Authentic learning materials

Authentic learning materials are believed to be among the most efficient materials for developing language learners’ cultural awareness and, by this, their intercultural competence (Byram et al. 2002). The term ‘authentic’, however, seems to be a subject of debate among scholars.

According to Will (2018), there are four potential criteria that define a text authentic in language learning. The first criterion is that the provenance of the text should be outside language education, i.e. the text is ‘not produced for teaching a foreign language’ (27). Mishan (2005) adds the importance of authorship and original socio-cultural context of the text but does not explicitly place them outside language education. According to Will (2018), the outside-language-education provenance of the text will guarantee inherent non-pedagogic textual qualities as the second criterion; however, ‘the language itself might be very difficult to tell apart from pedagogic text’ (28) in certain cases. In this regard, Mishan (2005) highlights the

‘original communicative and socio-cultural purpose of the text’ (18) as a key factor.

The third criterion from Will (2018) relates to the post-production of the text, which means that the text remains authentic if it does not undergo ‘linguistic simplification [..] to make it suitable to the learners’ level of language proficiency’ (Will 2018: 29).

The final criterion established by Will (2018) refers to the use of the text. Texts can be processed through activities (‘activity’ used here as an ‘umbrella’ term), and Mishan (2005) highlights that the use of ‘learning activities engendered by the text’

(18) could affect ‘learners’ perceptions of and attitudes to the text’ (Ibid.).

Furthermore, Mishan (2005) emphasises that the task based on the text becomes authentic if the accompanying activities ‘reflect the original communicative purpose of the text’ (75), which seems to resonate with Will’s ‘outside-language-education’

notion. Will (2018), however, argues, that the text does not need to be authentic to produce authentic activities. Authentic activities, according to Mishan (2005), are intended to ‘approximate real-life tasks’ (75) by reflecting ‘the original

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communicative purpose of the text’ (as mentioned above), being ‘appropriate to the text’, eliciting ‘response to/engagement with the text’, activating ‘existing knowledge of the target language and culture’, and involving ‘purposeful communication between learners’ (Mishan 2017: 17).

Taken together, authentic materials could have the potential to ‘mirror communication in the world outside the classroom’ (Nunan 2004: 212) and, by this, they are likely to narrow the gap between the classroom and the outside world.

Additionally, authentic materials might have more potential to bring unaltered and unbiased imprints of the target culture, the learner’s own culture, as well as other cultures into the classroom than, for example, textbooks (as discussed below). Thus, the use of authentic materials in an ESOL classroom could substantially contribute to the facilitation of the development of language learners’ cultural awareness (Mishan 2005). This is corroborated by the rationale Mishan (2005) establishes for the use of authentic materials in language learning since authentic materials could stimulate affective involvement with the target culture, including motivation to a greater extent than, for example, textbooks; also, they tend to hold more currency, denoting ‘up-to-date-ness and topicality’ (Mishan 2005: 55), than textbooks.

2.3.3 Textbooks

Many experts criticise the treatment of culture in language learning textbooks, especially in English language teaching (ELT) ones. ELT textbooks tend to have an unstated ‘hidden curriculum’ (Cunningsworth 1995: 90) which embeds and projects Western practices and perspectives, predominantly within a white and middle-class British/American setting through the English language that is considered a British/American product, according to, for example, Mishan and Timmis (2015).

Also, international EFL textbooks often advocate consumerism and liberal cosmopolitanism (Peutrell 2020). This could imply that learners are ‘expected to accept and act within the parameters’ of the British/American cultures (Mishan and Timmis 2015: 45). In addition to this, in the turbulent times of 2020, when ‘systemic racism’ seems to come into the forefront in the news (as referred to by the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement in 1.3.3 in Chapter 1), the apparent dominance of Western

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white culture in the textbooks could ignite intense debate among both textbook designers and users.

In spite of the above discussed anti-textbook arguments regarding the cultural content in language textbooks, a considerable majority of language teachers still appear to use textbooks in their teaching (Tomlinson and Masuhara 2018; Tomlinson 2012), especially at lower levels, from beginner to early intermediate (Risager 2018). Thus, textbooks seem to remain the ‘default mode of delivery for language learning materials’ (Mishan 2012: 287) serving as a ‘main aid to learning a second or foreign language’ (Tomlinson and Masuhara 2018). By virtue of this, it implies that textbooks are likely to dominate the forms and modes of language learning materials as well.

In a similar way to the conceptualisation of materials, it is not easy to find consensus on the role of ‘textbook’ either. (Many practitioners refer to a textbook as a coursebook as well, therefore, the terms are used interchangeably in this study, too.) First, a textbook can be a guide for teachers (teaching material) in teaching, and a tool for learners (learning materials) to review their knowledge (Hutschinson and Torres 1994). Second, a textbook could serve as ‘the “skeleton” for the teaching taking place in a language classroom’ (Mishan and Timmis 2015: 46) as it provides teachers and learners with a syllabus which reflects predetermined language objectives (Tomlinson and Masuhara 2018) and prescribes ‘what is to be taught and learned’ (McDonough and Shaw 2013: 11). Finally, it is a source of spoken and written ‘presentation materials’, and activities for ‘practice and communicative interaction’; it is ‘a reference source’ and ‘a resource for self-directed learning or self-access work’ for learners; and it supports ‘less experienced teachers who have yet to gain confidence’ (Cunningsworth 1995: 7).

Concerning the content of textbooks, it can refer to what is included in (or excluded from) the textbook in terms of language, culture, and pragmatics (Harwood 2014).

Content, thus, comprises the combination of language systems, cultural representations, and contexts in which the target language is used by means of texts, illustrations, and their accompanying activities and exercises. Drawing on Harwood

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(2014), cultural content denotes the representations of culture in the materials (see operational definition of ‘cultural content’ for this study in Section 2.3.4).

Provenance of textbooks

The provenance of textbooks (and learning materials in general) also plays an important role in language education, not only from a language, but also from a socio-cultural aspect with regard to the place where the textbook is in use (also see above).

According to Bao (2008), textbooks can be foreign textbooks (non-Irish textbooks in the context of this study) that originate from a country different from the country where it is in use, for example the Headway series (by Soars and Soars, OUP) when used in Ireland (see 5.2.2.1 in Chapter 5); local textbooks that are produced in the country where it is used, for example, The Big Picture (Halkett and Michael 2005) in use in Ireland (see 5.2.1.1 in Chapter 5); and regional textbooks that are written in a country but exported to several other countries, for example, A Piece of Cake (Boesen and Rosendal 2011) for the Scandinavian market (Risager 2018).

As stated by Mishan and Timmis (2015), Asian countries tend to use American textbooks, while European countries, including Ireland, show a tendency towards the use of British textbooks (see findings of this study regarding materials in use in the ESOL provision of ETBs in Ireland in 5.1.2 in Chapter 5). Many of these textbooks are designed for the global market (e.g. the Headway series), but some critics say that they are still not appropriate and/or relevant for their intended audience (Harwood 2014), and this was shown to be the case in the Irish ESOL context (see 1.3.4 in Chapter 1, and see Chapter 6).