Authentic texts are a vital component of the task-based learning approach in classroom language acquisition. As they derive from the real-world they constitute a richer source of input and have the potential to raise learners’ awareness of a wider range of discourse features. These qualities of authentic texts are aligned with the contemporary, broadest notion of task, which is not limited to meaning-focused activities and meaningful communication but encompasses focus on form and consciousness-raising of linguistic structures and processes as well. Authentic texts, as real-life input, containing cultural and linguistic information, can respond most effectively to one of the main objectives of task-based instruction, which is to provide a situational and interactional context for activating the language acquisition process. The emphasis on task modelled on real-world language expressions and on authentic response and the engagement of the learners also advocates the use of authentic texts as a source input for task-based language learning. In this article we explore the theoretical frame for the integration of authentic texts into tasks, emphasising the task authenticity criteria and the task typologies for authentic texts. At the end we present a teaching scenario showing how authentic materials and task-based learning can be implemented in teaching literature to lower level students, who are the least exposed to authentic language input in the classroom.

Will the tidal wave of globalization lead us to a bland and uniform landscape dominated by a unified perspective? Will imperialism triumph in the twenty-first century? Or will culture, which drives human behavior through religion, language, geography and history, maintain its influence on the human consciousness? In The Cultural Imperative, Global Trends in the Twenty-first Century, Richard D Lewis explores these questions and proposes his thesis in this sweeping new book that examines the forces that keep us from taking off our cultural spectacles and explains how traits are to deeply embedded to be homogenized, as predicted by so many others. This is the imperative. Lewis begins with a broad sweep of history and the spread of culture throughout the world, forming and reforming based on climate, religion, language, geography and environmental factors, and historical developments. He then turns his attention to categorizing cultures into three groups: linear-active, multi-active and reactive. Of course, we don't see our or others' cultures in such elegant terms; we all wear cultural spectacles, glasses tinted with our own biases. One of the highlights of the book is Lewis' explorations of cultural black holes - aspects that hold such power that they figuratively suck in and obliterate any and all rational arguments or other value sets. Lewis' Post-9/11 Epilogue adds more than his perspective on the current rise of extremism and terrorism. He outlines the rise of Islam, its days of glory, and the splendor of the Moorish cultural, scientific and architectural achievements. Nor does he let the West off the hook in his discussion, he reminds us of our myopia and insensitivity, a fitting end to a book on intransigency.