On Authenticity In College English Reading Teaching

Authenticity is one of the heated topics on foreign language teaching. There is now a general consensus in foreign language teaching that the use of authentic texts in the classroom is beneficial to the learning process. Using authentic texts is an effective way for learners to acquire communicative ability by exposing learners to language in real use.On the question of whether authentic texts can be introduced into the classroom there is less disagreement. However, when authentic texts should be used in language teaching, opinions differ. Some argue that authentic texts can pose difficulty for beginners but when it comes to college students who are at the intermediate-advanced level, there should be no such worry about the feasibility of using authentic texts.Despite the different opinions in using authentic texts, the notion of authenticity has largely been restricted to discussions about texts, especially about listening texts. With the development of Communicative Language Teaching, authenticity in English language teaching is not simply just a matter of using original texts. Authenticity about language assessment (Morrow, 1991; Bachman, 1990) and authenticity in task design (Breen, 1985; Nunan, 1989) have been introduced into the issue of authenticity. However, there have been few systematic attempts to address the question of authenticity in the whole teaching process in reading, namely, the reading goals, reading texts, reading tasks and reading assessment.This thesis mainly discusses the significance of authenticity in college English reading under the theory of Communicative Language Teaching. Authenticity is closely related with communication, real-life, and language use, the function of language, appropriate and meaningful use of language as well as the context, setting of language as a discourse. Authenticity is an important notion in Communicative Language Teaching, whose final goal is to use language in real-life communication. In this thesis, college English reading teaching has been interpreted from a new perspective—authenticity in terms of four teaching stages: reading goals, reading texts, reading tasks and reading assessment.Several pairs of confusing concepts concerning authenticity and language teaching have been distinguished and detailed guidelines for each stage also have been discussed. Authenticity in Communicative Language Teaching is a comprehensive concept with interactive model, tasked-based activity, and discourse analysis approach all included. A sample lesson is designed as an illustration to give hints for future college English reading teaching.The author hopes that this study could be of some value in college English reading course book design and college English reading teaching.The selection of the English reading texts is the key to the improvement in reading efficiency, because the texts themselves are the chief factors which affect the students' interest in reading. Therefore in college reading teaching, it is the teacher's responsibility to select the appropriate texts in accordance with the students' needs. Priorities should be given to the suitability, exploitability, readability, variety, authenticity and practical value of the reading texts. Reading texts should match students' interest (both interest in general for college students and interest in particular in terms of students' major) and level, cultivate students' real-life reading skills or ability, be genuinely relevant to students' everyday life as well as embed a diversity of culture and formats.Reading goals are the guiding post in the teaching practice. The whole reading process is guided by reading goals and is carried on toward them. Therefore, reading goals are regarded as the primary elements in the teaching practice. Under the.aim of achieving communicative competence, take the real-life reading purposes as authentic goals. Only on this basis can appropriate authentic texts be chosen and authentic task be designed. As far as task design in communicative reading classroom is concerned, there is a debate in teaching circle whether the reading task should simulate the real-world task or be designed purely from language teaching perspective. The simulated real-life task requires students to speak or do like that in real life. The reading task designed purely for language teaching is characteristic of language classroom and rarely occurs to students out of classroom. Actually, it is unnecessary to make a distinction between the two kinds of reading tasks and choose one of them. The linguistic competence acquired through the reading task designed purely for language teaching can also apply to real life. Moreover, to take the real-life task into classroom without any modification is not feasible; necessary adjustments should be made according to learner's characteristics and teaching setting. As long as the designed reading tasks can enable students to communicate meaningfully and been applied to real life by students, the tasks are authentic. Reading tasks should vary with reading texts. Set specific tasks for students so that they act as if they were using the language in real life - this is part of the essence of authentic tasks. These tasks should be close to real world tasks and should enable students to solve practical problems in their real life. The teaching of reading in college English classroom should make a balance between simulated real-life tasks and tasks designed purely for language teaching, reflect students' needs or desires, be in accordance with students' ability, give students the right to choose and be well placed within the context of integrated language study. Even the tasks designed purely for language teaching should enable students to carry on meaningful communication.Correspondently, authentic assessment should assess both the communicative competence in real life performance (through Real-life Approach, assess whether the students can put what they learn in classroom into practice) but also the communicative potential reflected in the classroom reading process (through Interactional/ ability Approach, assess whether the interaction between teacher and student, student and student, student as reader and author, is meaningful or authentic). When assessing the task, check whether the desired reading goals have been achieved by means of observation, portfolios and student self assessment. Only a dynamic, multi-dimensional, democratic assessment can be called authentic.Anyway, the four stages are closely related to each other. It is learners' responses that determine the authenticity in the four stages. From such a multi-dimensional perspective to explore the issue of authenticity in reading teaching, the essence of foreign language teaching in reading can be better comprehended.