Running head: TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Teaching Grammar Using Authentic Materials
Final thesis
Masaryk University Brno
Faculty of Education
Department of English Language and Literature
Brno 2016
Supervisor: Author:
Mgr. Renata Jančaříková, Ph.D. Mgr. Eva Štaralová
2
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Prohlášení
Prohlašuji, že jsem závěrečnou práci vypracovala samostatně, s využitím pouze citovaných
literárních pramenů, dalších informací a zdrojů v souladu s Disciplinárním řádem pro
studenty Pegagogické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity a se zákonem č. 211/2000Sb., o právu
autorském, o právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů
(autorský zákon), ve znění pozdějších předpisů.
Declaration
I declare that I worked on my final work on my own and that I used all the sources mentioned
in the bibliography.
Brno 31st May 2016 ---------------------------------------------------
Mgr. Eva Štaralová
3
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Aknowledgements
I would like to thank my supervisor Mgr. Renata Jančaříková, Ph.D. for her willing
support, valuable advice and kind attitude. I appreciate her careful guidance and help with
recommending literature and consulting the work.
I would like to thank my family for the support given.
4
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Abstract
The thesis presents how authentic materials can be embodied in teaching grammar in the
environment of the upper primary classes. The thesis is divided in two parts: theoretical and
practical. In the theoretical part the author describes the terms grammar and authentic
materials and reasons why teaching grammar using authentic materials can be beneficial for
the learning process. The practical part focuses on piloting six lessons in three upper primary
classes. The descriptions of the classes, the lesson plans created and taught by the author, the
evaluation of the lessons taught and the results are also included in the practical part. The
conclusion summarizes the research and outlines how the further research could be carried
out.
Key words: authentic materials, English grammar, teaching English
5
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Shrnutí
Závěrečná práce se zabývá tématem využití autentických materiálů při výuce gramatiky
v hodinách anglického jazyka na druhém stupni základní školy. Práce je rozdělena do dvou
částí: teoretické a praktické. Teoretická část práce vymezuje pojmy gramatika a autentické
materiály, dále objasňuje, proč je prospěšné využívat tento typ materiálů během výuky
anglického jazyka na základní škole. Praktická část práce je složena z části vymezující
badatelskou otázku, popisu způsobu výzkumu odpovědi na tuto otázku, dále z přehledu plánů
jednotlivých vyučovacích hodin anglického jazyka vytvořených ad hoc a pilotovaných
autorkou této práce. Shrnutí výsledků výzkumu a nástin dalšího možného využití autentických
materiálů v oblasti základního školství tvoří závěr práce.
Klíčová slova: autentické materiály, gramatika, výuka anglického jazyka
6
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………………….......3
1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………8
2. THEORETICAL PART
2.1 What is grammar?.......................................................................................................10
2.1.1 Definition of grammar.……………………………………………………......10
2.1.2 Do learners need to be taught in grammar?.......................................................11
2.1.3 Approaches to teaching grammar……………………………………………..15
2.2 Authentic materials………………………………………………………………...20
2.2.1 Classification of authentic materials……………………………………........21
2.2.2 Advantages and disadvantages of using authentic materials………………...22
2.2.3 Criteria of using authentic materials ………………………………………26
2.3 How authentic materials can be used in teaching grammar……………………......28
3. PRACTICAL PART
3.1 Research procedure………………………………………………………………..30
3.1.1 The research question…………………………………………………….......30
3.1.2 The research design………………………………………………………….30
3.1.3 Descriptions of the classes……………………………………………….......31
3.1.4 Lesson plans………………………………………………………………….35
3.1.5 Piloting lessons……………………………………………………………….52
3.2. The survey………………………………………………………………………….54
3.2.1 Compiling data……………………………………………………………….55
3.2.2 Data analysis………………………………………………………………......58
3.2.3 Results…………………………………………………………………….......61
7
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
4. CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………..63
5. REFERENCES (PRINT SOURCES) ……………………………………………….....64
6. REFERENCES (ELECTRONIC SOURCES)…………………………………………66
6. APPENDICES………………………………………………………………………….68
8
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
1. INTRODUCTION
The aim of this thesis is to create and to pilot six lesson plans in order to present how
English grammar can be taught by using authentic materials in the upper primary classes.
The thesis consists of the theoretical and the practical part.
The first chapter of the theoretical part specifies the definition of grammar, discusses the
general concept of teaching grammar and the necessity of teaching grammar in the context
of teaching English.
The term of the authentic materials and their classification, the advantages and
disadvantages of the use of the authentic materials in the environment of the upper primary
class, and the criteria of their appropriate selection constitutes the second chapter of the
theoretical part of this thesis.
The third chapter of the theoretical part focuses on the procedures how authentic materials
can be used in teaching English grammar and can be effectively applied in the upper primary
classes.
The practical part defines the research question, describes the research procedure and
the research results.
The first chapture of the practical part defines the primary aim of the research what is to
verify the effective use of the authentic materials in teaching grammar appropriately chosen in
consideration of the age, the level of English, the interests of the learners, and last but not
least the syllabus of the concrete primary school.
The research procedure is based on the six lessons piloted by the author of this thesis in the
three different classes at the primary school where the author has been teaching English .
9
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
The description of the classes, the lesson plans, the evaluation of the lessons piloted by the
author are embodied in the third, fourth and fifth subchapters of the first chapter of the
practical part.
The data analysis and the results of the research of teaching grammar using authentic
materials are presented in the second chapture.
The conclusion summarizes the procedures how the authentic materials can be used in
teaching English grammar in the upper primary classrooms and how the idea of using
authentic materials in English teaching can be explored in the further research.
10
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
2. THEORETICAL PART
2.1 What is grammar?
What is grammar? Do learners of foreign languages need to master this area to be able to
use the language of their interest effectively? For what purpose are the learners of foreign
languages taught grammar?
English teachers at the upper primary classes should be able to answer these questions in
order to explain their pupils why a concrete part of discourse is expressed in a certain way.
Moreover, the teachers should encourage the pupils to study grammar by designing their
lessons in an interesting and a modern way in connection with an authentic language.
2.1.1 Definition of grammar. The general concept of grammar is centered around the
terms such as rules, a system, an order how to group words together. The explanation of the
term grammar and the adjustment of this explanation for the upper primary pupils creates a
stimulating backround for teaching grammar. Therefore, the knowledge of the suitable
definition of grammar is important for the upper primary English teachers.
The acknowledged authorities in the English teaching methodology such as Penny Ur, Jim
Scrivener, Jeremy Harmer and Scott Thornbury discuss the term of grammar as follows.
Grammar is defined according to Ur (1991) as “the way words are put together to make
correct sentences ” (p. 75) or according to Ur (1994) “the way a language manipulates and
combines words (or bits of words) in order to form longer units of meaning“ (p. 4). Ur (1991)
also debates the term “grammatical“ and its application in teaching grammar, what is
acceptable and what is unacceptable. Furthermore, Ur (1991) underlines the importance of the
teaching of grammatical meaning and explains that the grammatical structures do not cause
the difficulties for learners of foreign languages compared to the grammatical meaning. The
same point of view, i.e. not only grammatical rules but also the comprehension of their
11
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
meaning are necessary for using a language properly, is claimed by Scrivener (2011), who
adds the idea of making predictions based on “the internal collection of information“ during
the proces of making sentences, when an user of a foreign language follows “a sort of mental
list of possible patterns of English“ (p. 156). Together with Ur (1991), Harmer (2007)
describes grammar as a way that enables to a speaker of a language to put “a number of
elements in the correct order to get that meaning across grammar“(p. 60) to formulate a
possible sentence. Furthermore, Harmer (2007) mentions the grammar system together with
the lexical system as a way “how words change their shape depending on their grammatical
function, and how they group together“ (p.30). Thornbury (2009) uses a methapor and
compares grammar to “the pillars which supports a langugae“ (p. 3) and summarizes the
opinions of the other teachers, who consider grammar “the only secure point in the seeming
chaos of communicative uncertainty, and they cling to it for safety“ (p. 3).
2.1.2 Do learners need to be taught in grammar? The reply of this question can be
explained by the following question: What is the main goal of language teachers at all levels
of the school system? The obvious answer is to teach learner the target language, i.e. to use
the language for effective communication and that means to understand and to be understood
by other users of the language. Grammar, as said above, presents the instrument that helps to
this process.
Thornbury (1999) expresses the idea that the history of language teaching has been
connected with “the history of claims and counterclaims for and against the teaching
grammar“ (p. 14) and underlines the fact that the different attitudes to the grammar reflect the
different methodes between the authorities in the field of teaching languages and learners of
foreign languages. As above, Thornbury (1999) quotes Ur (1994) who supports the
importance of learning grammar claiming grammar “essential for the mastery of a
language“(p. 14), and also quotes Krashen who denies the effectivity of grammar teaching
12
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
and asserts grammmar teaching as “peripheral and fragile’’(p. 14). Before Thornbury (1999)
debates advantages and disadvantages of teaching grammar he has called the readers of his
book for making up their own minds. Thornbury (1999) sums up seven arguments in favour
of teaching grammar:
1. The sentence-machine argument: grammar is described as a system of the regularities in a
language and the knowledge of them enables the user of the language to create original
sentences.
2. The fine-tuning argument: grammar used in written language serves as a corrective leading
to better intelligibility.
3. The fossilisation argument: the fossilisation of the linguistic competence comes sooner to
the learners who don´t receive grammatical instructions than those who do.
4. The advance-organiser argument: the learner of a foreign language who studies grammar in
his/her language classes is able to recognize the grammatical item taught in those classes
while he/she is listening to the talks of native speakers. This noticing is a prerequisite for the
acquisition of a foreign language.
5. The discrete item argument: a foreign language is seemed by a learner to be a mass of
information. Grammar organizes this mass by providing rules, categories, etc. Organizing
these categories called discrete items makes the language more easily digestible.
6. The rule-of-law-argument: the process of learning grammar is seen as a “transmission’’(p.
17) of a knowledge from the teachers wo have the knowledge to the learners who do not have
the knowledge. This transfer is related to the learning in the environment of institutions
where discipline is valued. Grammar understood as a system of rules “can be taught and
tested in methodical steps ’’(p. 17).
13
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
7. The learner expectation argument: This argument is based on the expectations of the learner
is convinced that grammar is supposed to be present in language lessons.
In addition, Thornbury (1999) summarizes six arguments against teaching grammar:
1. The knowledge how argument: This argument compares a language learning to a skill of
riding a bike. From this point of view learnes of a language can learn the language by “doing
it, not by studying it’’(p. 18).
2. The communication argument: Communicative Language Teaching or Communicative
Approach underlines the role of grammar and vocabulary of the language “to achieve
communicative goals’’(p.18). This approach to the learning of a language can be divided in
two ways that answer the questions why and how to learn a foreign language: to learn a
language for the purpose of using it and to learn a language by communicating. Moreover,
grammar is being acquired unconsciously by the situations when the learners are immersed in
communicative activities during the language lessons.
3. The acquisition argument: Thornbury (1999) mentions Krashen´s theory which
distinguishes between learning a language and its acquisition and the innate learning skills are
activated by the comprehensible input and a stress free environment. The emphasis is put on
the fact that we all learned our mother tongue without learning its grammar.
4. The natural order argument: Thornbury (1999) cites the linguist Noam Chomsky who
argues that human being are born with rules of the universal grammar and this fact can be
used in the proces of learning of the second language.
5. The lexical chunks arguments: This argument lays stress on the lexical approach in learning
languages. The learner pays attention to chunks of language which enables him or her to
communicate more effectively than it happens in a traditional grammatical oriented approach.
14
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
6. The learner expecation argument: This argument as is mentioned above is based on the
expectations of the learners. In this case the learners prefer speaking and communication in a
foreign language to learning grammar since they have been taught grammar in their previous
language classes.
Ur (1991), on the other hand, expresses her attitude to “the place of grammar in the
teaching” (p. 76) with the aid of four extracts that are supposed to be discussed by the trainee
teachers. Ur (1991) herself comments those exctracts. The first extract presents the idea that
there is no need to learn grammar, as such, to learn a new language. However, Ur asks
whether learning grammar helps in the process of learning language and she gives her own
response: yes, it helps, and describes grammar as a tool to improve “mastery of the language
(p. 77). The second extract claims that the learner “is craving for” learning grammar more
outside the classroom than inside the classsroom. Ur (1991) critisizes that statement because
there is no evidence given by the author of the extract that learning grammar outside the
classroom and she is inclined to think that the learner “wants” to study grammar and the
teacher provides information and practice of grammar to the learner. The third extract states
that learning grammar does not enable the learners to make real-life sentences. Ur (1991)
supports the idea that grammatical accuracy is supposed to be used to produce grammaticaly
correct sentences within the real-life context. The last extract compares grammar to “a
voyage of discovery” (p. 77). Ur (1991) agrees with that statement which speaks in favour of
learning grammar, however, she adds the note that she is not sure whether all learners are
interested in grammar, as such.
In conclusion, Ur (1991) claims the idea that learning grammar does help in the process of
learning a foreign language. Thornbury (1991) presents the arguments for and against
teaching grammar and appeals to the readers for making up their own minds.
15
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Scrivener (2011) defines “learning the grammar” (p. 156) as one of the expectations
which students have had before they enter a language class and he comments the present
situation in the field of learning foreign languages and adds that the opinions of what learners
of a foreign language need to know differ and he underlines the importance of learning
grammar by the fact that learning grammar enables to a learner of foreign language “to
communicate and be understood” (p.157).
In comparison with what was mentioned above, Harmer (2007) highlights the necessity of
the knowledge of grammar for language teachers to be able to answer the questions
concerning grammar asked by their learners. In addition, he explains not only the importance
of grammar learning for effective communication in a foreign language but he indicates the
importance of the terms such as “language function” (p. 76), “discourse” (p. 76) as well.
To sum up the ideas whether grammar is supposed to be taught in the language
classrooms can be said that the renowned methodologists such as Penny Ur, Jim Scrivener,
Jeremy Harmer and Scott Thornbury are together in the answer of teaching grammar. Their
point of view of the concept of grammar in the learning grammar stresses the knowledge of
grammar as an essential element of a succesful and effective real-life communication in a
foreign language.
2.1.3 Approaches to teaching grammar. Teachers of English at the upper primary classes
have to design their lesson plans in conformity with curriculum which means besides other
things the list of grammatical items is set in concrete and their objective is to lead their
pupils to the aquisition of these grammatical items. The English teachers in their everyday
reality encounter the following questions: Which method would be the proper one for my
pupils? What aspects of learning should I bear in mind? How could I engage my pupils´
attention? The answers of these questions vary according to the concrete conditions in the
16
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
class and to the personality of the teacher whether he or she wants to find the new ways how
to teach English grammar or not. Ur (1996) characterizes teachers who have been teaching for
twenty years as “those with twenty years’ experience and those with one year’s experience
repeated twenty times” (p. 317). This statement could be become a challenge for the English
teachers who have been teaching for a long period, however, not only for them.
Harmer (2007 b) defines the term approach as the term which is connected “to theories
about the nature of language and language learning which are the source of the way things are
done in the classroom and which provides the reasons for doing them” (p. 62). In addition,
Harmer (2007 b) comments the use of the terms such as a method, a procedure and a
technique and alerts teachers to the “use and mis-use of these terms” (p. 63). However, he
sums up what the teacher needs to know when he or she has intention of trying a new method
of teaching. Harmer (2007b) debates two questions. Firstly, whether the method is acceptable
for both pupils and teachers, and secondly, whether they “actually achieve what they set out
to achieve” (p. 63). Harmer (2007b) discusses the methods which influence the current state
of language teaching such as Grammar-translation, Direct method and Audiolingualism,
Presentation, presentation and production (PPP) and alternatives to PPP, Communicative
Language Teaching (CLT), Task-based learning (TBL) and The Lexical approach.
Moreover, Harmer (2007b) mentions “the term native speakerism” and explains that
“British and American teaching methodology and practices have been exported around the
world, almost without question by the exporters, though they are increasingly questioned by
commentators, both native speakers and non-native speakers alike” (p. 76). Harmer (2007b)
discusses the relationship between methodology and the educational and social culture and the
differences between the western and the other cultures understanding of learning languages.
He adds what teachers should ask themselves is to decide what methodology is appropriate
17
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
and how to apply this methodology in the classroom and recommend teachers to take the
following ideas into consideration:
1. Affect: teachers should reflect their pupil’s feelings to create a stimulating
environment for learning.
2. Input: pupils should be exposed to the language, focus on form is necessary.
3. Output: pupils should produce language, they need to “activate” (p. 79) their language
knowledge.
4. Cognitive effort: teachers encourage their pupils to find out more information about
language and grammar by themselves rather than to gain this kind of information from
their teachers.
5. Grammar and lexis: both grammar and lexis are important in the process of learning
language.
6. How, why and where: firstly, teachers should ask themselves why and where they are
teaching, and secondly, they make the choice of a method.
Harmer (2007b) concludes that the choice of a method and consequently the choice of
procedures and techniques “at all levels and at all stages of teaching” (p. 79) should be in
harmony with the answer of the question why teachers doing what they are doing.
Scrivener (2011) names some popular methods together with well – known approaches. He
defines a method as “a way of teaching” (p. 31) and approach to teaching languages
characterizes as “what you believe about” the essential part of language, the ways pupils learn
languages and how teaching can help pupils learn foreign language. That characteristic is in
an agreement with Harmer´s conception of approach as it was said above. Scrivener lists the
same methods and approaches as Harmer (2007) does, however, Scrivener adds the others
such as Total Physical Response (TPR), Community Language learning (CLL), the natural
18
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
approach, The Silent way, The person-centred approaches, Dogme. The last mentioned
method Dogme is proposed by Scott Thornbury (as cited in Scrivener, 2011) and claims for
“back-to-basics approach”. Teachers need to work on the relationship with their students and
should use technology in a restricted way. Furthermore, Scrivener (2011) argues for “personal
methodology” (p. 33) which means according to his understanding of that term “the process
of choosing items from a range of methods and constructing a collage methodology ” (p. 33)
known as “principled eclecticism”(p. 33). Both Harmer (2007) and Scrivener (2011) claim
for the personal way of teaching in the classroom and present the necessity of choosing the
appropriate method of teaching for individual classes which respects the environment of
learning and pupils as well.
Thornbury (2004) stresses two important approaches to teaching grammar: a deductive and
an inductive approach. He suggests for them easier terms such as the rule-driven learning for
the deductive approach and the discovery learning for the inductive one. Thornbury (2004)
states pros and cons of both approaches and evaluates them according to the E-factor and the
A-factor. He summarizes that the deductive approach is direct, respects pupils´ intellectual
abilities and skills; however, it can be demotivating for pupils and can support the idea that
learning a language is only learning grammar rules. On the other hand, the inductive approach
is based on the learner activity and there is more opportunity for language practice,
nevertheless, this approach is time-consuming and pupils may work on the wrong grammar
rule or the wrong grammar hypothesis and they can think that the main goal of language
learning is the rule they are looking for. Thornbury (2004) describes the way how to teach
grammar through texts. Apart from different sources of texts he presents the sample lesson
based on the use of an authentic text to teach the passive. He sums up how authentic materials
can be used in teaching grammar and criticizes sympathizers of the use of authentic texts in
teaching language. He expresses the idea that the motivating factor of using authentic
19
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
materials is overestimated because any real-life text is unreadable for a learner of foreign
language due to “the linguistic load of unfamiliar vocabulary and syntactic complexity” (p.
72). Thornbury suggests a simplification of authentic texts used in the classroom or to write
the teacher´s text for example narratives. Summarizing teaching approaches, Thornbury
(2004) claims for “ teachers´ intuition” in choosing the appropriate teaching method because
“teaching methods come and teaching methods go”(p. 154), however, that statement should
not lead language teachers to lethargy, they should keep themselves being up to date and try
to explore new teaching methods.
In comparison with what was said above about approaches to teaching languages and
methodology as such, Ur (1991) nor classifies neither comments particular approaches or
methods, she merely underlines the“link between practice and theory ”(p. 4). Ur (1991)
claims for teachers´own classroom experience being included in the proces of choosing the
appropriate teaching way for the concrete class. She explains her conception of the term
foreign language teaching. Firstly, she stresses the inseparable link between learning and
teaching, therefore, she discusses teaching in the context of the recognition of learners´
needs. Secondly, Ur (1991) describes the differences between “teaching and methodology” (p.
4). She describes methodology as a component of teaching that includes other parts itself such
as designing lessons or pupils´discipline. Ur (1991) names her methodology approach as “the
more conventional methodology” (p. 5). The PPP model of teaching languages in her
understanding is characterized as “(1) presenting and explaining new material; (2) providing
practice; and (3) testing.” (p. 10). Ur (1991) justifies the choice of the PPP method by using
the term “good learners ” (p. 10) who learn languages with that method. According to Ur
(1994) the practice stage is considered to be the most important part of grammar teaching
because through practice pupils consolidate their knowledge of a new grammar item.
Nevertheless, she does not deny the fact that pupils learn languages outside the classroom and
20
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
she claims for teachers´ activity in the process of making opportunities for “more intuitive
acquisition ” (p. 10).
In conclusion, the authorities mentioned above are in agreement with the idea that teachers
should choose the appropriate methods for their grammar teaching. The process of the choice
should be based on the knowledge of their pupils and the environment where they teach. The
most used teaching approaches and methods are: Grammar-translation, Direct method and
Audiolingualism, Presentation, presentation and production (PPP), Communicative Language
Teaching (CLT) and Task-based learning (TBL). Ur (1991) is the author who prefers only
one teaching method: PPP, however, she stresses possible variations and modifications of
PPP. Harmer (2007b) mentions one phenomenon linked to teaching approaches which is “the
native speakerism ”(p. 76) and he adds that the method chosen should fit not only to the
pupils but to the teacher as well. Summarizing what was said above, the teacher is the
decisive element in the proces of choosing the teaching approach and consequently the
appropriate method.
2.2. Authentic materials
Harmer (2007b) defines authentic material as “language where no concessions are made to
foreign speakers” (p. 273) and “it is normal, natural language used by native or competent
speakers of a language”(p. 273). In addtion, he adds the fact that “deciding what is or is not
authentic is not easy”(p. 274) and presents the examples of a father talking to his baby who
uses baby talk and of a stage play which can be considered both authentic and inauthentic.
Hedge (2000) understands authentic materials as “materials which have not been designed
especially for language learners and which therefore do not have contrived or simplified
language”(p. 67).
21
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Gilmore (2007) lists eight meanings of authenticity in the context of foreign language
teaching. Those definitions are in agreement with the conception of authentic language as the
language produced by native speakers for a real group of people and as the language which
emerges from the communication between teachers and pupils in the classroom. Moreover, he
cites the idea that “terms such as authentic, genuine, real or natural and their opposites fake
unreal or contrived are emotionally loaded and indicate approaval or disapproval whilst
remaining ill-defined”(p. 5).
Scrivener (2011) mentiones the term authentic in the following phrases as “authentic
exposure” and “authentic output” (p. 397). Authentic exposure is defined as “exposure to
language when i tis being used fairly naturally” (p. 397) and authentic output as “students
speaking or writing using the full range of language”(p. 397). That concept is in agreement
with what Gilmore (2007) summarizes about the term authentic language and authenticity.
Ur (1996) uses the term authentic in the context of real-life reading and of pupils´ authentic
responds to a task. She stresses the link between real-life texts and writing and the
authenticity as such.
To sum up, authentic materials are the materials both written and spoken produced by
native speakers or speakers of target language which convey a real-life message (Gilmore,
2007) and the term authentic can be used for language used by pupils learning foreign
language in the classroom and their teachers.
2.2.1 Classification of authentic materials. Authentic language, as was said above,
represents native speakers´ and target language group production and the language production
between teachers and their pupils in the classroom. For teaching and learning purposes in this
work the author uses the first category of authentic language and suggests the following
classification of this kind of materials.
22
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Authentic materials can be classified according to the criterion whether authentic language
production is supposed primarily to be read, watched and listened to and posted on the
Internet:
• Reading authentic materials: books, magazines, newspapers, brochures, leaflets,
menus, letters, e-mails
• Audio -visual authentic materials: TV programmes, TV series and TV shows, TV
news, films, cartoons, videos, songs, radio programmes, advertising
• Authentic materials on the Internet: websites, social networks, YouTube, blogs, vlogs,
online games
2.2.2 Advantages and disadvantages of using authentic materials. The use of authentic
materials is inseparably related to communicative language teaching (CLT). Hedge (2000)
debates why using authentic language is an essential part of CLT and underlines that the main
goal of teaching foreign languages is to prepare students for using foreign language in the real
world and he points out that if students are exposed to unnatural language in the classroom
they first experience with authentic language can be frustrating for them. In addition, she
argues that authentic materials should be introduced to the classroom gradually and the use of
this kind of language should build students´confidence in using foreign language in the real
world. On the other hand, Hedge (2000) refers to many teachers´opinion that especially
students at lower levels of proficiency can be supported by rather “simulated-authentic”
materials (p. 68) than authentic materials as such, and therefore the confidence in using
foreign language and the contact with the authentic language is maintained.
Likewise, Harmer (2007b) claims for using authentic materials in the class and stresses the
students expectations about their competence of using foreign language which is the use of
language in the real life where language production is not simplified and he claims for
23
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
choosing authentic materials cautiously not to be demotivating for students because of the
authentic language complexity of both lexis and grammar. Harmer (2007b) underlines the
motivating factor of teaching foreign language with authentic materials even for beginners
and he advises teachers to show beginners how much they have learnt instead of how little
they are able to present of their foreign language competence.
Thornbury (2004) discusses the motivating factor for using authentic materials while he
evaluates his grammar lesson based on the use of authentic materials. The benefit of the
experience with successfully learning grammmar using the authentic language is reflected by
its contribution to independent study of self directed learners and by the presence of real
language, “undistorted by the heavy hand of the grammarian ” (p. 78). Moreover, Harmer
(2004) emphasizes the fact, that learner does not gain only knowledge of a new grammatical
item but of other language items such as new vocabulary, cultural context, etc. because of
language-richness of authentic materials.
Gilmore (2007) sums up the main goal of teaching foreign languages as “to produce
learners who are able to communicate effectively in the target language ” (p. 6) and he adds
that teachers should use any means at their disposal to reach this goal and he changes the
question of the presence of the authentic language in the classroom to the question how to use
this kind of materials effectively in learning proces. Gilmore (2007) together with
methodologists mentioned above underlines the necessity of bringing the real language to the
classroom and explains in what phenomena of “the gap between authentic language and
textbook language” (p. 6) are. Gilmore (2007) literally labels the language in textbooks as “a
poor representation of the real thing” (p. 6) despite the fact that “much have been done to
redress the balance” (p. 6) between authentic language and the language in textbooks.
Moreover, he points out the inadequacy of the current textbooks´ language in the process of
“developing learners´overall communicative competence” (p. 7) and he claims for using
24
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
authentic materials, especially audio-visual ones which include “a much richer source of input
for learners and have the potential to be exploited in different ways and on different levels to
develop learners´communicative competence” (p. 23). Further, Gilmore (2007) focuses on
the question “how context-sensitive language is” (p. 22) and advises how to help learners to
cope with the complexity of the target language and he argues for contextualising and
sensitising teaching of foreign languages for example by mentioning the contrast between the
learners´culture and the target culture. In addition, he stresses the necessity to understand each
classroom as “a unique in terms of its students needs” (p. 23) and the necessity to adjust the
texbooks to be able to reflect the current state of the target language.
Ur (1994) evaluate the use of authentic materials as beneficial for learning purposes
underlining their motivating function regarding their real-life characteristic. Although, she
points out the difficulties with their application such as the complexity of lexis, syntax and
cultural context as it was mentioned above.
Scrivener (2011) refers to authentic materials in the context of authentic exposure and he
explains “a passion for authentic materials”(p. 127) as a reaction to “the previously very
unnatural text of many earlier teaching materials”(p. 127). He objects that the fact that
authentic materials are more attractive for learners because of their interestingness is less
important for the learning process and explains that Krashen´s hypothesis (as cited in
Scrivener, 2011) of a difference between language acquision and learning and his concept of
comprehensible input which means that a real piece of information communicated is supposed
to be comprehensible “a little above our current level”(p. 128) supports a restricted input. In
addition, he highlights the distinction between authentic and restricted exposure from the
teacher perspectives because of different approaches which should be used when learners are
exposed to the real-life materials and to the “learner-friendly ”(p. 127) ones.
25
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Concluding advantages and disadvantages of using authentic materials, the authors
mentioned above are in agreement with the positive effect on learning process of foreign
languages because of the motivating function of this kind of materials and the real-world
connection between the language lesson and the real world outside the classroom, however,
due to the complexity of lexis, grammar and cultural context, authentic materials are highly
recommended to be used especially at higher level classes. Nevertheless, the complexity of
authentic materials can become the advantage of their use because learnes can acquire more
language knowledge from them (Harmer, 2004) and support further language study of self
directed learners (Thornbury, 2004). For low level classes authentic materials should be
introduced gradually (Hedge, 2000) and chosen cautiously not to be frustrating but motivating
for learners. The important advantage of authentic materials is their quantity and variety.
Language teachers should draw their attention to the process of chosing the appropriate
authentic material for their classes and maintain the balance between the use of authentic and
artificial textbook language in favour of their learners´needs, since language teachers prepare
their learners for the real life communication and should motivate learners not only for the
further and deeper study of the target language but the target culture as a whole.
The upper primary classes´ language education should reflect the connection between the
real-life language and the language taught in the classroom. The fundamental is the term to
balance which includes itself the balance between the aim of the lesson and the approach and
the methods how authentic materials are used, between a textbook and a real-life language,
and between learners´ level and the language level of the authentic material used in the
language lesson. Despite the demanding character of the lesson taught with the use of
authentic materials from the point of view of its planning and chosing the appropriate
authentic material and the fact that the language teachers around the whole world have to cope
with teaching in overfull, heterogeneous classes with many different pupils´needs presented,
26
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
including not only pupils with dyslexia or dysgraphia diagnosed but autistic pupils and pupils
with low mentally or physically handicapped, authentic materials should create the base of
language teaching at least once a week. The author of this work is convinced that the use of
authentic materials creates the bridge between the classroom language environment with all
its advantages and disadvantages and the outside environment where the genuine target
language is used.
2.2.3 Criteria of using authentic materials. The process of chosing the appropriate
authentic material, as it was said above, is a essential part of a lesson based on the use of this
kind of materials. This work deals with the use of teaching grammar using authentic materials
and defines its aim as the presentation of how authentic materials can be used in the grammar
oriented classes in the environment of the upper primary classes. Therefore, the criteria for
this group of learners are mentioned as the decisive element for the process of chosing of the
appropriate authentic materials.
The upper primary pupils are children and teenagers at the age of from eleven to sixteen
years. It represents the sixth, the seventh, the eighth and the ninth classes at the primary
schools in the Czech Republic.
The choice of the authentic material should reflect its appropriateness for the age with its
physical and mental features, which means the appropriateness of the theme of the authentic
material chosen and the abilities and skills of the children and the teenagers, the aim of the
lesson, in this case the presence of the grammar item planned to be learned and acquired, and
the interconnection between the lesson based on authentic materials and the whole language
curriculum of the concrete primary school.
Berardo (2006) sumps up the factors which should be taken in consideration when teachers
decide what kind of the authentic material can be introduced in the classroom to be beneficial
27
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
for both language learning process and its motivating and for further learners´ language study
challenging character. The factors affecting the teachers´choice of authentic materials
according to Berardo (2006) are:
• Suitability of content according to the learners´needs and interests.
• Exploitability from the teaching perspective of the concrete lesson.
• Readability of the authentic material chosen from the learners´point of view.
• Presentation of attractiveness of the authentic material introduced in the classroom.
Apart from the factors mentioned above Berardo (2006) points out the cultural bias which
are present in the authentic materials and language teachers should be aware of this fact when
they chose the authentic material and give their pupils an appropriate explanation of a
particular cultural phenomenon.
In conclusion, the main important factors present at the process of chosing the appropriate
authentic material for teaching foreign language are: the learners and their needs and the
connection between the authentic material and the aim of the concrete lesson or more
precisely the whole language learning process.
In agreement with the aim of this work which is teaching grammar using authentic
materials in the enviroment of the upper primary classes the following factors are taken in
consideration in the process of chosing authentic materials and their use in the grammar
aimed lesson.
Firstly, the specific environment of the primary schools in the Czech Republic, as the case
may be the local school where six lesson based on authentic materials were being taught by
the author of this work from the learners´ natural abilities and the learners´special needs point
of view.
28
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Secondly, the exploitability of the authentic material chosen from the teaching grammar and
learning process perspective.
Thirdly, the opportunity for the teachers´ creativity enabled by the variety and the huge
amount of authentic materials.
2.3 How authentic materials can be used in teaching grammar
Authentic materials represent an inexhaustible source of language material which can be
used in language learning process because of its amount and variety. However, the authentic
materials should be chosen in agreement with the criteria mentioned above i.e. suitability of
content, exploitability, readability and presentation of attractiveness.
The use of authentic materials in the environment of the upper primary classroom should be
used in a appropriate extent to be motivating for the pupils. The teachers should take in
consideration the fact that in each class a few pupils with dyslexia or dysgraphia are present.
Moreover, autistic pupils and low mentally and physically handicapped pupils with their
assistants attend language lessons. Therefore, in addition, the authentic materials should be
approachable for them as well.
The aim of this work is to demonstrate how the authentic materials can be used in teaching
grammar in the environment of upper primary classes and to verify the motivating character
of their introducing to the language lessons. For this purpose, the author of this work piloted
six lessons based on authentic materials in three different classes in which the author has been
teaching English and evaluated the results by analysing the data generated from the survey
where the pupils are asked to register their reactions to the lessons taught and their attitudes to
English language as such.
29
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
In the practical part of this work the research procedure which includes the research
question, the description of the classes, the lesson plans, the evaluation of the lessons taught,
the compiling data procedure and their analysis is described.
30
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
3. PRACTICAL PART
3.1 Research procedure
The primary aim of the research carried out is to verify the effective use of the authentic
materials in teaching grammar approprietly chosen in consideration of the age, the level of
English, the interests of the learners, and last but not least the syllabus of the concrete primary
school and to verify the motivating character of authentic materials in language learning.
The research procedure of this work in agreement with what Nunan (2008) claims about
two themes connected with research of this work is deductive (p. 13) and according to how he
defines the two main types of research (p. 8) primary research based on the statistical study
and its subcategory: a survey study. The survey study investigates the opinions and the
attitudes of the upper primary pupils through the questionnaires designed ad hoc.
3.1.1 The research question. This work verifies the effective and motivating character of
using authentic materials in teaching grammar in the environment of upper primary classes.
In order to investigate that research area, the research question was formulated in the
following way:
Do authentic materials present a more effective and motivating learning aid in learning
English grammar in the upper primary classes?
3.1.2 The research design. The research is divided in two main parts. The first part
includes the description of the classes and their English learning history, the presentation of
the six lessons plans and their piloting at those upper primary classes.
The second part of the research is aimed to compiling, analysing the data gathered from the
survey consisting of the questionnaire designed for this purpose according to the
reccommendations which Dornyei (2003) published.
31
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
The questionnaire is divided in two sections. The first section investigates the upper-
primary pupils´ opinions about the lessons in which authentic materials were used and the
second part of the questionnaire investigates their attitudes to English language as such.
The questionnaires were distributed to the pupils in the lesson that followed the two
English lessons piloted.
The data generated from the survey were compiled in two tables: Table 1 and Table 2 (p.
38-39). The first table: Table 1 contains the data concerning the pupils´opinions about the
lessons taught and the second table: Table 2 contains the data about their attitudes to English
language.
The data compiled in the Tables 1 and 2 are analysed with descriptive statistic in the four
following tables: Tables 3-6. The method of data analysing used is described by Brown and
Rodgers (2002, p.122-156).
3.1.3 Descriptions of the classes. In this chapture the author of this work presents a brief
group profile of each of three classes where the lessons were piloted. That descriptions
according to Harmer (2007b) help to understand who the pupils are, and what can be expected
of them and give information how the group and how the individuals in it behave (p. 371).
The description of each group is presented by a table. The table contains the information
about the number of pupils, the pupils with special needs, the number of English lessons per
week, the level of the pupils´ English, the title of their course book, the timetable fit and the
general descriptions of the group.
32
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Table 1
Description of the sixth grade learning English group
Class 6. B
Number of
pupils
12
Pupils with
special
educational
needs
2 (both with ADHD diagnosis)
Number of
English lessons
per week
3
Level of
English
Beginner-Elementary (A1-A2)
Course book Project 2
Tom Hutchinson
Part of: Project third edition
Timetable fit Tuesday (2nd class)
Thursday (3rd class)
Friday (2nd class)
General
description of
the class
The group consists of 12 pupils which means half of the whole class. The
pace of the work depends on the activity running in the lesson, the pupils
like speaking activities and games, and on the extent of the impulsive
behaviour of one of the two pupils with ADHD which is sometimes
intrusive and very noisy and that is uncomfortable for other pupils in the
group despite the fact the teacher explained them what ADHD means and
how to cope with that phenomenon.
33
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Table 2
Description of the seventh grade English learning group
Class 7. A
Number of
pupils
12
Pupils with
special
educational
needs
3 (1 pupil with dysgraphia and 1 pupil with dyslexia, 1 pupil with individualized
education programme )
Number of
English lessons
per week
3
Level of English Elementary (A2)
Course book Project 3
Tom Hutchinson
Part of: Project third edition
Timetable fit Monday (4th class)
Tuesday (4th class)
Thursday (2nd class)
General
description of
the group
The group consists of 12 pupils which means half of the whole class. The pace of
the work is rather slow. It is caused by the time the pupils need to be concentrated
on the work, their age: they started to behave as teenagers with all typical
manifestations for this period. However, they get involved easily in the activities
based on gaming principles.
34
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Table 3
Description of the ninth grade English learning group
Class 9.A
Number of
pupils
24
Pupils with
special
educational
needs
5 (2 pupils with dyslexia, 1 pupil with dysgraphia, 1 pupil with both
dyslexia and dysgraphia, 1 autistic pupil)
Number of
English lessons
per week
4
Level of English Pre-Intermediate (B1)
Course book Project 5
Tom Hutchinson
Part of: Project third edition
Timetable fit Monday (1st class)
Wednesday (1st class)
Thursday (1st class)
Friday (4th class)
General
description of
the group
The group is represented by the whole class. The pace of the work is
normal according to the other groups of the pupils at this age. As for
speaking activies the pupils prefer to work in small groups rather than in
pairs, they are slightly shy and lack confidence in their speaking skills,
however, they try to improve their ability to speak English. The autistic
pupil works with his assistant, who helps him to fulfil tasks during the
lessons. The syllabus for that autistic pupil is reduced and adjusted
according to his abilities and skills. He attends three of four English classes
per week. He is used to work with the other pupils in his class, the pupils
work with respect to his pace of work.
35
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
3.1.4 Lesson plans. This chapter deals with the lessons plans piloted by the author of this
work at the primary school in Šlapanice. The primary school is located in Brno-Country
District.
The individual lesson plans are presented by the tables (see Tables 1- 6). Each lesson plan
is introduced by the date, the class, the number of pupils, the number of the pupils with the
special needs, the aim, the assumptions, the personal aims and the timetable fit of the lesson.
In order to be the lessson plans clearly arranged the author of this work chose this way of
the lesson plans´ presentation.
Firstly, the lesson plans for the sixth grade are presented.
Secondly, the lesson plans for the seventh grade follow.
Thirdly, the lesson plans for the ninth grade close this chapter.
The description of the processing of the individual lessons is dealt in the next chapter.
The forms and the individual items described in the tables of the lesson plans piloted were
based on the recommendations which the methodologist Jeremy Harmer (2007b) discusses.
36
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Date: 7th April 2016
Class: 6. B
Number of pupils: 10
Pupils with special needs: 1
Aims: To give pupils practice in using the quantifiers: much, many, a little, a few, based on
MasterChef Junior programme website presentation
Assumptions: Pupils will be able to recognize countable and uncountable nouns
Personal aims: To improve presentation skills and to motivate pupils to watch one episode of
the programme at home
Timetable fit: Thursday, 3rd lesson
37
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Table 1
Lesson plan 1:Quantifiers and partitive constructions
Stage Procedure Activity Interaction Aids Aims Time
1 Pupils rehears
the vocabulary
concerning
food and
making food
Revise
vocabulary
T - C
Projector
laptop
PPT food
and verbs
concerning
making food
To revise
vocabulary
concerning food
´5
2 Pupils work in
pairs and
divide nouns:
countable and
uncountable
Divide nouns
in two
groups
S - S notebook To revise and
consolidate the
knowledge of
countable and
uncountable
nouns
´5
3 Pupils work in
groups of three
or four
Pupils choose 5
words that can
be used with
many and 5
words with
much
Pupils rank
the nouns
according to
the criterion
in two
groups
G notebook To revise the
use of the
quantifiers
much, many, a
little, a few
´5
4 Pupils discuss
with the
teacher what
they have
known about
this kind of
competition
from their own
experience
Discussion T – C Projector,
laptop,
Internet
access
To present the
programme
MasterChef
Junior to the
pupils
´5
5 Pupils get
familiarized
with the new
vocabulary
The teacher
presents the
new
vocabulary
on the
whiteboard
T - C Whiteboard To pre-teach a
new vocabulary
´3
6 Pupils work in
groups of three
or four
Group work
based on the
cooperation
of the
G Projector,
laptop,
Internet
access
To practice the
quantifiers and
partitive
constructions
´7
38
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
The
distribution the
recipes cut into
pieces to the
groups.
Groups put the
singular pieces
of the recipe in
the correct
order.
indiviudal
members
Checking the
ideas od the
individual
groups
Reading the
recipe
instructions
in the correct
order
7 Pupils
individually
complete the
tasks 2 and 3 in
the worksheets
Writing the
answers in
the
worksheets
S, S, S Worksheet To consolidate
the knowledge
of the use of the
constructions
such as much
milk, etc.
To present the
authentic
language in the
grammar
context
´10
8 Prepare the
lemonade to
your family.
Watch one
episode of
MasterChef
Junior at home.
Setting
homework
T - C notebook To revise what
pupils learnt in
the lesson using
multisensorial
approach
´5
39
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Date: 8th April
Class: 6. B
Number of pupils: 10
Pupils with special needs: 1
Aims: To enable pupils to practice partitive constructions based on the video sequence of the
episode of MasterChef Junior programme
Assumptions: The essential vocabulary concerning food and the use of quantifiers and
partitive constructions will be familiar to pupils
Personal aims: To create supportive and encouraging environment for using authentic video in
the classroom
Timetable fit: Friday, 2nd lesson
40
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Table 2
Lesson plan 2: Countable and uncountable nouns
Stage Procedure Activity Interaction Aids Aims Time
1 The teacher
asks the pupils
whether they
prepared the
lemonade and
watched an
episode of
MasterChef
Junior
programme
The teacher
meantions the
proverb:
"When life
gives you
lemons, make
lemonade"
Discussion
T - C To revise the
vocabulary and the
grammar point:
quantifiers and
partitive
constructions from
the previous lesson
To emphasize the
cultural point using
the proverb
connected with
lemons
´10
2 Pupils
complete the
task 3 in their
worksheets
from the
previous
lesson:
Would you like
to take part in
MasterChef
Junior and
why?
Writing S, S, S notebook To enable pupils to
think about the real
life situation from
the English
speaking world and
motivate them to
find other
possibilities to use
authentic language
outside the
classroom
´5
3 Pupils watch a
three minutes
long sequence
from the
episode of
MasterChef
Junior
Watching
the video
sequence
S, S, S Projector,
laptop,
Internet
access,
Notebooks
To present the
programme
MasterChef Junior
to the pupils
To enable pupils to
watch and listen to
the authentic
language connected
with the grammar
point and the
vocabulary they
have been learning
´5
4 Pupils watch Watching S-S To improve ´10
41
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
the same three
minutes long
sequence from
the episode of
MasterChef
Junior
Pupils in pairs
answer the
questions and
write the
answers down.
1. Write down
ten ingredients
the contestants
needs to
prepare the
dish.
2. Write down
five dishes the
contestants will
prepare to the
jury.
3. Divide the
ingredients you
have written in
two groups:
coutable and
uncoutable
nouns.
the video
sequence
Writing the
answers to
the
questions
listening and
comprehension
skills
To revise countable
and uncountable
nouns
5 Pupils compair
their ideas with
an another pair
Checking the
answers
Speaking SS-SS
T-SS
Notebooks To ´7
6 Pupils presents
what they have
written at the
beginnig of the
lesson: Would
you like to take
part in
MasterChef
Junior and
why?
Speaking
Discussion
T-C To motivate pupils
to speak about the
real life experience
´5
7 Write down the
recipe of your
favourite dish
Setting
homework
S, S, S notebook To revise:
vocabulary and
quantifiers
´3
42
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Date: 4th April 2016
Class: 7. A
Number of pupils: 11
Pupils with special needs: 2
Aims: To give pupils practice in using the Present perfect simple tense based on the authentic
text written by a teenager
Assumptions: The pupils will be able to recognize the form of the present perfect simple tense
Personal aims: To motivate the pupils for visiting the literary website intended for teenagers
Timetable fit: Monday, 4th class
43
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Table 3
Lesson plan 1: Present Perfect
Stage Procedure Activity Interaction Aids Aims Time
1 Pupils work in
pairs and ask
each other how
they have spent
their weekend.
Speaking S-S To revise the
present perfect
tense form
´5
2 Pupils get
informed about
the website with
the content made
by their peers
and discuss
whether they like
the topics are
dealt in this
website
Discussion T-C Projector,
laptop,
Internet
access,
Notebooks
To present the
website
www.teenink.co
m to the pupils
´10
3 The teacher
presents the new
vocabulary
presented in the
text have you
ever wondered?
The
teacher
presents
the new
vocabulary
T-C To pre-teach a
new vocabulary
´5
4 The pupils look
up the forms of
the present
perfect and write
them down
Reading
Writing
S, S, S Notebooks
The copies
of the text
To enable the
pupils to find
the present
perfect forms in
the real text
written by the
native speaker
´5
5 Pupils work in
groups of three
or four
Individual
groups try to
write a short text
about love and
friendship using
the present
perfect forms
which they have
looked up in the
previous activity
Reading
Writing
G Notebooks
The copies
of the text
To practice the
present perfect
form
´10
6 Pupils are Setting S, S, S Notebooks To personalize ´5
44
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
supposed to visit
the website
www.teenink.co
m and choose
one topic which
is interesting for
them and read
one contribution
and prepare a
short report
about it
Bring the bottle
of water for the
next class
homework the topic
7 The pupils
discuss with their
partners whether
it is worth to
visit the website
Speaking S-S ´5
45
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Date: 5th April
Class: 7.A
Number of pupils: 11
Pupils with special needs: 2
Aims: To enable pupils practice of making questions using Present Perfect Tense based on
playing the game Never have I ever …introduced by the authentic video sequence
Assumptions: Pupils will be able to make the correct questions and will have done their
homework from the previous lesson
Personal aims: To encourage pupils to find more opportunities to use the authentic language
for learning Enlish outside the classroom
Timetable fit: Tuesday, 3rd class
46
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Table 4
Lesson plan 2: Never have I ever
Stage Procedure Activity Interaction Aids Aims Time
1 Pupils speak about
their opinions about
the website
www.teenink.com
Speaking G Notebooks To encourage
the pupils to
read text
written in the
authentic
language
´5
2 Pupils write the
questions in the
present perfect into
their notebooks
(five questions:
Have you ever ..?)
Speaking
Writing
Controlled
practice
T-C Whiteboard
Notebooks
To revise
making
questions in
the present
perfect
´10
3 Pupils watch the
video sequence
(two times)
Listening
Watching
the video
sequence
S, S, S Projector,
laptop,
Internet
access,
notebooks
To present the
game Never
have I ever
´10
4 Pupils listen to the
explanation of the
rules of the game
Never have I ever
Listening S, S, S To explain the
rules of the
game
presented
´5
5 Pupils play the
game Never have I
ever, the teacher
takes part in the
game as well
Speaking
Listening
T-S
S-S
The bottle
of water
To enable the
pupils to
practice the
present perfect
question form
based on the
real game
presented by
the video
sequence using
the authentic
language
´10
6 Watch the video
sequence with the
game again and try
to write two
questions used
in the video
sequence
Setting
homework
T - C Notebooks To encourage
pupils to meet
the authentic
language
outside the
classroom
´5
47
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Date: 7th April 2016
Class: 9.A
Number of pupils: 20
Pupils with special needs: 4
Aims: To introduce grammar practice of the modal verbs in the passive using the song
Assumptions: Pupils will be able to recognize the form of the passive voice and the past
participles of the irregular verbs used in the song.
Personal aims: To support pupils to use songs not only for listening for pleasure but also for
learning English vocabulary and grammar
Timetable fit: Thursday, 1st class
48
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Table 5
Lesson 1: The modal verbs in the passive
Stage Procedure Activity Interaction Aids Aims Time
1 The pupil presents
his PPT presentation
about Liverpool
which i sone of the
pupils´presentations
about English
speaking countries
Speaking
Presentation
S, S, S Projector,
laptop,
Internet
access,
notebooks
To create a
supportive
atmosphere
for the next
stage of the
lesson and to
inform about
the place the
Beatles come
from
´5
2 The teacher presents
the song All you
need is love and
shows a few pictures
of the Beatles
Listening T - C Projector,
laptop,
Internet
access,
notebooks
To prepare
pupils for
working with
the song and
to get
familiarized
the pupils
with the
environment
in which the
song was
created
´5
3 The teacher
distributes the
worksheets with the
missing words
The pupils fill in the
gaps in the
worksheets
Listening
Gap filling
S, S, S Projector,
laptop,
Internet
access,
worksheets
To enable the
pupils to
practice the
modal verbs
in the passive
with the use
of the
authentic
language
´5
4 The pupils in groups
of four compare
their ideas with the
other group
Speaking G Worksheets To practice
to justify
their choice
´10
5 The pupils in groups
of four discuss four
question from the
worksheet Part A
Speaking G Worksheets To practice
the use of the
modal verbs
in the passive
´10
6 The pupils complete
the missing forms of
the modal verbs in
Writing
Reading
S, S, S Worksheets To practice
with the use
of the
´5
49
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
the passive from the
text: Worksheet Part
B, Task 1
authentic
language
7 The pupils sing
together with the
teacher the song
Singing C Worksheets To
consolidate
the
knowledge of
the modal
verbs in the
passive
´5
50
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Date: 8th April 2016
Class: 9. A
Number of pupils: 20
Pupils with special needs: 4
Aims: To enable pupils to practice the passive voice working on the worksheet prepared ad
hoc
Assumptions: Pupils will be able to use the modal verbs in the passive voice
Personal aims: To motivate the pupils for the further listening songs of English origin and to
improve time management skills
Timetable fit: Friday, 4th class
51
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Table 6
Lesson plan 2: The passive voice
Stage Procedure Activity Interaction Aids Aims Time
1 The pupils in
groups of four
speak about
the previous
lesson: they
ask one
another
whether they
liked the song
or the did not
Speaking G To revise the
vocabulary and the
grammar point from
the previous lesson
´5
2 The pupils
complete the
tasks 2 and 3
of the Part B
of the
worksheet
Writing S, S, S Worksheets To consolidate the
knowledge of the
passive voice
´10
3 The pupils in
pairs prepare a
short dialogue
based on the
Part C of the
worksheet
Speaking S - S Worksheet To consolidate the
knowledge of the
passive voice
´10
4 Three pairs
act their
dialogue
Speaking
Role -
playing
S - S To improve the
pupils´ fluency in
speaking
To practice the
passive voice
´10
5 The whole
class sing the
song All you
need is love
Speaking C Projector,
laptop,
Internet
access,
worksheets
To support the
pupils´confidence in
speaking and to
practice the word
stress and the rythm
of English language
´5
6 Write down
five sentences
about how the
world can be
saved
Setting
homework
T - C Notebooks To enable the pupils
to practice the modal
verbs in the passive
´5
52
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
3.1.5 Piloting lessons. In this chapter piloting of the lesson plans based on the authentic
material will be dealt. Each lesson was designed according to the curriculum, to the
knowledge of the pupils´ characters and interests, and their age. The main effort was directed
to the presentation of the authentic language as an aid for teaching grammar and the
motivation for the further pupils´ interest to meet the authentic language in their everyday life.
For the sixth class the programme “MasterChef Junior” was chosen. The grammar point
was countable and uncountable nouns, quantifiers and partitive constructions (see Appendix
B). The topic was “Food”. The pupils in that class are significantly competitive, therefore, this
kind of the programme was seemed to be the appropriate one.
The first lesson was based on the recipe presented on the website of this programme. The
author of this work expected the following problems: the pupils will be scared of the amount
of the new words, they might be slightly bored by watching only the website with
photographs and the text, the pupils with ADHD diagnosed will disturb other classmates
during the work on the worksheets.
The lesson ran smoothly, the pupils enjoyed the activities and the pupils with ADHD
diagnosed were engaged in the lesson. All of the pupils really wanted to watch one episode of
this programme at home.
The second lesson for the sixth class presented the part of the genuine programme. The
expected problems were: the fear from the authentic language, in this case American English.
However, the pupils lost their worries and immediately started to work on the tasks set. They
were amased by the competition and by the friendly atmosphere during “ the race” of young
American cooks. It should be said that they unconsciously learnt and practice the grammar
point which was the practice of countable and uncountable nouns and the partitive
constructions. At the end of the lesson they wanted to have more lesson such this one.
53
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
For the seventh class two kinds of authentic materials were chosen: a text written by a
teenager of the English origin (see Appendix E) and a video sequence from the American
sitcom The Big Bang Theory.
Both lesson were designed to practice the present perfect forms based on the use of the
authentic language.
The pupils enjoyed more the second lesson with the game and the presentation of the video
sequence. The expected problems were: the pupils will be bored by the lenght of the text in
the authentic language presented in the lesson, despite the fact the text was not so complicated
and dealt with the topic that might be interesting for them and the pupils would be confused
by watching the video sequence in American English, the might be afraid of the language
speed and the pronunciation of the authentic language. Nevertheless, they appreciated the
game and they had really fun when they watched the video and after that they played the
game. Unfortunately, the pupils were really disappointed by the lenght of the text and they did
not want to speak about love and friendship, they felt embarrassed. However, at the end of the
lesson they were curious about the other stories posted on the website www.teenink.com and
there was an assumption they would read another text about the same topic and they can
practice the present perfect tense reading texts in the autentic language.
For the ninth class the song “All you need is love” (see Appendix D) was chosen. The
grammar point was modal verbs in the passive. The bloc of two lessons was a part of the
presentations which the pupils prepared about English speaking countries. The Beatles and
their era seemed to be a helpful element for the pupils´ knowledge broadening about the target
language culture and the song “All you need is love” seemed to be an appropriate song for the
passive of modal verbs practice (see Appendix C). The expected problems are: the pupils
might be annoyed by the sound of the song, it could sound them too old-fashioned, the
54
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
autistic pupil could become nervous when he would work in group despite the fact he is used
to cooperate with his mates and his assistant.
Both lessons ran smoothly, the pupils tried to work hard on their tasks. At the beginning of
the lesson one small problem appeared, the pupils could not hear the song properly for the
first time because of the technical problems of the projector, nevertheless, thanks to technical
skills of one of the pupils the problem was fixed and the lesson could proceed. The pupils
liked the song and they sang it with enthusiasm. The role playing (see Appendix C) was the
most enjoyable part of the both lessons. The pupils acted Sir Paul McCartney with pleasure
and defended his song bravely and they were trying to use modal verbs in the passive.
To sum up, the pupils cooperated with one another and with the teacher during piloting all
lessons, they enjoyed listening the authentic language and tried to imitate it. The aims of the
lessons were fulfilled. However, it should be said that the authentic materials were chosen
with the highest awarness of their appropriateness for each class. The author of this work is
convinced that the process of the authentic material selection is the crucial element for the
lesson in which authentic materials are used.
3.2. The survey
The survey of this work focuses on the answer of the research question: Do authentic
materials present a more effective and motivating learning aid in learning English grammar in
the upper primary classes?
The survey was based on the evaluation of the results generated from the data gained from
the questionnaire where the pupils were asked to register their reactions to the lessons taught
and their attitudes to English language as such.
55
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
The questionnaire (see Appendix A) was divided in two sections. The first section
investigated the upper-primary pupils´ opinions about the lessons in which authentic materials
had been used and the second part of the questionnaire investigated their attitudes to English
language as such.
The questionnaires were distributed to the pupils of the individual classes in the lesson that
followed the two English lessons piloted.
3.2.1 Compiling data. The data gained from the indiviual questionnaires were organized
into two tables: Table 1 displays the data gained from Part A of the questionnaire and Table 2
represents the data gained from Part B of the questionnaire.
The first column of both tables displays the order of the individual pupil, the second column
describes the grade and next eight columns of the Table 1 and ten columns of the Table 2
describe the number of the questions and the numbers below the answer of the individual
pupil.
56
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Table 1
Data compiled Part I
Number Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 6 6 5 5 6 5 5 6 6
2 6 6 6 5 5 6 5 3 6
3 6 5 5 6 6 6 5 3 6
4 6 4 4 5 6 6 6 2 6
5 6 2 3 2 4 5 5 5 6
6 6 6 4 5 3 4 5 3 5
7 6 4 2 5 2 6 5 5 3
8 6 4 2 5 4 6 3 6 5
9 6 5 5 4 6 5 6 3 5
10 6 5 5 6 5 6 5 4 6
11 7 4 4 3 5 6 5 4 5
12 7 5 5 4 5 6 6 5 5
13 7 5 2 4 3 4 5 5 4
14 7 3 2 5 5 5 6 5 4
15 7 6 5 4 5 6 5 5 6
16 7 6 3 3 4 6 4 4 4
17 7 2 2 1 1 6 3 6 3
18 7 5 3 1 4 6 6 2 4
19 7 5 4 3 4 6 5 5 3
20 7 5 6 4 6 6 6 3 6
21 7 5 4 3 5 4 6 2 4
22 9 5 5 4 6 6 6 4 5
23 9 6 2 4 6 6 6 6 6
24 9 4 3 3 3 6 6 3 2
25 9 4 4 5 3 5 6 5 5
26 9 5 4 4 6 6 5 2 4
27 9 4 4 4 3 4 3 4 3
28 9 6 5 6 6 6 6 4 6
29 9 5 3 4 5 6 6 2 5
30 9 2 4 3 4 5 4 3 3
31 9 6 5 3 4 4 1 5 3
32 9 5 5 5 5 6 6 2 5
33 9 4 4 4 4 5 4 4 5
34 9 5 4 4 5 3 2 3 4
35 9 6 5 6 6 4 6 2 3
36 9 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4
37 9 4 5 4 4 3 4 3 3
38 9 5 2 4 4 6 4 2 4
39 9 6 5 5 5 6 5 2 5
40 9 6 1 5 3 6 2 6 4
41 9 6 6 5 5 6 6 4 6
57
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Table 2
Data compiled Part 2
Number Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0
1 6 6 6 2 5 2 5 6 5 5 6
2 6 6 6 1 5 6 4 5 5 5 6
3 6 6 6 6 6 1 6 6 6 6 6
4 6 5 6 5 6 5 5 6 6 6 6
5 6 6 6 5 6 4 6 3 5 6 5
6 6 6 6 4 5 5 4 4 5 4 5
7 6 4 6 2 5 3 4 6 3 4 5
8 6 6 5 3 4 1 2 4 2 3 5
9 6 6 6 6 6 1 6 6 6 6 6
10 6 6 6 4 4 2 3 4 5 6 6
11 7 6 5 1 4 2 1 1 1 5 4
12 7 5 1 1 5 3 3 3 5 5 5
13 7 2 6 1 4 1 1 2 1 4 3
14 7 6 6 1 5 2 2 3 2 2 4
15 7 5 6 5 3 5 2 4 2 4 5
16 7 5 6 1 6 1 2 4 4 6 5
17 7 6 4 1 5 2 1 3 1 4 2
18 7 6 6 6 4 6 5 4 2 5 4
19 7 5 5 4 5 1 3 4 4 6 5
20 7 6 6 1 6 4 3 6 6 6 4
21 7 6 6 1 3 1 2 1 1 2 3
22 9 6 6 6 6 6 5 6 6 6 6
23 9 6 6 5 4 5 6 5 5 5 6
24 9 6 6 4 2 3 3 6 3 6 5
25 9 3 5 6 3 1 1 1 1 6 1
26 9 5 5 2 6 2 3 4 6 6 5
27 9 4 6 5 3 2 3 4 4 3 6
28 9 3 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 2
29 9 6 6 4 4 1 2 3 4 5 6
30 9 6 5 2 5 3 2 6 4 6 6
31 9 6 5 5 4 2 3 5 2 5 5
32 9 6 6 6 6 6 4 5 6 6 5
33 9 6 6 6 6 4 3 5 5 6 6
34 9 6 6 4 4 4 1 4 5 6 6
35 9 3 6 2 4 6 4 4 2 6 3
36 9 6 4 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 3
37 9 6 3 3 3 1 1 2 3 5 3
38 9 3 3 5 4 1 1 1 2 6 3
39 9 6 6 1 6 6 1 2 5 6 6
40 9 6 4 4 5 4 5 2 2 4 6
41 9 5 6 6 5 1 4 4 2 4 6
58
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
3.2.2 Data analysis. The data compiled were analysed by the use of descriptive statistics.
The Data of Part A of the questionnaire were analysed in Table 3 and Table 4.
Table 3 displays in the first column the number of the question, the second column labelled
with N describes the number of the pupils which filled in the questionnaire, the column
labelled with M displays the mean and the column labelled with SD displays the standard
deviation. The following columns describe the frequencies of the individual answers.
Table 4 displays the percent frequency of the individual answers gained from the survey.
Part B of the questionnaire was analysed in Table 5 and Table 6.
Table 5 displays in the first column the number of the question, the second column labelled
with N describes the number of the pupils which filled in the questionnaire, the column
labelled with M displays the mean and the column labelled with SD displays the standard
deviation. The following columns describes the frequencies of the individual answers.
Table 6 displays the percent frequency of the individual answers gained from the survey.
The process of analysing the data was carried out according to the methodology described by
Brown and Rodgers (2002).
59
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Table 3
Results of Part A of the questionnaire - Frequencies
Category N M SD Frequency
Strongly
disagree
1
Frequency
Disagree
2
Frequency
slightly
disagree
3
Frequency
slightly
agree
4
Frequency
agree
5
Frequency
strongly
agree
6
Items
1 41 4.76 1.14 0 3 2 9 15 12
2 41 3.90 1.28 1 7 6 11 13 3
3 41 4.10 1.19 2 1 8 14 12 4
4 41 4.49 1.23 1 1 7 10 12 10
5 41 5.32 0.97 0 0 3 6 7 25
6 41 4.83 1.30 1 2 4 5 13 16
7 41 3.78 1.33 0 9 10 8 9 5
8 41 4.59 1.49 0 1 8 10 11 11
Table 4
Results of Part A of the questionnaire - Percentages
Items Percent
Frequency
Strongly
disagree
1
Percent
Frequency
Disagree
2
Percent
Frequency
slightly
disagree
3
Percent
Frequency
slightly
agree
4
Percent
Frequency
agree
5
Percent
Frequency
strongly
agree
6
1 0.00 7.31 4.88 21.95 36.59 29.27
2 2.44 17.07 14.63 26.83 31.71 7.32
3 4.88 2.44 19.51 34.15 29.27 9.76
4 2.44 2.44 17.07 24.39 29.27 24.39
5 0.00 0.00 4.88 14.63 17.07 60.98
6 2.44 4.88 9.76 12.20 31.71 39.02
7 0.00 21.95 24.39 19.51 21.95 12.20
8 0.00 2.44 19.51 24.39 26.83 26.83
60
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Table 5
Results of Part B of the questionnaire - Frequencies
Items N M SD Frequency
Not at all
1
Frequency
Not so
much
2
Frequency
So-so
3
Frequency
A little
4
Frequency
Quite a
lot
5
Frequency
Very
much
6
1 41 5.34 1.10 0 1 4 2 7 27
2 41 5.32 1.20 1 1 2 3 7 27
3 41 3.44 1.90 11 5 3 7 7 8
4 41 4.51 1.29 1 2 5 11 11 11
5 41 2.90 1.77 13 9 4 5 4 6
6 41 3.07 1.69 9 7 10 6 5 4
7 41 3.88 1.64 5 4 5 13 5 9
8 41 3.66 1.79 6 9 3 5 11 7
9 41 4.98 1.31 1 2 2 7 9 20
10 41 4.76 1.36 1 2 6 4 12 16
Table 6
Results of Part B of the questionnaire - Percentages
Item Percent
Not at all
1
Percent
Not so
much
2
Percent
So-so
3
Percent
A little
4
Percent
Quite a lot
5
Percent
Very much
6
1 0.00 2.44 9.76 4.88 17.07 65.85
2 2.44 2.44 4.88 7.31 17.07 65.85
3 26.83 12.20 7.31 17.07 17.07 19.51
4 2.44 4.88 12.20 26.83 26.83 26.83
5 31.71 21.95 9.76 12.20 9.76 14.63
6 21.95 17.07 24.39 14.63 12.20 9.76
7 12.20 9.76 12.20 31.71 12.20 21.95
8 14.63 21.95 7.31 12.20 26.83 17.07
9 2.44 4.88 4.88 17.07 21.95 48.78
10 2.44 4.88 14.63 9.76 29.27 39.02
61
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
3.2.3 Results. The aim of this research was to answer the following question: Do authentic
materials present a more effective and motivating learning aid in learning English grammar
in the upper primary classes?
In order to respond that research question the author of this work decided to pilote six
lessons based on the authentic materials and subsequently to ask her pupils to fill in the
questionnaire which explored the pupils´ satisfaction with the lessons piloted from their point
of view and the pupils´ attitude to the English language as such.
The results gained from Part A demonstrate that for 36.59% of the pupils thought the
lesson was interesting, 31.71% of the pupils understood the grammar presented in the lesson,
for 29.27% of the pupils the topic was interesting, for 29.27% of the pupils the lesson was
useful for their life, 60.98% of the pupils understood that they learned English for a real life,
39.02% of the pupils agreed with the statement that the knowledge of grammar helps to
communicate in English, 21.95% of the pupils would need more teacher´s help during the
lesson and 26.83% of the pupils were encouraged for their effort to learn English.
The results gained from Part B display that 65.85% of the pupils like very much the
sitcoms and films made in an English speaking country, 65.85% of the pupils like very much
music of English speaking countries, 17.07% of the pupils communicate quite a lot in English
on the Internet, 26.83% of the pupils like quite a lot meeting people from English speaking
countrie, 14.63% of the pupils read very much English books, magazines or newspapers,
12.20% of the pupils would switch their mobile language settings into English, 21.95% of the
pupils would like very much to have more English classes at school, 26.83% of the pupils
have an opportunity quite a lot to use English outside the classroom, 48.87% of the pupils
would like very much to spend their summer holidays in an English speaking country and
39.02% of the pupils like English very much.
62
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
The results highlighted above display the fact that the use of authentic materials in the
English lesson classes are motivating factor for teaching a foreign language as such and
support the use of the authentic materials as an useful teaching grammar aid.
63
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
4. CONCLUSION
The aim of this thesis was to demonstrate how English grammar can be taught by using
authentic materials and to answer the research question:
Do authentic materials present a more effective and motivating learning aid in learning
English grammar in the upper primary classes?
The research carried out by the author of this work verified the use of authentic materials as
a beneficial teaching grammar aid for the upper primary classes.
In the theoretical part of this work the term “grammar” was defined, the necessity of
learning grammar, approaches to teaching grammar and authentic materials were discussed
on the basis of the literature studied by the author of this work. The different approaches to
the theme were compared.
The practical part described the research procedure including the research question, the
research design, descriptions of the classes, lesson plans and piloting the lessons prepared by
the author of this work. The survey was presented in the final chapter of this work by
displaying the data gained from the survey and their analysis and the results of the survey.
As a teacher the author of this work improved her grammar teaching skills by the process
of the selection of an appropriate authentic material with the aim to teach grammar with its
help , the selection of the activities using the authentic material. The experience of teaching
grammar using authentic materials was beneficial for her further professional development.
For the further research the author would like to focus on the use of an American or British
television series and the impact of the more frequent use of the up to date authentic language
combined with the common language teaching on the pupils´ ability to acquire English
language.
64
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
5. REFERENCES
PRINT SOURCES
Brown, J. D., & Rodgers T. S. (2002). Doing Second Language Research. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Dornyei, Z. (2003). Questionnaires in second language research: Construction,
administration, and processing. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Harmer, J. (2007a) how to teach english.Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
Harmer, J. (2007 b) The Practice of English Language Teaching. Harlow: Person Education
Limited.
Harmer, J. (1991) Teaching and Learning Grammar. Harlow: Longman House.
Hall, N., & Shepheard J. (1991). THE ANTI.GRAMMAR GRAMMAR BOOK. A Teacher´s
Resource Book of discovery activities for grammar teaching.Harlow: Longman House.
Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Littlewood, W. (1994). Communicative language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Murphey, T. (1995). Music and Song. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Nunan, D. (2008). Research Methods in Language Learning. New York: Cambridge
University Press.
Scrivener, J. (2011). Learning Teaching. The Essential Guide to English Language Teaching.
London: Macmillan Education.
65
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Sherman, J. (2003). Using Authentic Video in the Language Classroom.Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Ur, P. (1996). A Course in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ur, P. (1994). Grammar Practice Activities. A practical guide for teachers. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Ur, P. (1991). A Course in Language Teaching. Practice and theory. Cambrige: Cambridge
University Press.
Thornbury, S. (2009). Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Thornbury, S. (2004). how to Teach Grammar. Harlow: Pearson Educated Limited.
66
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
ELECTRONIC SOURCES
All You Need Is Love. (2016, April 01). Retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_You_Need_Is_Love
The Beatles - All You Need Is Love. (2016, April 07). Retrived from
http://www.karaoketexty.cz/texty-pisni/beatles-the/all-you-need-is-love-5144
Berardo, S. A. (2006). THE USE OF AUTHENTIC MATERIALS IN THE TEACHING OF
READING. The reading matrix 2(6). Retrieved from:
http://www.readingmatrix.com/articles/
Breeyz9y81. (2016). Have you ever wondered? (2016, April 04) Retrieved from
http://www.teenink.com/opinion/love_relationships/article/146897/have-you-ever-
wondered/
Check out Thirsty for Lemonade! MasterChef Junior on FOX. (2016, April 07) Retrieved
from http://www.fox.com/masterchef-junior/article/thirsty-for-lemonade
Gilmore, A. (2007). Authentic materials and authenticity in foreign language learning.
Language Teaching, 40, pp 97-118.
Retrieved from: doi:10.1017/S0261444807004144.
H. (2016). The Big Bang Theory - 9x20 - Sheldon, Amy, Penny & Leonard Play Never Have I
Ever. (2016, April 02).
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3JagwMY4gI
Hotdog (2015, February 02). Masterchef Junior Season 3 Episode 1. [Video file]. Retrieved
from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0XRuxmQnmw
67
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Kelly, Ch., Kelly, L., Offner, M., &Vorland, B. (2002). Effective Ways to Use Authentic
Materials with ESL/ELF Students. The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. VIII, No. 11.
Retrieved from: http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Kelly-Authentic.html
MasterChef Junior (2016, March 31).
Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MasterChef_Junior
MegaSlammaJamma (2009, December, 15). Love Is All You Need – Beatles. [Video file].
Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsxtImDVMig
68
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
5. APPENDICES
Appendix A
English Learner Questionnaire
This survey is conducted to better understand the attitudes of the pupils of the upper primary
classes to the authentic English language. This questionnaire consists of two sections. Please
read each instruction and write your answers. This is not a test and you do not have to write
your name on it. This result of this survey will be used only for research purpose so please
give your answers sincerely. Thank you very much for your help!
Part I
In this part, I would like you to tell how much you agree or disagree with the following
statements by simply circling a number from 1 to 6. Please do not leave out any of items.
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Slightly
disagree
Slightly
agree
Agree Strongly
agree
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 The English lesson based on the authentic material has been
interesting.
1 2 3 4 5 6
2 I have understood the grammar presented in the lesson. 1 2 3 4 5 6
3 The topic of the lesson was attractive. 1 2 3 4 5 6
4 It has been a useful lesson for my English learning. 1 2 3 4 5 6
5 I have understood that I learn English for a real life. 1 2 3 4 5 6
6 The knowledge of English grammar helps to communicate
in English.
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 I would need more teacher´s help during the lesson. 1 2 3 4 5 6
69
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
8 The lesson has encouraged me in my effort to learn English. 1 2 3 4 5 6
Part II
These are new questions but please answer them the same way as you did before.
Not at all Not so much So-so A little Quite a lot Very much
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 Do you like the sitcomes and the films made in an English
speaking country?
1 2 3 4 5 6
2 Do you like the music of English speaking countries? 1 2 3 4 5 6
3 Do you like to chat in English on the Internet or to
communicate with your mates playing PC games online?
1 2 3 4 5 6
4 Do you like meeting people from English speaking
countries?
1 2 3 4 5 6
5 Do you read English books, magazines or newspapers? 1 2 3 4 5 6
6 Would you change your mobile language settings into
English?
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 Would you like to have more English classes at school? 1 2 3 4 5 6
8 Do you have any opportunity to use English outside the
classroom?
1 2 3 4 5 6
9 Would you like to spend your summer holidays in an
English speaking country?
1 2 3 4 5 6
10 Do you like English language? 1 2 3 4 5 6
70
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Appendix B
Worksheet for the 6th class
Lemonade
1. Put the instructions in the correct order.
C. Sure, it might be winter, but lemons are actually a winter fruit – and if life gives you
lemons, you know what they say… -
B. You’ll probably need quite a few lemons – six to eight lemons make about a cup of juice.
D. For every one cup of lemon juice, you’ll have to add a few cups of water…how much
depends on how sweet (or sour) you like your lemonade! Make sure to add sugar, too – and
adjust the amount for any sugary add-ins like strawberry puree. -
A. There are lots of ways to make MasterChef-Junior-worthy lemonade combos! Which
combo will you try?
2. Complete the recipe of the lemonade with the ingredients and write down the
istructions.
Ingredients:
Instructions:
3. Complete with the names of food:
a little…………………………………………………….
a few…………………………………………………………
much…………………………………………………………
71
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
many…………………………………………………………
a cup of……………………………………………………..
a bowl of…………………………………………………….
a packet of……………………………………………………..
3. Would you like to take part in MasterChef Junior and why?
72
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Appendix C
Worksheet for the 9th class
Part A
Group talk
Discuss the following questions.
1. Who wrote the song All you need is love?
2. What does the world need according to this song?
3. Do you like/dislike this song? Why?
4. Is it true that the world needs Love?
73
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Part B
1. Write down the passive voice forms you have found in the lyrics and complete the
chart:
Subject Modal verb To be form Past
Participle
2. Transform.
People need love. Love is needed.
People can say that. That can be said.
● People can do it. It………………………………………
● People can sing the song. The song……………………
● People can´t save that. That……………………………
● Love can save the world. The world…………………..
74
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
3. Put the words in the correct order.
● be/nowhere/be/to/you/you/meant/can/that/´re/where/isn´t
● nothing/shown/see/you/isn´t/can/that
● known/know/can/you/nothing/isn´t/that
Part C
You would meet Paul McCartney in Prag this June what would you tell him about the
song All you need is love?
A:Hi, I´m ……and I think your song is stupid the world can´be saved by love it must be
saved by…………..
B. You are Paul McCartney and you defend your song.
Hey, I´m Paul Mc Cartney and I ´m definitely convinced that the world can be saved by love
because…….
75
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Appendix D
All you need is love
Lyrics
Love, love, love
Love, love, love
Love, love, love
There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done
Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game
It’s easy
Nothing you can make that can’t be made
No one you can save that can’t be saved
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time
It’s easy
All you need is love
All you need is love
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need
Love, love, love
Love, love, love
Love, love, love
All you need is love
All you need is love
76
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need
Nothing you can know that isn’t known
Nothing you can see that isn’t shown
Nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be
It’s easy
All you need is love
All you need is love
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need
All you need is love (All together, now!)
All you need is love (Everybody!)
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Yee-hai! (Love is all you need)
77
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Yesterday (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Oh yeah! (Love is all you need)
She loves you, yeah yeah yeah (Love is all you need)
She loves you, yeah yeah yeah (Love is all you need)
78
TEACHING GRAMMAR USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
Appendix E
Have you ever wondered?
have you ever wondered?
By Breezy981, anderson, SC
Have you ever wondered which hurts the most?
Saying something and wishing you hadn't? or saying nothing and wishing you had? I guess
the most important things are the hardest things to say. Don't be afraid to tell someone you
love them. If you do, they might break your heart...if you don't, you might break theirs. Have
you ever decided not to become a couple because you were so afraid of losing what you
already had with that person? Your heart decides whom it likes and whom it doesn't. You
can't tell your heart what to do.
It does it on its own....when you least suspect it, or even when you don't want it to. Have you
ever wanted to love someone with everything you had, but that other person was too afraid to
let you?
Too many of us stay walled up because we are too afraid to care too much...for fear that the
other person does not care as much, or even at all. Have you ever denied your feelings for
someone because your fear of rejection was too hard to handle? We tell lies when we are
afraid... afraid of what we don't know, afraid of what others will think, afraid of what will be
found out about us. But every time we tell a lie, the thing we fear grows stronger. Life is all
about risks and it requires you to jump. Don't be a person who has to look back and wonder
what they would have done, or could have had. What would you do if every time you fell in
love you had to say good-bye? What would you do if every time you wanted someone they
would never be there? *What would you do if your best friend died tomorrow and you never
got to tell them how you felt? (even if it is that you don't care anymore) What would you do if
you loved someone more than ever and you couldn't have them? What would you do if you
never got the chance to say I am friends with all of my family and they know I love them?
People live, but people die.
And I want to tell you that you are a friend. If you died tomorrow , you would be in my
heart!!! Would I be in yours?
You might be best friends one year, pretty good friends the next year, don't talk that often the
next, and don't want to talk at all the year after that. So, I just wanted to say, even if I never
talk to you again in my life, you are special to me and you have made a difference in my life,
I look up to you, respect you, and truly cherish you. Let old friends know you haven't
forgotten them, and tell new friends you never will. Remember, everyone needs a friend,