THE USE OF AUTHENTIC MATERIALS IN DEVELOPING GRAMMAR PROFICIENCY

Abstract

In the past, it had been a common practice to utilize a grammar book to learn about language rules, for it was more practical to use. However, language rules are the components of a language that learners have been trying to avoid learning inside and out due to its complexity. Many learners regard grammar insignificant as they believe that vocabulary plays a substantial role in communication. For such reason, lecturers have been endeavoring to make an appropriate instrument to make grammar teaching and learning more effective and fun. Nowadays, when it comes to language teaching and learning, lecturers make use of authentic materials to capture the interest and to stimulate students to get motivated to learn. Nunan (1988) & Martinez (2002) defines authentic materials e.g., newspaper, magazine as the material, which have been produced for purposes other than to teach languages. Cook (1981) claimed that students can get more benefits from authentic materials, from which students can get closer to the target language. This research is conducted to find an answer to the question of the potency of authentic materials in learning grammar rules, specifically Gerund and Infinitive. The participants of this study were the second semester students of the English Department, who were then categorized into two dissimilar groups: control and experimental. The control group had a grammar book in the grammar teaching and learning, while the experimental group utilized an authentic material, such as a snippet taken from a short video. The media used to assess learners’ grammar competence were pre-test and post-test, which were then analyzed and compared to see the effectiveness of each instrument in developing learners’ competence in the specific grammar rules. The results of this study displayed that both instruments, such as the grammar book and the authentic material were of little significance to the improvement of students’ grammar knowledge. In other words, despite the fact those instruments play their role in developing students’ proficiency, the rise was just utterly trivial.