378.147:811.

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https://doi.org/10.18485/bells.2021.13.6

Danijela Prošić-Santovac*
University of Novi Sad
Faculty of Philosophy
Novi Sad, Serbia

Ana Halas Popović**

University of Novi Sad
Faculty of Philosophy
Novi Sad, Serbia

STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS USING

AUTHENTIC AND NON-AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING AT
UNIVERSITY LEVEL

Abstract
The aim of this quantitative research using a questionnaire as its instrument was
to gain insight into students’ attitudes towards the use of authentic and non-
authentic materials in English language teaching including their perception of
the stakeholders’ agency in the process. The results of the research show that, in
terms of the used teaching materials, students’ ELT experience differs from their
preferences to a certain extent. Furthermore, students generally have a positive
attitude towards textbooks, as the most commonly used non-authentic material,
but they also consider that it is not enough for teachers to rely solely on this

*
E-mail address: [email protected]
**
E-mail address: [email protected]

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material to motivate their students. What is more, they are supportive of the
inclusion of learners in decision making in the teaching process.

Key words: attitudes, authentic materials, non-authentic materials, EFL, ELT

1. Introduction

A textbook is certainly the most commonly used material in foreign

language teaching. It can be assumed that it has deserved this title due
to important roles it has in the teaching or learning process, such as
being a source of activities for learners’ practice, providing syllabus and
support for less experienced teachers, serving as a resource for self-study,
etc. (Cunningsworth 1995: 7). However, there is no perfect textbook
that suits every teacher and his or her students’ needs, interests and
abilities. Technological advancement and globalization have contributed
to a widening of the diversity of learners’ needs, that include intercultural
competence, global communication, communication in various settings,
etc., which is why most experienced teachers sometimes “replace textbook
material with their own ideas” (Harmer 1998: 112).
In addition to activities found in a textbook, a teacher can use
alternative ones that, for instance, cover a wide range of topics in
accordance with their students’ interest, such as: politics, religion, gender
and racial equality, sports, fashion, culture with a special focus on popular
culture (e.g. popular music, films, magazines, etc.), literature, art, etc.
The preparation and carrying out of such activities often require the use
of various materials which can include those designed specifically for
language learning and teaching, such as dictionaries, flash cards, or graded
readers, but also some items from our everyday lives that can serve the
given purpose, such as newspapers, popular songs, fashion magazines, TV
series, etc. Therefore, two groups of materials for foreign language teaching
can be established – authentic and non-authentic ones. The frequency of
using one or the other type of materials in ELT classes depends, among
other factors, on both teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards each type.

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2. Authentic materials in ELT

The communicative approach to language teaching has brought a new

perspective of the goal of language learning, which refers to acquiring
communicative competence or, in other words, effective language use in
everyday or real-life situations. This focus on communicative language
learning has significant implications for various aspects of teaching practice
including teaching materials, which are, in this context, required to be more
authentic. As McDonough, Shaw and Masuhara define authenticity, it is “a
term that loosely implies as close an approximation as possible to the world
outside the classroom, in the selection both of language material and of
the activities and methods used for practice in the classroom” (2013: 27).
Therefore, authentic teaching materials can be considered those that are
not designed for language teaching purposes, but for native and non-native
speakers of a given language, who use them for their communication and
everyday and social life purposes (e.g. Harmer 1991, Jordan 1997, Peacock
1997, Sanderson 1999, Corbett 2003, Kilickaya 2004, etc.). In a language
classroom they keep their original form, i.e. they are not adapted in any
way for language learners who are, thus, exposed to real-life language as
used by native and non-native speakers in their language community.
These materials can be audio (e.g. radio programmes, taped
conversations, advertisements, announcements, songs, etc.), visual (e.g.
photographs, post cards, schedule boards, street signs, wordless picture
books, etc.), printed (e.g. magazines, newspapers, restaurant menus,
movie reviews, memoranda, diaries, greeting cards, brochures, song lyrics,
etc.), but they can also include realia, i.e. objects used in everyday life. In
addition to the aforementioned instances, authentic multimedia materials
can also be used in a classroom to bring real-life language use to it, such
as films (from Hollywood or some other production), documentaries,
TV series, etc. Unabridged novels, short stories and poetry should not
be neglected either in this context. The range of this type of materials
is vast especially since they can easily be found on the internet, as their
most significant source, and, what is more, they are constantly updated
(Belaid and Murray 2015: 28). Taking into consideration such a diversity
of authentic materials that can be used in a foreign language classroom, a
teacher should take into account the following selection criteria: relevancy
to the textbook used and the students’ needs, topics in accordance with
students’ interests, cultural appropriateness, logistic problems, cognitive

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and linguistic demands, the quality of materials and exploitability, etc.

(Sujono 2017: 141).
Some of the advantages of authentic materials use include the fact
that students are exposed to “real” language, the materials positively
affect students’ motivation, they can be more in accordance with students’
interests, both teachers and students can keep track of language changes
mirrored by these materials, a variety of text types is offered and, finally,
teachers can be more creative in their approach to teaching (Tamo
2009: 75-76). Authentic materials have a greater potential in developing
students’ communicative competence than traditional textbooks (Gilmore
2007: 103), and can be used as a source of “authentic cultural information”
(Kilickaya 2004). On the other hand, potential difficulties in the use of
authentic materials can arise due to their language being too complex for
learners at a particular level of knowledge (Richards and Schmidt 2002).
In addition, teachers’ preparation of these materials for the use in the
classroom can be time-consuming (Tamo 2009: 76).
Regarding students’ perception of authentic materials, Sujono’s study
(2017) shows that they had positive attitudes towards the use of these
materials in an EFL classroom and that their most favourable materials of
this type were songs and films. However, the study has also revealed that
students faced certain difficulties in using authentic materials, such as:
dealing with unfamiliar vocabulary, the low-quality of materials, advanced
speaking fluency and students’ lack of self-confidence. In a comparison
of teachers’ and learners’ attitudes towards authentic reading materials,
AbdulHussein (2014) has reached the conclusion that learners’ attitudes
are significantly more positive than the teachers’. Finally, the importance
of using authentic materials in a foreign or second language classroom is
clearly emphasized in the observation by Kelly et al. (2002) according to
which these materials make a lesson more lively and introduce the real
world into the classroom.

3. Non-authentic materials in ELT

Contrary to authentic materials, non-authentic ones are produced

specifically for language teaching purposes and designed exclusively to
meet teachers’ and learners’ needs. Therefore, they are frequently adapted,
planned and created with specific curricula in mind. While authentic

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materials are perceived to contribute more to the development of learners’

communicative competence, non-authentic ones are usually more focused
on language forms and structures (Belaid and Murray 2015: 28). Another
difference is that authentic materials contain imperfect everyday language
including incomplete sentences, pauses, etc. (Ibid.), while the language of
non-authentic ones tends to be free from these and controlled.
In addition to textbooks, printed non-authentic materials include
dictionaries, which can be monolingual, bilingual and multilingual, as well
as native-speaker or learners’ ones, depending on their target-users. The
latter ones are particularly significant in the context of language learning
since they are specifically designed to meet the needs of language teachers
and learners. Graded readers are another kind of printed non-authentic
materials, and they can be further divided into fiction and non-fiction,
with the complexity of their language adapted to the level of knowledge
of the target reader. There are also visual non-authentic materials, such as
flashcards and posters for vocabulary or grammar teaching or learning, and
audio ones, such as CDs for listening activities accompanying coursebooks,
materials for teaching or learning pronunciation and graded audiobooks.
Multimedia non-authentic materials can likewise be efficiently used for
teaching or learning purposes, such as CDs with interactive activities
accompanying coursebooks, video lessons, language learning TV series
(e.g. Wizadora, Big Muzzy, etc.) or even video language courses.
The significance of a textbook or a coursebook, as the most common
material in language teaching and learning, lies primarily in the fact that
it can be regarded as a universal element in this area, which is used for
teaching purposes all over the world (Hutchinson and Torres 1994: 315).
Coursebooks set clear objectives for learners, provide the syllabus for a
course as well as ready-made activities and achievement tests, etc. (Chou
2010). They are helpful for both less and more experienced teachers,
since they provide guidelines to the former and prepared material to work
with to the latter (Scrivener 1994: 43). Other factors, such as economy
and convenience, make coursebooks the cheapest source of learning
material for learners, taking into account the offered amount of provided
materials which are bound, light, small, easily packed and not dependant
on any hardware or electricity supply (Ur 1996: 184). However, no single
coursebook can satisfy the needs of all learners who have different learning
styles, abilities and level of knowledge and might offer topics that are not
interesting and relevant for every class (Ur 1996: 185). Moreover, Gilmore

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points out that the language of textbooks does not faithfully reflect the
real, everyday, authentic language used by native speakers (2007: 98-99).
Another potential issue is the uncritical following of a coursebook on the
part of a teacher, which can lead to a lack of the teacher’s initiative and
creativity and, consequently, to students’ boredom and a lack of motivation
(Ur 1996: 185).
Taking into account the fact that there is a positive relation between
students’ positive attitudes towards EFL textbooks and their attitudes
towards learning English as a foreign language (Rahimi and Hassani 2012:
71), one of the teachers’ main tasks should be to critically analyse, select,
adapt and use a textbook so that it suits their students’ needs, and to enrich
the lessons with a variety of different materials at their disposal.

4. Research aims

The aim of the research was to obtain data on the participants’ experience
and attitudes towards the use of authentic and non-authentic materials
in English language teaching, as well as their views of the stakeholders’
agency in the process. With this in mind, three research questions have
been formulated:
1. Which authentic and non-authentic materials have been previously
used in classes in the course of the participants’ English language
learning?
2. Which authentic and non-authentic materials would the
participants like to use in their ELT classes and how frequently?
3. What are the participants’ views of the stakeholders’ agency in the
process of decision making?
In addition, taking into account the independent variable of gender, the
following null and alternative hypotheses were created:
1. H0: There is no statistically significant difference between the
female and male participants in terms of their attitudes towards
the use and the desirable frequency of use of authentic materials
in ELT classes.
2. H0: There is no statistically significant difference between the
female and male participants in terms of their attitudes towards
the use and the desirable frequency of use of non-authentic
materials in ELT classes.

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3. H0: There is no statistically significant difference between the

female and male participants in terms of their views of the
stakeholders’ agency in the process of decision making.
4. H1: There is a statistically significant difference between the male
and female participants in terms of their attitudes towards the use
and the desirable frequency of use of authentic materials in ELT
classes.
5. H1: There is a statistically significant difference between the male
and female participants in terms of their attitudes towards the use
and the desirable frequency of use of non-authentic materials in
ELT classes.
6. H1: There is a statistically significant difference between the male
and female participants in terms of their views of the stakeholders’
agency in the process of decision making.

5. Methodology

A quantitative approach has been taken to acquiring data in this study,

via a survey. The data collected centred on the attitudes, as well as the
experiences the participants had related to their English language learning,
the use of authentic and non-authentic materials in teaching, and their
views of the stakeholders’ agency in the process.

5.1. Sample

The study used a convenience sample, which consisted of 235 students

at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad, who attended 14
different study programmes (Table 1). A majority of the participants were
female (82.2 %), with only 17.8 per cent of male participants, which is a
relatively common gender distribution at the faculty. Their mean age was
20.07 at the time (M = 20.07, Mdn = 20.00, SD = 1.32), and most of
them were students of the first year at the faculty (79.2 %), the second-
years constituting 22 percent of the sample, the third-years 4.3 percent
and the fourth-years 2.6 percent. Their first language was mostly Serbian
(88.4 percent), then Hungarian (7.8 %), Slovak (2.2 %), Ruthenian (1.3
%) and Montenegrin (0.4 %). Only one person started learning English at

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the faculty (0.4 %), while others started much earlier: 18 percent in the
kindergarten, 36.9 percent in the first grade of primary school, 19.3 percent
in the third grade, and 25.3 percent in the fifth. Their subjective assessment
of their own English language proficiency, on a scale from 1 to 10, was an
average grade of 7.2 (M = 7.20, Mdn = 7.00, SD = 1.62), and their actual
grades at the end of the first semester of attending the general English
as a foreign language course at the B1 level of the Common European
Framework of Reference more or less reflected their self-assessment, with
the average grade being 8.03 (M = 8.03, Mdn = 8.00, SD = 1.21).

Department Percent

Philosophy 2.1

German Studies 3.4

Hungarian Studies 3.4

History 6.4

Comparative Literature 2.1

Media Studies 6.4

Pedagogy 16.2

Psychology 15.7

Slavic Studies 2.1

Slovak Studies 1.3

Sociology 3.4

Serbian Language and Linguistics 7.7

Serbian Literature 8.1

English Studies 21.7

Total 100.0

Table 1. The distribution of students across the departments

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5.2. Instrument and procedure

The instrument employed was a questionnaire (see Appendix), which

featured both closed- and open-ended items in students’ L1, and answer
options ranging from fill-in to multiple choice answers (yes/no, and Lykert-
type scale), yielding non-parametric data, nominal, as well as ordinal.
The questionnaire was created by the authors of the study, and was not
based on any previously existing forms. The calculation of the internal
consistency of the instrument showed that it was highly reliable, with
Cronbach alpha 0.83. The first part focused on obtaining the background
information about the participants, with the following parts concentrating
on the participants’ attitudes and experiences related to their English
language learning, and the use of authentic and non-authentic materials
in teaching. The items were formulated in such a way that the participants
could understand which material is being referred to in the statement
without the academic knowledge of teaching methodology (e.g. “Abridged
novels, retold films or books written on a certain topic, adapted to various
CEFR proficiency levels (graded readers)” instead of the technical term
“graded readers” only). The survey was performed anonymously, with
questionnaires distributed over the span of two years. The participants
were provided with the questionnaires in the paper-and-pen form, during
their EFL classes at the end of the second semester of studying, and their
participation was entirely on a voluntary basis. The software package used
to analyse the data was SPSS IBM Statistics.

6. Results and discussion

The research yielded results on the participants’ experience and views

on the use of authentic and non-authentic materials in English language
teaching, as well as their views of the stakeholders’ agency in the process.
As the standard non-authentic material prevalent in teaching, the
textbook was singled out to start with, and, when asked to evaluate the
textbook used in their EFL classes in terms of the level of interest it holds,
more students were inclined towards the characterization of the textbook
as ‘interesting’ (assigned value 10 on the scale) than ‘boring’ (assigned
value 1) (M = 7.17, Mdn = 8.00, SD = 2.05), the opinions being normally
distributed, with skewness of -.854 (SE = .159) and kurtosis of .375

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(SE = .318). A t-test failed to reveal a statistically significant difference

between the female participants’ average textbook assessment (M = 7.18,
SD = 1.95) and that of the males’ (M = 7.38, SD = 2.7), (t(204) = 0.583,
p = .561, α = .05). However, regardless of such a generally positive
attitude towards the textbooks they encountered, a great majority of the
participants was of the opinion that it was not possible to motivate learners
using solely a textbook in class (81.7 %), while only 18.3 percent believed
that it was, and there was no statistically significant difference between
female and male participants in this regard either (X2(1) = 0.947, p = .33
(an alpha level of .05 was adopted for this and all subsequent statistical
tests)).
Almost all of the participants thought that the teacher had the ability
to influence the content that was to be delivered in class (94.5 %), and
a smaller number, but still significant, believed such agency should be
bestowed upon learners as well (88.5 %). A Chi-Square test was performed
here, as well, and it showed that there was a statistically significant
difference between the two genders (X2(1) = 9.035, p = .003), where
the females assigned greater agency to teachers than the males did, but
that there was no significant difference between the groups in the case of
learners’ agency (X2(1) = 0.135, p = .714). Therefore, the null hypothesis
regarding the female and male participants in terms of their views of the
stakeholders’ agency in the process of decision making was only partly
supported, for the learners as stakeholders, while it was not supported for
the teachers. What both genders mostly agreed on was that the teachers
should use additional materials in accordance with the learners’ interests
(95.7 %), although, surprisingly, there were those (4.3 %) that believed
these should not be taken into account (X2(1) = 0.032, p = .857).
Similarly, 96.2 per cent of the participants thought that the teacher
ought to insert into the curriculum the topics that the learners are interested
in (X2(1) = 1.554, p = .212). They also expressed their opinion on certain
topics and their use in ELT (Table 2), with the most undesirable topic being
politics and the most desirable one – art. A t-test revealed a statistically
significant difference between males’ and females’ opinions (marked by *
in the table) in the case of religion (t(205) = 3.025, p = .003, α = .05),
gender equality (t(202) = 3.462, p = .001, α = .05) and racial affiliation
(t(203) = 2.047, p = .042, α = .05). The participants were largely of the
opinion (89.4 %) that cultural contents in general should be a part of EFL
curricula (X2(1) = 0.651, p = .42), and were even more supportive (97 %)
of the inclusion of popular culture (X2(1) = 0.061, p = .805).

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 Should be avoided (1) Neutral (2) Should be strongly focused
Topic
– Percent – Percent on (3) – Percent

all female male all female male all female Male

Art 2.9 3.5 0.0 19.7 17.5 29.7 77.4 78.9 70.3

Literature 4.8 5.3 2.7 19.2 19.9 16.2 76.0 74.9 81.1

Sport 10.6 11.7 5.4 42.3 41.5 45.9 47.1 46.8 48.6

gender equality* 18.6 14.4* 37.8* 45.6 46.1 43.2 35.8 39.5* 18.9*

fashion 19.8 18.1 27.8 54.6 54.4 55.6 25.6 27.5 16.7

racial affiliation* 29.3 26.8* 40.5* 46.3 46.4 45.9 24.4 26.8* 13.5*

religion* 38.6 33.5* 62.2* 51.2 55.3* 32.4* 10.2 11.2* 5.4*

politics 60.9 60.8 61.1 29.4 31.0 22.2 9.7 8.2 16.7

Table 2. The participants’ opinion on the inclusion of certain

topics into ELT

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6.1. Authentic materials: Attitudes and experience

The participants were asked to denote which authentic materials they had
had experience with in their ELT classes, and, of the options offered, short
film segments scored the highest, while picture books aimed at adults were
the least frequent choice of their teachers (Table 3).
No Authentic material Percent

1. Short film segments 87.5

2. Photographs 66.1

3. Documentary films 62.5

4. Older popular music (e.g. The Beatles) 55.4

5. Poetry 44.6

6. Video advertisements 39.3

7. Newly composed foreign music (e.g. Rihanna) 39.3

8. Complete films (Hollywood, or different production) 33.9

9. Daily newspapers and journals 25.0

10. Classical music (e.g. by Mozzart) 25.0

11. Bestsellers (e.g. novels by foreign authors) 23.2

12. TV series 21.4

13. Graphic novels 19.6

14. TV programme (e.g. news) 17.9

15. Paintings by famous artists 16.1

16. Picture books aimed at adults 5.4

Table 3. Authentic materials marked as previously used in classes

in the course of the participants’ English language learning

Based on the answers recording the experienced frequency of use of the

listed authentic materials (Table 3) and the comparison with their desired
frequency (Table 4), one can conclude that the teachers’ views on this
matter and those of their learners’ are not aligned, as only three items
hold the same place in the hierarchy: short film segments, photographs

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and TV series (marked by italics in both tables). A statistically significant

difference between female and male participants’ opinions (marked by
* in Table 4) was present for graphic novels (t(205) = 3.722, p = .000,
α = .05), paintings by famous artists (t(59) = 2.604, p = .012, α = .05),
classical music (t(203) = 2.280, p = .024, α = .05), and older popular
music (t(204) = 2.249, p = .026, α = .05). Thus, the null hypothesis
was not supported for these items, while the alternative hypothesis was,
showing that there was a statistically significant difference between the
female and male participants in terms of their attitudes towards the
desirable frequency of use of these four items in ELT classes, with higher
scores present for males in all four cases. In addition, an average mean was
calculated from the table for all the items included in order to compare
general desirability of authentic and non-authentic materials (M = 3.42,
Mfemale = 3.19, Mmale = 3.28).

Authentic Std. Mean Std. Mean Std.

No Mean
material Deviation Female Deviation Male Deviation

Short film
1. 4.53 1.09 4.55 1.09 4.32 1.23
segments

2. Photographs 4.39 1.47 4.47 1.51 4.13 1.44

Older popular
3. music (e.g. The 3.96 1.40 3.86* 1.42 4.44* 1.34
Beatles)*

4. Poetry 3.88 1.37 3.84 1.41 4.08 1.21

Documentary
5. 3.82 1.16 3.88 1.18 3.62 1.19
films

Bestsellers
(e.g. novels
6. 3.56 1.31 3.46 1.37 3.81 1.20
by foreign
authors)

Paintings by
7. 3.41 1.52 3.31* 1.59 3.94* 1.20
famous artists*

Classical
8. music (e.g. by 3.41 1.51 3.30* 1.51 3.92* 1.38
Mozzart) *

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Complete films
(Hollywood,
9. 3.41 1.17 3.43 1.19 3.22 1.18
or different
production)

Daily
10. newspapers 3.23 1.48 3.19 1.48 3.23 1.68
and journals

11. Graphic novels* 3.11 1.40 2.93* 1.37 3.86* 1.42

12. TV series 2.86 1.44 2.83 1.45 3.03 1.46

Newly
composed
13. 2.84 1.48 2.79 1.50 2.78 1.46
foreign music
(e.g. Rihanna)

Picture books
14. 2.83 1.55 2.76 1.56 2.77 1.53
aimed at adults

TV programme
15. 2.80 1.47 2.72 1.46 2.94 1.60
(e.g. news)

Video
16. 2.63 1.50 2.69 1.53 2.29 1.34
advertisements

Table 4. Specific authentic materials in the order of the desired frequency

of use in ELT classes

In practical terms, the students expressed their opinions on how often each
of the materials should be used in class, ranging from very frequent use, in
every class, to complete undesirability of use (Table 5).

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No Item 1 2 3 4 5 6

1. Short film segments 0.0 5.6 11.5 26.9 36.8 19.2

2. Photographs 7.2 5.1 10.2 22.6 28.1 26.8

3. Older popular music (e.g. The Beatles) 6.4 9.4 18.0 28.8 21.9 15.5

4. Poetry 6.0 11.6 17.6 28.8 24.9 11.2

5. Documentary films 1.3 12.0 26.5 31.2 21.8 7.3

Bestsellers (e.g. novels by foreign

6. 7.0 15.2 21.7 33.5 15.7 7.0
authors)

7. Paintings by famous artists 15.7 13.5 18.8 25.8 17.9 8.3

8. Classical music (e.g. by Mozzart) 15.9 12.1 20.3 26.3 17.7 7.8

Complete films (Hollywood, or

9. 5.2 12.0 41.6 25.8 9.0 6.4
different production)

10. Daily newspapers and journals 17.0 16.1 20.9 24.3 16.1 5.7

11. Graphic novels 17.5 16.7 22.2 28.2 11.1 4.3

12. TV series 24.3 16.5 25.2 19.6 10.9 3.5

Newly composed foreign music (e.g.

13. 26.7 16.8 20.7 21.1 11.2 3.4
Rihanna)

14. Picture books aimed at adults 28.8 14.8 24.0 14.4 12.7 5.2

15. TV programme (e.g. news) 27.0 17.2 22.3 18.9 11.2 3.4

16. Video advertisements 32.9 18.6 18.2 16.5 10.8 3.0

Table 5. The participants’ opinions on the desirable frequency of use of specific

authentic materials in English language teaching (1 – never, 2 – once in an
academic year, 3 – once a semester, 4 – once a month, 5 – once a week,
6 – in every lesson)

6.2. Non-authentic materials: Attitudes and experience

The most frequently used non-authentic materials participants had had

experience with in their ELT classes, as expected, were textbooks, as the
most common teaching material in general (Table 6). Flash cards were the
rarest addition to their learning experience, perhaps due to the advanced

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technological age they live in and the potential obsoleteness, or, perhaps
due to their young adult status, as flash cards may be viewed by some
teachers as more appropriate for younger learners.

No Non-authentic material Per cent

1. Textbooks 95.1

CDs which accompany textbooks (e.g. audio recordings for listening in

2. 85.2
class)

3. Workbooks that accompany textbooks 80.3

4. Websites containing grammar and vocabulary exercises 55.7

5. Bilingual dictionaries (e.g. English – Serbian, Serbian – English) 47.5

6. Copies of previously used tests 47.5

Websites containing tests (e.g. reading, listening, grammar, vocabulary,

7. 42.6
etc.)

Abridged novels, retold films or books written on a certain topic, adapted

8. 39.3
to various CEFR proficiency levels (graded readers)

9. Posters containing grammar overviews 34.4

10. Handouts created by the teacher for grammar or vocabulary development 32.8

Monolingual dictionaries adapted to various CEFR proficiency levels (e.g.

11. 31.1
English – English)

Bilingual dictionaries adapted to lower CEFR levels (e.g. learners’

12. 26.2
dictionaries)

13. Monolingual dictionaries for advanced users (e.g. English – English) 23.0

14. Posters created specifically for a topic focused on in class 21.3

15. CD-ROM English language courses 18.0

16. Texts created by learners themselves 16.4

17. Video courses (e.g. Big Muzzy) 8.2

Flash cards (with pictorial representations of the words being introduced

18. 8.2
in class)

Table 6. Non-authentic materials marked as previously used in classes

during the course of the participants’ English language learning

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A comparison of the answers recording the experienced frequency

of use of the non-authentic materials listed (Table 6) and their desired
frequency (Table 7) yielded slightly different results than in the case of
authentic materials, with more items overlapping: textbooks, websites
containing tests, monolingual dictionaries for advanced users, posters
created specifically for a topic focused on in class, and texts created by
learners themselves (marked by italics in both tables). No statistically
significant difference was found between female and male participants’
opinions for any of the items in the tables, which supported the null
hypothesis regarding the use and the desirable frequency of use of non-
authentic materials in ELT classes. The average mean for all the items
included in Table 7 (M = 3.61, Mfemale = 3.61, Mmale = 3.67) was higher than
the average mean for authentic materials (M = 3.42, Mfemale = 3.19, Mmale
= 3.28), signalling a slight inclination towards the use of non-authentic
materials in ELT classes over authentic ones.

Std. Mean Std. Mean Std.

No Non-authentic material Mean
Deviation Female Deviation Male Deviation

1. Textbooks 5.50 1.05 5.55 1.06 5.37 .877

Workbooks that accompany

2. 4.63 1.56 4.63 1.55 4.58 1.46
textbooks

CDs which accompany

textbooks (e.g. audio
3. 4.52 1.59 4.64 1.51 4.28 1.60
recordings for listening in
class)

Bilingual dictionaries (e.g.

4. English – Serbian, Serbian 3.95 1.64 3.94 1.63 4.21 1.43
– English)

Bilingual dictionaries
adapted to lower CEFR
5. 3.93 1.68 3.89 1.67 4.27 1.50
levels (e.g. learners’
dictionaries)

Posters containing grammar

6. 3.71 1.82 3.79 1.87 3.70 1.51
overviews

Websites containing tests

7. (e.g. reading, listening, 3.66 1.58 3.72 1.58 3.44 1.52
grammar, vocabulary, etc.)

Handouts created by the

8. teacher for grammar or 3.63 1.72 3.62 1.77 3.83 1.36
vocabulary development

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Abridged novels, retold films

or books written on a certain
9. topic, adapted to various 3.62 1.53 3.58 1.61 3.79 1.20
CEFR proficiency levels
(graded readers)

Websites containing
10. grammar and vocabulary 3.60 1.52 3.65 1.51 3.44 1.46
exercises

Copies of previously used

11. 3.59 1.50 3.60 1.51 3.72 1.42
tests

Monolingual dictionaries
adapted to various CEFR
12. 3.56 1.76 3.62 1.78 3.62 1.71
proficiency levels (e.g.
English – English)

Monolingual dictionaries for

13. advanced users (e.g. English 3.18 1.75 3.20 1.78 3.22 1.60
– English)

Posters created specifically

14. for a topic focused on in 3.08 1.64 3.05 1.72 3.18 1.23
class

Flash cards (with pictorial

15. representations of the words 2.81 1.60 2.77 1.64 3.00 1.39
being introduced in class)

Texts created by learners

16. 2.66 1.56 2.60 1.57 2.81 1.42
themselves

CD-ROM English language

17. 2.66 1.53 2.59 1.55 2.81 1.31
courses

Video courses (e.g. Big

18. 2.64 1.53 2.59 1.57 2.85 1.30
Muzzy)

Table 7. Specific non-authentic materials in the order of the desired

frequency of use in ELT classes

The specific distribution of the frequency of use of non-authentic materials

that the students would like to see applied in ELT classes is presented in
Table 8.

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No Item 1 2 3 4 5 6

1. Textbooks 1.3 1.8 4.4 5.3 11.9 75.2

3. Workbooks that accompany textbooks 7.0 6.1 9.2 12.7 24.5 40.6

CDs which accompany textbooks (e.g.

2. 8.4 4.9 11.5 13.3 25.2 36.7
audio recordings for listening in class)

Bilingual dictionaries (e.g. English –

5. 12.6 9.0 13.1 23.0 21.2 21.2
Serbian, Serbian – English)

Bilingual dictionaries adapted to lower

12. 13.7 9.1 13.2 19.6 23.3 21.0
CEFR levels (e.g. learners’ dictionaries)

9. Posters containing grammar overviews 21.3 8.3 10.6 16.7 23.6 19.4

Websites containing tests (e.g. reading,

7. 15.7 8.8 16.2 23.1 25.5 10.6
listening, grammar, vocabulary, etc.)

Handouts created by the teacher for

10. 19.9 8.1 14.5 18.1 24.9 14.5
grammar or vocabulary development

Abridged novels, retold films or books

written on a certain topic, adapted to
8. 12.7 12.3 17.3 28.2 16.8 12.7
various CEFR proficiency levels (graded
readers)

Websites containing grammar and

4. 14.4 8.1 22.1 23.9 21.6 9.9
vocabulary exercises

6. Copies of previously used tests 14.2 9.1 21.0 24.2 22.8 8.7

Monolingual dictionaries adapted to

11. various CEFR proficiency levels (e.g. 20.5 10.5 15.0 18.2 18.6 17.3
English – English)

Monolingual dictionaries for advanced

13. 25.8 14.7 15.2 16.6 14.7 12.9
users (e.g. English – English)

Posters created specifically for a topic

14. 27.0 10.2 21.4 18.6 14.9 7.9
focused on in class

Flash cards (with pictorial representations

18. 31.4 15.0 17.9 18.4 11.6 5.8
of the words being introduced in class)

16. Texts created by learners themselves 33.8 17.8 16.0 18.3 8.9 5.2

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15. CD-ROM English language courses 35.4 11.8 21.2 19.8 7.1 4.7

17. Video courses (e.g. Big Muzzy) 34.3 15.5 19.2 18.3 8.0 4.7

Table 8. The participants’ opinions on the desirable frequency of use of specific

non-authentic materials in English language teaching (1 – never, 2 – once in an
academic year, 3 – once a semester, 4 – once a month, 5 – once a week,
6 – in every lesson)

7. Conclusion

The research aimed to obtain data on the participants’ experience and

attitudes towards the use of authentic and non-authentic materials in
English language teaching, and their views of the stakeholders’ agency
in the process of decision making. This study confirmed the well-known
fact that both authentic and non-authentic materials have their rightful
place in ELT classes. It also showed that the selection of specific materials
used in ELT classes is not completely in accordance with the students’
expectations. In other words, in the context of materials used in classes, the
students’ ELT experience differs to a certain extent from their preferences.
The results indicate that, within the pool of authentic materials, short film
segments and photographs were the highest on the list, both in terms of
the participants’ experience (via their teachers’ decision making), and
their own preferences. The students’ preferences were mostly consistent
across genders, except in their attitudes towards the use of graphic novels,
paintings, classical music and older popular music, where male participants
held more positive views in terms of the desired frequency of use of these
materials in ELT classes. On the other hand, in the case of non-authentic
materials, there was no statistically significant difference between the
male and female opinions regarding any of the specific materials, with
textbooks in the first place in terms of both desired and actual frequency
of use.
Textbooks were also considered to be rather interesting by the students,
although not sufficient to motivate learners on their own. These results
show that the students have a rather positive attitude towards the use of
textbooks in classes, although textbooks tend to be frequently criticized
in literature by both teachers and students for their being boring, stifling,

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inappropriate in terms of students’ age, level of knowledge, interests, etc. or

for their lacking of variety. The students’ positive attitude can be explained
by Harmer’s observation that, for learners, “the textbook is reassuring. It
allows them to look forward and back, giving them a chance to prepare for
what’s coming and review what they have done” (1998: 117). Still, teachers’
creativity has its role since the textbook as the only material used in classes
is not motivating enough for the students. Therefore, teachers should rely
on other non-authentic and, especially, various authentic materials in their
teaching and the results of this research can serve as guidelines in the
selection of specific materials according to students’ preferences. One of
the factors in the selection of authentic materials that should be taken into
account, as indicated by the results as well, is the students’ gender.
A great majority of the participants expressed the belief that teachers’
agency was considerable in enriching their classes, which is an attitude
that was present to a greater extent in the female part of the population.
However, when it comes to learners’ agency, there was no such difference
in terms of gender, with many participants advocating the inclusion of
learners in decision making, as well. A pedagogical implication of this
is the suggestion to include learners more frequently and intensively in
the teaching process, in a variety of ways, in order for the learning to be
successful. For example, a general conclusion from this study was that
the most appealing topics for discussion in ELT classes for the sample in
question were art, literature and sport, while the least desirable ones were
politics, religion and racial affiliation, with differences between genders on
the last two and gender equality and male participants expressing a more
negative opinion on these. This offers possible directions for teachers in
selecting topics for discussion in their classes. However, this does not mean
that the topics preferred by students should be the only ones discussed
in classes. For the purpose of vocabulary expansion, less preferred ones
should be included as well, though not to the same extent as the preferred
ones. Taking into consideration the most appealing topics according to
the research results, it should be noted that the current study is limited
by the sample consisting of students focusing on social sciences in their
studies, and the results could be different for a differently oriented group
of students, regardless of the size. Thus, a suggestion for future research
would be to conduct action research in specific ELT classes, which,
depending on the actual gender distribution in a specific class, and the
characters of the individuals included, uncovering the desirable discussion

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topics and the appealing teaching materials, both authentic and non-
authentic, would represent a valuable piece of information for a teacher
and support adequate decision making in the teaching process.

References

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Learners’ Attitudes toward Using Authentic Reading Materials in Misan.
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Foreign Language Classrooms: Teacher Attitudes and Perceptions in
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Harmer, J. (1998). How to Teach English. Harlow: Longman.
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ELT Journal, 48 (4), 315-328.
Jordan, R.R. (1997). English for Academic Purposes: A Guide and Resource
for Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kelly, C. et al. (2002). Effective Ways to Use Authentic Materials with ESL/
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<http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Kelly-Authentic.html>.
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<http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Kilickaya-AutenticMaterial.html>.
McDonough, J., Shaw, C. and H. Masuhara (2013). Materials and Methods
in ELT. A Teacher’s Guide (3rd edition). West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.

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Peacock, M. (1997). The Effect of Authentic Materials on the Motivation of

EFL Learners. ELT Journal, 51 (2), 144-156.
Rahimi, M. and M. Hassani (2012). Attitude towards EFL Textbooks as a
Predictor of Attitude towards Learning English as a Foreign Language.
Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 31, 66-72.
Richards, J. C. and R. W. Schmidt (2002). Longman Dictionary of Language
Teaching & Applied Linguistics (3rd edition). Harlow: Longman.
Sanderson, P. (1999). Using Newspapers in the Classroom. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Scrivener, J. (1994). Learning Teaching. Oxford: Macmillan Heinemann
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Sujono, H. S. (2017). Students’ Attitudes towards the Use of Authentic
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Received: 06 October 2021
Accepted for publication: 24 November 2021

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Appendix

UPITNIK

Ova anketa je anonimna. Sve informacije koje ispitanici daju smatraju

se poverljivim i koristiće se isključivo u svrhe istraživanja. Molimo Vas
da odgovorite na sva pitanja i popunite sve tražene podatke, kako bi Vaš
upitnik mogao biti uvršten u istraživanje. Unapred hvala na trudu.
Pol ispitanika: ŽENSKI / MUŠKI (zaokružiti)
Studijska grupa/odsek: ____________ Godine starosti: ________________
Godina studija: ____________ Ocena na kraju prvog semestra: ____________
Maternji jezik: ________________________________
Od kada učite engleski jezik: (zaokružiti broj ispred odgovora)
od vrtića
od 1. razreda osnovne škole
od 3. razreda osnovne škole
od 5. razreda osnovne škole
od 1. razreda srednje škole
od 1. godine fakulteta
1. Ocenite svoje znanje engleskog jezika na skali od 1 do
10 (zaokružiti):

veoma slabo znam veoma dobro znam

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
engleski jezik engleski jezik

2. Ocenite udžbenik iz engleskog jezika po kojem radite

sada ili ste radili tokom svog prethodnog školovanja na
skali od 1 do 10 (zaokružiti):

Veoma dosadan 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Veoma zanimljiv

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 Danijela Prošić-Santovac, Ana Halas Popović: Students’ Attitudes Towards Using...

3. Da li mislite da: (zaokružiti)

1. je moguće motivisati učenike koristeći isključivo udžbenik? NE DA

profesor može da utiče na sadržaje koji se obrađuju na časovima engleskog

2. DA NE
jezika?

3. učenici treba da utiču na to što uče? NE DA

4. profesor treba da ubaci u kurikulum teme koje interesuju učenike? DA NE

kulturni sadržaji (umetnost, književnost, itd.) treba da budu prisutni na

5. NE DA
času engleskog jezika?

popularna kultura (filmovi, novine, muzika, itd.) treba da bude prisutna u

6. DA NE
učenju engleskog jezika?

profesor treba da koristi dodatne sadržaje koji su u skladu sa

7. NE DA
interesovanjima učenika?

4. Zaokružite broj pored svake navedene teme u skladu sa

svojim mišljenjem o njenoj upotrebi u nastavi (1 – tema
koju treba izbegavati, 2 – neutralna tema, 3 – tema na koju se
treba dosta fokusirati):

1. politika 1 2 3

2. religija 1 2 3

3. rodna ravnopravnost 1 2 3

4. rasna pripadnost 1 2 3

5. književnost 1 2 3

6. umetnost 1 2 3

7. sport 1 2 3

8. moda 1 2 3

9. drugo: __________________________________ 1 2 3

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5. Koliko često bi, po Vašem mišljenju, sledeće stavke

trebalo da budu uključene u nastavu engleskog jezika?
(Zaokružite broj od 1 do 6, pri čemu je 1 – nikada, 2 - jednom u
školskoj godini, 3 - jednom u semestru, 4 - jednom mesečno, 5 -
jednom nedeljno, i 6 – na svakom času).
a. Autentični materijali u nastavi stranog jezika:

1. celi filmovi (holivudski, ili drugih produkcija) 1 2 3 4 5 6

2. inserti iz filmova 1 2 3 4 5 6

3. dokumentarni filmovi 1 2 3 4 5 6

4. reklame 1 2 3 4 5 6

5. TV serije 1 2 3 4 5 6

6. bestseleri (npr. romani stranih autora) 1 2 3 4 5 6

7. poezija 1 2 3 4 5 6

8. stripovi 1 2 3 4 5 6

9. dnevne novine i časopisi 1 2 3 4 5 6

10. TV program (npr. vesti) 1 2 3 4 5 6

11. fotografije 1 2 3 4 5 6

12. slikovnice za odrasle 1 2 3 4 5 6

13. slike poznatih slikara 1 2 3 4 5 6

14. klasična muzika (npr. Mocart) 1 2 3 4 5 6

15. novokomponovana strana muzika (npr. Rijana) 1 2 3 4 5 6

16. starija popularna muzika (npr. Bitlsi) 1 2 3 4 5 6

NAPOMENA: Zaokružite broj ispred stavki koje ste do sada imali prilike da
koristite na času u toku svog dosadašnjeg učenja engleskog jezika.

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 Danijela Prošić-Santovac, Ana Halas Popović: Students’ Attitudes Towards Using...

b. Neautentični materijali u nastavi stranog jezika:

jednojezični rečnici za izvorne govornike (englesko-

1. 1 2 3 4 5 6
engleski)

jednojezični rečnici prilagođeni nivou znanja

2. 1 2 3 4 5 6
studenata (englesko-engleski)

3. dvojezični rečnici (englesko-srpski, srpsko-engleski) 1 2 3 4 5 6

dvojezični rečnici prilagođeni nivou znanja studenata

4. 1 2 3 4 5 6
(školski rečnici)

5. udžbenik 1 2 3 4 5 6

6. radni list koji se dobija uz udžbenik 1 2 3 4 5 6

CD koji prati udžbenik (audio snimci za puštanje na

7. 1 2 3 4 5 6
času)

posteri izrađeni na određenu temu koja se obrađuje

8. 1 2 3 4 5 6
na času

9. posteri sa pregledom važne gramatike 1 2 3 4 5 6

skraćeni romani, prepričani filmovi ili knjige napisane

10. o određenoj temi prilagođene nivou znanja studenata 1 2 3 4 5 6
(graded readers)

radni listovi koje izradi sam predavač za rad na

11. 1 2 3 4 5 6
gramatici ili vokabularu

12. primeri ranije korišćenih testova 1 2 3 4 5 6

13. video kursevi (npr. Big Muzzy) 1 2 3 4 5 6

14. CD-ROM kursevi engleskog jezika 1 2 3 4 5 6

15. veb sajtovi sa vežbama gramatike i vokabulara 1 2 3 4 5 6

veb sajtovi sa testovima (čitanja, slušanja, gramatike,

16. 1 2 3 4 5 6
vokabulara, itd.)

fleš kartice (sa slikovnim predstavama reči koje se

17. 1 2 3 4 5 6
uvode)

18. tekstovi koje su student sami kreirali 1 2 3 4 5 6

NAPOMENA: Zaokružite broj ispred stavki koje ste do sada imali prilike da
koristite na času u toku svog dosadašnjeg učenja engleskog jezika.

165