Motivating

Interesting and Relevant

Exposes learners to how the language IS

Promotes deeper cultural knowledge Brings creativity into classroom practice

Closer to actual learner needs and interests

Current and Topical

Difficult language demotivates students Culturally biased - difficult to understand in our culture Too many structures are mixed Not relevant vocabulary Time consuming preparation

Dajak zanem hovorit o vyhodach a navyhodach, precitame si ten vyrok ucitela. Polozim im otazku a potom zacneme o vyhodach a otazky ku nim. Moze byt? I'm new to English teaching and i want to use authentic materials in my lesson, but it's difficult for me to predict how much students can understand. I also understand that in authentic material lesson students do not have to understand every single item of vocab/grammar. What is your attitude? Do you agree with this teacher or do you think that using of authentic materials can help to create wondeful lessons? Advantages

They build background knowledge by exposing learners to new ideas and content from real-life. They help learners transfer their literacy skills from familiar formats to a variety of other formats they may encounter. They increase learners' confidence to deal with the literate world around them. They motivate learners by showing them that the literacy skills they are learning are valuable and useful for living in an information-age culture.

They prepare learners to deal with real-life situations outside the classroom. They support learners' transition and integration into the world outside the classroom. Disadvantages

They are made for the mainstream literate public and not geared toward language or literacy learning. It takes creative thinking for instructors to imagine what kinds of authentic materials may suit the language and literacy objectives of the classroom. It can be too complicated and difficult for learners to use authentic materials in their original format. It takes time and effort to modify authentic materials to suit the literacy and language levels of learners and to fit the theme, strategies, and content of the class.