How to Use Authentic Materials
Age and Level Approriately
Dali Tan
2013 NECTFL Teaching Lab
March 9, 2013
Northern Virginia Community College
• How
to find age and level
approriate authentic materials
• How to Create age and level
appropriate activities using those
authentic materials
Integration of language and culture: As
students learn vocabulary, they see and
discuss culturally authentic visuals/realia so
that they acquire both language and cultural
concepts. For example, in a lesson on
housing, students look at photos of various
types of housing from the target cultures,
name features of each building type, and
compare and contrast the housing types with
each other and with housing from their own
culture.
Use of authentic documents: Students
discover information dealing with practices
and products by analyzing authentic
documents, such as movie listings,
restaurant ads, bus/subway schedules,
invitations, and so on. … For example,
students might read a school calenada from
a Chinese-speaking country and discuss why
its semesters are organized differently.
Investigation of cultural truths:
students communicate with target
language counterparts via e-mail;
gather information about their daily
routines, school, and interests; and
compare these data to their own
responses.
Definition:
What are the authentic
materials?
How about teacher-created
materials?
“Authentic texts= “those written
and oral communications
produced by members of a
language and culture group for
members of the same language
and culture group” p. 74
What are authentic materials?
• Authentic materials are
resources that have been
developed specifically for
native speakers. These include
print, audio, and visual
materials.
Examples of Authentic Materials
• transportation schedules
• pictures of road signs
• business cards
• labels
• menus
• brochures
• receipts
• currency
• Tickets
• Others
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
songs
proverbs
folktales
newspapers
televisions programs
radio broadcasts
film
internet websites
“Realia (cultural products) are
real items of objects from the
target culture, such as
menus, train tickets,
newspaper articles, party
invitations, eating utensils,
and toys” (p. 153)
Why and When to integrate authentic
texts?
“It has been well documented that
students who listen to authentic oral
segments , such as radio broadcasts,
demonstrate significantly great
listening comprehension than do
students who do not interact with
authentic segments ….
Using Authentic Materials Across All
Levels
• Authentic materials can be used at
the beginning level.
• How can one find age and level
appropriate as well as culturally-rich
authentic materials?
• The use of authentic material leads
naturally to authentic assessments.
Several recent studies have
examined the effect of
introducing authentic readings
early in language study (in
German and French first
semester course, dali’s note).
In fact, Maxim (2002) suggests that
allowing time for extensive reading on a
regular basis may contribute to the
development of grammatical and
communicative competence, and Gascoign
(2002a) encourages teachers to
incorporate authentic reading into the L2
classroom from the very first weeks of
instruction. These and other studies
confirm the advantage of presenting
unedited, authentic texts to students as
early as possible in language study. (170).
…
Crucial points to remember in using
authentic texts:
“Text (i.e., discourse in many forms) will be
easier to reproduce, understand, and recall
to the extent that it is motivated and
structured episodically” p. 73
“Edit the task, not the text” as instructional
guideline for teachers as they design
activities around an authentic text. P. 77
“Teachers should remember to edit
the task to the level of students’
interpretive abilities.” (p. 167)
“Choose authentic texts that are
age- and level- appropriate, and
edit the task, not the text. (p.171)
Using Authentic Materials Across All
Levels
• Authentic materials can be used at
the beginning level.
• How can one find age and level
appropriate as well as culturally-rich
authentic materials?
• The use of authentic material leads
naturally to authentic assessments.
一二三四五，
金木水火土。
天地分上下，
日月照今古。
数字歌
一二三， 爬上山。
四五六， 手拉手。
七八九， 拍皮球。
伸出两只手，十个手指头。
山 村
（宋）劭雍
____去_______里
烟村_________家
亭台_________座
___________枝花
http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/65021290.html
姚明
•姓名：姚明（Yao Ming）
• 生日：1980.9.12
• 身高：2.26米(NBA官方身高为2.29米)
• 体重：141kg
• 国籍：中国
• 出生地：上海
• 祖籍：江苏震泽
• 民族：汉族
• 曾效力球队：CBA 上海东方大鲨鱼
• 现效力球队：NBA 休斯顿火箭（现任主教练：
阿德尔曼）
• 位置：中锋
•百米速度：15秒左右
• 手掌：21CM
• 臂长：225CM
• 血型：A型
• 星座：处女座
• 属相：猴
• 喜欢的颜色：蓝色
• 喜欢的动物：都伯文狗
• 喜欢的食物：肉肠、西红柿
• 喜欢的菜系：妈妈的菜
• 喜欢的节日：国庆节
•崇拜的人物：周恩来，刘备，奥特曼
• 欣赏的偶像：萨博尼斯、奥拉朱旺
• 喜欢的作家：叶永烈，老舍
• 喜欢的演员：成龙，李连杰
• 喜欢的影星：丹泽尔.华盛顿
• 喜欢的电影：《虎口脱险》 《奥特
曼》
• 喜欢的地方：纳美克星
• 喜欢的国家：中国
喜欢的服装：运动，休闲
• 休闲地方： 星巴克咖啡屋
• 在休斯敦火箭队时球衣号:11号
• 业余爱好：打电脑游戏（如WOW）、上网
冲浪、音乐、看书
• 绰号：小巨人
• 外国人一般称其：明王朝、移动长城
• 家庭成员； 父亲：姚志源
• 母亲：方凤娣
• 配偶：叶莉
•
林树豪
http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/167592968.html
林书豪会说中文吗？
How to introduce the concept and
practice of “Xiao”
(filial piety) in Chinese culture?
The purpose of the following examples from
Dali Tan is to “抛砖引玉” ( To throw out a brick
in order to bring forth a jade).
中國文化傳統中的“孝”
小鳥
小鳥小﹐老鳥老﹐
小鳥本是老鳥抱﹐
小鳥﹐小鳥﹐你今長大了﹐
老鳥誰養他的老﹖
(This children’s rhyme can be taught in Chinese I )
http://v.ku6.com/show/VwUxpEmnQdFXVmw62T
A0kw...html
一封家书
李春波
亲爱的爸爸妈妈：
你们好吗
现在工作很忙吧
身体好吧
我现在广州挺好的
爸爸妈妈不要太牵挂
虽然我很少写信
其实我很想家
爸爸每天都上班吗
管得不严就不要去了
干了一辈子革命工作
也该歇歇了
•我买了一件毛衣给妈妈
•别舍不得,穿上吧
•以前儿子不太听话
•现在懂事他长大了
•哥哥姐姐常回来吗
•替我问候他们吧
•有什么活儿就让他们干
•自己孩子有什么客气的
•爸爸妈妈多保重身体
•不要让儿子放心不
•下今年春节我一定回家
•好了先写到这吧
•此致敬礼！
•此致那个敬礼
•年 月 号
•
Use of “常回家看看” Across Levels
This popular music video song
lends itself really well in
teaching the concept and
practice of “filial piety” across all
levels of proficiency. The
possibilities are endless. You can
use the provided link to show
the video.
常回家看看
找点空闲,找点时间,
领着孩子常回家看看.
带上笑容,带上祝愿,
陪同爱人常回家看看.
妈妈准备了一些唠叨,
爸爸张罗了一桌好菜.
生活的烦恼向妈妈说说,
工作的事情向爸爸谈谈.
The lyric for this popular song continues in next slide.
常回家看看 (continued)
常回家看看,回家看看,
哪怕帮妈妈洗洗筷子,刷刷碗,
老人不图儿女为家做多大贡献,
一辈子不容易,就图个平平安安.
常回家看看,回家看看,
哪怕帮爸爸捶捶后背,揉揉肩,
老人不图儿女为家做多大贡献啊,
一辈子总操心,就换个平平安安.
http://you.video.sina.com.cn/b/2895959-1263555182.html
Use an Authentic Story
to Teach Cultural
Products, Cultural
Practices and Cultural
Perspectives
我曾经看过台湾著名的作家林清玄写的一篇散文，
他说一个朋友和他要一幅字，自己挂在书房里。
朋友对他说，你要写非常简单的，让我每天看了
以后就有用的一句话。他想了半天，就写了四个
字，叫“常想一二”。那个朋友不懂，说这是什
么意思啊？林清玄解释说，大家都说这个世上
“不如意事常八九，可与言者无二三”，我们就
算认可这种说法吧，但是起码还有一二如意事啊？
我帮不了你太多，我只可以告诉你就常想那“一
二”吧，想一想那些快乐的事情，去放大快乐的
光芒，抑制心底的不快，这就是我作为一个朋友
能够为你做的最好的事情了。
(p.76，于丹论语心得)
st
21
Century Skills:
“Creativity/Innovation -Students as creators and innovators
respond to new and diverse
perspectives. They use language in
imaginative and original ways to
make useful contributions.”
• Demonstrating originality and
inventiveness in work
• Developing, implementing and
communicating new ideas to others
• Being open and responsive to new and
diverse perspectives
• Acting on creative ideas to make a
tangible and useful contribution to
the domain in which the innovation occurs
Example 1：
When planning to introduce a
familiar story from the target culture,
teachers might use the following
examples of how to make students
use creativity and innovation, such as
asking them to give a new ending of
the story and many other activities.
•Reader’s Theatre—act the story out in
front of the class
•“Hot Seat”—Group members take turns
to be in “the hot seat” (stepping into the
shoes of different characters in the story,
such as the old man, the elder son, the
younger son, well-meaning neighbors)
•Create a different ending for the
story and share it with the whole
class
•Digital Story Board—Draw
pictures and write captions with
speech and thought bubbles for
different characters in the story
•Find a similar or different story from your
own culture that illustrate a similar or
different “wisdom of life” and compare
and analyze the similarity and differences
in both cultural practices and perspectives
•Write a story from your own personal
experience that illustrates that moral of “
塞翁失马“ story and share it with the
whole class
•Example 2：
When planning to teach
geography of China, teachers
might use the following
activities (such as a rhyme, a
game, etc… in a creative and
innovative way)
中国地理歌
一二三,三二一. 我和爷爷坐飞机。
坐上飞机去哪里? 坐上飞机旅游去。
先到首都北京城， 看看咱们的天安门。
再坐火车去天津， 狗不理包子买二斤。
坐飞机，飞东南， 看看上海大世界。
看完了上海去重庆， 重庆是咱的火锅城。
吃火锅，谈中国， 中国地大人口多。
土地九百六十万， 人口十三亿还要多。
游完四个直辖市， 下面再把各省说。
先说东北三个省， 黑龙江吉林和辽宁。
往南进入华北区， 山西河北和内蒙。
东南沿海省区多,说起来就有八九个。
山东江苏浙江省， 福建广西和广东，
香港澳门海南岛， 九个一个也不少。
往西走是云南， 西藏贵州和四川。
再走进入大西北， 新疆位置在边陲。
青海甘肃和陕西， 宁夏回族自治区。
游完大陆一大圈， 还有五省在中间。
河南安徽和江西， 还有湖南与湖北。
祖国大陆说一遍 ， 只剩台湾在外边。
台湾回归大一统， 祖国山河一片红。
全国省市三十四， 中国地理我先知。
The class is divided into six groups with each
group in charge of one part of the rhyme.
The group is responsible to draw a map of
the cities and provinces and autonomous
regions to a scale (predetermined so when
maps from all the groups put together, there
is a whole map of China), to teach to the rest
of the class basic facts, some unique features
about their part of the geographic areas (such
as topography, historical and sight- seeing
landmarks, famous historical figures, famous
dishes, and so on).
Each group needs to design and
produce a 20 minute TV program with
a TV commercial/public service
announcement about their area as well
as a cooking show that teacher the rest
of class how to cook a famous dish
from that area and a local history
program.
After each group’s presentation, each group is
responsible to provide three things from their
area into a time capsule and write out their
detailed descriptions of the three things/persons
and submit them to the teacher beforehand. The
rest of the groups (with each group and each
member of the group takes turns) play 20
questions by asking the group questions and try
to find out what each item in the time capsule is
(only Yes or No questions allowed). The group
that has asked the fewest questions before
getting the correct answer wins.
The culminating activity of the unit is a
group Jeopardy Game Show created out
of 60 key questions in writing about their
area that each group come up with
there. The teacher will work with each
group to make sure that their writings
and facts are accurate before the show
in finally assembled in the electronic
game board.
Reflection:
Cultural Products: (both are authentic materials)
_a:Familiar story___
______________________________________
_b: _Chinese
Geography_Rhyme________________
Cultural Practices:
__a: 不大喜大悲, 不走极端___________
______________________________________
__b:regional cookings_____________
Cultural Perspectives:
__a:__中庸之道，相信物极必反_______
______________________________________
__b:_how regional cuisines shows concept of
balance and healthy living
•What kind of discussions you would encourage
students to have in order to deepen and expand
the cultural comparison that the students have
shared with each other?
•What follow up tasks you would design so that
students are further encouraged to become
“creators and innovators” who “respond to new
and diverse perspectives” so that “They use
language in imaginative and original ways to
make useful contributions”?
How would you spiral these simple examples up
and down to meet the need of your students at
various levels of proficiency?
Questions?
Many thanks for joining us today!
dtan@nvcc.edu