v
TEACHERS’ BELIEFS ON THE USE OF AUTHENTIC
MATERIALS TO TEACH LISTENING
(A Case Study at MAN 1 Surakarta in the Academic Year of 2014/2015)
A THESIS
By:
BERLINDA MANDASARI S891308009
Written as a Partial Fullfilment of the Requirements for Graduate Education Degree of English Language Teaching
ENGLISH EDUCATION OF GRADUATE PROGRAM
FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY
SURAKARTA
ix ABSTRACT
Berlinda Mandasari, S891308009, 2015. Teachers’ Beliefs on the Use of Authentic Materials to Teach Listening (A Case Study at MAN 1 Surakarta in the
Academic Year of 2014/2015). A Thesis. First Consultant: Prof. Dr. Sri Samiati
Tarjana; Secod Consultant: Dra. Dewi Roschsantiningsih, M.Ed, Ph.D; English Education Department, Graduate Program, Sebelas Maret University.
This research is aimed at: (1) identifying teachers‟ beliefs on the use of authentic materials to teach listening; (2) identifying factors that affect teachers‟ beliefs on the use of authentic materials to teach listening; and (3) describing how authentic materials are implemented in teaching listening.
This research is a qualitative case study conducted in islamic high school 1 Surakarta. The samples chosen through purposive sampling are two English teachers who teach listening skill for the tent grade. Data of the research were collected through questionnaire, observation, interview and teaching learning documents and were analyzed by using interactive model proposed by Miles and Huberman.
Finding of this research are: 1. teachers believe that :a) authentic materials are materials produced by a native speaker of the target language not for a teaching purpose, b) authentic materials must introduce English in the real context used by the native speaker, improve students‟ knowledge, Improve students‟ English competence in both spoken and written, improve students‟ vocabulary, introduce the culture of native speaker, improve students‟ listening ability, motivate students to learn, motivate students to learn autonomously, c) authentic materials are important to use since it is motivating students and providing some aspect of English that students can learn, d) authentic materials are considered to be carefully selected before being taught to the students, e) song attracts students‟ interest; 2. factors that affect teachers‟ beliefs: the challenging point of authentic materials, easy access to authentic materials, the availability of the equipments, students‟ interest, workshop/training and personal experience; 3. a) there is inconsistancy between teachers‟ beliefs and the practice in the classroom, b) authentic materials are implemented well in the classroom. The students are actively involved during teaching and learning process. Bottom-up processing is applied during listening activity.
According to the findings of the research, it is noticed that teachers‟s beliefs strongly shape teachers‟ instructional practices and the selection of the materials that will be taught to the students. It is considered important to identify the beliefs of teachers since teachers‟ beliefs are the fundamental concepts to develop fooreign language teaching.
v ABSTRAK
Berlinda Mandasari, S891308009, 2015. Keyakinan Guru terhadap Penggunaan Materi yang Otentik untuk Mengajar Kemampuan Mendengarkan (Studi Kasus di MAN 1 Surakarta pada tahun ajaran 2014/2015). Sebuah Tesis. Pembimbing Pertama: Prof. Dr. Sri Samiati Tarjana; Pembimbing Kedua: Dra. Dewi Rochsantiningsih, M.Ed., Ph.D; Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Program Pascasarjana, Universitas Sebelas Maret.
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk: (1) mengidentifikasi keyakinan guru terhadap materi otentik terhadap penggunaan materi yang otentik untuk mengajar keterampilan mendengarkan; (2) mengidentifikasi faktor yang mempengaruhi keyakinan guru terhadap penggunaan materi yang otentik untuk mengajar keterampilan mendengarkan; (3) menggambarkan bagaimana materi otentik diimplementasikan untuk mengajar keterampila mendengarkan.
Penelitian ini merupakan penilitian studi kasus yang dilaksanakan di MAN 1 Surakarta. Sampel yang dipilih melalui purposive sampling adalah dua guru bahasa Inggris yang mengajar kelas X. Data dari penelitian ini dikumpulkan melalui kuesener, observasi, wawancara, dan analisi dokumen dan dianalisis dengan menggunakan model interaktif dengan yang dibuat oleh Miles dan Huberman.
Penemuan dari penelitian ini adalah 1. guru berkeyakinan bahwa: a) materi yang otentik adalah materi yang dihasilkan oleh penutur bahasa ahli dari bahasa yang ingin dicapai tidak untuk materi ajar; b) materi yang otentik harus memperkenalkan bahasa Inggris dalam konteks yang sebenarnya yang digunakan oleh penutur bahasa asli, meningkatkan pengetahuan siswa, meningkatkan kompetensi bahasa Inggris siswa baik berbicara maupun menulis, meningkatkan kosa kata siswa, mengenalkan budaya dari penutur bahasa ahli, meningkatkan kemampuan mendengar siswa, memotivasi siswa untuk belajar, memotivasi siswa untuk belajar secara mandiri; c) materi yang otentik penting untuk digunakan selama materi ini memotivasi siswa dan menyediakan beberapa aspek bahasa Inggris yang dapat dipelajari oleh siswa; d) materi yang otentik dipertimbangkan untuk diseleksi secara cermat sebelum diajarkan kepada siswa; e) lagu menarik ketertarikan siswa; 2. faktor-faktor yang dapat mempengaruhi keyakinan guru: hal yang menantang dari materi yang otentik, kemudahan akses, ketersediaan alat ajar, ketertarikan siswa, workshop/pelatihan dan pengalaman pribadi; 3 a. adanya ketidakkonsistenan antara keyakinan guru dan prakteknya dalam mengajar di kelas; b) materi otentik diimplementasikan secara baik di kelas. Siswa secara aktif terlibat dalam proses belajar mengajar. Bottom-up proses diaplikasikan selama aktivitas mendengarkan.
Menurut penemuan dari penelitian, dapat diperhatikan bahwa keyakinan guru secara kuat membentuk instruksi guru dan pemilihan materi yang akan diajarkan kepada siswa. Hal ini dipertimbangkan penting untuk mengetahui keyakinan dari guru selama keyakinan guru merupakan konsep yang mendasar untuk mengembangkan pengajaran bahasa asing.
Kata kunci: keyakinan guru, materi yang otentik, keterampilan mendengarkan
vi
MOTTO
“Do what you can with what you have where you are”
(Theodore Roosevelt)
vii
DEDICATION
With deep profound love, this research is fully dedicated to:
My beloved parents Tri Priyono and Tri Wahyuningsih
My lovely sister Norma Lidia Wati
My lovely brother Bayu Triatmojo
My would be husband Yogo Adi Putra
My almamater Sebelas Maret University
viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The researcher would like to acknowledge her countless gratitude to the
Most Gracious and the Most Merciful, Allah SWT, for giving the researcher
strength and courage to complete this thesis. In addition, there are many individuals
who have generously contributed in improving this thesis. So the researcher would
like to express her deep gratitude to the following people:
1. Dean of Faculty of Teacher Training and Education of Sebelas Maret University
for his insights he has shared.
2. Head of English Education Department of Graduate Program for his kindness.
3. Prof. Dr. Sri Samiati Tarjana, the first consultant for her guidance, advice, and
patience during the writing process of this thesis.
4. Dra. Dewi Rochsantiningsih, M.Ed, Ph.D., the second consultant for her
guidance, advice, and patience during the writing process of this thesis.
5. Head Master of Islamic High School 1 Surakarta for his kindness to allow the
researcher to conduct the research.
6. Teachers of Islamic High School 1 Surakarta, Muh. Farhani, S.S and Syarif
Hidayatullah, M.Pd for their help and cooperation during the research.
7. The tenth grade students of Islamic High School 1 in Surakarta in the academic
year 2014/2015 for their participation in the research.
8. All friends and everyone who have helped the researcher in accomplishing this
thesis.
Hopefully, this thesis would give a positive contribution to the educational
development and the readers.
Surakarta, February 2015
Berlinda Mandasari
ix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ... viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... ix
LIST OF TABLES ... xii
LIST OF FIGURES ... xiii
LIST OF ABBREVIATION ... xiv
LIST OF APPENDICES ... xv
CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION A. Background of The Study ... 1
B. Research Questions ... 7
C. Objectives of the Study ... 8
D. Significance of the Study ... 8
CHAPTER II : LITERATURE REVIEW A. Teachers‟ Beliefs ... 10
1. The Nature of Teachers‟ Beliefs ... 10
2. The Importance of Teachers‟ Beliefs ... 12
3. Factors Influencing Teachers‟ Beliefs ... 14
4. Teacher‟s Beliefs toward the Use of Authentic Material ... 16
B. Authentic Materials ... 17
1. Definitions of Authentic Materials ... 17
2. Authenticity ... 18
3. Sources of Authentic Materials ... 20
4. The Importance of Authentic Materials ... 22
5. Selecting Authentic Materials ... 26
6. Advantages and Disadvantages of Authentic Materials... 30
a. Advantages of Authentic Materials ... 30
b. Disadvantages of Authentic Materials ... 32
C. Listening Skill ... 34
1. Definition of listening ... ... 34
2. The Importance of Listening Skill ... 36
x
5. The Process of Listening ... 40
6. The Difficulty in Listening Skill ... 42
D. Using Authentic Material to Teach Listening ... 44
E. Review of Relevant Studies ... 45
CHAPTER III : RESEARCH METHOD
A.
Research Design ... 524. Drawing Conclusion and Verification ... 61
CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION A. Research Findings ... 64
a. Teachers‟ Beliefs on the Use of Authentic Materials to Teach Listening ... 64
1. Teachers‟ Definition about Authentic Materials ... 64
2. Reasons to Use Authentic Materials ... 65
3. The Importance of Authentic Materials ... 66
4. Criteria for Selecting Authentic Materials ... 67
5. Preference for Particular Authentic Materials ... 70
b. Factors that Affect Teachers‟ Beliefs on the Use of Authentic Materials to Teach Listening 1. Teaching Using Authentic Material is Challenging ... 73
2. Easy Access to Authentic Material ... 74
3. The Availability of Equipments ... 75
4. Students‟ Interest ... 75
5. Workshop/Training ... 76
6. Personal Experience ... 76
c. Implementing authentic Materail in Teaching Listening ... 77
xi
B. Discussion ... 89
C. Research Weaknesses ... 112
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION, IMPLICATION AND SUGGESTION A. Conclusion ... 114
B. Implication... 116
C. Suggestion ... 116
BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 119
APPENDICES ... 127
xii
LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.1 Summary of the Research Findings ... 63
Table 4.2 Reasons to Use Authentic Materials ... 66
Table 4.3 Criteria for Selecting Authentic Materials ... 68
Table 4.4Selected Authentic Materials ... 71
Table 4.5 Equipments... 75
Table 4.6 Basic Competence Used by Teachers Taken from Syllabus... 78
xiii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 3.1. Components of Data Analysis: Interactive Model... 62
xiv
LIST OF ABBREVIATION
1. Teacher Fr Teacher Farhani
2. Teacher Sy Teacher Syarif
3. Interview/teacher/a/b/c
Interview means result of the interview
teacher means participants of interview
a means number of participants
b means when the interview done
c means the number of interview
xv
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix 1 Interview Data with Teacher Fr Session 1 ... 128
Appendix 2 Interview Data with Teacher Fr Session 2 ... 130
Appendix 3 Interview Data with Teacher Sy Session 1 ... 132
Appendix 4 Interview Data with Teacher Sy Session 2 ... 137
Appendix 5 Teacher Fr‟s Questionnaire . ... 140
Appendix 6 Teacher Sy‟s Questionnaire... 144
Appendix 7 Syllabus ... 148
Appendix 8 Teacher Fr‟s Lesson Plan ... 188
Appendix 9 Teacher Sy‟s Lesson Plan... 193
Appendix 10 Sample of Exercise Given by Teacher Fr ... 198
Appendix 11 Sample of Exercise Given by Teacher Sy ... 200
Appendix 12 Students‟ Score from Teacher Fr... 201
Appendix 13 Students‟ Score from Teacher Sy ... 202
Appendix 14 Letter of Having Conducted Research ... 203
1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter describes background of the study, research questions, objectives of
the study, and significance of the study.
A.Background of the Study
Recent trends in Indonesia‟s educational policy has focused on meeting
the challenges of globalization and internationalization. As English has achieved
the status of a major international language, the government of Indonesia has been
actively expanding the teaching of English as an essential part of the school
curriculum. The implementation of an English curriculum in schools has created a
huge demand for qualified English teachers by placing more importance than ever
on studying the issues related to teacher education. Concerning the learning
English for Indonesia students, teacher takes an important role in helping students
to learn English.
Teachers have something to do with the successful of students‟ learning
English. Virtually all English teachers have certain preconceived ideas or beliefs
about how the best approach in English teaching. They often come into an English
classroom conditioned by their previous educational experiences, cultural
backgrounds, and social interaction, which may further shape their beliefs about
English teaching (Johnson, 1992a; Richards & Lockhart, 1996; Smith, 1996).
Thus, this study is an attempt to examine issues concerning teaching English in
high school with a particular emphasis on the role of teachers‟ beliefs.
Khader (2012: 74) defines teachers‟ beliefs as a set of ideas rooted in these
psychological and mental content of the teacher and play a central role in guiding
his/her teaching behavior. In this context, beliefs are defined as conceptions,
world views, and mental models that shape learning and teaching practices.
Pajares (1992: 316) defines beliefs as an individual‟s judgment of truth or falsity
of a proposition, a judgment that can only be inferred from a collective
understanding of what human beings say, intend, and do. Other definition about
teachers‟ beliefs is from Borg (2011: 370-371) who says that beliefs are
propositions individuals consider to be true and which are often tacit, have a
strong evaluative and affective component, provide a basis for action, and are
resistant to change. Therefore, teachers need to teach students in their ways by
using understandable teaching materials since what they do in the class affected
the students learning process.
In relation to English teaching, teachers need to provide some teaching
materials. Materials provide the content of the lesson, the balance of skills taught,
and the language practice of the student. Materials support the teacher in teaching
and the student in learning. Cunningsworth (1995:7) summarizes the role of
materials (particularly course books) in language teaching as resources for
presentation materials (spoken and written), resources of activities for learner
practice and communicative interaction, reference source for learners on grammar,
vocabulary, pronunciation, a source of stimulation and ideas for classroom
activities, syllabus (where they reflect learning objectives that have already been
determined), a support for less experienced teachers who have yet to gain in
confidence. So, materials are considered beneficial for teachers to teach students.
Teaching materials can be in the form of textbook and authentic materials.
What needs to concern in this research is authentic materials. Authentic materials
are materials which are produced by native speakers and used not for teaching
purposes. Adams (1995:4) refers authentic materials as materials which has not
been specifically produced for the purposes of language teaching. In addition,
Gardner and Miller (1999:101) explaine that authentic materials means any texts
(printed or digital) or tape which is produced for a purpose other than teaching the
target language. In short, authentic materials can be a source to teach students by
using materials taken not for teaching purpose. In addition, Lee (1995:324) states
that a text is usually regarded as textually authentics if it is not written for
teaching purposes, but for a real life communicative purpose, where the writer has
a certain massage to pass on to the reader. By this, students are expected to expose
the real language used by native speaker.
In Indonesia, English has been taught in every level of education. English
is learnt as foreign language that support students to use English for
communication. There are four skills that must be learnt by students; listening,
speaking, reading and writing. In the classroom, students listen carefully and
attentively to lectures and class discussions in order to understand and to retain
the information for later recall. In a language classroom, listening ability plays a
significant role in the development of other language arts skills. When students
are able to recognize and pronounce those words. In short, listening skill plays a
significant role in communication and in language learning (Dunkel, 1991; Rost,
1990) and is perhaps "the most fundamental language skill" (Oxford, 1993: 205).
Underwood (1990:16) says that listening can also help students to build
vocabulary, develop language proficiency, and improve language usage. Rost
(1994) finds that listening is vital in the language classroom because it provides
input for the learner. Without understanding input at the right level, any learning
simply can not begin. Krashen (1987) in input hypothesis, states that listening
materials plays a great role in “natural” development and moving from one step
to the others, to learn effortlessly. He also argues that learners should be in a
acquisition-rich environment and be in natural exposure to language. Therefore,
listening need to be taught to students comprehensively as the fundamental
language skill.
In many cases, listening skill is considered as difficult skill to learn by
senior high school students. Some reasons beyond this statement are the students
are not accoustomed to listen sounds in English produced by native speaker. They
are provided with the material in the form of created materials that purposely
produced to teach listening. By this condition, the students are not interested in
the materials given by teachers. due to being uninterested, the students are not
motivated in learning English. The other reason is that it is difficult for teachers to
find listening materials. Created material is quite expensive to buy. Besides, it is
also difficult to find the material unless the teachers create it by themselves. It
It is In line with the statement from Hedge (2000:237) who lists some problems
which are internal to the listener such as lack of motivation towards the topic,
negative reaction to the speaker or to the event; anxiety to rehearse one‟s own
contribution to a debate or the next part of a conversation, to the extent of
missing what the current speaker is saying; or distraction by the content of a talk
into thinking about related topic thereby losing the thread of the argument.
One of the way to minimalize the students‟ problem in listening is by
providing them with authentic materials. These materials are inexpensive because
the teachers do not need much money to get the materials. Besides, the access to
the materials is quite easy because they can be obtained from many sources. By
the development of technology, these kinds of materials can be obtained from
internet. Toward this reasons, it is necessary to identify deeply about teachers‟
beliefs on the use of authentic materials to teach listening.
Teachers‟ beliefs have a broad areas to be investigated. Hofer and Pintrich
(1997:117) explore part of beliefs in the terms of belief about schooling,
epistemology, learning and teaching. In relation to it, researcher focused the scope
of teachers‟ beliefs about authentic material to teach listening. The recent research
done by Soliman E. M. Soliman (2013) about Libyan teachers‟ Attitudes and
Believes Regarding the Use of EFL Authentic material within Reading Lessons at
Universities Levels in Libya resulted students‟ achievement in learning an EFL is
heavily influenced by teachers‟ beliefs; thus, understanding teachers‟ perspectives
regarding the use of authentic material in reading instruction was essential for a
should introduce students to how language is used in the real world and improve
students‟ overall language proficiency as well as reading and listening
comprehension, communicative competence, cultural awareness, lexical and
stylistic knowledge, and motivation.
There are some factors that affect the implementation of teachers‟ beliefs
in teaching learning activity. It is considered important to investigate some factors
that may affect teachers‟ beliefs on the use of authentic materials to teach
listening. Borg (2003: 94) comments that factors such as parents, principals‟
requirements, the school, society, curriculum mandates, classroom and school
lay-out, school policies, colleagues, standardized tests and the availability of
resources may hinder language teachers‟ ability to carry out instructional practices
reflecting their beliefs. Thus, the researcher also conducted research on it through
interview to teachers. The study of teachers‟ beliefs is rarely found in senior high
school level. Moreover, in this level, students are expected to build up a good
mindset about what they had learnt during learning English. It seems to be crucial
since the students learning English in this level will affect their English skills in
the future.
There are three grade in senoir high school level. The first grade has to be
given more attention in learning English. In this grade, students experince
themselves for the first time as senior high school students. They have to face a
new environment which is totally different from their previous school, that is
junior high school. At this grade, students have more complex material in learning
a real language that is used by native speaker. By using authentic materials,
students are expected to be accoustomed to deal with native language. At this
point, teacher takes important role on how their beliefs work in teaching students
by using authentic materials.
In this research, the researcher investigated teachers‟ beliefs on the use of
authentic materials in teaching listening at the first grade in one of Islamic High
School in Surakarta. This school has a program for islamic boarding school and
regular class. It has boarding school program that concentrates on the
development of students‟ academic so they can compete in academic contest such
as science olympiad, scientific work, and research. Two teachers are taken as the
participants of this research. Finally, researcher formulates a research about
teachers‟ beliefs on the use of authentic materials to teach listening.
B. Research Questions
Research questions of this study are:
1. What are teachers‟ beliefs on the use of authentic materials to teach
listening?
2. What are factors that affect teachers‟ beliefs on the use of authentic
materials to teach listening?
3. How are authentic materials implemented in teaching listening?
C.Objectives of the Study
Objectives of this study are:
1. To identify teachers‟ beliefs on the use of authentic materials to teach
listening.
2. To identify factors that affect teachers‟ beliefs on the use of authentic
materials to teach listening.
3. To describe how authentic materials are implemented in teaching listening.
D.Significance of the Study
The significances of the study are:
1. Theoretical
The result of this research can give contribution to provide additional
information to the existing studies about teachers‟ beliefs on the use of
authentic materials to teach listening for senior high school students in
Indonesia in order to make English classroom in listening activity more
effective for the development of students‟ listening skill and teachers‟
teaching development.
2. Practical a. Teacher
This research can be used as sources for teacher to explore what their
beliefs about teaching material especially authentic materiala to teach
listening, to give reflection to teachers‟ practice in teaching listening,
and to identify the affected factor of teachers‟ beliefs on the use of
authentic materiala to teach listening, so it can facilitate students‟
listening development. Besides, the result of this research can be used
by teacher to learn how to use their belief to increase their performance
in teaching students so that the students can achieve the objectives of
the lesson.
b. Students
This research provides set of information for the students about the
important of authentic materials in listening skill so that they can use
the materials to learn English inside or outside of the classroom.
Besides, this research provides information about the sources of
authentic materials. It is expected that students can seek any materials
which is authentics.
c. Graduate School of Teacher Training and Education Faculty of Sebelas Maret University
The result of this research can be used as reference for curriculum
developer in developing the materials for teaching English and choose
any authentic materials which may become the source of teaching
English. It can also be a reference for other researcher who will conduct
research in the same field.
CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter contains some crucial elements related to the topic under discussion.
They are as the theoretical underpinning which builds the foundations of
understanding to conduct this research. In this part, the concepts that will be
described are teachers‟ beliefs, authentic materials, listening skill, using authentic
materials to teach listening and review of relevant studies.
A. Teachers’ Beliefs
1. The Nature of Teachers’ Beliefs
There are many researchers define belief in different ways. Borg (2001:
186) defines that belief is a proposition which may be consciously or
unconsciously held, is evaluative in that it is accepted as true by the individual,
and is therefore imbued with emotive commitment; further, it serves as a guide to
thought and behavior. In short, belief is defined as the acceptance of something
as true, or thinking that something can be true (Schwitzgebel, 2011). In addition,
Pajares (1992: 316) states belief is as an individual‟s judgment of truth or falsity
of a proposition, a judgment that can only be inferred from a collective
understanding of what human beings say, intend, and do.
According to Borg (2011: 370-371), beliefs are propositions individuals
consider to be true and which are often tacit, have a strong evaluative and
affective component, provide a basis for action, and are resistant to change.
Moreover, Khader (2012: 74) defines teachers‟ beliefs as a set of ideas rooted in
guiding his/her teaching behavior. Kuzborska (2011: 102) says that teachers‟
beliefs influence their goals, procedures, materials, classroom interaction patterns,
their roles, their students, and the schools they work in.
Beliefs are often known as attitudes, values, judgments, axioms, opinions.
They affect not only how people behave but also what they perceive (or pay
attention to) in their environment. Contrary to the old saying “seeing is believing”,
it is more likely that “believing is seeing.” When people believe something is true,
they perceived information supporting that belief. Beliefs alter expectations.
People perceive what they expect to perceive (Tara, 1996). Beliefs are formed
early; remain relatively stable, and are resistant to change (Pajares, 1992).
Nespar (1987: 317-328) describes some characteristics of teacher beliefs.
1. Sometimes containing assumptions about the existence of entities beyond
the teacher‟s control or influence.
2. Including conceptualizations of ideal situations that differ from reality.
3. Relying heavily on affective and evaluative components.
4. Deriving much of their power from memories of specific events.
5. Not opening to critical examination or outside evaluation.
6. Containing the domains to which specific beliefs may apply are undefined.
In short, belief a form of thoughts which may be consciously or
unconsciously held that examine individual‟s judgment of truth or falsity of a
proposition that are considered to be valid containing conceptions, personal
ideologies, world views and values that shape learning and teaching practices
rooted in psychological and mental content that represent a complex concept
internally associated with their attitudes, expectations and personal experience.
Therefore, teachers‟ beliefs investigated in this research deal with their
beliefs about the use of authentic materials to teach listening skill and the factors
that affect their beliefs.
2. The Importance of Teachers’ Beliefs
Teachers are viewed as important agents of change in the reform effort
currently under way in education and thus are expected to play a key role in
changing schools and classroom. The importance of teacher beliefs within teacher
education rests with the constructivist‟s conception of learning. Some researchers
define the importance of teachers‟ beliefs on their ways. Smylie (1988:23) in his
path analysis study of 56 teachers undergoing a staff development process
concluded that teacher‟s perceptions and beliefs are the most significant predictors
of individual change. Pajares (1992: 307-333) states that the earlier a belief is
incorporated into the belief structure, the more difficult it is to alter.
In addition, Thompson (1992:127-146) suggests that teachers' beliefs and
values about teaching and learning affect their teaching practices. According to
Horwitz (1985: 333), addressing the beliefs of prospective foreign language
teachers should be the first step in their development as foreign language teachers.
In other words, teachers‟ beliefs are the fundamental concepts to develop foreign
language teaching. Williams and Burden (1997: 56–57) propose that teacher
beliefs affect everything that they do in the classroom, influencing classroom
Borg S (2011) states that teachers‟ beliefs strongly shape teachers instructional
practices, and subsequently the learning opportunities that learners receive.
In his review of 16 studies of pre-service teacher beliefs, Pajares (1992:
307-332) concludes that student teachers‟ beliefs play a pivotal role in the way
they interpret and acquire information from their teacher education courses. Their
beliefs act as perceptual, self validating, selective filters which sieve information
presented to them. Richards (1998) says that teachers‟ belief systems, including
their attitudes, values, expectations, theories, and assumptions about teaching and
learning, are considered a primary source of teachers‟ classroom practices. These
beliefs are usually guided by a number of factors: their own experience as learners
in classrooms, prior teaching experience, classroom observations they are exposed
to, and their previous training courses at school.
Pajares (1992: 307-332) summarizes the results of research on teachers‟
beliefs by indicating that there was a strong relationship between pedagogical
beliefs of teachers, their planning for teaching, teaching decisions and classroom
practices. He added that the pedagogical beliefs of teachers before the service play
a central role in the explanation of knowledge and teaching behavior when joining
the teaching profession. In his opinion, these beliefs are the strongest factors
through which we can predict the teaching behavior. Ernest (1998) also says that
teachers‟ beliefs have a strong effect on the teaching practices by converting those
beliefs into a practical reality.
In addition, Clark & Peterson (1986) see that teacher‟s beliefs are a rich
(1991: 235-250) also find that there are four main categories of teachers‟ beliefs
that strongly affect the curriculum implementation process. These beliefs are:
beliefs on how students acquire knowledge, beliefs about the teacher‟s role in the
classroom, beliefs related to the level of the student‟s ability in a particular age
group and beliefs about the relative importance of the content topics.
To sum up, teachers‟ beliefs are considered as fundamental step in
teaching EFL students in the explanation of knowledge, information and teaching
behavior when joining the teaching profession.
3. Factors Influencing Teachers’ Beliefs
It has been noted that teachers‟ beliefs are coming from different
background. Richardson (1996: 102-119) highlightes three major sources of
teacher beliefs: personal experience, experience with schooling and instruction,
and experience with formal knowledge both school subjects and pedagogical
knowledge. Robson (2002: 95-113) argues that teachers might have been
influenced by the way they themselves acquired work-related knowledge in
their first occupations, although without direct observation of their practice, it
was impossible to confirm this.
In Addition, Kukari (2004: 95-110) also finds that there is a dialectical
and mutually constitutive relationship between cultural and religious practices of
teaching and learning. Holt-Reynolds (1992: 325-349) has suggested that
teachers‟ entry beliefs and perceptions strongly influence both the way they view
the theoretical components of teacher training and the teaching behaviours during
observation, wherein one‟s past observations of teachers in the context of the
classroom influence one‟s conception of what it means to be a teacher. Fang
(1996: 47-65) focuses on a group of factors related to school in the formation of
teachers‟ beliefs, the administrative support, attitude of colleagues, school
atmosphere, students‟ abilities and backgrounds in addition to the rules and
regulations that applied in a particular school.
Moreover, Borg (2011: 186-188) asserts that teacher education is more
likely to have an impact on teachers‟ practices when it is based on an
understanding of the beliefs teachers hold. This understanding of beliefs is
necessary at all levels of teaching pre-service teachers, new teachers and older
teachers more set in their teaching practices. Powell et al., (1992: 225-238)
consider entering beliefs and conceptions act as filter for interpreting their teacher
education and classroom experiences. Hsieh (2002) studied indicated that
teachers‟ demographic background, educational background, career banckground
had significant effects on teachers‟ beliefs about EFL learning. Factors influenced
the beliefs system including individual‟s learning experiences, public opinions
and examples of other people, motivation of EFL learning, and knowledge of
educational theory.
To sum up, factors influencing teachers‟ beliefs can be from personal
experience, experience with schooling and instruction, and experience with
formal knowledge both school subjects and pedagogical knowledge that influence
practices of teaching and learning.
4. Teachers’ Beliefs toward the Use of Authentic Materials
Teachers‟ beliefs toward the use of authentic materials in the classes are an
issue that have not received the attention it deserves. It seems that only few
studies have reported some ideas regarding teachers‟ beliefs about authentic
materials, in general. Soliman (2013) conducted a research about Libyan teachers‟
Attitudes and Believes Regarding the Use of EFL Authentic Materials within
Reading Lessons at Universities Levels in Libya. In his study, he found that
Libyan teachers had a positive attitudes towards the use of authentic material.
Almost of teachers believed that the ideal class used both authentic texts and
textbook. They thought that using only textbook in the class was ineffective way.
The teachers also indicated the types of authentic texts they preferred for use in
their reading classes. They believed that short stories were the most preferred,
whereas poems were the least preferred. The majority of teachers believed that
exposure to authentic texts should start at the intermediate levels of language
learning.
However, Kienbaum et al., (1986: 1) in their study of the effectiveness of a
communicative approach using authentic materials reported that the program's
teachers found that selection and planning for using the authentic materials
required considerable extra preparation time, and that they needed to minimize
their role of authority to encourage the students' direct contact with the culture.
Since there is only a few study that examine teachers‟ beiefs on the use of
authentic materials, the researcher was interested in examining it in the field of
senior high school teachers.
B. Authentic Materials
1. Definitions of Authentic Materials
There are some researchers that define authentic materials. Richards et al
(1985: 22) suggest the following definition; the degree to which language
teaching materials have the quality of natural speech and writing. Harmer (1983:
146) defines authentic texts, either written or spoken, are those which are
designed for native speakers: they are real texts designed not for language
students, but for the speakers of the language. In addition, Gardner and Miller
(1999: 101) explain that authentic materials mean any text (printed or digital) or
tape which is produced for a purpose other than teaching the target language.
Nunan (1989: 54) views authentic materials as samples of spoken and written
language that have not been specifically produced for the purpose of language
teaching.
In the same line of thought, Widdowson (1979: 80) sees authentic
materials as language samples not constructed for the purpose of language
learning. Forman cited in Underwood (1989:58) gives a clear definition of
authentic materials when she said that any text is „authentic‟ if it is produced in
response to real life communicative needs rather than an imitation of real life
communicative needs. The term can be applied to any sort of text, written or
spoken. Rogers and Medley (1988:468) use the term "authentic" to refer to
language samples that reflect a naturalness of form, and an appropriateness of
cultural and situational context that can be found in the language as used by the
native speakers.
Another definition suggested by Peacock (1997) is that authentic
materials are materials that have been produced to fulfill some social purpose in
the language community. Bacon and Finnemann (1990:469) define authentic
materials as texts produced by and for native speakers of the target language.
Adams (1995:4) refers to authentic materials as any materials which have not
been specifically produced for the purposes of language teaching. Guariento &
Morley (2001:347) defines authentic materials as authentic texts created to fulfill
some social purpose in the language community where it is produced. Lee
(1995:324) states that a text is usually regarded as textually authentic if it is not
written for teaching purposes, but for a real life communicative purpose, where
the writer has a certain massage to pass on to the reader.
To conclude, authentic materials can be said to be the kind of materials
which are used by native speakers, communicating orally or in writing, and which
are not simplified for FL/SL learning purposes.
2. Authenticity
There are some researchers define authenticity on their own ways.
According to Tatsuki (2006:17-21), authenticity is taken as being synonymous
with genuineness, realness, truthfulness, validity, reliability, undisputed
credibility, and legitimacy of materials or practices. Mishan (2005:18) prefers to
set some criteria for authenticity rather than defining the term. According to her,
Authenticity is a factor of the:
1. Provenance and authorship of the text.
3. Original context (e. g. its source, socio-cultural context) of the text.
4. Learning activity engendered by the text.
5. Learners‟ perceptions of and attitudes to, the text and the activity
pertaining to it
MacDonald et al., (2006) introduce four types of authenticity. Authenticity
of text (like what Guariento and Morley, 2001 suggest), authenticity of
competence (proposed by Canale and Swain, 1980), learner authenticity (by
Widdowson, 1979), and authenticity of classroom (proposed by Breen, 1985 and
Taylor, 1994). The first three types of authenticity, as MacDonald et al.,
(2006:251) propose, pertain to correspondence while the last type relates to
genesis. McDonough and Shaw (2003:40) define authenticity as:
“a term which loosely implies as close an approximation as possible to the world
outside the classroom, in the selection of both language material and of the
activities and methods used for practice in the classroom.”
In other words, authenticity refers to material and method which reflect the real
world of target language.
Breen (1985:61) distinguishes four types of authenticity which must be in
continual interrelation with one another during any language lesson:
1. Authenticity of the texts which we may use as input data for our learners.
2. Authenticity of the learners‟ own interpretations of such texts.
3. Authenticity of tasks conductive to language learning.
4. Authenticity of the actual social situation of the language classroom
Taylor (1994) similarly states authenticity was not a characteristic of a text
be truly authentic in the context for which it is originally written. In summary,
authenticity refers to the genuineness, realness, truthfulness, validity, reliability,
undisputed credibility, and legitimacy of materials or practices.
3. Sources of Authentic Materials
Widdowson (1990) differentiates between the terms authentics and
genuine materials. Authentic materials are designed for native speakers of English
and used in the classroom in the same way they are designed for. For instance, a
TV news report, a movie, a newspaper, a magazine article, pictures, and so on
used as a basis for discussion. Carefully selected YouTube video clips might
become an efficient web-based listening tool as a language teaching resource to
assist students in listening activities, and the goal of improving listening
comprehension may be more easily reached.
Currently, the use of a variety of genuine short video clips is believed to
be a pedagogical resource to benefit and enrich language teaching, and this
practice is becoming a new edge tendency in the classroom. (Beare, 2008; Duffy,
2007; Harmer, 2007; O‟Dowd, 2007). According to Hedge (2000), examples of
authentic materials include newspapers, magazines, TV programs, radio talks,
menus, brochures, comics, novels, short stories, weather forecasts, and recipes. Moreover, it is suggested by Berardo (2006) that internet is considered the most
useful source. While printed materials date very quickly, the internet is
continuously updated, is interactive, and provides visual stimulation. It provides
easy access to endless amounts of different types of material. Moreover, the
internet can be the portal to other sources. For example, teachers can obtain
articles, audio clips, and videos from the internet.
However, despite the useful qualities of the internet, Miller (2003: 16)
claims that in order to use radio programs with learners, teachers need to decide
on some global listening tasks for the learners due to the fact that all non-verbal
information is missing. Unlike radio, TV and video allow learners to access
paralinguistic features of the spoken text; as a result, TV and video may be easier
for the students to comprehend.
Gebhard (1996) gives more examples of authentic materials that EFL/ESL
teachers had used. Some of his examples, which might serve as source materials
for lesson planning are:
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 ads, 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
books, maps, TVguides, comic books, greeting cards, grocery coupons,
pins with messages, and bus schedules.
4. Realia (Real world objects) Used in EFL/ESL Classrooms: coins and
currency, folded paper, wall clocks, phones, Halloween masks, dolls, and
puppets, to name a few. (Realia were often used to illustrate points very
visually or for role-play situations)
To sum up, the sources of authentic materials are classified into Authentic
Listening-Viewing Materials, Authentic-Visual Materials, Authentic-Printed
Materials and realia.. The literature indicates that researchers have investigated
the impact of authentic materials on language comprehension and performance at
various levels. Some studies provided insights about learners‟ attitudes toward
authentic input. In addition, pedagogical research sought to provide
recommendations for material selection and sources. However, no study has been
conducted with the aim of eliciting teachers‟ beliefs toward using authentic
materials in their classes. Because of the importance of the teachers‟ role in
providing authentic input for the students, the present study attempts to address
this issue.
4. The Importance of Authentic Materials
Several experts claim that authentic materials are important to use.
According to Shrum and Glisan (2000: 133), authentic materials provide an
effective means for presenting real language, integrating culture, and heightening
comprehension. They bring two reasons for believing that authentic materials are
the opportunity to see language as it is used in real world to serve a real purpose.
Secondly, such materials can be considered as a rich source of cultural content.
Bacon and Finnemann (1990) indicate that the use of authentic materials are
recommended for both cognitive and affective reasons.
The author, Jane Crawford (1995: 28) explains the importance of effective
teaching materials in her article; „The Role of Materials in the Language
Classroom: Finding the balance‟. According to Crawford, language is functional
and must be contextualised. The author believes that it is impossible to understand
the real meaning of any interaction without knowing who the participants are or
their social distance from the event refers to. For instance, a video drama needs to
assist language in a meaningful way. Hence, the teacher is responsible for the
balance achieved between input and reapplication.
Authentic materials refer to oral and written language materials used in
daily situations by native speakers of the language (Rogers & Medley, 1988).
Some examples of authentic materials are newspapers, magazines, and television
advertisements. In addition, it is necessary for students who are going to study in
an English-speaking environment to learn how to listen to lectures and take notes,
to comprehend native speakers in various kinds of speech situations, as well as to
understand radio and television broadcasts (Paulston & Bruder, 1976).
Gilmore (2004:367) believes that if the goal in the classroom is to prepare
learners for independent language use, then surely we were obliged at some stage
to present them with realistic models of discourse. Swaffar (1981:188) contends
they will learn that comprehension is not a function of understanding every word,
but rather of developing strategies which is essential in both oral and written
communication (cited in Maher Salah, 2008). Guariento & Morley (2001:347)
also value using authentic materials since they believe that extracting real
information from a real text in a new or different language can be extremely
motivating.
Oguz and bahar (2008: 330-331) see the advantage of authentic materials
in the fact that they engage both the learners‟ and teachers‟ attention in the
language being taught. They have high interest value because of their relevance to
the real world keeping the students informed about what is happening in the world
they live in. Burns and Seidlhofer (2002: 226) suggest that authentic texts can
introduce students to a full range of transactional and interpersonal speech.
Paltridge (2001) states that in order to produce awareness of language and its
related skills, authentic materials must be used. Chavez (1998: 277-306) in the
same way agrees that using authentic materials are to the benefit of the students
because they are more enjoyable and students find a chance to interact with the
language and its use.
Velazquez (2007: 133-138) encourages the use of authentic texts since
they believe that such texts can provide a connection between the students on one
hand and the target language and culture on the other hand. Also the teacher is
provided with more opportunities to bring the real world aspects into the class.
Underwood (1989: 100) states that authentic materials allow the students to hear
are not normally found in scripted materials. It gives them a true representation of
real spontaneous speech with its hesitations, false starts and mistakes, which will
make them more able to cope with „Real Life‟ speech when they meet it outside
the learning situation.
Brosnan et al., (1984) justify the importance of the use of authentic
language in the classroom in this way:
1. Language is natural. By simplifying language or altering it for teaching
purposes (limiting structures, controlling vocabulary, etc.), it risked
making the task more difficult. We might, in fact, be removing clues to
meaning.
2. Authentic language offered students the chance to deal with a small
amount of material which, at the same time, contains complete and
meaningful messages.
3. Authentic printed materials provided students with the opportunity to
make use of non-linguistic clues (layout, pictures, colors, symbols, the
physical setting in which it occurs) to help them discover the meaning
more easily.
4. Adults needed to be able to see the immediate relevance of what they do in
the classroom to what they need to do outside it, and real-life material
treated realistically makes the connection obvious.
To sum up, the use of authentic materials to teach English is very
beneficial for the students since they are introduced to the real language used by
native speaker.
5. Selecting Authentic Materials
Selecting authentic materials was suggested. Oguz and Bahar (2008:331)
did not encourage random selection of authentic materials. To be used effectively
they mention that when choosing materials, there should always be an aim in
using them and chosen materials should meet the objectives of the lesson. They
pointed out that criteria such as learners‟ age, level, interests, needs, goals, and
expectation must always be met. Considering the level as Spelleri (2002)
mentioned the complexity level of the materials should be slightly beyond
learners‟ level if there is an aim in increasing motivation, awareness, and
curiosity.
Fei and Yu-feng (2008) also mention the importance of level of the
learners as a determining factor in choosing appropriate authentic materials.
According to Spelleri Cited in Oguz and Bahar (2008:33), the focus of authentic
materials is not on full understanding but on the message which is to be conveyed,
hence, the teacher mignt act as an interpreter of the materials by using techniques
such as paraphrasing, providing synonyms, miming, and using pictures in order to
get the message across and enhance learners‟ comprehension.
In choosing authentic materials, three other factors have been introduced
by Nuttal (in Berardo, 2006:62) as suitability, exploitability, and readability. The
most important criterion, suitability, refer to the idea that texts have be chosen
based on learners‟ interest and they must be relevant to their needs. By
exploitability he means the way through which learners‟competence as readers
may be developed. Readability means choosing texts‟ difficulty based on learners‟
language level with reference to learners‟ background.
According to Guariento and Morely (2001:348), authentic materials can
bridge the gap between the classroom and the real world as a result like what
happens in real world partial comprehension of text and is no longer considered to
be necessarily problematic. However, considering the early stages of learning and
for low proficiency learners, Jordan (1997) claims that it is still possible to use
such materials if they are chosen from the learners‟ own subject area and if they
are used according to the learners‟ ability by designing appropriate tasks modified
to their understanding level.
Khaniya (2006:21) mentions three aspects in materials selection. The first
is the linguistic background which influences classroom management, the
selection of tasks, the sequencing and execution of tasks, and the focus of
micro-skill instruction. The second is the conceptual background which determines the
need for specificity or generality of information in the selected materials and the
last aspect is cultural aspect which affects trainee instructor interaction, the
formality or informality of classroom interaction, and expectations of traditional
instructor and trainee/student roles. He further adds two other criteria which are
important in materials selection as applicability and adaptability. By applicability
he means that the tasks and texts must be selected based on the learners‟ field of
employment or professional reality. By adaptability he means easy in task design
and text manipulation.
Guariento & Morley (2001: 348) also state that for lower-level learners
authentic texts which are going to be selected must be studied carefully for the
issues of lexical and syntactic simplicity and also content familiarity or
predictability because as far as these criteria are not met using authentic texts even
with simple tasks might not only be frustrating but also demotivating for learners.
Similarly, Dunkel cited in Shomoossi and Ketabi (1995) argue that to develop
materials which are authentic, care had to be taken on finding appropriate levels
of authentic texts concerning the group of learners and the activities that are going
to be carried out in their group.
Karpova (1999:18) provides a list of the criteria which need to be
considered when using authentic materials.
1. Content: the content of authentic materials had to be appropriate for
learners‟ age, interest, needs and goals.
2. Tasks: tasks must be sequenced and differentiated and must include
communicative and cognitive procedures so that the learners‟ background
and new knowledge can be integrated.
3. Teacher-learner relationship: the materials must be structured in a way that
a reciprocal interaction between the instructor and the learner takes place.
4. Learning strategies: cognitive abilities of the learners must be improved by
paying attention to learning strategies.
5. Learning environment: the environment provided must in a way encourage
risk taking and idea sharing.
6. Social Values and Attitudes: authentic materials must be a reflection of
social values and attitudes.
7. Culture issue: authentic materials must further learners‟ cultural,
sociolinguistic, and paralinguistic awareness.
Galloway Cited in Haley and Austin (2004: 160-161) recommend the criteria in
authentic material selection.
1. Topic should be accessible to learners.
2. Length of text should not be intimidating to beginning readers.
3. Linguistic level should be slightly above the reader‟s own level unless the
tasks are closely structured to involve focused reading.
4. Clues to meaning should be abundant such as contextual, verbal, pictorial,
and linguistic.
In conclusion, selecting authentic materials should meet the objectives of
the lesson, determine the level of learners, cover linguistic background which
influences classroom management, the selection of tasks, the sequencing and
execution of tasks.
6. Advantages and Disadvantages of Authentic Materials a. Advantages of Authentic Materials
Martinez (1998) identifies the advantages of authentic materials.
Students are exposed to real discourse, as in videos of interviews with
famous people where intermediate students listen for gist.
Authentic materials keep students informed about what is happening in the
world, so they have an intrinsic educational value. As teachers, we are
educators working within the school system, so education and general
development are part of our responsibilities (Sanderson, 1999).
Textbooks often do not include incidental or improper English.
They can produce a sense of achievement, e.g., a brochure on England
given to students to plan a 4-day visit.
The same piece of material can be used under different circumstances if
the task is different.
Language change is reflected in the materials so that students and teachers
can keep abreast of such changes.
Reading texts are ideal to teach/practise mini-skills such as scanning, e.g.
students are given a news article and asked to look for specific information
(amounts, percentages, etc.) . The teacher can have students practice some
of the micro-skills mentioned by Richards (1983), e.g. basic students
listen to news reports and they are asked to identify the names of
countries, famous people, etc. (ability to detect key words).
Books, articles, newspapers, and so on contain a wide variety of text types,
language styles not easily found in conventional teaching materials.
They can encourage reading for pleasure because they are likely to contain
topics of interest to learners, especially if students are given the chance to
have a say about the topics or kinds of authentic materials to be used in
class.
Some experts (Phillips and Shettlesworth 1978, Clarke 1989; peacock 1997 cited
in Richard 2001) identify the advantages of authentic materials.
They have a positive effect on learner motivation because they are
intrinsically more interesting and motivating than created materials.
They provide authentic cultural information about target culture. Material
can be selected to explain many aspects of the target culture both linguistic
and non linguistic behavior.
They provide exposure to real language rather than the artificial texts
found in created materials that have been specially written to illustrate
particular grammatical rules or discourse types.
They related more closely to learner‟ needs and hence provide a link
between the classroom and students‟ needs in the real world.
The support a more creative approach to teaching. Teacher can develop
their potential, developing activities and tasks based on their teaching style
and student learning styles.
Hanson-Smith (2001: 109-110) believe that when text is read on the
the computers can determine whether students‟ answers are right or wrong after
each test. It is believed that computers could provide lectures and tutorials a lot
better than teachers in four major areas including phonology and phonetics. Susan
Cornish (1994: 25), a curriculum officer, supports Hanson-Smith‟s opinion. She
tought thereare great advantages of video use in class activities. She implied
videos could model spoken language as well as developing listening skills without
making demand on reading skills. Students could hear crucial information, pauses
and even understand emotions by watching.
Larimer and Schleicher (1999: 21) experience that students need exposure
to samples of everyday authentic culture presented on television. Therefore, both
authors believe that television commercials are excellent sources because they are
short, focusing on music, family relationships and colloquial English. The
authors‟ second observation is about newspapers and magazines. As they explain,
these materials are ideal sources for students to discuss current issues while
broadening their vocabulary limits. Other documents such as maps, mail and
brochures can be used as authentic materials in the classroom. These materials let
students understand the language of materials written for tourists.
b. Disadvantages of Authentic Materials
On the one hand, authentic materials proposed some advantages to be used
in teaching foreign language. On the other hand, there are some significant
disadvantages of using authentic materials in comparison with textbooks. The
main criticism made to these materials is that they are sometimes too difficult for
oversimplified and enunciated language. A mismatch between the material being
presented and the learners‟ learning styles results in a complete loss of interest
and motivation. This is mainly due to the fact that authentic materials contain less
guidance, an infinite variety of new terminology and structures. Moreover,
learners whose level of proficiency is low or who favour more traditional
methodologies may find authentic materials difficult, and irrelevant for their
needs and motivations.
The other disadvantages of authentic materials are some authentic
materials reflected certain cultural aspects which constitute taboos in the learners‟
culture. This too culturally biased situation might lead to a feeling of hatred or
repulsion towards the target language It is also true that some teachers are
reluctant to exploit authentic materials. The main reason they give for not using
them is that such materials are too difficult to be graded and adapted to the
learners‟levels or needs. In spite of this, teachers can achieve a certain grading by
using criteria such as topic, number of speakers, accent, etc.
Underwood (1997:100) as he posited that teachers might find the text
with suitable language but spoken in a way which is difficult to follow, or they
may have tapes on which the delivery is good, but the language is far too
difficult. Guariento and Morley (2001: 348-351) remind us that the use of
authentic materials make especially lower level students confused and
demotivated by the complexity of language and performance conditions unless the
simplest authentic texts are carefully selected by the teachers. Hence, the selected
