Are authentic texts better?

Authentic reading materials are real life texts that have not been written for pedagogic purposes. Such texts have been created to fulfill a certain purpose in the native speakers' community.

Some teachers refuse to see the value of using authentic texts in the EFL classroom, the main concern being that such texts are too difficult for the students to understand. Yet authentic materials may turn out to be an extremely beneficial tool boosting the students' confidence as readers.

The main advantages of using authentic texts in the EFL classroom are as follows:

• They expose students to real language with all its changes and variations

• They are a source of authentic cultural information

• Students are given the opportunity to learn about what is happening in the world 

• Real life texts often include incidental and improper English very common in real life but conspicuously absent from textbooks

• The same piece of material can be used for different tasks or to practise different skills (e.g. speaking, reading, writing)

• Authentic texts are perfect for practising mini-skills -skimming or scanning

• They contain a wide variety of text types and language styles not easily found in conventional teaching material

• Authentic materials encourage reading for pleasure and are likely to contain topics of interest to the students, especially when you let your students choose what they want to read

• They may give students a sense of achievement and encourage further reading being thus highly motivating

• Using them may contribute to the development of an individual learning style and learner autonomy

• They usually relate more closely to students’ needs

The most important advantage of making use of authentic materials is that it supports a more creative approach to teaching. Needless to say, it is something we should prioritize at all times. 

On the other hand, having read real life texts with different age groups myself, I must admit that using them is definitely not all roses.

Fortunately experiences vary. 

Anyone willing to share their ideas is more than welcome to contribute :)

Using Technology – fad or future?

Almost everybody in the TEFL world of today is in some way or the other preoccupied with using technology in the classroom.

Almost every TEFL conference these days seems to give priority to speakers who wish to share their experiences about blogging, Twitter, SL or Web 2.0. It seems like these days, teachers are not looked up to or praised for what they can do without a computer but for what they can do using it.

Having attended quite a few seminars about technology and being a technophile myself, I must admit that the potential the Internet offers cannot and should not be neglected. By writing this post I also presume that there definitely are advantages of using technology in the classroom.

Yet there are a few issues that constantly keep bothering me.

Are there any disadvantages related to using technology in the EFL classroom?

Do teachers have any reservations about using it?

What are the roles of the teacher and the learner in the technology oriented classroom?

In order to get some feedback I started a few discussions on two Ning networks: EFL Classroom 2.0 and Classroom 2.0. I have also read Gavin Dudeney’s blog on www.teachingenglish.co.uk and his ideas about attitudes to technology on www.sixthings.net.

My main interest, however, was to learn what regular teachers think about that matter. The educators who took part in the discussions pointed out the following things:

• many schools still do not have computer labs, computers in the classrooms, access to the Internet or even CD players
• technology often and unexpectedly fails (personally, I have stopped counting the times it happened)
• some teachers and students do not know how to use computers/internet at all or well enough to make use of it properly
• it takes a lot of time to prepare a lesson with technology (searching and trying things out)
• we need to take copyright into consideration
• a lot of teachers are concerned with security on the web, especially publishing students’ emails
• sometimes parents do not allow their children to use computers at home
• some students, even in developed countries, do not have computers or access to internet at home; as a result they feel worse than their classmates
• there seem to be lack of support from principals or school managers
• in some countries certain websites and in other schools certain websites are banned (like Youtube in Turkey)
• if students do work at home using the Internet instead of doing it in the classroom, we cannot guarantee its authenticity
• teachers are concerned with losing control and protection that a traditional classroom setting provides

Personally, I dare to have further doubts and questions concerning using technology in the classroom.

• Are we using technology for our students’ or our own sake (be honest!)?
• Can it have a negative effect on our relationship with the students?
• Are we taking students’ needs into account?
• What does using technology in the classroom lead to? Is it worthwhile wondering about that?
• Is the division between digital natives and digital immigrants actually valid?

Hoping to get answers from you :)

Free worksheets for Young Learners

I am sure that most of you reading this post have spent hours looking for free, interesting worksheets for your students.

Many websites advertise themselves as free but when it comes to downloading they request payment or donation. Other ones have complicated menus or provide worksheets only in the PDF format.

To make your lives easier, here is my advice how to find materials in less than a couple of minutes.

If you are looking for a particular worksheet (e.g. fruit worksheet)

1. google it in Google Images
2. seeing what has been searched, click on the image that interests you
3. next click on the ‘see full size image’ button 
4. then right click the image to save it on your computer. Easy.

If this proves to be insufficient, you might find these websites very useful:

http://bogglesworldesl.com/ (almost a legendary site with loads of free material)

http://www.english-4kids.com/ (not many but very stimulating worksheets)

http://www.esl-kids.com/worksheets/worksheets.html (excellent and easy to use free worksheet generator)

http://www.eslprintables.com/ (You need to set up an account and upload some worksheets of yours. Once your worksheet has been downloaded you get one point. Having gained thirty points, you become a premium member and are allowed to download up to thirty new worksheets i.e. ones that were uploaded on a particular day. If you download an ‘old’ worksheet you lose one point of the ones you gained.)

The following sites convert files:

http://www.pdfonline.com/convert-pdf/  - converts Word documents into PDF

http://www.freepdfconvert.com/ - converts PDF documents into Word

The only thing you have to do in order to convert a document is to upload it and type your email address. After a couple of seconds, en email with a converted file will be waiting for you in the inbox.

These sites provide excellent free printables as well:

http://www.beginningreading.com/Free%20Workshe.htm (good for first graders)

http://www.oleyschool.com/worksheets.html (good for first graders)

http://schoolexpress.com/index.php (go to 15.000+ free worksheets)

http://www.abcteach.com/ (you will have to spend some time looking for what you need but it’s worth the time)

http://www.esltower.com/ (go to the English Teachers part)

http://www.teachchildrenesl.com/worksheets.htm (contains worksheets for both Young Learners and teenagers) 

Enjoy!