Microsoft Word artikel proceedings 2nd nacelt zaitun

Why choose authentic materials? 
Using authentic materials have several advantages. Brosnan et al. (1984) 
explain the importance of authentic language in the classroom below: 

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ISSN: 2502-3225 
 
 
Proceedings of the 2
nd
 National Conference on English Language Teaching (NACELT)
IAIN Palangka Raya, 14 November 2016

  
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1.
Language is natural. Thus by simplifying language or modifying it for teaching 
purposes (limiting structures or controlling vocabulary), the teachers risk making 
the task more difficult. It may, in fact, be removing clues to meaning. 
2.
Authentic language provides students the opportunity to deal with a small 
amount of material which contains complete and important messages at the same 
time. 
3.
Authentic printed materials offer students with the chance to make use of non-
linguistic clues such as layout, pictures, colors, symbols, the physical setting in 
which it occurs help them find out the meaning more easily. 
4.
Adults need to be able to see the direct applicability of learning materials in the 
classroom to what they need to have outside, and authentic material treated 
realistically makes the connection understandable.
Furthermore, Melvin and Stout (1987) find an inclusive increased motivation 
to learn in students, as well as an improved concern in the subject matter, when 
students use authentic materials for the study of culture in the language classroom. 
In class, they frequently led the students to a city in a target culture (for example, to 
spend a weekend in New York City) through well organized task-based activities 
using authentic materials. As students increased more confidence working directly 
with authentic materials, they also conveyed an increased comprehension of the 
everyday benefits of being able to use the language in real-world circumstances. 
Students stated that they found it useful to be practicing skills they really need 
outside the classroom and to be learning about cultures beyond what they already 
know. Some researchers also point out that more authentic materials are needed in 
the classroom because of the wide gap that is found between materials developed 
specifically for English language teaching and authentic conversation. 
Porter and Roberts (1981) describe several differences of spoken language 
between authentic materials and non-authentic materials. Conversations recorded 
for language texts often have a slow pace, have particular structures which return 
with obvious frequency, and have very different turn-taking of speakers. Also, 
hesitations (such as “uh’s” and “mm’s”) are often omitted, and sentences are very 
well-formed with few if any mistakes. In other words, what the students hear in 
class is different from the language in the real world.
In many cases, the language heard in classrooms is an over formal, unnatural 
use of spoken language, and authenticity is lost because of a need to communicate 
specific language topics in a way that some teachers feel would be more 
comprehensible for students. Nunan (1999:27) recognizes that it is not convincing for 
teachers to use only authentic materials in the classroom, he makes a point that 
students should be provided with authentic data as much as possible, because in the 

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