, McCarthy & Carter, 2007, chapters two, three and seven), the spoken section of the British National Corpus and wordlists from that corpus (Leech, Rayson & Wilson, 2001) plus the American Soaps corpus (Davies, 2012). The final analysis adapted the framework (of A, B and C types of features) used by Cullen and Kuo (2007) as described in the literature review. The data were examined for evidence of features of Cullen and Kuo’s categories A, B and C. As mentioned previously, category A was comprised of those features which need grammatical encoding such as noun phrase heads or past progressive to report speech. The features chosen for our analysis were ellipsis and past progressive used to report speech. Category B included fixed lexico-grammatical units or vague language which cannot be changed by use of grammatical mean such as inflection. The features chosen here for this study were discourse markers and response tokens. Our Category C differed from Cullen and Kuo’s because we attempted to look for typical features of conversation at the level of discourse. The features we examined here were repetition and overlapping.

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Results and Discussion RQ1: What percentage of the frequent words in the soap opera data are contained in the top two thousand words from the BNC? Level

Families

Types

Tokens 58,139

Coverage % 92.18

Cumulative % 92.18

Example words A, about, act

K1 words

838

1650

K2 words

512

695

1,704

2.70

94.88

Background, banged, bathroom

Table 1. Soap opera data and the first two thousand (K2) words from the BNC This shows that almost 95% of the words used in the first two thousand most frequent words in the BNC, which we would expect the majority of learners at intermediate levels to have a firm understanding of, are found in the soap opera data. This does not quite reach the figure of 95 % coverage which is often said to be required for comprehension of reading texts (Hu & Nation, 2000) but it is still clear that the majority of the words in the corpus come from the first thousand in the BNC and as such it can be judged as a reasonable and attainable model for intermediate learners and not, as we might have suspected, to be full of lexical items which are only related to this particular soap opera. RQ2. Are the most common words and chunks comparable to a larger corpus of soap opera English and a corpus of general spoken English? Table 2 below shows the most frequent twenty five words in the EastEnders corpus, in comparison with the BNC spoken corpus (10 m words), the soap opera corpus (10 m words) and CANCODE (5 m words). EastEnders 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

YOU I TO A THE IT AND

BNC Spoken Corpus 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

THE I YOU AND A ‘S TO

CANCODE 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

THE I AND YOU IT TO A

US SOAPS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

YOU I TO THE THAT IT AND

Soap Operas as Models of Authentic Conversations 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.

WHAT YEAH ALL ME WELL THAT OH OF KNOW BE RIGHT NO FOR DO DON'T IN JUST ON

8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.

OF THAT N’T IN WE IS DO THEY ER WAS YEAH HAVE WHAT HE THAT TO BUT FOR

8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.

YEAH THAT OF IN WAS IT’S KNOW IS MM ER BUT SO THEY ON HAVE WE OH NO

8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.

165 N’T A DO WHAT OF ME IS KNOW THIS HAVE HE WE FOR IN JUST MY NOT WAS

Table 2. The most frequent twenty five words in four corpora Although the frequencies vary between the corpora, there are clearly similarities. The most common words contain few items with propositional meaning and many items which act as function words, such as ‘to’, ‘of’ and ‘me’. The high frequency of ‘I’ and ‘you’ as opposed to ‘he’ and ‘she’ shows that the EastEnders dialogues are similar to general conversations in that they concern the speaker and the person they are addressing most frequently. What is interesting is the absence of response tokens such as ‘Mm’, and hesitation devices such as ‘Er’ in the EastEnders, BNC or larger soap opera corpus, while both occur with high frequency in CANCODE. This reflects, to a large degree, the scripted nature of the dialogues. There is no need to hesitate as actors have rehearsed their lines, and characters do not have such a need to react to the ongoing discourse. In soaps, unlike in spoken English, speakers know what is coming next and are waiting for their cue. In the BNC, the absence of such markers is likely to reflect the fact that is it made up, in part, of scripted spoken language in the form of public lectures and so on. Table three shows the most common two–word chunks in the data when compared with CANCODE.

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166 EastEnders 1.[158] I DON'T 2.[155] YOU KNOW 3.[144] DO YOU 4.[106] IN THE 5.[106] ALL RIGHT 6.[100] I MEAN 7. [95] A BIT 8. [95] I WAS 9. [94] TO BE 10. [88] IF YOU

CANCODE 1.[28,013] YOU KNOW 2.[17,158] I MEAN 3.[14, 086] I THINK 4.[13,887] IN THE 5.[12,608] IT WAS 6.[11,975] I DON’T 7.[11,048] OF THE 8. [9,772] AND I 9. [9,586] SORT OF 10. [9,164] DO YOU

Table 3 The ten most common two word chunks It is clear that in terms of frequency, many of the most common chunks in the EastEnders data have some similarities to the CANCODE data. ‘You know’, ‘I mean’ and ‘I think’ are frequent in both corpora, for example. What differs are the variations in frequency and in some cases, the functions. ‘I know’, as an example, is more frequent in the EastEnders corpus (it is the sixteenth most common chunk in the EastEnders data but not in the top twenty most frequent chunks in CANCODE). In the EastEnders data ‘I know’ seems to be highly frequent because it is used to mark what a character is saying and to signal that they are being ‘genuine’ or that they understand something, as the following examples demonstrate. Extract 1: I know 1. It can’t kill love. And I got that, Jim. I KNOW I’m loved. You can’t tell me what to 2. you learn from your mistakes and move on. One thing I KNOW is you don’t go out for hamburger 3. I’m not drunk. I know what I’m saying. I love you. What? I KNOW it now, Stacey. I always have In the CANCODE corpus, ‘you know’ has a notably higher frequency and it is often used as a discourse marker to indicate shared knowledge or

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as a pause marker (O’Keeffe et al., 2007, p.71). It is not used in this way in EastEnders as often, largely due to the contrived nature of the interaction. Instead it is commonly used to introduce a ‘pearl of wisdom’ or as a rhetorical question, to mark the fact that the character is going to say something important. Extract 2: You know 1. and we’re gonna have a little chat. Nice one. From Abi. YOU KNOW what women are like about Valentine’s 2. Take me to Ian’s. I want to see if I can help. I know. YOU KNOW what? I know you were in prison 3. YOU KNOW what? I probably could manage a bit of.. ‘I mean’, on the other hand, seems to function largely as a discourse marker in the EastEnders corpus, just as it does in CANCODE. It is mainly used to mark the fact that a character wishes to reformulate or clarify something they have just said: Extract 3: I mean 1. Is that, is that all I am to you, Ian? I MEAN is that all I mean to you 2. Sorry? The lack of consideration I MEAN it doesn’t take much 3. And I’m the one supposed to tell her I MEAN it’s not fair though, is it, Nat. RQ3. Which features of spoken discourse commonly found in general spoken corpora are evident and which are missing? Category A features (Ellipsis, ‘X was saying’) Ellipsis is very common in the data and occurs in many of the dialogues between the characters. Partly it seems to be used to mark informality and signal friendship and familiarity but also because it fits many of the situations. For example, being over-elaborate would not be required in many of the situations featured in EastEnders, such as buying things from the local shops or a café. In this sense, the dialogues are similar to natural recordings, where it has been shown that situational ellipsis is prevalent (Carter & McCarthy, 1997, 2006). The two short dialogues below demonstrate this, although many more were found in the data.

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Extract 4: Examples of ellipsis A) S1: Calmed down yet? S2: Oh yeah. Look at me. Total calmness. B) S5: A sponge, some chocolate chip cookies and something with cream in it. S6: No fairy cakes? S5: Just stick ‘em in a bag! The use of past progressive to report speech, however, was almost totally absent from the data. Instead, a search for the word ‘saying’ revealed that it tended to be used in present progressive form (sometimes displaying ellipsis) to either offer explanation of what a character expresses or to check what another character utters: Extract 5: Saying 1. People like to see a friendly face behind the bar. SAYING mine aint? I think that hair lacquer’s 2. You can have it if you like. What’s this? It’s me SAYING you aint bad. For 3. I’m not drunk. I know what I’m SAYING. I love you. What? I know it now This suggests the EastEnders dialogues do not mirror this common feature of spoken language when characters report speech. Category B (discourse markers, response tokens) The data was examined to see if two common discourse markers ‘Oh’ and ‘well’ were used in a similar way to a general reference corpus. These items were chosen because they occur with high frequency in most corpora of spoken English (CANCODE, for example lists ‘Oh’ as the twenty fourth most common word, ‘well’ as the twenty seventh most

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common (O’Keeffe et al., 2007, p.35/65). As the frequency counts in Table 1 show, each discourse marker (DM) did occur often in the EastEnders data with ‘well’ being the most frequent, followed by ‘oh’. The following examples show each DM being used in context: Extract 6: Oh and Well 1. Couple of ‘loving cups’? Just a beer,please. OH come on, I’m pushing the boat out 2. you can manage to get rid of Bert and Jay for the evening OH come on, Mum 3. I said we’d look after the girls tonight. You what? OH great. Roast chicken! 4. grateful for your feedback. What do you want my boots for? WELL I ain’t using these, finest hand 5. did that alright. It was just meant to be a bit of fun but WELL I wouldn’t want you to go 6. Love you too I don’t think I’m immature WELL I’ m telling you you are. We can see that these examples, together with use of common DMs such as ‘I mean’ suggest that we can say that their use in the EastEnders data are similar to a reasonable degree to those found in spoken language. However, when we examine the use of response tokens, a different picture emerges. According to O’Keeffe et al., (2007) the most common non-minimal response tokens in British and American English are ‘good’, ‘right’ and ‘really’. All three occur in the EastEnders data. However, it is notable that it is only ‘really’ which is consistently used as a response, as in the following examples: Extract 7: Really 1. Okay you in at that new treatment place up the high street. REALLY? After yesterday... You. What about you? 2. No, I’m afraid you’ve got me beat there. REALLY? Maybe we should change 3. You remind me of two girls I used to know. REALLY? What mates of yours? Yeah... ‘Right’ occurs with a high frequency but is almost never used as a response. Instead, it forms the common chunk with ‘all right’ or is used

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with a propositional meaning to suggest that something is correct or as part of a prepositional phrase. ‘Good’ is used in some instances as a response and in some cases with an adjectival meaning. The sample below shows each of these uses: Extract 8: Good 1. How’re things at home. Okay? Yeah. They’re fine. Really. GOOD! 2. We do a good enough job, and we get the permanent one easy. GOOD, I’m glad. Oh, me too. 3. All right.. I took your advice. Went out for a walk. Oh. GOOD. And? Now I’m back. 4. Not like this place. Hm hm! Still, you got to work with the GOOD people if you want to improve. 5. Especially when you’ve got a perfectly GOOD place of your own. The reasons for the limited use of ‘good’ and ‘right’ are likely to be similar to those described earlier when discussing ‘mmm’. Characters do not need to simply respond because they already know what is going to be said next. ‘Really’ may differ because it can also be used to signal that something dramatic or interesting has been said. In spoken English, the absence of tokens such as ‘right’ can signal a lack of interpersonal awareness (i.e. the listener is not actually listening) but in soaps, this type of interpersonal engagement is clearly not as important . Category C. Overlapping and repetition There was very little evidence of either of these features in the data. Largely, again, this would seem to be the result of the fact that EastEnders is scripted. Therefore, the kind of overlapping which is a common part of English discourse is not really in evidence, probably to maintain clarity in the dialogues. Equally, the scriptwriters are perhaps unaware of this common feature of spoken English. This finding is similar to Quaglio’s (2009) analysis of the sitcom Friends. He suggests that the restrictions of the genre may override the need to exactly mimic spoken English, which often features latched and co-constructed turns (Carter & McCarthy, 2006). In EastEnders, each episode is only thirty minutes long and there is clearly a need for characters to say their lines, move the plot along and keep the audience interested. Should turns overlap a great deal, this may be harder to achieve in the time allowed. Repetition does occur in the EastEnders data but not with the same frequency as it might occur in

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spoken English and not in the same manner. The following sample shows some evidence of this feature: Extract 9: Examples of repetition S1: Oh, no! You're here! You haven't answered any of my texts! S2: Well, I wasn't sure which one to reply to. There were fourteen of them. Well, fifteen now. S1:The one about dinner. S2:Oh, yeah. S1: I was wondering... if... you might like... a home–cooked meal sometime. S2: Oh, that'd be lovely. What we having? The most notable difference from spoken English, which we can see in this example, is that although some words (such as ‘oh’) are repeated across the conversation, speakers do not tend to repeat what others have said in order to show they are listening or interested in what has been said. Tannen (1987) suggests that this function of repetition is largely interpersonal. Speakers may repeat what others have said to show they are listening or are interested. In a soap opera, characters do not show they are listening, have understood or are interested because of course they know what is coming next.

Conclusion Implications for Materials Design This chapter has shown that soap opera dialogues share at least some important characteristics of conversation, including many of the most frequent words from the BNC, and ellipsis, discourse marking and common chunks from CANCODE. Similarities to spoken language are sometimes compromised for ‘drama’ but as noted, the fact that it is an authentic drama itself may be motivating because of the human interest it could create within learners.

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If we accept that soap operas of this nature are more likely to be available to teachers than unscripted conversations, then they can be of use as a source of authentic materials. As such, there are several approaches to their use which can be advocated. The first and perhaps simplest option for teachers is to use soap operas such as EastEnders as a source of what Krashen (1996) has termed ‘narrow listening’. This is a form of extensive listening, where students choose topics they are interested in and listen to a number of recordings on those topics, rather than separate recordings on a range of topics. With clips of soap operas frequently available online, students can be encouraged to watch and re-watch scenes on areas of interest. The availability of online clips also means a teacher can develop material based on student interests in class to teach aspects of language in a particular scene and students can then re-watch this at their leisure outside of class. The aim of such activities is to increase comprehension by restricting the range of listening topics. As much of the same language is likely to be repeated in each topic, it is hoped that, as the student relistens, input will increasingly be more comprehensible and students will become more familiar with some features of spoken English. A second approach is to use soap operas as a part of pre-departure preparation, for students hoping to study abroad in English-speaking countries. The focus of such preparation is often on academic English but there is also an argument to suggest that students need some focus on understanding the sort of spoken English described here in order to better interact in and around the academic setting (Jones & Carter, 2014). Soap operas could be used as listening comprehension and to foster noticing in learners. For example, soaps such as EastEnders often have dialogues where characters are ordering food or drinks. Such dialogues can be used for simple listening comprehension work and then to highlight features of spoken English used in this context, such as ellipsis. Transcripts of dialogues can be used as material to highlight which words have been left out by speakers and to discuss why speakers have chosen to omit words in the context. This helps to develop what is often termed language awareness (Carter, 2003) rather than focussing on production of language. The first step towards making use of the features of spoken language is to develop an awareness that they exist and as many of these features are optional (students do not have to use ellipsis, for example), using materials to enhance this awareness would seem to be a sensible starting point. A final use of soap operas is as a form of comparison, once students are in an English speaking country. I have noted that some features of spoken English are not present in the EastEnders data, including the use of response tokens such as ‘mm’ and ‘right’ , the use of ‘X was saying’ to

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report speech and the tendency for spoken English to feature a great deal of repetition, overlapping and co-constructed turns. It is also useful to use soap opera material as a focus for comparison with what the English students hear around them. For example, after a focus on a scene involving ordering items in a café, students can be asked to compare this to the English they hear and use when they order in cafés. Soap opera dialogues clearly share some important characteristics of spoken English and therefore, it can be argued that they are in general a useful source of authentic material for teachers wishing to focus attention on spoken language.

References Allwright, R. (1979). Language learning through communication practice. In C. Brumfit, & K. Johnson, The communicative approach to language teaching (pp. 167–182). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Al-Surmi, M. (2012). Authenticity and TV shows: Amultidimensional analysis perspective. TESOL Quarterly, 46(4), 671–694. BBC. (2012). Script peeks. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006m86d/features/script–peeks —. (2012). Writers room. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/scripts/ Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. (1999). Longman grammar of spoken and written English. London: Longman. Carter, R. (2003). Language awareness. ELT Journal, 57 (1), 64–65. Carter, R., Hughes, R.., & McCarthy, M., (2000). Exploring grammar in context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Carter, R., & McCarthy, M. (1997). Exploring spoken English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. —. (2006). Cambridge grammar of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Compleat lexical tutor. (LexTutor) (2016). Retrieved from http://www.lextutor.ca/ Cook, G. (1998). The uses of reality: A reply to Ronald Carter. ELT Journal, 52(2), 57–63. Cullen, R., & Kuo, I. (2007). Spoken grammar and ELT materials: A missing link? TESOL Quarterly, 41(2), 361–386. Davies, M. (2012, October 4). Corpus of American soap operas. Retrieved from http://corpus2.byu.edu/soap/ Gilmore, A. (2004). A comparison of textbook and authentic interactions. ELT Journal, 58(4), 363–374.

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—. (2011). “I Prefer Not Text”: Developing Japanese learners' communicative competence with authentic materials. Language Learning, 61(3), 786–819. Grant, L., & Starks, D. (2001). Screening appropriate teaching materials: Closings from textbooks and television soap operas. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 39, 39–50. Hu, M., & Nation, I. (2000). Vocabulary density and reading comprehension. Reading in a Foreign Language, 13(1), 403–430. IMDb. (2012, November 5). EastEnders Memorable Quotes. Retrieved from http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0088512/quotes Jones, C., & Carter, R. (2014). Teaching spoken discourse markers explicitly: A comparison of III and PPP. International Journal of English Studies, 14(1), 37–54. Jones, C., & Horak, T. (2014). Leave it out! The use of soap operas as models of spoken discourse in the ELT classroom. The Journal of Language Teaching and Learning, 4(1), 1–14. King, C. (1990). A linguistic and a cultural competence: Can they live happily together? Foreign Language Annals, 23(1), 65–70. Krashen, S.D. (1996). The case for narrow listening. System, 24(1), 97– 100. Leech G., Rayson, P., & Wilson, A. (2001). Word frequencies in written and spoken English: Based on the British National Corpus. London: Longman. Little, D., & Devitt, S. S. (1989). Learning foreign languages from authentic texts: Theory and practice. Dublin: Authentik. Little, D., & Singleton, D. (1991). Authentic texts, pedagogical grammar and language awareness in foreign language teaching. In C. James, & P. Garret, Language awareness in the classroom (pp. 123–132). London: Longman. McCarthy, M., & Carter, R. (1994). Language as discourse: Perspectives for language teaching. Harlow: Longman. McCarthy, M., McCarten, J., & Sandiford, H. (2014). Touchstone level 1 full contact (2nd Edition) Student's book. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. O’Keeffe, A., McCarthy, M., & Carter, R. (2007). From Corpus to Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Oocities. (2012). EastEnders. Retrieved from http://www.oocities.org/tvtranscripts/eastenders/ index.htm Peacock, M. (1997).The effect of authentic materials on the motivation of EFL learners. ELT Journal, 51(2), 144–156.

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Quaglio, P. (2009). Television dialogue: The sitcom Friends vs natural conversation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Schegloff, E., & Sacks, H. (1973). Opening up closings. Semiotica, 8, 289–327. Tannen, D. (1987). Repetition in conversation: Towards a poetics of talk. Language, 63(3), 574–605. Watkins, J., & Wilkins, M. (2011). Using YouTube in the EFL classroom. Language Education in Asia, 2(1), 113–119. Widdowson, H. (1990). Aspects of language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. —. (1998). Context, community and authentic language. TESOL Quarterly, 32(4), 705–716. Wilkins, D. (1976). Notional syllabuses. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

CHAPTER TEN PURPOSEFUL SAMPLING OF THE USE OF AUTHENTIC TEACHING AND LEARNING MATERIALS IN A SOUTH AFRICAN SETTING L. JUNIA NGOEPE

Introduction Teaching materials form the backbone of teaching and learning activities because the success of any course relies heavily on the type of teaching materials chosen. It is thus implicit that lecturers have to be skilled in choosing materials for the courses they are allocated to teach. The aim of this chapter is to discuss the significance of the use of authentic teaching materials in the context of University of Limpopo (UL) English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses and to provide samples of authentic materials in a South African (SA) university setting.

The Significance of Teaching Materials Teaching materials remain a key component in most language programmes. Whether the lecturer uses a textbook, institutionally prepared materials or his or her own materials, instructional materials generally serve as the basis for much of the language input students receive and the language practice which occurs in the classroom (Richards, 2001). Furthermore, materials may also serve as a form of training in the case of inexperienced lecturers as they provide ideas on how to plan and deliver lectures as well as formats the lecturers can use. In fact, much of the language teaching that occurs the world over could not take place without the extensive use of commercial materials (Richards, 2001). Moreover, commercial materials may take the form of printed materials such as

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books, workbooks, worksheets or readers; non-print materials such as audio materials, videos or computer based-materials; materials comprising both print and non-print sources such as self-access materials and materials on the internet, and materials not designed for instructional use such as magazines, newspapers and TV materials which may also play a role in the curriculum (Richards, 2001). Interestingly, in the not so long ago past, textbook writers had no access to comprehensive and representative data of authentic language use (Tomlinson, 1998). Nonetheless, some lecturers used instructional materials as their primary teaching resource; the materials providing the basis for the content of lessons, the balance of skills taught and the kinds of language practice students took part in. This is still true today, though in some contexts materials may primarily serve to supplement lectures. For students, materials may provide the major source of contact they have with the language besides the lecturer. Thus, the role and uses of materials in a language programme are a significant aspect of the language curriculum (Richards, 2001). The roles of coursebook materials in language teaching could be summarised as to provide a source for spoken and written presentations, a source of activities for learner practice and communicative interaction, a reference source for learners on grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, a source of stimulation and ideas for activities in class, a syllabus leading students to reflect on learning objectives that have already been determined and a means of support for less experienced lecturers who have yet to gain confidence (Cunningsworth, 1995). Although lecturers could have various types of teaching materials at their disposal, they inadvertently shoulder the responsibility of choosing appropriate materials for cohorts of students they teach. They need to be adept at selecting and using relevant materials effectively in their teaching.

Authenticity The question of authenticity in language teaching is a complex one with authenticity being determined by what learners do with the text (Widdowson, 1979). When plans regarding the role of materials in a language programme are made, an initial decision concerns the use of authentic materials versus created materials. Authentic materials refer to the use of texts, photographs, video selections and other teaching resources that were not specifically prepared for pedagogical purposes (Richards, 2001). It could be argued that authentic materials are preferred over created materials

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because they contain authentic language and reflect real-world uses of language compared to the contrived content of created material (Richards, 2001). For this reason the use of authentic materials in EAP is essential and can be both intrinsically and extrinsically motivating for EAP students (Alexander, 2008). For example, EAP authentic materials at tertiary level can serve as a bridge between the classroom and the outside world (Jordan, 1997) and such materials at all levels can provide frequent exposure to rich and varied authentic input (Tomlinson, 1998). A number of terms could be used with regard to authenticity: genuine, authentic, real, natural, scripted, contrived, semi-authentic, semi-scripted, simulated, simulated - authentic (McDonough, 1984). This implies that there are gradations or different degrees of authenticity of language data (Jordan, 1997). The UL situation is similar regarding different degrees of authenticity of language texts used in EAP courses taught across faculties. Authenticity may also be considered in terms of goals, materials, interaction, processes and tasks (Alexander, 2008) and can be referred to as ‘unsimplified’ or ‘genuine’ texts that have been used in materials originally written for purposes other than language teaching. Some experts have recognised that the genuineness of a text does not guarantee relevance and that a text is only truly authentic if it is exploited in ways that reflect the real world. It is implicit that authenticity of purpose is as important as genuineness of text (Dudley-Evans, 1998). According to (Jordan, 1997), an authentic text will be that which is normally used in the student’s specialist subject area, written by specialists, for specialists. EAP lecturers try to prepare students as fully as possible to benefit from the methods of teaching and learning they will need at university. The lecturers bring to the classroom linguistic expertise and knowledge of teaching methodology. Students may bring expertise in their subject disciplines which lecturers may call on to exploit authentic academic texts effectively (Alexander, 2008). At issue is whether only authentic texts should be used in the EAP classroom. In my view there is nothing wrong with non-authentic texts, especially in the earlier stages of language learning; it depends on the pedagogic purpose in using the texts (Jordan, 1997). The identified needs of students embodied in course objectives should ideally help lecturers balance the use of authentic and non-authentic texts. As soon as students can cope with texts from their own subject area, authentic texts can be used. Owned authentic materials refer to material which the individual learner uses or produces versus authentic material from the discipline. The use of owned authentic materials from the learners’ job or studies is encouraged (Jordan, 1997). Dudley-Evans

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(1998) points out that authentic materials should also be used to facilitate interaction. In line with this, (Tomlinson, 1998) states that ideally, teaching materials should provide opportunities for interaction in a variety of discourse modes ranging from planned to unplanned. As with reading, listening texts, in my view, should be authentic in source and purpose. Activities in class should reflect what happens in real life (Dudley-Evans, 1998). Students need to be offered a manageable pedagogic corpus of the language being learned. This corpus could be a set of texts written and spoken, which students will process receptively through a series of activities. Thus, the corpus should be made up of ‘authentic’ texts. The corpus must be such that it provides sufficient illustrative examples pertaining to teaching and learning. It would therefore be advantageous if this corpus is made up of authentic texts, that is, not texts written for language teaching purposes to illustrate a specific language point, or simplified to the point of distorting natural language use (Tomlinson, 1998). The ultimate purpose, during and after the students’ academic programme, is the development of their own independence. This refers to gaining independence from the lecturer, from class time, and from prescribed materials (De Chazal, 2014). Ideally, students should be able to function effectively in the English language within and outside their tertiary learning environment. As Hyland (2006) points out, EAP is specialized English language teaching grounded in the social, cognitive and linguistic demands of academic target situations and providing instruction informed by an understanding of texts and the constraints of academic contexts. For many countries, including South Africa, this implies that producing an annual crop of graduates able to function in employment through English has become an economic imperative (Hyland, 2006). UL strives to produce her fair share of employable graduates who can function effectively in English across various sectors in an SA setting. Phillip (1978), Clarke (1989) and Peacock (1997) maintain that some advantages claimed for authentic materials are the following: x Authentic materials have a positive effect on learner motivation because they are more interesting and motivating than created materials. A huge supply of these materials can be found in the media and on the Web; these relate closely to the interests of many language learners. x The materials provide authentic cultural information about the target culture. Pertinent materials can be selected to illustrate many

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x x

x

x

aspects of the target culture including culturally based practices and beliefs as well as both linguistic and non-linguistic behaviour. They provide exposure to real language rather than artificial texts found in created materials which have been specially written to illustrate grammatical rules or discourse types in particular. The materials relate more closely to learners’ needs. Thus, they provide a link between the classroom and the needs of students in the real world. However, most researchers would agree that exposure to authentic use of the language is necessary but not sufficient for the acquisition of that language (Tomlinson, 1998). Authentic materials support a more creative approach to teaching. In using these materials as a source for teaching activities, lecturers can develop their full potential as they develop activities and tasks which better match their teaching styles and the learning styles of their students (Phillip, 1978), (Clarke, 1989), (Peacock, 1997). The identified needs of students should help sustain the essential balance in using created and authentic materials, as EAP lecturers would make use of a corpus comprised of various discipline specific texts in a bid to accommodate UL students from different faculties, and trigger as well as sustain the expected higher levels of motivation of EAP students.

English for Academic Purposes From its modest roots in the 1960s, EAP has evolved to become an emerging global phenomenon. University education is globalizing while English is becoming established as the medium of instruction in a diverse range of contexts (De Chazal, 2014). This is the situation in South Africa irrespective of her multilingual setting. Moreover, domination by Englishspeaking academic discourse communities implies that thousands of academics including international ones are studying, researching and teaching in English-medium universities. These include English for EAP students who use English as the lingua for their academic purposes (Alexander, 2008). An academic discourse community is a group of academic practitioners which consists of lecturers, researchers and students who share a particular discourse or way of representing, thinking and talking about the world (Alexander, 2008). English remains the medium of instruction at UL and the UL academic discourse uses English as its lingua franca. In line with the above, de Chazal (2014) asserts that EAP typically recognizes that the students plan to study or are studying academic

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disciplines and thus need an approach which can help them acclimatize to their academic study in a broad sense. However, it is essential for an EAP lecturer to bear in mind that an EAP course is first and foremost a language course. The most important component in this course is academic English, particularly the strategies to continue learning it beyond the duration of the EAP course (Alexander, 2008). In addition, Alexander (2008) states that EAP requires teachers to have a sound grasp of how to promote language learning and manage all aspects of the classroom’ including the selection of appropriate materials. However, a teacher who would like to adapt to the EAP context first has to explore the academic context in detail. De Chazal (2014) asserts that EAP materials are distinct from more general English language teaching materials in that they aim to meet the clearly defined needs of students planning to study in English. In line with this, analysing typical texts is a crucial stage of the needs analysis needed in order to develop an EAP curriculum. The analysis may be in the form of Target Situation Analysis (TSA), that is of the context of their intended academic study, or of Present Situation Analysis (PSA), that is the context they are studying in at the time (Dudley-Evans, 1998). However, one of the challenges pertaining to the expanding role of EAP is that many EAP courses still lack a theoretical or research rationale and textbooks too often depend on the writer’s experience and intuition (Hyland, 2006). TSA and PSA are thus essential needs analyses phases in academic English support courses. Lecturers could use the needs identified through these phases as stepping stones towards selecting appropriate teaching materials for cohorts of students who belong to different academic discourse communities.

UL EAP Courses in Context The UL is a Historically Disadvantaged Institution (HDI) which caters mainly for black students from a rural background. It is located about 30km East of Polokwane City, Limpopo Province in South Africa. The university in the main attracts learners at the lower rung of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) passes ladder. This therefore renders the teaching of support courses such the EAP one even more imperative. Several English language as well as literature modules are offered in the UL English Language Unit (ELU), Department of Languages. Module lecturers have the prerogative to select and prescribe materials for what they teach. Course co-ordinators are responsible for the administration of the course including selecting teaching materials for courses they are

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responsible for. Interestingly, the medium of instruction at UL is English and about 80% of the lecturers in the ELU who are not native speakers of English, are qualified and experienced to teach English at that level (see Biographic details). EAP lecturers use different Second Language (L2) materials across faculties at UL. For example, Better Writing by Richard Harrison (2014) is the main source for the English Academic Skills for the Professions (EASP) EAP course. The lecturers are at liberty though to use reference materials such as the UL EAP Workbook to supplement their coursebooks. In addition, they make use of authentic tasks such as ‘writing about dimensions, adding punctuation to a paragraph, describing size, colours, materials and condition, and adding connecting words and phrases to paragraphs and passages’ (Harrison, 2014).

Sampling of Authentic Materials In this study the UL EASP course was selected for sampling. This course caters for academic English students from the Faculties of Humanities, Law and Science at UL. According to (McCabe, 2012) the aim of the course is that students need to master academic skills of reading to understand their textbooks and reference books, and to write clear, logical and well-argued essays for assignments, tests and examinations. In relation to this I developed a questionnaire on authentic L2 materials for EAP lecturers in the ESU to establish whether EAP materials are authentic in source and purpose. Nine ELU EAP lecturing staff were requested to respond to 13 statements in a questionnaire on the use of authentic materials with a view to collecting data on authenticity in UL EAP L2 materials (see Appendix).

Findings The findings of the study mainly consists of lecturers' biographical details and their use of authentic materials. Statements in Section A of the questionnaire are repeated (see Appendix) for easy reference as follows: Biographical Details Instruction(s): Kindly encircle appropriate responses and/or provide relevant information which best describes the item under review.

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1. Employment Full time, part-time or contract 2. University teaching experience (in years and/or months) 3. Highest academic qualification 4. Course teaching experience (in years and or months) 5. Number of contact sessions a week 6. Number of students in your group The lecturers’ biographical data reveal that EAP is mainly taught by non-full time employees who hold an Honours degree as their highest qualification. Other qualifications held by staff are Master’s and PhD degrees (Ngoepe, 2016). Their teaching experience includes other teaching experience as well as university teaching experience. The staff’s course teaching experience ranges from 1 to 16 years, averaging 8 years, while their university teaching experience ranges from 1 to 41, averaging 10 years. The total number of students is shared equally among the lecturers.

Use of Authentic Materials Statements 1 -12 in Section B of the questionnaire (see Appendix) are also repeated below for easy reference. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

The course’s pedagogic corpus is made up of authentic texts. The course’s pedagogic corpus is manageable. Reading texts are authentic in source and purpose. Listening texts are authentic in source and purpose. Activities in class reflect what happens in real life. Teaching materials used serve as a bridge between the classroom and the outside world. 7. Students are exposed to authentic input. 8. Non-authentic texts are used in the earlier stages of language learning. 9. Students are allowed to bring owned authentic materials to class. 10. The materials provide authentic cultural information about the target culture. 11. The materials relate more closely to learners’ needs. 12. Using authentic materials is a burden for lecturers. Responses to statements 1 -12 are recorded in percentages in Table1 below:

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Statement

Aspect

Yes

No

Some

1

Authentic texts in pedagogic corpus Corpus manageable Reading texts authentic in source & purpose Listening texts authentic in source and purpose Activities reflect what happens in real life Materials serve as bridge between classroom & outside world Students exposed to authentic texts Nonauthentic texts used in earlier stages Students allowed to take owned authentic text to class

44

44

78

2 3

4

5

6

7

8

9

12

Possibly/ Uncertain -

No answer -

22

-

-

-

67

33

-

-

-

22

67

-

11

-

67

33

-

-

-

67

33

-

-

-

67

11

-

11

11

44

44

-

-

11

33

56

-

11

-

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10

11

12

Authentic cultural info provided about target culture Materials relate closely to learners’ needs Using authentic materials is a burden for lecturers

11

67

-

-

22

56

33

-

-

11

22

67

-

-

11

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Table 1: EAP lecturers’ responses to statements 1 – 12 The majority of lecturers concur that students are exposed to authentic materials and activities in class which reflect what happens in real life. The materials relate to learner needs while reading texts are authentic in source and purpose. They also agree that materials serve as a bridge between the classroom and the outside world, and that the pedagogic context learners are exposed to is manageable. On the other hand, most lecturers did not agree that students were allowed to bring owned materials to class. They also did not concur that EAP materials provide cultural information about the target language, and that using authentic materials is burdensome. Statement 13: Comment on authentic materials Responses to statement 13 are as follows: Although twenty two percent (22%) of the lecturers did not respond to the question, the remaining 78% of the lecturers commented as follows: Authentic material must be current and close to the real life experiences of both the learners and lecturers. Materials become authentic also if the learners are offered the opportunity to provide the learning environment with their own examples of language use and application in their exercises and assignments. Some lecturers indicated that they did not understand what ‘authentic materials’ meant while others stated that authentic

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materials should be included in lesson plans especially in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) classes.

Discussion Post 1994 a number of institutions of higher learning in South Africa have strategically attempted to redress the educational imbalances of the past manifested in the dearth of access, retention and success of previously disadvantaged students. These include teaching courses such as EAP to support underprepared cohorts of students they admit. In line with this, UL lecturers attempting to address the identified language needs of EAP students sounded appreciative of an opportunity afforded to them to reflect on the materials they use to teach the EASP course. They thought that the use of authentic materials by EAP practitioners is one of the most effective ways to develop critical and innovative teaching strategies. This is because they do not alienate students from the learning process since the authentic materials are related to their everyday experiences. Also, authentic materials are vitally important in developing learners’ communicative competence. The materials do not merely focus on grammatical explanations and memorization of phrases, but on socio-linguistic, discourse and strategic competence which is what the crux of language learning is about. However, they supplement their authentic materials with created materials in EASP. UL lecturers think that the material used in the classroom should make students aware of the differences between learning and the practical use of language. Most of the material used in their classrooms does not encourage rote learning as the materials are practical and designed to be easy for learners to understand and to apply in real life situations. On the whole, experienced as well as inexperienced lecturers teach the UL EAP EASP in concert. It however surfaced that inexperienced lecturers appear to be grappling with the process of selecting appropriate materials for the EAP courses taught while experienced lecturers can easily use both authentic and created materials in class.

Recommendations x Although lecturers are expected to deliver quality content through the use of appropriate teaching and learning materials, very few, if any, have been trained to teach support courses such as the EAP ones. The lecturers’ wide-ranging responses to the questionnaire

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x x x x x x

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reveal that training on selecting appropriate teaching materials is essential. It should not be every English language lecturer who teaches EAP, as teaching in that context should ideally be based on pertinent language support principles. It is implicit that inexperienced lecturers need confidence building support for the process of selecting and prescribing relevant teaching materials. The sampling done on the use of authentic materials at UL provides fertile ground for fostering collaboration in teaching, assessing and action research among ELU lecturers. In-house sessions on selecting, adapting and developing language teaching materials for EAP support courses would be very useful in institutions of higher learning. A taught post-graduation EAP module could benefit students, lecturers and the institution as it would expedite the academic English language support needed at different levels of study. Plausibility ought to be encouraged when choosing English language teaching materials.

Conclusion Although most UL EAP lecturers concurred that their materials were authentic in source and purpose, there is room for improvement regarding training of EAP staff in planning for the use and implementation of authentic materials in South African settings. The teaching of EAP at an HBI tends to increase the rate of access, retention and success of students at risk of not making it at tertiary level. This could lead to a boost in the number of students graduating in record time, especially in scarce skills areas, as well as a boost to the country’s economy in the long term. That institutions of higher learning have strategically factored in EAP in their curricula could be deemed progressive; this is about providing previously disadvantaged students at risk of not succeeding at tertiary level with the English language learning support essential in an English language medium instruction environment.

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References Alexander, O. A. (2008). EAP essentials: A teacher's guide to principles and practice. Reading: Garnet Publishing Ltd. Clarke, D. (1989). Communicative theory and its influence on materials production. Language Teaching, 73-86. Cunningsworth, A. (1995). Choosing your coursebook. Oxford: Heinemann. De Chazal, E. (2014). English for academic purposes. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Dudley-Evans, T. S. (1998). Developments in English for specific purposes: a multidisciplinary approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Harrison, R. (2014). Better writing: A step by step approach to improving writing skills. Reading: Garnet Education. Hyland, K. (2006). English for academic purposes: an advanced resource book. New York: Routledge. Jordan, R. R. (1997). English for academic purposes: a guide and resource book for teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. McCabe, R. (2012). English studies ENGL131 Workbook. Sovenga: University of Limpopo. McDonough, J. (1984). ESP in perspective: A practical guide. London: Collins ELT. Ngoepe, L. (2016). Determining whether EAP materials are authentic in source in purpose: The case of EAP UL lecturers. MATSDA Conference.University of Liverpool, June 2016. Peacock, M. (1997). The effect of authentic materials on the motivation of EFL learners. ELT Journal, 51(2), 144-153. Phillip, M. K. (1978). How to arm your students: A consideration of two approaches to providing materials for ESP. In English for specific purposes. London: ETIC Publications, British Council. Richards, J. (2001). Curriculum development in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Tomlinson, B. (1998). Materials development in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Widdowson, H. (1979). Explorations in applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Appendix Questionnaire UL EAP Course Lecturer’s Perspectives on Authentic Materials ____________________________________________________________ Kindly encircle appropriate responses and/or provide relevant information which best describes the aspect under review, in Sections A and B. ____________________________________________________________ Section A: Biographical details 1. Employment Full time, part-time or contract 2. University teaching experience (in years and/or months) ___________________________________________________________ 3. Highest academic qualification

____________________________

4. Course teaching experience (in years and or months) ___________ 5. Number of contact sessions a week

______________________

6. Number of students in your group

______________________

____________________________________________________________ Section B: the use of authentic materials 1. The course’s pedagogic corpus is made up of authentic texts. Yes

No

2. The course’s pedagogic corpus is manageable. Yes

No

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Give an explanation _____________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ 3. Reading texts are authentic in source and purpose. Yes

No

4. Listening texts are authentic in source and purpose. Yes

No

5. Activities in class reflect what happens in real life. Yes

No

For example ____________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ 6. Teaching materials used serve as a bridge between the classroom and the outside world. Yes

No

7. Students are exposed to authentic input. Yes

No

8. Non-authentic texts are used in the earlier stages of language learning. Yes

No

9. Students are allowed to bring owned authentic materials to class. Yes

No

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What is the rationale? ________________________________________________________

10. The materials provide authentic cultural information about the target culture. Yes

No

Substantiate _____________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ 11. The materials relate more closely to learners’ needs. Yes

No

If yes, explain how____________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 12. Using authentic materials is a burden for lecturers. Yes

No

If yes, explain why_________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ 13. Any comments on authentic materials ________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Thank you

CHAPTER ELEVEN AUTHENTIC MATERIALS TO FULFIL WORKPLACE REQUIREMENTS FOR VIETNAMESE GRADUATES VO THI HONG LE

Introduction In Vietnam, the need for communicative competence for business purposes has been rising due to the number of joint-venture companies (Vietnamese Business Associate and Vietnam National University-HCM, 2004). This growth is due to increasing globalization - defined as an extension of social, political and economic activities across frontiers (Held et al, 2007). In this way, globalization fosters faster connectivity and cooperation among countries all over the world. English, as the preferred language of international exchange, is increasingly used to fulfil the need of communicating across international boundaries (Erling,2004). English is now an international language, a lingua franca no longer the exclusive property of its original speakers(e.g. British or American); but available as a vehicle for local use (Kachru,1996) and taking into account the local Englishes’ social historical development and sociocultural contexts (Selinker,1992). This research is set in such context in Vietnam. As globalization is fuelled by economic interest, there is a perceived need to be able to communicate in English for business purposes (Pennycook, 1994). The majority of these businesses require language proficiency enabling employees to speak and write English in culturally appropriate ways for specific business purposes (Johns & Dudley-Evans, 1991; Gatehouse, 2001). Among other things, employers require employees to be able to work as part of a team, come up with and express ideas using communication skills (e.g. report-writing, telephoning and presentation skills (Andrews and Higson, 2008). These skills are considered important factors in defining graduate employability. However,

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various researchers (Vo & Nguyen, 2004) have reported that graduates have limited English proficiency, often with insufficient communication skills. This creates difficulties for employers with vacancies to fill. Recognition of the importance of communication prompted Vietnam National University (VNU) authorities to reconsider whether the current English curriculum meets the needs of business. University of Information Technology (UIT) is one of the schools of VNU in Ho Chi Minh City where several research projects were carried out for this purpose. These examine whether English programs and tests at schools support learners in achieving the required communicative competences, Vo & Nguyen, (2004), examine how IT graduates communicate in English in the workplace (Vo, 2015), and identify a gap between the communication in English required in the Vietnamese workplace and the use of materials and methods for English language teaching at the Vietnamese university, (Vo, Wyatt & McCullagh, 2016). These research findings show that requirements of successful English use in the workplace are far beyond the competence of university graduates (Vo, 2015; Vo, Wyatt & McCullagh, 2016). This corroborates the opinion of companies which have had regular contacts with the university for their recruitment (UIT Employment Conference, 2015). They require effective communicative competence in English use from learners entering the companies. In these companies, employees typically interact in English with their colleagues, mainly through texting online or email. Competencies needed (Gatehouse, 2001, Vo, 2015) include the use of written and oral communication through texts, emails and meetings, such as making and answering requests, writing a business report and writing an effective email. If learners are to see how the English they learn is relevant to the realworld as discussed in the research findings, this suggests that the use of authentic materials might be advantageous. Such materials might provide opportunities for learners to use English meaningfully to fulfil communicative purposes (Clarke, 1989; Trabelsi, 2010). This would generate opportunities in English language teaching and learning to engage in meaningful task-based interaction (Ellis, 1982), with materials that utilize the new technologies required for communication in the workplace. This chapter will discuss how English taught in the IT departments at university might better support learners who enter the IT industry.

Review of the Literature This part aims to review studies and theories on the concepts relevant to the study. These concepts concern the authenticity of materials design to

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achieve the range of communicative competences learners need for the workplace.

Authentic Materials Authentic materials provide meaningful exposure to and engagement with language as it is actually used. This aims to motivate leaners to help them develop a range of communicative competences (Mishan, 2005; Tomlinson, 2010). The basis for a judgement of authenticity should be ‘fitness for purpose’ (Hutchinson & Waters, 1978; McGrath, 2013). Some researchers (Mishan, 2005, Trabelsi, 2010) argue that authentic materials can motivate learners, and enhance positive attitudes to the learning of a language. The issue of authenticity has been raised in relation to learners’ culture (Trabelsi, ibid) and is considered as “basically a personal process of engagement” (Van Lier, 1996, p.128). Therefore, authentic materials are particularly relevant in preparing learners for English-for-SpecificPurposes (ESP) contexts, where learners need to communicate effectively in a specific, real-life, work or study situation (Hall, 2011; Robinson et al, 2004). Many authors (Nunan, 1988; Guariento & Morley, 2001) assert that authentic teaching materials are of particular value because they can replicate the use of language in a real-life contexts. Authentic materials involve both authentic texts and tasks, in a pedagogical model to achieve communicative purposes (Nunan, 1988; Richards & Rogers, 2011). In other words, authentic material is considered as one of the essential elements to develop communicative competence for ESP learners. Many researchers (Gilmore, 2007; Mishan, 2005; Trabelsi, 2010) argue that the reason for trying to achieve authentic engagement in the classroom is to produce learners who are communicatively competent. To write such materials, materials developers have argued the need for principled criteria (Tomlinson, 2003). In my context, I relied on the following principles for the materials writing process: (1) Materials should be based on a thorough understanding of learners’ needs (2) Materials should be authentic, in terms of text and task (3) Materials should provide opportunities to use the target language to achieve communicative purposes. Communicative competence is what a language learner needs to achieve to be able to communicate effectively in the target language (Hymes, 1972). Canale and Swain (1980) propose that communicative competence

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is composed of grammatical competence (e.g. the levels of grammatical accuracy required in oral and written communication), sociolinguistic competence (e.g. needs relating to setting, topic, communicative functions) and strategic competence (e.g. the compensatory communication strategies to be used when here is a breakdown in one of the other competencies). A communicative approach to second language teaching must be based on and respond to learners’ communication needs, which are specified with respect to these three competencies. According to many other researchers (e.g. Bachman & Palmer, 1996; Richards & Rogers, 2011), communicative competence involves linguistic competence - knowledge of building blocks of sentences (e.g. tenses, sentence patterns) and pragmatic competence - the realization of speech acts like requests and apologies and how to use these appropriately in different cultural contexts (Bachman & Palmer, 1996). McCarthy & Carter, (1995) and Gilmore, (2007) further argue that sentence-based grammars and pragmatic models in textbooks which lack naturalness and authenticity are inadequate to support learners at the level of discourse. This requires another element of communicative competence – namely, ‘discourse competence’. Discourse competence is considered as a critical component of learners’ communicative competence because it is concerned with the dynamic and interactive nature of language for learners to be proficient in conversation management (Gilmore, 2007). It is our contention that Communicative Competence can be supported through learning with authentic materials which focus on the learning aims of the learners (Mishan, 2005; Gilmore, 2007). To design authentic materials which develop communicative competences for learners, we shall consider two of the most common types of interaction: meetings and emails. These involve various aspects of English communication, such as making requests (directives) and writing reports in the workplace.

Meetings According to Schnurr (2013), meetings are defined to include the diversity in form and purpose of what people commonly refer to as meetings. Meetings come in different shapes and sizes, including formal staff meetings and informal briefing meetings. They also include, for example, external meetings with clients or potential partners from some other companies, and public meetings, such as discussions with government committees (Schnurr, 2013).

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In business meetings, including both external and internal meetings, which are not seen as separate but parts of the holistic meeting genre, certain common lexico-grammatical features and various practices are frequently found (Handford, 2010). For instance, a formulation with the use of the imperative get which might be a bald directive, or a clustering of interpersonal features such as repetitions, hesitations, the modal verbs need and can, the vague stuff and the hedges I mean, you know are used. Nevertheless, Handford (2010) also points out that it is not always the case that certain lexico-grammatical features will always be found in a particular type of meeting. And many frequent, key lexico-grammatical units can be classified in terms of their discursive function . The chunks In other words and So I think…, which are used to summarize, provide two examples of this.

Email From the research (e.g. Skovholt, 2009), two different theories have emerged to account for the origins of email: (1) email has developed from the genre of written memos with the proviso that email may be also used for some types of messages which are similar to other genres such as voice-mail (Yates and Orlikowski, 1992); (2) email is derived from telephone conversations due to a new need in business environment, such as the requirement to communicate across time zones (Gimenez, 2000). There seems to be general agreement that email is influenced by both written and spoken genres (Yates and Orlikowski, 1992). Gimenez (2006) describes email as a tool “when the complexity of the topic being discussed by a geographically dispersed team calls for team decisionmaking” (p.162). Other key features of email are the facilities (the carbon copy and forward) which allow messages to be sent and passed to different levels of participants of the recipients – whether actively involved or as “witnesses” of the process. This allows for a multiple participation in the decision-making process (Gimenez, 2006). Organizational studies of email indicate some key features: first, email is regarded as a medium facilitating more open and informal communication. For example, email makes it far easier to contact higher level managers, who previously could be difficult to get access to, by copying them into an email (Skovholt & Svenevig, 2006 cited in Skovholt, 2009). This could help employees report progress on a project. On the other hand, email also enables managers to manage their employees at a distance by accessing the employees’ email accounts or the email system to control the ongoing working process (Brigham & Corbett, 1997, p.31 as

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cited in Skovholt, 2009). Furthermore, according to Skovholt (2009), email makes it possible to organize work in virtual teams which offer organizations possibilities which otherwise would not be available, such as collaborating across time zones and institutional and geographical distances. However, it also presents some challenges compared to traditional meetings where participants can have face-to-face discussions for real-time explanations.

Directives In both types of interaction, meetings and email, discussed above, directives and/or requests occur frequently in procedural discourse and in decision-making (Koester, 2010). The two discourses are transactional: procedural discourse, which is a unidirectional genre, where one of the participants is dominant, whereas decision-making is collaborative, with speakers taking more or less equal roles. In procedural discourse, modal verbs occur with the most frequency. The modal verbs for a stronger obligation or necessity (‘need to’ and ‘have to’) were least frequent, while the modal verb ‘want to’ expressing desire or inclination, rather than obligation, occurred the most frequently. Other more frequent interpersonal markers in procedural discourse were hedges (e.g. ‘just’, ‘like’) and vague language (e.g. ‘things’, ‘stuff’ or ‘something’). The corpus analysis also shows that interactions involving directives and instructions seem to avoid direct forms and prefer more indirect or mitigated alternatives. According to Koester (2006, 2010), requesting action is another unidirectional function which was examined together with directives because requests also have the purpose of getting the addressee to perform an action. Requests occur in requesting encounters and directives in procedural encounters. In the ABOT corpus (the Corpus of American and British Office Talk), directives and requests cover a range of forms from most to least forceful -from imperatives to various modals. They include: imperatives (i.e. bald imperative + ‘you’ imperative, e.g. ‘ask her’, ‘you do’; ‘just’ + imperative, e.g. ‘just email me the names’); modals (i.e. mustn’t, have (got) to, need (to), should, ought to, supposed to, want to, can, could, would, might) and ‘let’s’, ‘let me’ (Koester 2010, p.78). The above definition of terms is to provide the overview of how English is used in the workplace and for reference in the next sections of the chapter.

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What Does the Data Collected from the Companies Tell Us? In stark contrast to the requirements as discussed above, the data collected from the companies indicates that materials used at the university do not meet their needs. There is clearly a gap between the communication in English required in the Vietnamese IT workplace and materials and methods deployed for English language teaching at the university (Vo, Wyatt & McCullagh, 2016). The mismatch is summarized in the table below The communicative needs of IT workers in the Vietnamese workplace

Implications for materials design and teaching methods at university, based on the Vietnamese IT workers’ needs

The actual materials and methods employed in English language teaching at the Vietnamese university

Communication strategies with requests, explanations, directives and negotiations

Opportunities to practice using communication strategies through meaningful taskbased interaction Communicative roleplays in pairs and groups on appropriate businessrelated topics Communicative practice utilizing different channels and modes Cultural training

Lack of communicative purpose in most classroom talk, with communication strategies unrepresented

Relational talk in business settings

Use of written and oral communication through texts, emails and meetings Awareness of cultural differences in politeness strategies when interacting with foreigners

Group work underexploited, with tasks often not developing interactive speaking Writing limited to course book exercises

No direct cultural training

Table 1: The nature of the gap (adapted from Vo, Wyatt & McCullagh, 2016)

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As Table 1, column 2, suggests, there may be various ways of addressing the evident gap. Students need explicit support for communication strategies (Van Lier, 1996; Wyatt, 2009), with socioculturally appropriate politeness strategies clearly contextualized (Chan, 2009) The research findings imply that there are far more requirements for successful English use in the workplace than the kind of English that a graduate learns from university (Vo, 2015; Vo, Wyatt & McCullagh, 2016). This confirms the ideas of companies who have had regular contacts with the university for their recruitment (UIT Employment Conference, 2015). In the companies observed, English was used to communicate between Vietnamese colleagues and foreign colleagues and in some companies, even among Vietnamese colleagues. The employee participants often worked in groups of 7-10 or smaller groups of 2-4. The groups shared an office of 40-50 people. They interacted in English with their colleagues mainly through texting online or email, and sometimes presenting and discussing in the meetings with English speaking managers. The requirements of English use include: ƒ How to make requests and answer requests from colleagues and managers, Communication skills and teamwork skills (how to exchange ideas among team-mates and the team leaders) ƒ How to write a business report ƒ How to write an effective business email ƒ Relational talk as part of transactional talk ƒ Cultural factors (collectivism, politeness) influenced workplace communication. Teachers have made some efforts to adapt materials to use for CLT purposes. However, the teachers’ efforts seem inadequate for stimulating communication and English communication skills required of graduates in the workplace. In comparison with the requirements that data collected in the workplace (Vo, 2015; Vo, Wyatt & McCullagh, 2016) indicate, the impression was that the teachers could not yet create an environment sufficiently conducive to supplying the workplace with suitably communicatively competent graduates. The teachers also expressed the view that they knew little about what kinds of English the companies require of candidates. Accordingly, they reported that they did not know how to create more business contexts for learners. This highlights the importance for teachers to be aware of the English competencies required

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in the workplace and to be able to select, adapt and evaluate materials to develop these competencies. There remains the question of how to design such authentic materials. In an attempt to answer this question, I and a group of teachers in UIT designed a set of materials to apply to these contexts.

Suggestions for Materials Design to Meet the Need The findings discussed above encouraged me to design the following materials for IT students at UIT, with a view to showing how authentic materials can motivate learners and enhance positive attitudes to the learning of a language, as presented below. Material and task design to meet the needs of IT students. Task 1: Slogan and Poster design - Supporting communication skills and teamwork skills Purpose: This task aims to convey the purposes and raise the awareness of learning English required at the workplace to IT learners. This includes practicing to write slogans in English, presenting the ideas together with posters designed to display these slogans. These all form part of IT employees’ jobs in reality. Therefore, the task is also to provide an environment that stimulates learners to work as real IT developers or designers. Procedure: First, learners are asked to think about some slogans and posters that would be appropriate for the purpose of the task before working in groups of 4 or 5 to discuss, design and present the slogans. Second, feedback is given among groups and from the teacher. Third, a number of good slogans such as “Learn English passionately today, work for top IT companies tomorrow” or “Practice your English, water your money tree” are selected. Finally, groups of learners design posters for the slogans selected. See some examples of completed posters in Figure 1.

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Figure 1: Task of poster design

Task 2. Game application design Purpose: The purpose is as in Task 1, plus providing an environment that stimulates learners to work as developers or software engineers. Procedure: First, learners are asked to work in teams of 4 or 5 for the applications such as: + Profile: A computer application that allows users to fill in their information which is useful in writing a CV to apply for a job. + Email exchange: allows users to exchange emails; once a learner writes an email and sends to another learner, a signal will appear on the screen to invite the reply. + Timetable: making personal plans for daily and weekly work: funny cartoon icons are included to make the timetable interesting to the users (Figure 2).

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Figure 2: Applications for idea exchanges and reports through profiles and email exchange

There are three groups working for the three applications above. While carrying out the tasks, learners are expected to communicate in English with their team-mates via Facebook, email or face-to-face meetings to finish the tasks. They are also encouraged to ask their teachers for advice in resolving any problems which crop up. Comments: Activities like task 1, 2 encourage learners to learn English for IT purposes and a setting that simulates a real-life working environment.

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Task 3 Reading and responding to job advertisements. 3.1 Reading a job advertisement Purpose: to develop skills employees need to prepare for applying for a job. These include reading advertisements to determine the requirements for different positions in IT companies. Procedure An example of the task: Give 5 job ads for positions that students might be interested in applying for. Ask learners: (a) Give the title for each position (b) Make a list of the specific communication skills each position requires In order to do the task, learners are first asked to work in groups to interpret some job advertisements of major IT companies, identify common positions in IT companies and think critically about what communication skills each position requires. Then discussions among groups encourage peer feedback on the communication skills required, before teachers give their feedback. Follow-up This task can lead to another task: Interview a person in a managerial or recruitment position in an IT work environment. What communication skills do they look for in prospective employees? In order to do this, learners have to prepare a questionnaire to elicit the information desired (i.e. what communication skills the employers require of employees). Teachers will help learners to design questions that could engage the other speakers in the discussion. This kind of activity can help learners to practice asking and answering questions appropriately – a principal technique for conversations to help learners to develop communicative competence (Nunan, 1991).

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3.2 Responding to a job advertisement Purpose To help learners develop important skills for success in job interviews, using the text-driven approach (Tomlinson, 2010). This involves learners by relating to their personal knowledge and allows them to think deeply and to learn new things. Procedure First, after reading a job advertisement of a position they would like to apply for students are asked to think about answering the most common interview question ‘Tell me something about yourself’. Second, the learners will be instructed to answer the question of the three elements ‘Education, Employment and Skills’ which should be relevant to the positions they are applying for. This task then could be developed to ‘Think about and make a list of questions you think the company would ask you after the first question ‘Tell me something about yourself’. Learners then show their lists and get some feedback, samples of real questions actually used by companies can be provided to them. Students make comparisons and any necessary revisions to their own lists. Finally, they watch a video of a good example of an interview to check what they have learnt. Comments: This task provides opportunities for meaningful language production based on connections with their own lives. Task 4. Exchanging ideas and writing reports Purpose This task aims to prepare learners to be able to do common tasks in English in work-related contexts such as writing profiles and timetables and making daily or weekly reports. This task is important to support learners writing skills which are always difficult but very necessary to English learners.

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Procedure First, learners are asked to write their own profiles individually. Remind them to include the three elements ‘Education, Employment and Skills’ as in task 3. Then learners are asked to exchange their profiles to have peer feedback before the teacher’s feedback. Computer applications in task 1 can be used for this task. The same procedure can be applied for the task Timetables where learners can be supported to make their own plan for their weekly work and for reporting. Comments This kind of task is very much like what employees have to do when working in companies. This could stimulate teachers to adapt and develop tasks which we often see in the textbooks, e.g. Talk about yourself or Tell about your routine. Students are supported to write, revise and update their own profiles and timetables, and then exchange the profiles and timetables to learn more from their peers. In this way, learners are preparing important English writing skills to enter the workplace. Task 5. Making requests and answering requests- Writing email and responding to an email Purpose To support learners in making and responding to requests among a group through email. The task, which is similar to what employees often do in the workplace will simulate a real-life working environment. Linguistically, this task helps learners to use the language needed in the workplace such as ‘Could or Can’, modals (should, need to, have to) and bald imperatives (e.g Send me by 4 p.m) in actual situations. Example: Read an email from a manager to AJ team to ask for action. e.g. ‘Our clients are not happy with our user interface of the prototype, we have to work for the new version by 5 p.m tomorrow’ or ‘LG Billing Issues to be fixed before tomorrow afternoon’ (an example of the email will be provided). Learners then respond to the email as if they are AJ team. In their email, they must ask one question and make one request.

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Procedure Students are asked to play the roles of team leaders (managers) and teammates (employees) in groups of four or five. First, the team leader sends requests through emails. Then team members will answer the email, copying their email to every member in the group to let the managers and other team members know the progress. The requests to have the work done will be included (e.g. communicate via Facebook, have someone else to cover part of the work.) The team leader emails to deal with requests and helps to make negotiation among team members. Teachers give feedback and support during the process. How the designed tasks are carried out. At English Zone UIT, students work in teams in a simulated IT work environment carrying out tasks that companies require of their employees. (English Zone UIT, is the centre set up at the University to allow learners to model IT work assignments in English.) The centre allows groups of learners to carry out the tasks in the environment that replicates work as real developers. In these settings, group members have training sessions and make plans to meet deadlines. This involves them in writing reports and making presentations of what they have done. They receive feedback from supervisors through email, meetings or Facebook. English is used throughout. The activities are monitored, by supervisors – both English and IT teachers - to provide support. (Figure 3). The centre also creates an environment for all members to get to know more about each other, thus forging a team spirit. This is a good opportunity for everyone to share experiences and build up a workplace relationship which will be necessary when students become employees who need to work effectively with others in the team.

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Figure 3: Tasks are carried out with support from English language and IT teachers.

Authentic materials and task design can be done in collaboration with companies. Materials and task design may be carried out in collaboration with companies, who make comments and suggestions. The companies are also invited to visit the Centre frequently to offer suggestions and help out with assessments. Here is an example: First, company representatives could give demonstrations by playing the role of an employer in an interview to select the best employee (s) for a given position (e.g. software engineer or developer). Before the interview, students are asked to read a job advertisement provided by the companies. They then prepare profiles to be used in the interview as in task 2. Some common but important questions to notice are 'Tell me something about yourself'. Some questions might probe more

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deeply, such as ‘Tell me why you chose to apply for this position’, What do you know about us?, Do you have any questions for us?. Besides, some more specific questions, such as Tell me about the principles of OOPObject Oriented Programming, can be used to direct the students’ attention to what they need to prepare for answering questions about specific, technical knowledge. Clearly, the answers to the questions above should be effective and relevant to the position applied for. The companies’ comments are given after the interviews to inform the candidates (the students) whether they met the requirements. Companies’ comments for improvement are also given. The students would learn more from this task about how to be successful in an interview by observing the interviews and from the comments of the companies. Task design can also be done with support from alumni working in the companies. For example, one or two alumni from some companies can join in the tasks such as task 5, to work as team leaders making some requests (e.g. tasks needing to be done or errors needing to be fixed by a certain time – just as in the real work-place). Students (as team members) will work to carry out the request. (e.g., face to face meetings to decide who does what, sending email etc..) In this way, alumni could help by sharing their own real workplace experiences, such as how to solve conflicts or to have relational talks when working in teams.

Conclusion In ESP contexts, in this case English for Information Technology, when learners learn to discover and use the preferred language discourse used by members of target group of profession, authentic materials are even more relevant (Hall, 2011). Materials and task-design at UIT English Zone can simulate an IT working environment for learners. This is to support teachers and learners to cope with the lack of a real-life environment. It is also to create motivation for developing communicative competence for learners. Given regular high-level reports emphasizing the real need within the workforce for communication skills in English (Vietnam National University-HCM, 2008) and the relative lack of prior research in the field, the current study can be seen as a small but important step in improving materials and task design to support learners’ communicative competences. More research will be needed, Clearly, this requires support from university management in terms of finance and enhancing the relationship with the business world. This will serve to update information for teaching staff about the needs of the business community

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and can contribute to providing appropriate training for teachers. Once this has been done, similar methods to those suggested in this chapter for materials and task design could be recommended for use in other contexts to prepare undergraduate students with English language communicative competence required in the workplace.

References Andrews, J. & Higson H. (2008). Graduate employability, “Soft-skills’ versus “Hard” business knowledge: A European study. Higher Education in Europe, 33(4), 411-422. Bachman, L. F. & Palmer, A. S. (1996). Language testing in practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Brigham, M. & Corbett, J. M. (1997). E-mail, power and the constitution of organisational reality. New Technology, Work and Employment, 12 (1), 25-35. Canale, M. & Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics, 1(1), 1-47. Chan, C. S.C. (2009). Forging a link between research and pedagogy: A holistic framework for evaluating business English materials. English for Specific Purposes, 28, 125-136. Clarke, D. F. (1989). Communicative theory and its influence on materials production. Language Teaching, 22, 73-86. Ellis, R. (1982). Informal and formal approaches to communicative language teaching. ELT Journal 36, 73-82 Erling, J. E.(2004). Globalization, English and German university classrooms. Unpublished dissertation for the Degree of Ph.D in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, University of Edinburgh. Gatehouse, K. (2001). Key issues in English for Special Purposes (ESP) curriculum development. The Internet TESL Journal. Gilmore, A. (2007). Authentic materials and authenticity in foreign language learning. Language Teaching 40, 97-118. Gimenez, J. C. (2006), Embedded business emails: Meeting new demands in international business communication, English for Specific Purposes 25, 154-172. Guariento, W. & Morley, J. (2001). Text and task authenticity in the EFL classroom. ELT Journal. 55(4), 347-352. Hall, G. (2011). Exploring English language teaching: Language in action. London and New York: Routledge.

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Handford, M. (2010). The language of business meetings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Held, D., McGrew, & Anthony, G. (2007). Globalisation/ antiglobalisation: beyond the great divide. Cambridge: Polity. Hutchinson, T. & Waters, A. (1987). English for specific purposes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hymes, D. (1972). On communicative competence. In J.B. Pride & J. Holmes (Eds). Sociolinguistics (pp.269-293). Harmondsworth: Penguin. Johns, A.M. & Dudley-Evans, T. (1991). English for Specific Purposes: International in scope, specific in purpose. Tesol Quarterly, 25 (2), 297-314. Koester, A. (2006). Investigating workplace discourse. London: Routledge. —. (2010). Workplace discourse. London: Continuum. Kachru, B. B. (1996). English as lingua franca. In H. Goebl, P.H. Nelde, Z.Stary, & W. Wolck (Eds.), Kontaktlinguislik 1(pp.906-913). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. McCarthy, M. & Carter, R. (1995). Spoken grammar: What is it and how can we teach it? ELT Journal 49 (3), 207-218. McGrath, I. (2013). Teaching materials and the roles of EFL/ESL teachers: practice and theory. London : Bloomsbury. Mishan, F. (2005). Designing authenticity into language learning materials. Bristol: Intellect. Nunan, D. (1991). Language teaching methodology. Hemel Hempstead, Herts: Prentice Hall. Pennycook, A. (1994). The cultural politics of English as an international language. London: Longman. Richards, J. & Rodgers, T. (2011). Approaches and methods in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Robinson D., Perryman S., & Hayday S. (2004). The drivers of employee engagement Report 408, Institute for Employment Studies, UK. Schnurr, S. (2013). Exploring professional communication. London: Routledge. Scollon, R. & Scollon, S. (1995). Intercultural communication: A discourse approach. Oxford: Blackwell. Selinker, L. (1992). Rediscovering interlanguage. London: Longman. Skovholt, K. (2009). Email literacy in the workplace. Unpublished PhD dissertation. University of Oslo, Norway.

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Skovholt, K. & Svennevig, J. (2006). Email copies in workplace interaction. Journal of Computer – Mediated Communication, 12 (1), 42-65. Tomlinson, B. (2003). Developing principled frameworks for materials development. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Developing materials for language teaching (pp.107-129). London: Continuum. —. (2010). Principles and procedures of materials development for language learning. Folio 14(1), 3-6; 14(2), 9-11. Trabelsi, S. (2010). Developing and trialling authentic materials for business English students at a Tunisian university. In B. Tomlinson & H. Masuhara (Eds.), Research for materials development in language learning (pp.103-120). London: Continuum. University of Information Technology (2015). UIT Employment conference. Hanoi:UIT Van Lier, L. (1996). Interaction in the language curriculum: Awareness, autonomy and authenticity. Harlow: Longman. Vietnamese Business Associates & Vietnam National University-HCM (2004). The record of reference “Higher education level at universities: to meet the needs of the industry”. Hanoi: Vietnam National Publishing House. Vietnam National University-HCMC (2008). The record of conference: The improvement of English language training in higher education. Vo Thi Hong Le & Nguyen Thi Kim Thu (2004). The effect of English tests on English intonation learning of high school students in HCMC. In The record of conference “The role of assessment in education innovations in Vietnam”. Hanoi: Institute for Educational ResearchHCMC University of Education (IER). Vo, Thi Hong Le (2015). A Study of the extent to which university English education fulfills workplace requirements for Vietnamese graduates and of the extent to which action research can lead to improvements in university English education. Unpublished Ph.D dissertation. The University of Portsmouth: The School of Languages and Area Studies. Vo Thi Hong Le, Wyatt, M. & McCullagh, M. (2016). Exploring the gap between Vietnamese workplace communication in English and English language teaching at a university. Asian ESP Journal 12 (1), 8-38. Wyatt, M. (2009). Practical knowledge growth in communicative language teaching. TESL-EJ 13 (2), 1-23. Yates, J. & Orlikowski, W. (1992), Genres of organizational communication: A structurational approach to studying communication and media, Academy of Management Review 17 (2), 299-326.

CHAPTER TWELVE USING THE NOVEL, ‘GONE WITH THE WIND’ AS AN ‘AUTHENTIC TEXT’ WITHIN THE CHINESE INTEGRATED ENGLISH COURSE: AUTHENTIC TEACHER AND STUDENT VOICES YI YONG

Background Having spent some years in the UK and Australia, both studying and teaching, I learned some of the differences between Chinese and Englishspeaking teaching cultures. One of the differences was the tendency in the West to use more authentic source reading materials that could be used to teach language in a more inclusive, holistic way. I began to question why the Chinese teaching system was so wedded to using un-integrated or disparate materials in EFL. The panoply of textbooks provided in China is the antithesis of an integrated approach. I often found them unhelpful in motivating and engaging students and I was forever trying to find innovative approaches to using them, with mixed success. Over the years, this led me to search for a new approach in which I could use my authentic motivation to try and impart more holistic learning to my students. I was familiar with student-centredness as an approach, but I was looking for more than this. I found some direction in the approach to learning that involved the ‘whole person’ (Taylor, 2010). The aim of whole person learning is to promote autonomy within the person and to enable individuals to retain their authentic identity within groups. It is an approach to learning that focuses on enabling individuals to manage some of the complexities, ambiguity and ambivalence they encounter in life. It thus intrinsically requires working with authentic base material. Whole-person learning thus challenges me to engage authentically as a director of learning, encouraging my students to view

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their learning in holistic engagement with all forms of authentic material available to them. In order to engage with whole-person learning perspectives, I wanted to address some of the intrinsic power imbalances in the classroom, by surrendering some of my power to the students so that they might begin to develop responsibility for their learning, motivation and self-directed development. The teacher-as-expert model expected in the Chinese classroom would need modification, although I agreed with Pérez Cañado and Almagro Esteban (2005, p. 3) that the responsibility ultimately remained with me to decide ‘whether to use authentic or non-authentic material, with communicative or linguistic purposes, of general or specific content…’ that related to the specific characteristics of the course. Experientially, I related to Pinner’s (2014, p. 23) idea that, ‘authenticity is partly a socially constructed shared experience and partly a sense of validity which comes from the individual self about the teaching/learning situation.’ In other words, the use of authentic materials might be called ‘authentic L1 input’, but recognition of ‘authentic L2 output’ has to be part of a continuum (Pinner, 2014). Essentially, Pinner was referring to the fact that, since L2 output would be used in the context of a globalized world, in which all the major languages are used in diverse cultural contexts, it is actually hard to quantify all aspects of L2 gain, as these would be largely unrealized until tested in an authentic L2 environment.

Introduction I realised from my own experience and from the literature that one cannot talk about using authentic materials without questioning the authenticity with which they are used and the teacher’s personal authenticity in using them. Authenticity is a holistic concept; it cannot be separated from the teacher’s belief in the nature of education itself. I will therefore try to show how authenticity is intrinsic to the whole-person approach, not simply a methodological element within it, nor an optional add-on. I began to explore the notion of using authentic materials in extensive reading and noted increasing support for extensive, authentic reading, Renandya (2007), found that empirical evidence for extensive reading was ‘so compelling’ as to make it ‘inconceivable’ for teachers not to incorporate it into their language teaching pedagogy. Renandya, Hu and Xiang (2015) report a principled evaluation of extensive reading course books used in China that shows that the material is linguistically too demanding and both cognitively and affectively unappealing, making effective learning from it unlikely. It is not clear whether or not this was

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authentic material, or whether it was simply being used inauthentically. Kiliçkaya, (2004, p. 1) provides a useful orientation to authentic texts, finding that the commonly agreed core definition of authenticity in literature is 'exposure to real language and its use in its own community.' I was also aware of the challenges that Pinner (2014) and others present to the notion that ‘authenticity’ has been overly concerned with the native language context. Pinner contends that authenticity should be a seen as a continuum in the classroom, balancing the authenticity of L1 use with the authentic needs of the learners.

Theoretical Justifications for Departure from Prescribed Course Book Texts I began to consider ways of meeting my students’ needs by focussing on real language use, to counter the prevailing inauthenticity of the course book materials. I had previously noted the distinctions Morrow (1977, p. 13) draws in defining authentic text as, “a stretch of real language produced by a real speaker or writer for a real audience and designed to convey a real message of some sort”, as opposed to ‘contrived materials’ spoken of as materials consisting of input that has been specially designed to teach L2 learners. I regarded the selections of anthologised, disparate – sometimes random – texts that are prescribed as ineffective in the main, and demotivating for both teachers and students. My departure from set texts in the traditional course books was not a casual choice, but a conscious decision based on current theories and reported practices. Krashen (2008) asserts that the skill-building approach to language teaching is probably not as effective as pursuing a comprehension model of learning, involving extensive reading. Macalister (2010) reports research in New Zealand teaching centres preparing students for university. He found that teachers were positive about the benefits of extensive reading, but that these beliefs were not translated into classroom work. He urged new research and awareness to ensure that extensive reading is resourced and incorporated into learning programmes. Park (2015) reports the positive evaluation of an extensive reading programme to enhance L2 readers’ writing performance, noting significant holistic improvement in the output of students exposed to a more engaged extensive reading syllabus. Chen and Wright (2016, p. 3) cite research that, taken together, demonstrates that “greater authenticity in EFL classrooms should arise when teachers feel confident in adjusting their task materials and outcomes to local adaptations.” Whilst this research was not specifically connected to extensive reading, it was related to task-

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based teaching using diverse communicative approaches, emphasising the need for and potential of multiple methodologies. Widdowson’s (1978) distinction between authentic and genuine materials is relevant here: ‘genuine’ being a property of the text that is used, related to its provenance and ‘authentic’ being the way that the learner engages with that material. I would add that the teacher is also a crucial component in this authenticgenuine process. The teacher’s willingness to engage, as a whole person in the learning process, offers a role-model for genuine exploration and demonstrates their personal investment in the shared experience. Pinner (2014, p. 26) explains that his continuum concept ‘was devised as a way of guiding teachers and materials writers to consider tasks and learning materials from other dimensions and contexts’. It is his intention to show that there is no ‘best material or type of material or even best model to learn English’ (ibid.) Pinner’s central point of ‘authenticity’ can be extended to ‘teacher authenticity’, which includes the social connections the teacher builds with individuals and communities and the contextual links the teacher makes with reality, brought into the classroom. The implication is that the teacher helps build multi-lateral connections between reality, community, classroom and individual. This supports an interpretation that teacher authenticity is aligned to L2 input. Laufer and Rozovski-Roitblat (2015) found that the acquisition of new L2 words through reading and word-focused activity may be improved more by what the learner does with the word in the learning activity than simply the number of times they encounter the word. Hafiz and Tudor (1989) reported that extensive reading for pleasure demonstrated a marked improvement in reading and writing for an experimental group of students; Akbari and Ravazi (2016) reported positivity from Iranian teachers, in respect of presenting authentic materials in the high school classroom. Kang (2015) however, reports the circumstances under which narrow reading might improve vocabulary learning over wider reading. My programme was designed to use authentic extensive reading in conjunction with intensive reading and other authentic exercises, in the way that Mishan (2005, p. i) proposed that an ‘authenticity centred’ approach to language learning materials is essentially based on a ‘symbiotic relationship… between the approach to learning and the contents/materials used in applying it’ (original emphasis). Thus, one cannot talk about using authentic materials without considering the authenticity with which they are used and the teacher’s authenticity in using them. This brief summary supports, in my view, a pedagogy that relies on the targeted use of a range of specific tasks and exercises associated with the in-depth reading of a significant novel that speaks to the historical culture

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of the target language, in which the use of colloquial dialogue is vital, according to Rogers and Medley, 1988). The following sections report an experimental approach to language learning that I implemented with two freshman groups of English major students in the first semester of the 2015/6 academic year at a central eastern provincial University in China. My aim was to design both directive and personal-choice exercises (after Day & Bamford, 1981) that involved all students acquiring English via reading the novel “Gone with the Wind”. The students themselves chose this novel after I asked them to nominate a famous book with which they were familiar, but would like to study more deeply. They chose this (authentic, original) text because it has historical scope, depth of characterisation and is set in a time and culture that is very different from their experience. In this way, I sought to develop aspects of whole person learning (Taylor, 2010) by immersing my students in an alien L2 landscape (of their choice) asking questions about aspects derived from their reading that went beyond strictly linguistic concerns. I was seeking to develop an extended understanding of the L2 language, through a more empathic, experiential understanding of the L2 cultural context.

Planning the Research I planned work for an EFL semester that would revolve around the concept of ‘intensive thematic development of an extensive reading experience’. Ordinarily this semester’s work would centre on the use of prescribed course books with often unrelated texts used for rote practice of linguistic elements, but to reiterate my comments above, I found these uninspiring and actually difficult to work with. Reflecting on the fact that I felt demotivated by even considering them, I tested my views in conversation

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Day and Bamford (1998:6) ƒ ƒ ƒ ƒ ƒ ƒ ƒ ƒ ƒ ƒ

Students read large amounts of printed material; Students read a variety of materials in terms of topic and genre; The material students read is within their level of comprehension; Students choose what they want to read; Reading is its own reward; Students read for pleasure, information and general understanding; Students read their selection at a faster rate; Reading is individual (students read on their own); Teachers read with their students, thus serving as role models of good readers; Teachers guide and keep track of student progress.

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with the students and put before them the potential advantages and disadvantages of using authentic texts. They were positive about the option to read an authentic novel in full, so I decided to use the semester to engage in a quasi-experimental approach that would enable me to explore the theoretical concepts outlined in the previous sections. I did not conceive this work as a formal research project, but rather as a semi-formal exploratory exercise that might lead to a formal research proposal. In order to guide this approach I formulated two ‘research questions’: 1. How can I investigate Mishan’s (2005) ‘authenticity-centred’ approach to language learning materials – especially the ‘symbiotic relationship…between the approach to learning and the contents/materials used in applying it? 2. Is it possible to develop aspects of whole-person learning (Taylor, 2010) by immersing students in an alien L2 landscape, questioning what is derived from the reading other than strictly linguistic concerns? (I was seeking to develop a deeper understanding of the original authentic text in its cultural context).

The Methodological Approach Conceptually, the project was designed to a) facilitate proficiency in English derived from an L2 cultural, historical setting and to b) develop the five basic skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing and translation, in an integrated ‘whole person orientated’ learning programme. The programme spanned sixteen weeks. During the first eight weeks students read the whole novel by themselves in and out of class time2. In the second eight weeks they studied the novel intensively in class through various learning activities designed following Tomlinson’s (2003, pp. 119121) principled frameworks for material development. The following table summarises the framework.

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In order to comply with the Chinese national curriculum, I used the first 8 weeks of the course to teach from the textbooks to meet the students’ learning requirements for the examination. Only the second half of the semester was used for the multi-faceted authenticity programme referred to in this paper.

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Procedure

Principle

Objectives

Text Selection

Find appropriate chapters that are potentially capable of affectively engaging students. Devise whilstreading or listening activities that will help the learners to process the text in an experiential way.

Matching texts to learners’ needs is necessary for affective engagement.

To find texts with the potential to engage and develop the participants.

Help learners process a text to achieve holistic comprehension instead of processing it in a linear way.

Intake Response Activities

Devise activities that help learners positively articulate what they know and understand. Includes ‘peer teaching’ opportunities.

Learning is facilitated by developing students’ understanding of text through the need to explain and develop comprehension in others.

Input Response Activities

Devise activities that help the learners to go back to the text and to discover how language is actually used in the narrative.

A good time to analyse a text is just after experiencing it in an enjoyable multidimensional way. Helping learners to make discoveries for themselves can be an effective way to promote long-term learning. Developing mental representation of text facilitates narrative writing ability.

To help the learners to move away from their tendency to focus on language forms so that they can engage with the text experientially. To encourage learners to process their representation of a text rather than the text itself and encourage them to be relaxed and confident in their response to texts. To help the learners to develop their analytical skills and their ability to make discoveries about the use of the target language for themselves.

Text Experient ial Activities

Output Activities – Writing

Devise activities that help the learners to use their mental representation of the text to facilitate their language production activities. Adapted from Yi (2011, p. 51)

To help learners develop the ability to form mental representations in order to write narrative intelligently and creatively.

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Using this framework, I formulated tasks in consultation with the students as the course progressed. These consultative sessions were also opportunities for me to note and assess emerging developmental feedback. The following table presents illustrative tasks given to the students to match the stage-objectives stated above. Illustrative tasks assigned to students following the text-based training format Stage Procedure Text Find appropriate Write a reflection on your reading at the end Selection chapters that are of Week 8 potentially capable Take note of the most beautiful (engaging) of affectively writing - and mark those sections you engaging students. cannot understand (to return to later) Define ‘culture’ from an authoritative source. Match your definition to three passages that illustrate this definition well Text Devise whilstListen to the audio-file before or after Experiential reading or whilstreading the hard copy Activities listening activities Working in pairs find a short passage (about 200 words) from the chapter you work on that will help the learners to process (work distributed over all students) and the text in an explain it to the class. Relate it to the experiential way. corresponding audio file Work in groups of approximately three or four to find meaningful episodes in the movie Gone with the Wind (each episode to be 2-3 minutes). Listen to (audio) and watch (video) this passage – later perform it to the class as a ‘dubbing’ exercise. Explain their choice of the clip and show the learning points - whether linguistic, cultural, ideological or any other thing that piques their curiosity and can be explained. Intake Devise activities Work on a glossary of new words for each Response that help learners chapter in pairs. Make two versions: one Activities positively articulate following the order the new words appear in what they know and the text; the other in alphabetical order. understand. Input Devise activities that Write your comments on the characters; pay Response help the learners to special attention to your favourite character Find at least two paragraphs on the Activities go back to the text and to discover how following topics: language is actually 1) Appearance used in the narrative. 2) Emotions 3) Natural scenery

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4) Indoor scenes Ouput Activities – Writing

Devise activities that help the learners to use their mental representation of the text to facilitate their language production activities.

Translate into Chinese one beautifully written paragraph of about 200 words every day. Watch the Oscar winning movie “Gone with the Wind”3 - From the chapters in Part IV write in your own words how you would characterize and explain Northern and/or Southern American culture to a another Chinese person – consider the translation issues.

The activities we chose were designed to maximise learning, engagement and participation. Together we examined our reflections using various levels of formal and informal student and teacher assessment. In particular, I was keen for students to state the most effective and the least effective interventions and to commit their reflections to writing, They were then encouraged to engage creatively with their own learning process as individuals in order to develop suggestions that would increase their own future engagement and that of other students. This on-going cycle of review, assessment and development was used throughout the 8-week active classroom programme. Such a radically different approach necessarily created difference and even conflict in the perceptions students had of it, in terms of whether it achieved the learning aims we were seeking. From previous discussions with the students, we had clarified our joint thoughts and perspectives and agreed that our learning outcomes were to include: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Critical thinking about subject material. Critical analysis of the individual and group learning process. Integrated (holistic – conceptual) thinking. Contextual, multi-level learning. Engagement with translation as a linguistic process and as an art. Discipline in engaging with the learning process: a. Depth sought, self-motivation, self-direction (reflective practice).

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Class members viewed the movie over the first 8 weeks in their own time at their own pace. Over this time they were also reading the book. The use of the subtitles, in English and Chinese, the AV presentation itself, all helped with the immersion. The book and the film are authentic materials. Used together, their co-authenticity provided a synergistic blend of input that spoke to issues of translation and thus comprehension.

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b. Multi-level, multi-modal learning (e.g. the use of comparison between different translations; use of video; role-play; dubbing speech to video clips.) 7. Speaking in public – valuing the ability to communicate learning effectively.

Discussion The main problem I encountered was my heavy teaching schedule. The informal research process was unsupported by resources (such as colleagues to observe the classes, time to conduct independent feedback research through evaluative assessment, video recording of the processes and group work - and time to analyse that data - and so on). I simply did not have the time and facilities to collect comprehensive and structured data sets. Consequently, (and in addition to the qualitative nature of this work) only tentative conclusions can be drawn about transferrable learning at this stage. What I am able to draw from the process are certain indicative points that may be worthy of further exploration. For example: x the potential for learning in respect of the choice of authentic materials for study x the methodology for authentic use of materials in the classroom to: o generate authentic engagement with the materials o generate authentic engagement with the process x something of the nature of my authentic engagement, as: o the teacher, and o as a committed and involved co-learner In order to structure the outcomes from the students as clearly as I can, I will use the seven-factor list of the learning elements that we were trying to enhance. We had kept in mind the motivation for using authentic texts as expressed by Guariento and Morley (2001, p347) Alongside the recognition of the need to develop effective skills and strategies for the real world, there has been a growing awareness of the importance of affective factors in learning and the use of authentic texts is now considered to be one way of maintaining or increasing students’ motivation for learning. They give the learner the feeling that he or she is learning the ‘real’ language; that they are in touch with a living entity, the target language as it is used by the community which speaks it.

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Guariento and Morley (2001, p. 348) conclude that the question is not “whether authentic texts should be used, but when and how they should be introduced.” Anecdotally, I can attest to the enthusiasm with which the significant majority of students took to the idea of using their chosen novel, challenging as it was. A major part of my assessment of the programme was to collate and examine data from the student’s feedback commentaries, collected over the period. Space does not permit publication of the material in full, but I present summarising comments with selected illustrative quotations to highlight major findings. It is not relevant at this juncture to prioritise the elements of this commentary, so I present it as a simple bulleted list: ¾ It is important to note that the students in general had clear opinions and that these were largely constructively critical, not inclined to simplistic compliment or complaint. ¾ There was generally strong agreement that peer teaching (as noted in ‘intake response activities,’ above) either from the front, or in groups was not useful. It took a disproportionate amount of time to prepare for a doubtful pay-off in effective learning. There was distrust of peer teaching, as the students questioned the expertise of their colleagues, being unsure of the veracity of the information they supplied in such sessions. . ¾ Audio dubbing, role-play and ‘public’ free speaking were highly valued in the main. These activities were valued for their integrative potential, authenticity and ‘real world’ usefulness in terms of transferrable skills. Some found the time investment outweighed the benefits, but this was a minority opinion overall. These creative exercises were seen as authentic engagements with the context of the genuine text and positive in developing multilevel understanding. ¾ The construction of a combined class glossary to enhance vocabulary provoked a variable response. Some liked it, but the majority criticised it for the time it took, the lack of attention some people gave it and the need to check everything for one’s self before using it anyway. ¾ Translation practice was mostly highly valued, with some students seeing the comparison activities as highly relevant and challenging. One referred to the ‘magic power of daily accumulation’ indicating an understanding of the value of repetition to acquire mastery through perseverance. However, comparisons between different

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versions or the work of different translators was held by others to be potentially problematic and ‘too deep’ for their current stage of study. ¾ There was evidence of authentic reflection on the authentic processes in which they had been engaged. One student’s feedback summarised this in the following comment: … there are so many meaningful practice we have taken part in and we can many things if we really do it by ourselves. I know you want to teach us by an interesting way and break though the traditional teaching ways. But there [we] have a problem, we do so many activities and every one we just do a short time, I mean if we insist two or three activities such as new words dictation, grammar exploration or other practice through the whole study progress just like free speech, we would learn more. Because sometimes we are lack of perseverance and need pushing, which is about the problem of traditional education teaching way. We can divide the study process into two parts, one is traditional and fixed, which consists of the most meaningful popular practice; the other one is flexible, which we can do something funny by a game way.

¾ This would appear to suggest that there is an intrinsic and problematic conflict between the ‘traditional’ and this ‘progressive’ form of learning. This critical reflection suggests we need to pay attention to both, to help the transition to more adult, self-directed learning: in effect, giving students time to learn to appreciate the differences. Another suggestion to help bridge this gap was for the teacher to highlight the words used in the authentic original material that will occur in the TEM-4 lists. This would serve to reassure students that the novel study of authentic materials still caters for examination needs – a factor which might otherwise create anxiety. ¾ Grammar teaching was largely held to be of value and several wanted more of this. Although grammar was perceived as demanding, it was more representative of the traditional teaching methods the students were familiar with and thus ‘safer’. The authentic material context was appreciated, but the ‘dictation’ exercises were, for many, a safer, more effective and preferable option.

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Concluding Remarks Sample’s (2015) research finding on the motivational aspects of using authentic materials in teaching Korean children corroborated Guariento and Morley’s observation (2001) that the use of authentic materials is generally positive, but can become negative if the activity is perceived to be overly taxing, through difficulty or repetition. They both support the notion that ‘real world’ communication skills are appreciated and motivating and that this can be observed in the level of output activity described as ‘authentic response’. The result of the exercises I used with this cohort of second year undergraduates shows clearly that an authentic novel, which they selected, formed an engaging basis upon which to work for a full eight weeks. My provisional conclusions, which still need further research, are that it was the diverse peripheral materials, such as the film and audio clips of the narrative, used to support the primary novel text which enhanced both the process and the perception of authenticity through their relevance. The research produced clear evidence of authentic engagement, motivation and authentic learning. More detailed analysis of task and material would reveal that there is an optimal point of learning that might be illustrated by a Venn diagram showing the overlap of three circles representing authentic materials, authentic activities and authentic learning. In this regard, a more detailed and specific research programme to investigate how to identify and locate this optimal point would be useful. I return to the quote from Guariento and Morley (2001, p. 347) presented above, that authentic texts: 1. give the learner the feeling that he or she is learning the ‘real’ language; 2. that they are in touch with a living entity and 3. that the target language is being used authentically in the way that native users would employ it, The following illustrative quotes would bear many further analyses, which lie beyond the scope of this paper. I include them here to illustrate how I have interpreted evidence that indicates, or at least strongly infers, key points related to the effectiveness of authentic materials and process. A quote related to 1) above: I think the most effective activity is the daily translation. It helps me understand the plot better, for example, when we were studying Chapter 38, I translated five paragraphs and then, I found I learned that chapter

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well. Also, during the process we translate the Chinese into English, we can learn how the native speakers speak, which is of great use.

This quote relates to point 2): The most meaningful activity in my heart is free speech. We had this activity for a very long time. In this activity, not only can we add our speech skills, but also can share our opinions in everything we want. For instance, in Gone with the Wind, what impressed me most is three marriages of Scarlett. So I can write about them in my speech draft and share my feelings with classmates.

Point 3, is illustrated by these quotes: The other effective part is the dubbing part. During that part, I get a big improvement of my pronunciation and intonation. I remembered clearly when I dubbed for Prissy, I [tried hard to imitate] her voice because I really wanted to imitate better. First of all, it provides us with … English speaking culture and history. Secondly, there is nothing better than learning idiomatic English from the original English novels. The most useful practice I think: Free Speech.

I have emphasised the issue of ‘whole person learning,’ (WPL) as advanced by Taylor (2010) because WPL is intrinsically about holistic, authentic learning. There are clear connections between WPL and the issue of ‘empathic translation’ in the responses of the students. I saw these connections emerge from the engagement and excitement that arose when the students found that translation involved entering into the world of ‘the other’ in order to understand their cultural context and political reality alongside their historically contextual language. The novel, used in conjunction with supporting authentic material such as the film and audio clips, brought about ‘immersion’ in the world of the other. The opportunity to experiment with and to practice spoken dialect alongside the written text using dubbing exercises appeared to be highly motivational. A single quotation from one student summarised this response simply, saying, “Although it takes a lot of time, we truly harvest a lot.” This perspective relates to Pinner’s (2014, p. 26) ‘authenticity continuum’ as a meaningful concept, “devised as a way of guiding teachers and materials writers to consider tasks and learning materials from other dimensions and contexts, and as a way of validating those contexts”. However, this is, based on my tentative experience and understanding, in need of substantial conceptual expansion and theoretical

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underpinning, some of which may emerge from the issue of authenticity of response (Morrow, 1977). In commenting on this aspect, when examining what he refers to as the ‘duality of authenticity,’ Joy (2011, p. 16) appears to believe that learner authenticity remains a relatively superficial phenomenon. He observes: In an attempt to get closer to reality, students are made to imitate roles and functions identical to that of real world, yet we tend to overlook the fact that reality includes concerns, worries, suspicions and other psychological issues associated with real communication. Nonetheless, little effort is invested so far in understanding the nature of such psychological issues discerning the fact that they are hard to stimulate.

This might well be true, but it is not inevitable, if we include the full range of learning available to us by the adoption of whole-person learning as the ultimate expression of ‘authenticity in teaching and learning’. Yorks and Kasl (2002) conceive whole-person learning as an aspect of ‘learning from experience’. They advocate a ‘more radical’ alternative following Heron (1992) and (1996), who I interpret as saying that if we are to truly pursue the goal of holistic education, then authenticity must be an integral and absolute aspect of all educational inputs and outputs, part of the pedagogical theory and the materials and methodology. Authenticity and holism are inextricable. This responds to Joy’s concerns by placing “affect as a central feature of learning” (Yorks & Kasl, 2002, p. 189). What began as a feeling that I needed to put my theory into practice and that my students deserved more from their course than standard EFL textbooks, took me on an authentic journey that has deepened and widened my theoretical and conceptual options as a teacher - although I acknowledge that there is so much more to do.

References Akbari, O., & Razavi, A. (2016). Using authentic materials in the foreign language classrooms: Teachers’ perspectives in EFL classes. International Journal of Research Studies in Education, 5(2), . doi:10.5861/ijrse.2015.1189 Chen, Q., & Wright, C. (2016). Contextualization and authenticity in TBLT: Voices from Chinese classrooms. Language Teaching Research. doi:10.1177/1362168816639985 Day, R. R., Bamford, J., & Richards, J. C. (1998). Extensive reading in the second language classroom (7th ed.). Cambridge,: Cambridge University Press.

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Guariento, W. & Morley, J. (2001). Text and task authenticity in the EFL classroom. ELT Journal, 55(4), 347–353. doi:10.1093/elt/55.4.347 Hafiz, F. M., & Tudor, I. (1989) Extensive reading and the development of language skills. ELT Journal, 43(1), 4–13. doi:10.1093/elt/43.1.4 Heron, J. (1992). Feeling and personhood: Psychology in another key. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. —. (1996). Cooperative inquiry: Research into the human condition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Kang, E. Y. (2015). Promoting L2 vocabulary learning through narrow reading. RELC Journal, 46(2), 165–179. doi:10.1177/0033688215586236 Kilickaya, F. (2004) Authentic Materials and Cultural Content in EFL Classrooms The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. X, No. 7, July 2004 Krashen, S. (2008). Language education: Past, present and future. RELC Journal, 39(2), 178–187. doi:10.1177/0033688208092183 Laufer, B., & Rozovski-Roitblat, B. (2014). Retention of new words: Quantity of encounters, quality of task, and degree of knowledge. Language Teaching Research, 19(6), 687–711. doi:10.1177/1362168814559797 Joy, J. J. L. (2011). The duality of authenticity in ELT. The Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 7(2), 7-23. Macalister, J. (2010). Investigating teacher attitudes to extensive reading practices in higher education: Why Isn’t everyone doing it? RELC Journal, 41(1), 59–75. doi:10.1177/0033688210362609 Mishan, F. (2004). Designing authenticity into language learning materials. Bristol: Intellect Books. Morrow, K. (1977). Authentic texts and ESP. In S. Holden. (Ed.), English for specific purposes (pp. 13-16). London: Modern English Publications. Park, J. (2015). Integrating reading and writing through extensive reading. ELT Journal, 70(3), 287–295. doi:10.1093/elt/ccv049 Cañado, P. & Esteban, A. (2005) Authenticity in the teaching of ESP: An evaluation proposal. Slovensko društvo uþiteljev tujega strokovnega jezika, Scripta Manent 1(1), 35-43. Pinner, R. (2014). The authenticity continuum: Towards a definition incorporating international voices. English Today, 30(04), 22–27. doi:10.1017/s0266078414000364 Renandya, W. A. (2007). The power of extensive reading. RELC Journal, 38(2), 133–149. doi:10.1177/0033688207079578 Renandya, W. A., Hu, G., & Xiang, Y. (2015). Extensive reading coursebooks in China. RELC Journal, 46(3), 255–273.

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doi:10.1177/0033688215609216 Rogers, C. V., & Medley, F. W. (1988). Language with A purpose: Using authentic materials in the foreign language classroom. Foreign Language Annals, 21(5), 467–478. doi:10.1111/j.1944-9720.1988.tb01098.x Sample, M. G. (2015). Authentic materials: A Motivational tool for the EFL classroom? Education and Linguistics Research, 1(2), 100. doi:10.5296/elr.v1i2.8488 Taylor, B (2010). Whole person learning. Brussels: GRLI Press. Tomlinson, B. (2003) Developing materials for language teaching, London: Continuum. Widdowson, H. G. (1978). Teaching language as communication (10th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Yi, Y. (2011) The effects of visualisation training on the ntermediate Chinese EFL learners’ narrative writing. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Leeds Metropolitan University. Yorks, L. & Kasl, E. (2002) Toward a theory and practice for wholeperson learning: Reconceptualising experience and the role of affect. Adult Education Quarterly, 52 (3), 176-192.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN TEACHERS’ USE OF AUTHENTIC MATERIALS FOR TEACHING CULTURAL ELEMENTS THROUGH COURSEBOOKS IN EFL CLASSROOMS SAW THANDA SWE

Introduction Learning English is seen as essential, and hence, one of the core subjects for students in many countries (such as in Singapore, Myanmar, and India). Some people learn English as a foreign language for their own particular reasons: for example, to work internationally, to continue further studies in English-speaking countries or at English-medium universities, to go on holiday, etc. (Cook, 2013; Swe, 2016). Cook (2013, p.298) gives a scenario of “two businessmen with different first languages talking on the phone in English” where English is used as a Lingua Franca – i.e. “communication in English between speakers with different first languages” (Seidlhofer, 2005, p. 339). However, the question we need to ask is, ‘Before this stage, how have they learned English?’ Many language schools, especially schools in England, use coursebooks as part of their curriculum. In the classroom, the coursebook stands as an essential link between teachers and learners. I experienced that many EFL (i.e. English as a Foreign Language) and ESL (i.e. English as a Second Language) teachers who teach English, where English is required as a second/foreign language (e.g. in Thailand or even in the UK), use coursebooks for their classes and they have their own reasons for this, as explained in Swe (2016). The coursebooks are internationally published and not only include language and linguistic perspectives of English, but also a variety of cultural aspects. British and American cultures are not the only target English cultures, for other cultures (e.g. Asian) are included too

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- for example, in Reward Intermediate (Greenall, 1995), New Cutting Edge-Intermediate (Cunningham et al., 2005), New Total English UpperIntermediate (Crace & Acklam, 2011). Thanasoulas (1999) said “Without a textbook, everything would be a fine kettle of fish! There would be no guidelines, no signposts; students would feel insecure and teachers would rack their brains to collect, edit and photocopy materials - which are culled from other textbooks!” However, he also commented that “No textbook is good enough” (ibid, cited in Swe, 2016). This is one of the reasons why I became intrigued as to how ESL/EFL teachers who use coursebooks adapt other outside authentic materials for use in the classroom. What materials are actually applied and why do they adapt them in their core lessons, especially for cultural elements such as festivals, traditions, customs, behaviours and foods which need to be linked between the students’ own cultures and the cultures that the coursebooks refer to? Zheng and Zhou (2016, p.30) have defined the role of EFL teachers thus: “the complexity of culture requires that the language teacher is not only a transmitter of knowledge but also a ‘mediator’ between culture and students.” In addition, Pulverness and Tomlinson (2013, p.454) describe the “vital role” of a teacher acting in between coursebooks and learners as an “intercultural mediator”, by way of delivering “some of the cultural coordinates missing from the coursebook.” To investigate how this is done, I composed two questions to explore how teachers teach cultural elements in EFL classrooms and how they achieve mediation between course-books, cultures and learners. The questions are: 1. Do teachers use outside materials for teaching cultural elements? If so, what are they? 2. Why do teachers adapt coursebooks with other materials?

What is a Coursebook, and How and Why is it Used? The coursebook is “a book used by students when they do a particular course of study”, according to the Cambridge Dictionary Online (last accessed 20/02/2015), and it has been widely used in many English language classrooms. Thanasoulas (1999, web accessed 21/02/2015) has said: “No doubt, a coursebook is looked upon as an indispensable vehicle for foreign language acquisition whose validity and significance are seldom impugned.” He continued: “In my opinion, many students working on a coursebook feel secure and have a sense of progress and

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achievement.” Based on my foreign language teaching experience, I can agree that many students prefer having a coursebook in their hands, and some think that doing regular homework from the coursebook makes them feel that their level of language skills is gradually improving.

The Use of Coursebooks in ELT Classrooms I have experienced that coursebooks are used in most EFL classrooms, and I myself used coursebooks while learning English many years ago. Tomlinson (2013, p.143) has also mentioned that “often teachers are obliged to use a coursebook in all their lessons.” Moreover, Kayapinar (2009, p.1, cited in Swe, 2016, p.33) explained that “The school administrations and circles of English teachers prefer ready-made coursebooks because they possibly provide ready-made syllabi to be followed by teachers.” However, “Coursebooks don’t teach classes, teachers do” (Lansford, 2014), and it is therefore interesting to see how teachers are delivering lessons through coursebooks in EFL classrooms.

Is a Coursebook Alone Good Enough? Coursebooks are generally targeted at all learners and their purpose is to help learners develop all the language skills. However, some may not be suitable and lessons do not always turn out smoothly because of a mismatch with the students’ inappropriate levels of English, their cultures and their backgrounds as explained in my PhD study. Therefore, Yochanna (n.d, web accessed 06/06/2016) said: “Teachers need to take many different factors into consideration when choosing that coursebook: they need to think about their students’ needs, interests, ability and level.” This is where the role of material adaptation comes into play, such as modifying or deleting some parts and then localising materials and personalising the lessons. As Dickinson (2010, p.2) said, “adaptation is the altering of materials to improve or make them more suitable for a particular type of learner or group of learners.” As the ICAL TEFL online (accessed 02/03/2015) reminds us, “There are many different coursebooks available to the teacher, however it must always be remembered that there is no single coursebook which is ideal for a class.” All teachers need to think about adaptation to adjust and meet students’ needs and not to offend any students’ cultures (Swe, 2016). Tomlinson (2007, web accessed 20/6/2016) also argues that: Ideally, the course book should be designed to facilitate localisation and personalisation by teachers and learners, but unfortunately this is rarely the

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case, and it is left to the teacher to adapt and supplement the course book in ways that connect with their learners’ previous experiences. In order to achieve this, the teacher needs to develop ability in humanising, localising, and personalising the course book.

Therefore, teachers ought to consider having other materials to facilitate successful language teaching and learning, and they should learn what materials can attract students’ interest and attention in order to have more successful and effective lessons. Johansson (2006, p.2) also reports that using both coursebooks and alternative materials is “more common today than the use of coursebooks or alternative material alone”. However, it is still interesting to study the prime reasons for adapting other materials that are picked for cultural elements lessons which come from teachers’ actual EFL teaching experiences.

The Adaptation While I was teaching in Thailand, I adapted some materials (such as pictures which connected the content of the lessons with students’ cultures) to make my lessons more interesting. This stage of adaptation involves “the process of deleting, reordering or adding”, “an inevitable process as it is always carried out as part of classroom practice” (Saraceni, 2013, p.50). Tomlinson (2013) cited in Swe (2016, p. 290) used the term “humanizing a coursebook”, and he explained that it is the job of the teacher “to replace sections of it with more humanistic materials which involve the learners in gaining and reflecting on experience.” Lansford (2014) has given 6 pedagogical methods that teachers can employ when using coursebooks to be able to meet specific students’ needs and requirements, and they are as below: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Selection Addition Subtraction Adaptation Replacement Rejection

All the above processes and the reasons for doing them have taken my interest, and it is important to learn how EFL teachers are using coursebooks (and whether or not they supply additional materials) for their cultural elements lessons. Therefore, this will be the focus of this paper.

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What Additional Materials Can Be Used Alongside the Coursebook? While I was teaching English a few years ago, I used many additional materials (e.g. a picture from a magazine) along with coursebooks, but was interested to discover those materials that are used by other teachers. Teachers can use authentic materials which can be found in their environment locally, such as small local handicrafts which help learners to understand in their contexts and are easy to remember, and I found in my large-scale study that some of my participants had done similar things in terms of choosing local materials. However, if a text from a coursebook describes a scene of an English couple having appetizers before a main meal, this would not easily be understood by Myanmar students as the English culture of having three courses for a proper lunch/dinner is different from that of the students; therefore, teachers need to explain these things and bring some pictures along to help the students to understand better. I therefore want to question how teachers search for this material and where they find it. In particular, what materials are being used for cultural elements lessons?

What are Authentic Materials? As for the use of materials, Saraceni (2013, p.58) said “Materials should be based on authentic texts, those texts which have been written for any purpose other than language teaching” (e.g. a news article or a section of the weather forecast from a newspaper). Heitler (2005, p.5) has written in one of his articles that “authentic materials are any texts written by native English speakers for native English speakers.” However, I would argue that non-native English speaking people are also able to produce authentic materials, such as Joseph Conrad whose first language was Polish, but who wrote some novels in English, such as Heart of Darkness in 1899. I myself once asked my EFL students to gather travel photos and write stories of their own (e.g. When did they make the trip? How many people were on the trip? etc.). Although it might be important to the teacher that the students practise past tenses of grammar and make use of them in speaking, the students can also produce authentic materials for themselves to share with their peers and the class teacher. Therefore, I would strongly agree with Saraceni’s definition above, that anything that is not written for a learning purpose can be called authentic material. Shepherd (2016, web accessed 17/06/2016) explained that many people recall newspapers and magazines as authentic materials, but there also exist such things as “songs,

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web pages, radio & TV broadcasts, films, leaflets, flyers, posters, indeed anything written in the target language and used unedited in the classroom.” Rivers (1981) noted in Barekat and Nobakhti (2014, p.1061) that “movies and series” could be used as authentic materials and are suitable for cultural development awareness. In terms of the benefits of using such authentic materials, Ianiro (2007, p.1) explains that they aid students to “bridge the gap between the classroom and the outside world”, and Shepherd (2016: ibid.) mentions the advantage of using such authentic materials: “using authentic materials is a relatively easy and convenient way of improving not only your students' general skills, but also their confidence in a real situation.”

Lingzhu and Yuanyuan (2010) have listed some authentic materials as: 1. Authentic Listening-Viewing Materials: TV commercials, quiz shows, cartoons, news clips, comedy shows, movies, soap operas, professionally audio-taped short stories and novels, radio advertisements, songs, documentaries, and sales pitches. 2. 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, and X-rays. 3. 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 catalogues, telephone books, maps, TV guides, comic books, greeting cards, grocery coupons, pins with messages, and bus schedules. Epstein (2010, p.75) used the term “realia” for maps, menus, schedules, signs, and posters to symbolize how much they are authentic to learners as these are used in real settings by a specific cultural group. How should these materials be used in the class? In other words, what tasks should be given along with such materials, and how should teachers handle their lessons? Encouraging learners to use language in a designed setting and giving lots of opportunities for actual language use (such as having roleplays or discussions) would be effective as they are used in an authentic setting. A combination of interesting activities and good authentic materials can help learners to engage in the lesson. As a result, learners

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will remember the lesson very well as they have to use the language effectively.

Non-Authentic Materials Non-authentic (inauthentic) materials are those materials written for learning purposes, such as “graded readers’ books” (Swe, 2016, p.268) targeted at readers who have a basic language knowledge. In Barekat and Nobakhti’s (2014) study, they argue that movies and series are good authentic sources as they provide exposure to actual language use and can provide better efficiency in learning. They also found that inauthentic listening materials are less effective than authentic materials in terms of improving the listening comprehension ability of their Intermediate level students. In terms of reading materials, Tomlinson (2003, p.13, cited in Swe, 2016, p.268) said that “a storybook can provide all the information about language which a coursebook does and it can provide it in ways which match what we know are the best ways to learn a language.” However, I think inauthentic materials can provide some benefit to their users if they make appropriate use of them. Let us see what materials are commonly used in EFL classrooms and the teachers’ reasons for choosing them.

‘Culture’ and ‘Language’ Kramsch (1998, p.3) explained that “language is a system of signs that is seen as having itself a culture value”, and many theorists and researchers have mentioned that language and culture are interlinked (Leveridge, 2008; Emma1, 2010). Culture(s) and Cultural Elements According to the Cambridge Dictionary Online, the word culture is interpreted as “the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time” (web accessed 01/06/2016). Haslett (1989, p.20) said that culture is “a shared, consensual way of life, and that sharing and consensus are made possible only through communication.” Barekat and Nobakhati (2014, p.1060) expanded upon this by arguing:

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Emma – the website does not have the full name of the author.

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Chapter Thirteen “realistic elements of culture we should include are notions like when and what people eat, how they earn money, the ideas they have toward their friends and families, how they show approval or disapproval of something, educational attitudes, time and space patterns, work values, etc.”

These above elements can be categorised under small ‘c’ cultures as they convey the meaning of people’s values and how and why they behave in certain situations. It seems that the small ‘c’ culture is much more important in intercultural communication settings. For example, if a Burmese is speaking to a mixed group of foreigners for a trading purpose or attending a formal dinner invited by an English businessman, s/he at least should know the dining table customs: i.e. the use of cutlery in an appropriate manner, or an English man should understand not to show his bare feet (unless he has specifically asked permission) to the host when visiting a Burmese2 home, which one of my participants from the largescale study similarly experienced. Clandfield (2008, p.5) summed this up best when he said: “Intercultural competence is the ability to communicate and operate effectively with people from another culture.” In my view, this does not involve imitation of a custom of a different culture, but rather the building of understanding and of a better atmosphere. What are termed as Cultural Elements for this Study? For both native and non-native speakers of English, “English is the dominant international language” (Clandfield, 2008, p.6), and they may need this to study abroad at higher institutions or have holidays overseas. Therefore, to avoid breakdowns in communication, they need more awareness of small ‘c’ cultures (ways of greeting, what are the do’s and don’ts) than of big ‘C’ cultures such as literature and music. In consequence, traditions, festivals, customs, beliefs, and behaviours are counted as cultural elements for this study. Authentic Materials and Tasks for Cultural Elements Lessons To teach those cultural topics mentioned above (or any kind of language lesson), teachers can supplement their coursebooks with other materials, which they can get from books, magazines or postcards which are not aimed at learning and which can be found locally. As for the cultural elements lessons, travel documentaries collected by travellers or TV broadcasting companies, postcards, advertisements (e.g. hotels and job



2 In this study, I have used the terms ‘Myanmar’ and ‘Burmese’ interchangeably. Myanmar is the modern name for Burma, but its people are still known as Burmese.

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vacancies) from local and foreign newspapers, travel brochures, travel agencies’ facebook pages and their websites, local train and boat timetables, photos of local cuisines and local people’s lifestyles, travellers’ reviews about a country, a hotel or a restaurant from the internet can all be termed as authentic materials as they are not intentionally designed for teaching and learning purposes, and they could help learners to imagine how language is used in such specific settings. If texts (e.g. reviews about a hotel or a place) are written in the students’ L1, teachers can also ask them to translate the material into English. This would help not only their writing skills but also their cognitive learning ability as they will see how languages are composed in their own ways.

Previous Studies Zheng and Zhou (2016) studied the amount of cultural content in the Chinese junior schools’ textbooks and teachers’ books, called Go For It. They found that cultural elements (which they termed as “social interaction, belief and behavior”) such as festivals, routines of a social group, morals and religious beliefs, table manners, national holidays, sports (baseball, tennis, ping-pong, soccer, volleyball, basketball and swimming), and eating habits and leisure activities (watching television, charity work and shopping) are presented. These themes and topics are open to students for learning and discussion. Moreover, some aspects of Chinese culture, such as Chinese kung fu and traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese famous people (e.g. Confucius, Shen Nong and Lu Xun), and social etiquette from different cultures which the two researchers categorized as “international and intercultural issues”, are mentioned in their findings. They also briefly referred to different greeting patterns that are mentioned in textbooks, such as “When they meet, people are supposed to shake hands in the United States and Mexico, bow in Japan and Korea, and kiss on the cheek in Brazil” (p. 28). In their teachers’ books, being on time (five or ten minutes) for formal and social meetings in America, foods and food culture, and family culture (one third of children are from single parent families in the US these days) are also mentioned. One thing that takes my interest is that they found significant differences in family cultures (between Americans and Chinese) in their teachers’ books by stating “Americans do not usually live with their children when they become senior citizens. This is quite different from the traditional Chinese family structure” (p. 28). Their study clearly demonstrated that there are some cultural elements in language coursebooks nowadays. Although they have evaluated the

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contents and elements of cultures in a series of textbooks, they did not research what materials are additionally used by teachers along with the textbooks when teaching them in the class. However, my current research will reveal what materials are commonly used for cultural elements lessons by EFL teachers and their reasons for choosing such specific materials.

The Research Methods To explore teachers’ use of materials and to study their reasons, I chose a qualitative over a quantitative research method, as this can explore participants’ views, beliefs and opinions in greater depth. Kumar (2011) cited in Swe (2016, p.130) said that “the qualitative study helps to understand feelings, perceptions, attitudes, values, beliefs and experiences of a group of people”. Mayan (2009, p.11) has also noted that “qualitative researchers attempt to interpret or make sense of the meaning people attach to their experiences or underlying a particular phenomenon.” This study is focusing on EFL (which is a specific setting of English language learning) and EFL teachers’ experiences and their use of additional materials for cultural elements lessons through coursebooks; therefore, a qualitative approach is much more suitable than a quantitative research method. The Use of Open-ended Questionnaires As a method of research, the questionnaire is used to access teachers’ use of materials; and, as Dörnyei (2003, p.3) said: “Questionnaires are certainly the most often employed data collection devices.” I chose the style of an open-ended questionnaire with “some blank space” (Dörnyei, 2003, p.47) to allow participants to share their experiences, reasons, and thoughts without having any restriction. To ensure that the questionnaire was short, easy and understandable, I composed all questions in plain English and avoided asking too many questions: as Dörnyei (2003, p.3) suggested, “Not only does the questionnaire have to be short but it also has to look short.” However, the questionnaire still looked slightly longer since I avoided “double-barrelled questions” (Dörnyei, 2003, p.55) such as asking two questions at a time (e.g. “Do you use outside materials? If so, why?”). Open-ended questionnaires were used for this study and the questionnaire was composed of 34 questions in Part 1 plus 7 background information questions in Part 2 (e.g. years of EFL teaching).

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Recruiting Participants The participants were recruited in person and via their academic coordinator in Liverpool, UK. At first, “personal contact” (Bell, 2005, p.148) was established between myself and potential participants and the academic coordinator of that school helped me to get more and more participants once I obtained permission from the School Director. All questionnaires were returned through their academic coordinator after a week, except one which was returned by email. Research Participants’ Profiles To look at some EFL teachers’ experiences of adapting materials for teaching cultural elements lessons, this study was conducted at one English language school in a city in North West England in the early months of 2013. The participants were 14 native English speaking teachers who were trained for English language teaching and who had gained qualifications such as CELTA, DELTA and MA. TESOL. Their teaching experience and their background was varied, but they all brought English teaching experience to this research. Anonymity for this Research To reserve participants’ privacy, all the returned questionnaires were coded such as P1, P2, P3 and the consent form was signed by both parties (i.e. myself and the participants of this study). Interpretation of Data Following return of the questionnaires, I proceeded to the analysis stage. “Questionnaire data is most usable if it is stored in a computer file” (Dörnyei, 2003, p. 96). All answers were coded manually, interpreted and transferred into a Microsoft Excel file. Subsequently, I analysed and answered the questions that were posed prior to this study. The Coding I read all returned completed questionnaires thoroughly to find evidence and to allocate it to specific categories (e.g. materials such as magazines). To interpret meanings for my findings, I chose a method of coding which helped me to obtain “access to evidence” (Bazeley, 2013, p.125). If the participant said “magazines are used”, the code would become “OMC(mag)”. This is theoretically termed as “abbreviations of key

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words” (Marshall & Rossman, 2006, cited in Swe, 2016, p.185), and I then tallied how many participants gave the same answers. All tallies and codes were saved and then interpreted for the final results.

Answering the Research Questions Using Outside Materials Teacher-participants demonstrated that adapting other materials to use with coursebooks was common practice among them. Apart from those coursebooks which are part of the curriculum, teachers use many outside materials from different resources for the teaching of cultural elements in their classrooms. Utilising advanced technology, the media is a valuable source of material for language teachers, for teachers believe that it is more authentic than books because students can visualise and extracts from the media can motivate students’ attention since contemporary culture tends to be more visually based than printed versions nowadays. Many teachers use online articles, news reports, videos, BBC video clips and other TV programmes, youtube, Wikipedia and podcasts. Some teachers use birthday cards, greetings cards, world maps, and newspapers as authentic materials. Moreover, any DVDs and any music that is suitable and can be related to lessons, and other extracted materials from other activity coursebooks such as writing or reading tasks, are also used. Other westernised books are employed whenever the teachers think that they suit students’ needs or seem familiar to them. Some teachers mentioned that students themselves could be representatives of their own cultures and bring their own materials into the language classrooms (such as asking them to demonstrate or allow them to speak about their own cultures and customs). Why Teachers Adapt Materials The reasons why teachers have to adapt materials are varied: for example, there is a lack of appropriate materials given in the coursebooks; a lack of interest among the students; the lessons need to be more interesting and interactive; and students may have specific requirements and needs such as having difficulty with understanding meanings and complex grammar structures according to their level of English. As for the cultural elements of teaching, teachers have to adapt and adjust things for their relevancy (for example, whether or not some topics should be taught), be aware of the students’ cultural and religious sensitivities to avoid embarrassing and awkward situations in class, and to gain students’ interest by making the

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lessons more engaging. The teacher-participants expressed their opinions that adapted materials grab students’ attention, motivation and interest as they are already personalised to meet their target students’ needs and are adjusted to their cultures: this avoids having an uncomfortable classroom atmosphere and ensures that nobody feels offended. Additionally, by adapting and updating materials, teachers said they could stimulate their own enthusiasm, confidence and motivation as they are not repeating the same lessons that they have been delivering for many years.

Discussion In terms of materials and coursebooks, Cook (2013, p.290-291) explained that an adult coursebook has “to maintain the interest of people who, unlike children, often have particular reasons for studying a new language and who have adult interests, social relationships and level of intelligence.” However, coursebooks still cannot attract every learner’s attention and thus, teachers have to adapt and manage to meet their own learners’ specific needs, interests and motivation as the findings of this research revealed. Roberts (2014) pointed out that, “Teachers and students are naturally attracted to authentic texts” and the findings have shown that teachers use authentic texts such as newspapers which they believe can be effective in learning. However, authentic texts such as newspapers which are commonly read by native or nearly native speakers might have an inappropriate level of written English for learners. In such cases, teachers may need to be aware of learners’ levels, but such texts could help them teach complex grammatical patterns (such as the use of punctuation) or they could be simplified to match the learners’ levels of English, which happened in my large-scale study. Their simplified versions could be called teacher-made material and could be considered inauthentic in the sense that teachers have re-written them. However, they could still be termed as authentic materials if original photos can be provided or a teacher has only replaced the vocabulary that students are not familiar with (e.g. the word “discern” may be substituted with “recognise”) so as to aid understanding. Novawan (2010, p.40) stated that “media can be used to visualize such things as objects, actions, emotions and personalities” and the findings from this study revealed that participants use media such as BBC and youtube which allow them to visualise and understand the foreign language through actions and behaviours. Seeing the results from this study as mentioned above, teacher-participants seem to prefer electronic

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media such as youtube, BBC and other TV programs. However, they should make sure that the authentic materials they have chosen “should be the kind of material that students will need and want to be able to read when travelling, studying abroad, or using the language in other contexts outside the classroom” as Berardo suggested (2006, p.62) because they will encourage students’ interest and attention, and with these, a teacher can have successful lessons. Furthermore, teachers are the ones who know their students’ aims and targets for learning a foreign language; therefore, to bridge the gap between students and lessons, teachers can make good use of such materials. The internet is used in EFL classrooms due to the provision of advanced technology these days, and “the Internet has several advantages as a source of teaching materials” (Teeler & Gray, 2000, p.36). I agree that it is a good resource for teachers since many materials are available to use for specific lessons. The internet can help a busy teacher who can spend much time searching for materials and wandering around the streets to collect authentic materials, as s/he can search almost everything from a picture of small home-made cupcakes and gingerbreads to big commercial bakery and luxury patisserie shops from all over the world. For example, having access to the internet can generate a lot of useful information in a short period of time, especially when limited information is given in coursebooks or no pictures are provided at all. I believe that having internet access in schools is a great help to teachers, especially for cultural elements. For example, a history of a tomato festival or Halloween will not be found in local newspapers or might be difficult to search locally if a teacher is far from the relevant cultural groups. However, teachers can search anything (e.g. pictures, short video clips, news, cartoons, etc.) with the help of the internet. Having relevant and appropriate materials can enable learners to see what things are similar and different between their own cultures and other cultural groups. For example, sending get-well soon cards to a sick person is common practice in the English community in England, but Burmese students would not understand this unless their teachers explained it to them. (Burmese make hospital or home visits to see the patients or ring the family, but the practice of sending cards does not exist.). It could also help develop learners’ cultural awareness, for they could avoid cultural conflicts or misunderstandings if they have noticed the similarities and differences between cultures. For example, offering any alcoholic drinks or any foods (except soft drinks) to monks after 12pm in Burmese culture is not permitted, and they would be deeply offended.

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Limitations of This Study This small case study is only based on 14 teacher-participants’ responses, who were the very first participants in my PhD study, and these responses may relate uniquely to their own experiences. Other teachers may have different experiences and it cannot therefore be said that the results of this study are necessarily generalizable.

Conclusion Looking at the results as explained above, it is clear that teachers adapt materials and they use many authentic materials for their lessons. They take into account the differences between teachers’ and students’ backgrounds and endeavour to avoid embarrassing and uncomfortable situations that could happen in the classrooms. In my view, this is what all EFL (experienced or novice) teachers need to take into consideration if they have not had any experience of multicultural language classrooms. The other thing to think about is that managing a monocultural class could be easier because the teacher can learn about students’ cultures and the cultural elements that s/he wants to teach. Thus, it may become more complicated if s/he has a mixed cultural group in one class, for s/he will have to deal with more cultural elements. To conclude, teachers need to create effective and enjoyable lessons for students; therefore, cultural awareness should not only be a target for students, but teachers need to be aware of cultural sensitivities too.

References Barekat, B. & Nobakhti, H. (2014). The effect of authentic and inauthentic materials in cultural awareness training on EFL learners’ listening comprehension ability. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 4(5), doi:10.4304/tpls.4.5.1058-1065 Bazeley, P. (2013). Qualitative data analysis: Practical strategies. London: SAGE Publications. Bell, J. (2005). Doing your research project: A guide for first-time researchers in education, health and social science (4th ed.). Maidenhead, England: Open University Press. Berardo, S. A. (2006). The use of authentic materials in the teaching of reading. The Reading Matrix, 6(2). Retrieved September 20, 2016 from http://www.readingmatrix.com/articles/berardo/article.pdf

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Cambridge Dictionary. Coursebook meaning in the Cambridge English dictionary. Retrieved February 20, 2015a, from http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/coursebook —. Culture meaning in the Cambridge English dictionary. Retrieved June 1, 2016b, from http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/culture Clandfield, L. (2008). Culture in ELT: which C? whose C? Retrieved June 08, 2016 from http://www.teslontario.net/uploads/publications/contact/ ContactSummer2008.pdf Cook, V. (2013). Materials for adult beginners from an L2 user perspective. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Developing materials for language teaching (2nd ed.) (pp. 291–308). London: Bloomsbury Academic. Crace, A. & Acklam, R. (2011). New total English: Upper-Intermediate: students’ book with active book pack. Harlow: Pearson Longman. Cunningham, S., Moor, P., & Barker, H. (2005). New cutting edge: Intermediate: student’s book. Harlow: Pearson Longman. Dickinson, P. (2010). Evaluating and adapting materials for young learners. Retrieved June 07, 2016 from http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/ Documents/collegeartslaw/cels/essays/younglearners/dickinsonYL.pdf Dörnyei, Z. (2003). Questionnaires in second language research: Construction, administration, and processing. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Emma. (2010, January 4). The relationship between language and culture. Retrieved June 07, 2016, from http://www.lexiophiles.com/ uncategorized/the-relationship-between-language-and-culture Epstein, R. (2010). Materials design for adult learners of English. In H. P. Widodo & L. Savova (Eds.), The Lincom guide to materials design in ELT (pp. 71–84). Muenchen: Lincom Europa. Greenall, S. (1995). Reward: Intermediate student’s book. Oxford: Macmillan Education. Haslett, B. (1989). Communication and language acquisition within a cultural context. In S. Ting-Toomey & F. Korzenny (Eds.), Language, communication, and culture: Current directions (pp. 19–34). New York: Sage Publications. Heitler, D. (2005). Teaching with authentic materials. Retrieved June 07, 2016, from http://www.pearsonlongman.com/intelligent_business/ images/teachers_resourse/pdf4.pdf Ianiro, S. (2007). Authentic materials. Retrieved June 08, 2016, from CALPRO, http://www.calpro-online.org/documents/ AuthenticMaterialsFinal.pdf

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ICAL TEFL. TEFL Coursebooks. Retrieved March 2, 2015, from ICAL TEFL, http://www.icaltefl.com/tefl-coursebooks Johansson, T. (2006). Teaching material in the EFL classroom: Teachers’ and students’ perspectives. Retrieved June 6, 2016, from http://www.divaportal.org/smash/get/diva2:207078/FULLTEXT01.pdf Kayapinar, U. (2009). Coursebook evaluation by English teachers. Inonu University Journal of the Faculty of Education, 10 (1), 69–78. Retrieved September 15, 2015, from http://dergipark.ulakbim.gov.tr/inuefd/article/download/5000004220/5 000004733 Kramsch, C. (1998). Language and culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kumar, R. (2011). Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners (3rd ed.). London: Sage Publications. Lansford, L. (2014, August 13). How to use coursebooks: The art of pedagogy - Cambridge conversations. Retrieved June 16, 2016, from Learning Materials, http://www.cambridge.org/elt/blog/2014/08/usecoursebooks-art-pedagogy/ Leveridge, A. N. (2008, September 8). The relationship between language & culture and the implications for language teaching. Retrieved June 16, 2016, from Teacher Technique, http://edition.tefl.net/articles/teacher-technique/language-culture/ Lingzhu, J., & Yuanyuan, Z. (2010). The use of authentic materials in teaching EFL listening. Retrieved June 16, 2016, from Humanising Language Teaching, http://www.hltmag.co.uk/aug10/mart03.htm Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (2006). Designing qualitative research (4th ed.). London: Sage Publications. Mayan, M. J. (2009). Essentials of qualitative inquiry. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press. Novawan, A. (2010). The use of visual aids in ELT materials. In H. P. Widodo & L. Savova (Eds.), The Lincom guide to materials design in ELT (pp. 39–54). Muenchen: Lincom. Pulverness, A., & Tomlinson, B. (2013). Materials for cultural awareness. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Developing materials for language teaching (2nd ed.) (pp. 443–459). London: Bloomsbury. Rivers,W. M. (1981). Teaching foreign language skills (2nd ed.).Chicago: Universityof Chicago Press. Roberts, R. (2014). How to use newspaper articles in language class. Retrieved June 10, 2016, from https://www.britishcouncil.org/voicesmagazine/how-use-newspaper-articles-language-class

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Saraceni, C. (2013). Adapting courses: A personal view. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Developing materials for language teaching (2nd ed.) (pp.49-62). London: Bloomsbury. Seidlhofer, B. (2005). English as a lingua franca. ELT Journal, 59(4), 339–341. doi:10.1093/elt/cci064 Shepherd, S. (2016). Using authentic materials. Retrieved June 17, 2016, from Teaching English, https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/using-authentic-materials Swe, S. T. (2016). The use of materials for the teaching of culture in ELT (unpublished PhD thesis University of Essex) Teeler, D. & Gray, P. (2000). How to use the Internet in ELT (2nd ed.). Harlow: Pearson. Thanasoulas, D. (1999). Coursebook: Take it or leave it. Retrieved June 21, 2016, from TEFL.net, http://www.tefl.net/esl-articles/coursebook.htm Tomlinson, B. (2003). Humanising the coursebook. In W. A. Renandya (Ed.), Methodology and materials design in language teaching: current perceptions and practices and their implications (pp.12-29). Singapore: SAMEO Regional Language Centre. —. (2007). Connecting the course book. TESOL International Association, 4(2). Retrieved from https://www.tesol.org/read-and-publish/journals/ other-serial-publications/compleat-links/compleat-links-volume-4issue-2-(june-2007)/connecting-the-course-book —. (2013). Humanizing the coursebook. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Developing materials for language teaching (2nd ed.) (pp. 139–155). London: Bloomsbury. Yochanna, M. Choosing a course book. Retrieved June 06, 2016, from ETNI, http://www.etni.org.il/etnirag/issue4/miri_yochanna.htm Zheng, X. & Zhou, Y. (2016). On foreign cultural content in English textbooks: A case study of the text-book used in Chinese junior middle schools: Go for it. Folio, 17(1), 24–32.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN AUTHENTIC VIDEO: USING A TEXT-DRIVEN APPROACH MARIE MCCULLAGH

Introduction This chapter describes an approach to using authentic video to develop the language and communication skills of doctors in the patient interview. I will outline the key skills needed for an effective consultation and discuss how research on medical discourse in the patient interview and workplace discourse can be incorporated into a text-driven approach for developing principled materials.

The Doctor-Patient Interview as a Genre The doctor-patient interview has a number of distinctive features which make it a well-recognised genre. One of these is the relatively fixed structure of the interview, which follows clear stages: gathering information from the patient, examining the patient, making a diagnosis, and providing the patient with information on the diagnosis and treatments. Alongside the diagnostic and treatment goals of the patient interview, there is also the potential for it to have a therapeutic role, where the interview itself can have a beneficial effect on patients. A significant amount of literature has been produced on communication with patients in the interview, which has given rise to various good practice guidelines. These guidelines use a patient-centred approach, where doctors consider the needs and beliefs of the patient and show they understand the patient’s perspective (Kurtz, Silverman, & Draper, 1998). This is the approach that is taught in medical schools in the UK and many other English-speaking countries. The ability to build rapport with, and align with the patient

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requires not only linguistic competence but other competencies such as pragma-linguistic (the ability to convey communicative intent), strategic (e.g. by using verbal or non-verbal strategies to manage the communication), socio-pragmatic (by demonstrating social and cultural appropriacy) and discourse competence. (Gilmore, 2011). For example, in researching doctors’ performance in patient interviews, Roberts, Atkins and Hawthorne (2014) found that paralinguistic features and the use of body language significantly changed how language was perceived by patients. Overseas doctors face a number of additional challenges to L1 doctors in the patient interview. Apart from having to achieve a high level of linguistic competence (a minimum of 7.5 in IELTS), and pass the professional clinical and linguistic medical exam (the PLAB), they have to adapt to working in a new environment, which can present a range of problems such as understanding colloquial language and different accents, and working with patients whose cultural beliefs may be at odds with their own. In addition, the amount of communication skills training they have received in their own country is likely to be considerably less than what is covered in UK medical undergraduate degrees. Taken together, these result in what McManus and Wakeford (2014) identify as a significant gap between the average performance of international doctors in clinical and communication skills compared with medical graduates in the UK. For some L2 doctors preparing to work in the UK, a doctor-centred approach may be the norm in their country. The shift to a patient-centred approach may not be in line with doctors’ beliefs, which can cause problems not only in the consultation but also when doctors have to do peer observations of colleagues and self-reflection. This can undermine significantly the confidence of L2 doctors.

Professional Guidelines in Medicine The most widely used good practice guidance in the UK is the Calgary Cambridge Observation Guide (Kurtz, Silverman, & Draper, 1998), which combines a series of instructions for each stage in the interview with guidance on how to build an effective relationship with the patient. This includes being non-judgemental, showing empathy, and showing sensitivity towards the patient when discussing difficult issues. However, it does not go as far as explaining what language to use to build rapport. Although a considerable amount of literature has been published on the communicative aspects of the consultation, relatively little work has been done which examines specific aspects of how language contributes to good

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practice in the consultation. For example, Skelton, Wearn and Hobbs (2002) look at how doctors and patients use personal pronouns and Rees and Monrouxe (2008) consider the function of pronouns in teaching bedside encounters, but they do not examine it in the context of good practice. The work of Roberts et al. (2014) is therefore particularly significant, as it identifies what language best supports doctors in the consultation in line with the guidance. They compared the performance of L1 and L2 candidates in the assessment of interpersonal effectiveness as part of the assessment for membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners. Their research involved corpus and discourse analysis of the language used by candidates who passed and those who failed the assessment. Non-UK trained doctors had a first-time failure rate of approximately 25%, while only 5% of UK-trained doctors failed. Interestingly, the research found that traditional lexico-grammatical concerns such as vocabulary and issues with pronunciation were not a significant factor in the high rates of failure. In fact, most candidates used most of the same formulaic types of words, with minor differences (Roberts et al., 2014, p. 28). The difference between the two sets of candidates was that the successful candidates were able to use techniques to make the phrases sound less formulaic, while failing candidates were perceived by examiners as mechanical and insincere. Techniques used by successful candidates included using appropriate body language, changing the phrases slightly, using them in slightly different contexts or using “conversationalizing strategies, such as vague language and softeners” (Roberts et al., 2014, p.32). These are skills which fit within the broader communicative competencies stated earlier. Other features which Roberts et al. (2014) found in the analysis of the micro-linguistic aspects of the language used included managing the conversation and repairing as necessary (strategic competence), and not being mechanistic in conversation (discourse competence). More general workplace discourse research can also contribute to our understanding of the language used in the patient interview. For example, McCarthy (2000) identified transactional and relational dimensions in interpersonal interactions and this maps well to the two strands of the Calgary Cambridge Observation Guide: structuring the interview and establishing and building a rapport. More recently, work on interpersonal language from Koester (2010) and Handford (2010) has provided examples of specific language which is used in relational and transactional contexts in business. This includes language such as modal verbs, adverbs and past tense (e.g. “I just wanted

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to”), and vague language for hedging and expressing politeness. Many of these findings correlate with those of Roberts et al. (2014).

Using Video Video in the classroom can enrich the experience for both learners and teachers and its pedagogical role was explored in some detail by Willis (1983). Sherman (2003) identifies various areas where authentic video can make a key contribution to learning, and many of these relate to some aspects of the broader communicative competences identified earlier. One area she describes is culture, where video can highlight particular settings, show relevant body language, or give insight into different gender roles. Another is language, where video both provides a visual context for the production of language, and also shows variations in the type of language which is used. Mishan (2005) considers video within a broader framework of materials development, and provides guidance on using video for a range of classroom activities. Goldstein and Driver (2015) set out a range of activities which add learner- generated video to the more traditional approach to using it as a language learning tool. In many ways, their work reflects the “gradual ascendance of the moving image” (Apkon, 2013, p.24) in the world outside the classroom, where the technology to make high quality video is cheap and widely available, and where internet services such as YouTube make huge numbers of videos readily available on a wide range of devices. While documentaries and training videos have been discussed as learning materials by Sherman (2003), Mishan (2005) and Goldstein and Driver (2015), they do not appear to have focused on how their representation of target situations can be exploited. For learners preparing for a specific work context, the documentary and training genres have a special significance. As discussed above, they can provide access to the language of target situations, and also offer insight into some of the tasks which are performed in these settings. While a single documentary may only cover one aspect of a target situation, it can be used alongside other sources such as professional guidance discussed earlier, and training videos, so that learners can see whether recommended good practice is being followed. In terms of language, by showing the context in which language is produced, video can help the learner understand its meaning more clearly. In addition, video can capture a wider range of communicative competences such as the effect of nonverbal aspects on meanings the language conveys. The increased availability of video related to the patient consultation on internet sites such as YouTube provides a very significant resource for the teacher and

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materials developer. Exploiting these video resources requires a principled approach, if their full potential for learners is to be realised.

Using a Principled Approach The challenge for the materials developer is to create materials which enable learners to achieve the necessary outcomes to communicate efficiently in the target context. In terms of these outcomes, Maley (2003) makes an important point in arguing to extend the range to include, educational (e.g. increased cultural awareness) and psychosocial outcomes (e.g. increased confidence and self-esteem) as well as pedagogical outcomes. Different levels of competence in terms of outcomes can also be identified. Miller (1999) classified outcomes in terms of a pyramid of whether the learner ‘knows’, ‘knows how to’, ‘shows how to’ and ‘does’. Though originally developed in a medical context, these can also be used to represent different levels of linguistic, communicative and subject competence in the target setting towards which learners can work. A link can also be made between the psychosocial outcomes and the ‘does’ level of the pyramid, where for example, increased confidence can feed directly into performance. In some respects the ultimate 'does' outcome for the consultation can be seen as membership of a community of practice (Wenger, 1999). Acquiring this membership involves “learning the behavioural and communicative practices” of a group (Schnurr, 2011, p.75), and to some extent taking on board the beliefs of that group. In the case of the consultation, it could be argued that membership is achieved when learners have the required language and communication skills, and also fully subscribe to the beliefs around the consultation such as the need for a patient-centred approach. The principled approach to using authentic video outlined here, which can help deliver many of the outcomes learners need to prepare for workplace contexts, is based on a text-driven approach (Tomlinson, 2003). The approach centres on choosing (and building up a selection of) texts which the materials developer or teacher finds engaging, and which they think will also engage the learners. Engagement in the approach has been defined as “a willing investment of energy and attention in experiencing the text in such a way as to achieve interaction between the text and the senses, feelings, views and intuitions of the reader / listener” Tomlinson (2003, p.110). This contrasts with learners who may interact with the text in a more instrumental way, viewing it in terms of how it relates to the outcomes of their course. For the learner preparing for a workplace context, the extent to which they see the text as relevant to what they will

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be doing is a key factor in how far they will engage with it. The intrinsic qualities of the text will also affect the degree of engagement, and these can vary considerably between videos.

Selecting Videos There are various non-content criteria which can be used when selecting video from sources such as YouTube. For instance, the quality of image and sound is a factor. Copyright can also be an issue, as some videos may be taken down because they have been uploaded without permission, making it problematic to use them in the future. In terms of content, alongside the criteria discussed above, Long (2014) suggests relevance, motivational qualities (which may link with engagement) and real language use as criteria for selecting authentic materials. As a genre, documentaries are more likely to meet these criteria than training videos, as content can be selected to provide drama for the viewers. Training videos, however, have the advantage that they will have been developed to cover a specific aspect of the target context in detail, and this is useful in helping learners understand what they need to achieve. An advantage of both genres is that, where the videos reflect real life settings, learners are being sensitised to real working situations, independently of pedagogical interventions, A mix of videos which are less engaging but more relevant, and videos which are more engaging, but less relevant may be needed to strike an appropriate balance. When selecting videos within the documentary genre, one criterion is that they should have stretches of uninterrupted dialogue between individuals, as this will expose the learners to natural language in use. Another criterion is the extent to which the setting in which the video is filmed reflects the target working environment. An additional aspect may be the inclusion of backstage comments of the patient and doctor, which can provide teachers and learners with a more complete understanding of interactions, than the front-stage encounters alone. In creating tasks, the backstage comments can be saved until learners have commented on how they think the interaction between patient and doctor have gone, and then used to revisit their judgements. The range of documentary videos featuring patient consultations continues to grow. The video which has been used to create the sample materials at end of the chapter, comes from a 2010 Channel 4 series, The Hospital (Cunningham, 2010) in which around 5 episodes were made per series. Since then, there has been a very significant increase in the quantity of videos produced. For example, a

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recent series, GPs behind closed doors is currently in its fourth year and has shown almost 70 hour long episodes (e.g. Ryan, 2014). For training videos which offer some type of guidance on the doctorpatient interview, the credibility of the creators of the video is important. An increasing number of training videos from credible producers are being made available on sites such as YouTube from sources such as London medical schools, UK medical training committees and GPs with an interest in patient communication. There is considerable variation in the extent to which the videos reflect real target situations, both in terms of participants and the settings themselves. Some use trainee doctors in the roles of doctor and patient. Some feature doctors with professional simulated patients. Others, such as a series produced by the London Paediatrics Trainees’ Committee feature real doctors and patients, in this case children with their parents. All of these training videos have been developed to provide a model for good practice, or in some cases to show what poor practice looks like. Some will have a commentator at the beginning, explaining what is being covered and what to look for. However, most allow the doctor-patient interactions to take place without interruption, so there is a stretch of dialogue which can be exploited. In terms of their potential for engagement, training videos can be seen on a cline. At one end, are videos which are clearly simulated and in a featureless, sterile setting, at the other those where real doctor-patient interaction is taking place in real settings. For example, many of the paediatric training videos have a high level of engagement because of the unpredictable and often highly amusing attempts of the doctors to accommodate the behaviour of the children. The high level of relevance of some training videos may compensate for the limited potential for engagement that they offer, but the relevance needs to be clear to the learners.

Task Development The way in which the text-driven approach stages activities to build engagement with the text, before exploiting it for linguistic content, is particularly effective for the patient interview where emotion plays such an important role. By building an understanding of the context in which the language is used, learners have a better opportunity to understand how language works in that context, and what language they need to acquire. Some examples of activities using video are outlined in the example at the end of the article. Activities based more generally on documentaries can also be incorporated. For example, Sherman (2003) identifies three types of activity which can be used with documentaries which she refers to as

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‘parallels’, ‘issues’ and ‘experts’. In parallels, students make comparisons between what is shown in the documentary and what is happening in their own country. This would fit well with having students compare practice in the UK with practice in their own country. Where a group is from the same country, comparisons could be made between their different experiences. Issues refer to occasions where the content of a documentary provides the basis for a discussion of issues arising out of a situation. Again, both training and documentary video can present situations which have issues that can be discussed. These could include ethical considerations or decisions which doctor and patient have to make where there are competing interests. Sherman’s third type of activity, experts, involves learning new knowledge or skills from an expert. This can be used for activities where learners compare the practice they observe in a video, with good practice guidance in the UK, with good practice in their own country, or with their own practice. Any of these activities can be based around the subject content, the language or aspects of communication skills which are used to achieve good practice.

Conclusion This chapter has outlined the nature of the patient interview as a genre, and the communicative challenges which it presents for doctors. It has examined the range of outcomes which are needed to meet these challenges, and shown how a principled approach to using documentaries and training videos which provide coverage of the patient interview can help learners to achieve these outcomes. The chapter has provided examples of how rapidly the genre of medical documentaries has grown over recent years. The broader genre of workplace documentary also continues to grow rapidly, and these documentaries, together with workplace training videos are increasingly being made available online. As this chapter has shown, a text-driven approach can be used with online video to create materials to prepare learners to perform in the workplace. This grown in authentic video represents a significant opportunity to create materials to prepare learners for many different types of workplace, and the text based approach can play a very useful role in this.

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Example of a text-driven approach using a documentary Readiness activity (to prepare learners for the text by getting them to make personal connections) Think about Think about a habit that you would like to break or have managed to break What would motivate/what motivated you to break the habit? What difficulties would it/did it cause you? Experiential activity (to help learners to represent the text in their mind) You are going to watch a consultant discussing treatment with a young male patient who has a drink problem. Imagine you are the patient. What thoughts are running through your mind? Intake response activity (to help learners express what they have experienced from the text) Watch the video with the volume turned down How would you describe the relationship between the doctor and patient? Why do you think the patient is laughing? Now watch the video with the volume turned up Have your thoughts about the relationship between the doctor and patient changed? Why do you think the patient is laughing? (he is very nervous) Are problems with alcohol an issue that doctors deal with in your culture? Input response activity (to get learners for example to make discoveries about the language) Please see transcript below

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What do you notice about the types of questions the doctor asks the patient? (Doctor’s use of closed questions) What kind of questions would you have expected to hear? (more open questions to allow doctor to find out more about the patient’s situation) What do you notice about the language the doctor uses to advise the patient? If you were the doctor, what language would you use to advise the patient? (using deontic modality e.g. you really need to, you really should try to) Why do you think the doctor refers to the very colloquial expression ‘dude’? (the doctor seems to be trying to align with patient) To what extent does the doctor adhere to the guidelines for negotiating a plan of treatment? Negotiating treatment 1 Discuss options. 2 Provide information on action or treatment offered. 3 Obtain patient's view of need for action, perceived benefits, barriers, motivation. 4 Elicit patient's reactions and concerns about plans and treatment 5 Take patient's lifestyle, beliefs, cultural background and abilities into consideration. 6 Encourage patient to be involved in implementing plans (by making suggestions rather than giving directives). 7 Ask about patient support systems; discuss other support available. Source: Extract from The Calgary Cambridge Observation Guide.

Development activity (to provide learners with meaningful language production based on the text) Work in threes – one of you should take the role of the patient, another the doctor and the third, the observer. Re-write the transcript to make it more patient-centred.

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Roleplay the scenario based on the changes you have made. Video the roleplay. Observer: to what extent do you feel the guidelines were adhered to? The ‘patient’ should provide feedback on how well the doctor communicated with them to the observer and ‘doctor’. The ‘doctor’ should evaluate their own performance and share their comments with the observer and patient. Now play the video recording of the interview. Each person should comment on how their perceptions of the interview match with what actually happened. Transcript Dr: Ahhm... You're keeping yourself healthy? P: No Dr: Why not? P: (laughs) I've been drinking like a fish Dr: How much have you been drinking? P: You won't believe me. Dr: Tell me. P: About a pint of vodka a day Dr: How much? P: A pint. Dr: A pint of vodka a day. OK. Was this just on holiday or just every day? P: Every day... Basically every single day. [intercut ... Sometimes the way how he's talking to me I' don't like that ] Dr: You're telling me you're soaking your liver in alcohol every night, with vodka... a bottle of vodka a day? [Patient laughs] ... it's not funny [intercut by patient…I don't like when somebody's pushing me, yeah, like raising voice which he did once, I didn't like that yeah ] Dr: You're sitting here because you have damage to your liver. We will not be able to treat you full stop if you cannot start to improve your lifestyle with the alcohol ... [patient laughs] ... you're giggling and laughing at me, what does that mean? P: No I'm not laughing... Dr: Are we going to do this seriously or not? P: [continues to laugh] Of course...

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Dr: But it's not a joke, dude P: I know … The intercuts by the patient can be played after learners have heard the text [voiceover from doctor explaining that patients need to take responsibility for their lifestyle choices] Dr: We have so many patients we put on treatment, we see so many people who need liver transplants, you are 27 years old, I don't ever want to think about that for you. OK. So I'm writing in big letters here, stopping vodka, getting a GP, sorting out life... [patient leaves] Dr: Unbelievable. Maybe I thought he was intelligent enough to understand liver disease and that drinking a bottle of vodka a night might not be good for his liver, but obviously that's something that passed me by [laughs]. Transcript Source: The Hospital, Series 2, Episode 5 - Courtesy of North One Television

References Apkon, S. (2013). The age of the imageࣟ: redefining literacy in a world of screens. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Cunningham, K. (2010). The hospital. [Television series]. Series 2, Episode 5. London: Channel 4. Gilmore, A. (2011). ‘I prefer not text’: Developing Japanese learners’ communicative competence with authentic materials. Language Learning, 61(3), 786–819. Goldstein, B., & Driver, P. (2015). Language learning with digital video. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Handford, M. (2010). The language of business meetings. Cambridge University Press. Koester, A. (2010). Workplace discourse. London: Continuum. Kurtz, S., Silverman, J., & Draper, J. (1998). Teaching and learning communication skills in medicine. Oxford: Radcliffe Medical Press. Long, M. (2014). Second language acquisition and task-based language teaching. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons.

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Maley, A. (2003). Inputs, processes and outcomes in materials development: Extending the range. Folio, 8 (12), 8 - 12. McCarthy, M. (2000). Mutually captive audiences: Small talk and the genre of close-contact service encounters. In J. Coupland (ed.), Small talk (pp. 84-109). Harlow: Pearson Education. McManus, I. C., & Wakeford, R. (2014). PLAB and UK graduates’ performance on MRCP (UK) and MRCGP examinations: data linkage study. BMJ, 348, g2621. Miller, G. E. (1990). The assessment of clinical skills/competence/ performance. Academic Medicine, 65(9), 63-7. Mishan, F. (2005). Designing authenticity into language learning materials. Bristol: Intellect Books. Rees, C. E., & Monrouxe, L. V. (2007). ‘Is it alright if I-um-we unbutton your pyjama top now? ‘Pronominal use in bedside teaching encounters. Communication & Medicine, 5(2), 171–181. Roberts, C., Atkins, S., & Hawthorne, K. (2014). Performance features in clinical skills assessment: Linguistic and cultural factors in the Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners examination. King’s College London with The University of Nottingham. Ryan, M. (2014). (Producer). GPs behind closed doors. [Television series]. London: Channel 5. Sherman, J. (2003). Using authentic video in the language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Schnurr, S. (2012). Exploring professional communication: Language in action. London: Routledge. Skelton, J. R., Wearn, A. M., & Hobbs, F. R. (2002). ‘I’ and ‘we’: a concordancing analysis of how doctors and patients use first person pronouns in primary care consultations. Family Practice, 19(5), 484– 488. Tomlinson, B. (Ed.). (2003). Developing materials for language teaching. London: Continuum. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Willis, J. (1983). Implications for the exploitation of video in the EFL classroom. In J. McGovern (Ed.), Video applications in English language teaching, ELT Documents: 114, 29-42. London: British Council & Pergamon Press.

CONCLUSION ALAN MALEY

There seems little point in simply summarising the chapters offered in this book. It is clear that the concept of Authenticity still arouses sometimes quite heated debate, as it has done since it first emerged. There would seem to be plenty of fodder left for the profession to graze upon. In any case, Brian Tomlinson has outlined the major issues in the Introduction, and it would be tedious simply to reiterate them here. Instead, I shall attempt to critique the idea of Authenticity as it has developed to date, and to suggest some possible future directions. One phenomenon afflicting Authenticity is the blur effect. Like many other concepts which have come to prominence on a wave of professional enthusiasm for an attractive idea – concepts like Communicative, Creativity, Culture, Identity come to mind – Authenticity has lost its pristine appeal in the welter of debate and interpretation following its ‘discovery’. What do we mean when we speak of Authenticity? Genuine, real, life-like, real-world, true, natural …all these epithets have been used at one time or another in an attempt to capture more precisely the complex nature of this apparently simple notion. Much of the discussion of Authenticity in this volume and elsewhere has centred on Text authenticity and Task authenticity, and this certainly has its value. It seems like common sense to deploy genuine samples of the language, and to involve learners in tasks which mirror those which they will encounter in ‘real-life’. In practice, however both these types of authenticity have been a battleground from the outset, spawning shelves of exegesis and commentary debating the respective merits of ‘authentic’ and ‘contrived’ materials and practices. The fact is, of course, that ‘It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it’. However authentic the input may be and however realistic the tasks, ultimately, they depend on the teacher’s skill in creating a learning community in which learners engage cooperatively and achieve effective learning which they find personally relevant and satisfying. Authentic texts can turn to dust in the hands of an inauthentic teacher, and authentic tasks may be rendered stale rituals and routines in the absence of learner engagement. Conversely, highly

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inauthentic texts and tasks can be brought alive by a committed and skilful teacher. I am suggesting that in the discussion of Authenticity we might focus more on Teacher authenticity and Learner authenticity than heretofore. Amir Sarkeshian’s chapter is interesting from this viewpoint. This would imply a shift from an external, material viewpoint, in which authenticity is inherent in what we do to the learners, to an internal/psychological viewpoint in which aspects of Teacher and Learner authenticity take precedence, and authenticity arises from how we do things with learners and how they perceive them. I would suggest a two-pronged approach to this internal, psychological view of Authenticity. One prong would place the authenticity of the teacher as a person, not only as a teacher, at the centre. How do learners perceive their teachers? What do they most look for in a teacher? How do teachers establish a climate of shared and enjoyable purpose? Studies of the effective teacher are unanimous in their findings that what learners appreciate about their teachers are their human qualities (Maley and Kiss, 2018 forthcoming; Prodromou, 2002; Richards, 2013; Ur, 1996). They are relatively unconcerned by the methods and materials the teachers deploy and their pedagogical expertise, though they are quick to complain if a teacher is clearly incompetent. Inevitably, this has implications for teacher training. It suggests we need to re-focus attention on helping trainee teachers to become the kind of facilitative persons who are able to create a positive, human rapport with their learners. An important aspect of this would be to develop improvisation and spontaneity skills to enable teachers to respond appropriately, in the moment, to the unexpected events they will inevitably have to deal with (Underhill, 2014; Underhill & Maley, 2012). This is easier said than done, though Maley and Kiss, (2018 forthcoming) offer a number of possible directions. The other prong would aim to identify meaningful activities which offer learners the opportunity to be themselves. This implies going back to the kinds of uses of language they would carry out naturally in their mother tongue. Among the most universal activities of this kind would be storytelling of all kinds, extensive reading, games, music and songs, performance of texts, watching film, making things (pictures, posters, videos, creative texts, etc.) and reminiscence (calling past experience to mind with the aid of powerful visualisation). This is hardly rocket science but I suggest we might do well to re-explore these areas. They offer genuine engagement, using language, and do not require an elaborate set of simulated, ‘real’ activities. They are real already.

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In terms of texts, I would also suggest that authenticity alone is not enough. Whether or not they are authentic, texts need to be relevant to learners’ interests, salient and memorable, varied and open to learner choice. Literary texts in particular meet all these criteria. Likewise tasks need not be authentic, in the sense that they mirror reallife activities. But they do need to offer genuine opportunities for engagement both with texts and fellow learners, and to involve learners in abundant repetition without attendant boredom. Storytelling and the other activities mentioned above satisfy these needs. In his Introduction, Brian Tomlinson also mentions Curriculum authenticity. His example demonstrated how the content of a curriculum can be developed by the teachers themselves. It would be interesting to explore the possibility of basing a curriculum on the meta-categories mentioned above (storytelling, extensive reading, performance, creative writing etc.) Essentially, this would be an aesthetically-based curriculum. Other types of curriculum could be based on exploring Global Issues (Maley & Peachey, 2017) or Sport, or the Moving Image. Would such curricula be more authentic? Perhaps this is the wrong question. Would they be more engaging and effective for the learners? There is another aspect of curriculum relating to the language model learners are expected to conform to, which is addressed in Claudia Saraceni’s chapter in this book. Is the model of the language being taught an authentic one? This question intersects with the concerns of critical and liberation linguistics over the hegemonic status of some models of English over others. It raises the issue of Native-Speaker versus Non-Native speaker norms, the ownership of English, and much besides. To say that this is a tangled web of argument and counter-argument would be to understate the reality. Two points are worth making: the majority of teachers and learners are blissfully unaware and unconcerned about the byzantine sophistry of the linguists’ wrangling; and the arguments themselves tend to be ideological rather than pedagogical. Nonetheless, there is a debate to be had about which model to adopt. However, authenticity would again be only one of the issues involved, including practicability, relevance and acceptability. One of the most helpful discussions of these issues is to be found in Medgyes’ updated book, The Non-native Speaker (2017). To summarise, I am suggesting that more attention might be devoted to Teacher and Student Authenticity, and the implications this could have for teacher training practices. It might also be worth exploring some metacategories of activities and how they might be used to inform curricula.

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References Maley, A. (2010). My teacher project. Unpublished work. Maley, A. & Kiss, T. (2018 forthcoming). Creativity and language teaching: From inspiration to implementation. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Maley, A & Peachey, N. (2017) Integrating global issues in the creative English language classroom: With reference to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. London: British Council. Medgyes, P. (2017). The non-native speaker. Callander, Scotland: Swan Communication. Prodromou, L. (2002). In search of a good lesson. English Teaching Professional 22, April 2002. Richards, J. C. (2013). Creativity in language teaching. Paper presented at the Summer Institute for English Teacher of Creativity and Discovery in Teaching University Writing, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Underhill, A. (2014). Training for the unpredictable. The European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL, 13(2), 59-69. Underhill, A., & Maley, A. (2012). Expect the unexpected. English Teaching Professional (82), 4-7. Ur, P. (1996). Can teaching be taught. BRAZ-TESOL Newsletter, 10(4), 811.