The effects of authentic English listening and reading materials on EFL learners

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine Korean EFL university students' perceptions and attitudes toward both authentic listening and reading materials. It also proposed to explore the effects of the implementation of a curriculum with an emphasis on authentic listening and reading materials in EFL classrooms. A total of 146 Korean EFL college students participated in this study and were divided into four groups, two experimental groups and two control groups. For examining the effects of using authentic listening materials on students' listening ability, an experimental group received instruction in which traditional listening materials were replaced by DVD titles during some portions of the listening lessons for the twelve-week period of the treatment. In order to explore the effects of using authentic reading materials on students' reading ability, the other experimental group received instruction in which traditional reading materials were replaced by authentic reading materials during some portions of the reading lessons. The results of the study showed that although the effect of using authentic reading materials in the EFL classroom was not statistically significant, there was a significant positive effect of utilizing DVD titles in EFL classrooms. Implications and suggestions for further research are provided.