Using authentic text in the classroom allows students to develop the interpretive mode. They have the chance to negotiate the meaning of oral and printed texts without input from the writer or speaker. Authentic text allows them to have a cultural experience as they read between the lines and make comparisons with their own experiences. The interpretive mode gives students a chance to listen, read, and view video in the classroom. It teaches them to make predictions, draw conclusions, voice opinions, explain meaning, and ask questions. Authentic text is ideal for comprehension because it is presented like a story.
The Interpretive Mode of Communication involves comprehension processing. Materials should allow students to use both bottom-up processing, in which they recognize patterns in the language that help with understanding, and top-down processing, where the teacher provides contextual clues to help them comprehend the material. Language teachers can help students comprehend new material by connecting it to what they already know. In this way teachers don’t overwhelm students with unknown aspects of the language and culture. Teachers should encourage students to relate the material to their own personal experiences. Signaling clues such as preview activities, summarizers, emphasis markers, and logical connectives also help students comprehend. Teachers identify essential vocabulary. When more than one communication skill is needed, the teacher should create separate activities for each skill. For example, when using a music video present it first without sound so students can focus on the story that is told by the visual images. When using reading as a skill, have students look for cognates. Then have them identify main ideas or a theme. Expand their comprehension by having them compare the theme to other stories they know.
Thanks to the internet there are many great examples of authentic text available to teachers. Music videos are valuable because they usually tell a story. It is easy to find music videos that are popular in various countries where the language is spoken that also have a cultural significance. Another source of authentic text that appeals to students are urban legends. These stories have been told over and over and usually exist across cultures. They provoke discussion and invoke opinions that increase discourse in the classroom. Not only do they give insight into the culture of the targeted language, the differences and similarities provide information about both cultures. Finally, one last type of authentic text that is useful in the classroom is the television commercial. These are created to be appealing and relevant to specific cultures or members of a culture. For most students there are a lot of contextual clues that are readily available. For example I have used commercials for McDonalds from various Spanish-speaking countries. I have yet to meet a teenager who can’t tell me all about what it is like to eat at McDonalds (even when I taught in Korea). The jingle for McDonalds is the same tune with Spanish words (Me encanta instead of I’m lovin’ it).
