Excerpt from Practices That Work (Garza): Tapping into Learner Motivation with Authentic Texts
Excerpt -- # 14 Tapping into Learner Motivation with Authentic Texts Olla Al-Shalchi (University of Texas at Austin) Using authentic material in the language classroom is essential. It not only helps build learners vocabulary and grammar but gives them an insight into the culture of the region. During the early stages in learning a language, it may be challenging to find appropriate authentic materials, but when learners are at the Advanced level aiming toward Superior-level proficiency, that challenge no longer exists and the sky is the limit with the authentic texts available. Additionally, authentic material motivates learners to continue learning the language because they see that they are closer than ever to reaching professional proficiency. Learners feel accomplished and proud when they are able to work with texts that were intended for native speakers. At the Advanced level, learners after have mastered the most common grammatical struct...