Teachers' Perceptions of the Use of Authentic Materials and Tasks in EFL Classrooms at Tertiary Level in Taiwan

Abstract

In the wake of the expansion of a communicative approach to English language teaching, the issue of authenticity of materials continues to be a concern which has received much attention from academia. Yet, it is unclear whether teachers would like to use authentic materials and tasks with tertiary students in EFL contexts, such as Taiwan. This exploratory study aimed at investigating English teachers’ perceptions of using authentic materials and associated tasks as potential pedagogical approaches at the tertiary level of education, specifically universities of technology in the Taiwanese context. Set within an interpretive paradigm, data collection included semi-structured interviews with fourteen teachers and questionnaires completed by thirty. The main findings revealed that the teachers made only sporadic use of authentic materials, although they had positive attitudes towards using authentic materials. The perceived benefits involved being facilitative to language learning through enhanced motivation and engagement of the students, linking to the real-world language, exposure to rich input, and developing cultural learning and awareness. The activities or tasks in use ranged from less communicative pedagogic activities to more communicative authentic tasks. The teachers reported using more non-communicative or pre-communicative pedagogical activities than real-world tasks. As for the issues, more teachers prefer to use authentic materials with advanced learners although some argued that authentic materials can work with beginner students. The constraints on using authentic materials included time stress, needing to follow shared curricula, having the common major school examinations for their students to sit for, and the labour-intensive factors related to selection and compilation of authentic materials. Recommendations are that only sensible selection and proper presentation of authentic materials and associated tasks with mitigating factors involved can uphold an optimal learning environment and thus facilitate language learning. The findings of this study could shed some light on EFL teaching, and have implications for policy-makers, teacher educators, and material designers.