Authentic Materials – Enhancing Language Acquisition and Cultural Awareness

Abstract

Using a quantitative approach, the submitted paper explores research based on the contrastive analysis of three sources of authentic materials: academic, literary and journalistic texts. The hypothesis - based on the assumption that authentic materials enhance language acquisition and cultural awareness more significantly than pedagogically modified materials - is discussed in the paper. Literary and journalistic materials as effective teaching materials for providing cultural and linguistic input will be analyzed and academic authentic texts will be compared with pedagogically modified materials. The findings indicate that authentic materials are more appropriate for advanced L2 readers than pedagogically modified texts. Practical recommendations for language teachers will be provided in the conclusion.