The approaches to teaching language well have undergone major changes and heated debates in the field of second language acquisitions

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS FOR EFL CLASSES
1.1. Authentic materials as a part of the Audio-lingual method
During the past decades, teaching a foreign language has gained much more attention in most countries around the world. As a result, searching for appropriate and effective teaching materials occupies a great space of instructors thinking. The purpose of learning a foreign language is to be able to benefit from using it in the real world, in real situations.
Therefore, most of the language teachers think whether it is enough to teach the language using the course book tasks , which are regarded artificial because they are designed for teaching purposes only, or if they should adopt using authentic materials to scaffold learners' learning process in general and develop reading skills in particular.
When teachers are concerned with helping their students to develop reading skills, they should think about the methods of teaching being used and materials being taught to students. Tasks should provide learners with a high level of independence when reading in a foreign language in a real life context, which in turn means, using actual authentic materials.
Larsen-Freeman states that one of the characteristics of communicative language teaching is using authentic materials¹. Communicative language teaching approach changes the view of syllabus designers toward English subjects, from just a language to be learned like other subjects in the school, to a very important tool of communication inside and outside the classroom. Hence, the syllabus designers are advised to take into account the learners' needs and provide them with the chance, to be able to communicate the learned language in real situations outside the school walls. Recently, using authentic materials in teaching English language in ESL classes, gained much attention from teachers. Furthermore, states that nowadays there are a lot of voices suggesting that English language presented to the learners in the classroom, should be authentic in order to enhance learners' learning process.
There are many references to authentic materials in ELT literature. Debates are still raging on why they should or not be included in lessons, and how they are to be used or best exploited. Reading such literature, it is clear that those authors who support the use of authentic material have one idea in common: 'exposure', or in other words, the benefit students get from being ―exposed‖ to the language in authentic materials. Actually there are a lot of linguists, who encourage the use of authentic materials in teaching because of their positive effects on learners.
According to Carter & Nunan authentic materials are the kind of "texts" that are not designed for "teaching" aims. Peacock defines authentic materials as the materials that have been produced to fulfill some social purposes in the language community. While Nunan², has another definition for authentic materials, which is: ―spoken or written materials, which are not intended for use in teaching³.
On his part, Widdowson believes that "authentic" would be the materials designed for native speakers of English, and used in the classrooms in a way similar to the one it was designed for. Authentic materials may be written or spoken. For example, a radio news report was brought into the class, so students discuss the report on pollution in the city where learners live. Other examples of authentic materials are newspapers, magazines, posters, etc. Vorland (2002) believes that authentic materials are a useful means, to bridge the gap between classroom and the real world. Researchers have proven that the language taught in the classroom must be linked to its functions in the real world. In addition, Richards (2001) states that the language which the learners are engaged with in classroom, must represent the language used in the real world.
The use of authentic materials in EFL classes is not new, because teachers started using them in the 1970s as a result of the spread of the communicative Language Teaching Approach.
Martinez , defines authentic materials as the materials which are prepared for native speakers and not designed to be used for teaching purposes. Kilickaya has another definition for authentic materials, which is "exposure to real language and use in its own community."
Nowadays, preparing students for real life situations is of utmost concern for English language teachers, especially in EFL classes. Therefore, like other teachers around the world, especially in places where English is a foreign language, Omani teachers need to adopt effective teaching materials, in order to help their students learn English better, as well as prepare them to communicate with the outside world. Bacon and Finnemann, state that teachers need to "find ways and means of exploiting authentic materials in classroom instructions." Many researchers state that if students are willing to use English language sufficiently, they must be exposed to the language, exactly as it is used in real life situations by native speakers. Nuttall argues that "authentic texts can be motivating because they are proof that the language is used for real-life purpose by real people."
Widdowson and Harmer use the terms ―authentic‖ and ―non-authentic‖ to distinguish between the two, but the point is not in the language materials themselves but rather on their outcomes and their effectiveness. These can be measured only by the learners‘ observable and measurable performances. Nunan mentioned in Widdowson, believes that exposing learners to authentic materials is indispensable, because of the rich language input they provide. Exposing students to such language forms will enable them to cope with genuine interaction, whether it is inside or outside the classroom.
Researchers claim that when authentic materials are used with the purpose of students learning, students will have a sense that the real language for communication is being learnt, as opposed to classroom language itself. In contrast to the design of the text books, authentic materials are intrinsically more active, interesting and stimulating. Furthermore, students in Oman are very keen on the originality of things, particularly when the matter is connected with their learning. So, authentic texts will bring them closer to the target language culture, and therefore this will result in them making the learning process overall an even more enjoyable and thus, motivating⁴.
Audiovisual education or multimedia-based education (MBE) is instruction where particular attention is paid to the audio and visual presentation of the material with the goal of improving comprehension and retention.
After the use of training films and other visual aids during World War II, audiovisual technology gradually developed in sophistication and its use became more widespread in educational establishments such as schools, colleges, universities, museums and galleries, as well as at tourist destinations.
Children learn best by observing and copying the behaviors of adults. It is therefore evident that learning is more effective when sensory experiences are stimulated. These include pictures, slides, radios, videos and other audiovisual tools. According to the Webster dictionary, audio-visual aids is defined as "training or educational materials directed at both the senses of hearing and the sense of sight, films, recordings, photographs, etc. used in classroom instructions, library collections or the likes". The concept of audiovisual aids is not new and can be traced back to seventeenth century when John Amos Comenius (15921670), a Bohemian educator, introduced pictures as teaching aids in his book Orbis Sensualium Pictus ("picture of the Sensual World") that was illustrated with 150 drawings of everyday life. Similarly, Jean Rousseau (17121778) and JH Pestalozzi (17461827) advocated the use of visual and play materials in teaching. More recently, audiovisual aids were also widely used during and after World War II by the armed service. The successful use of picture and other visual aids in U.S armed forces during World War II proved the effectiveness of instructional tools. There are various types of audiovisual materials ranging from filmstrips, microforms, slides, projected opaque materials, tape recording and flashcards. In the current digital world, audiovisual aids have grown exponentially with several multimedia such as educational DVDs, PowerPoint, television educational series, YouTube, and other online materials. The goal of audio-visual aids is to enhance teacher's ability to present the lesson in simple, effective and easy to understand for the students. Audiovisual material make learning more permanent since students use more than one sense. It is important to create awareness for the state and federal ministry of education as policy makers in secondary schools of the need to inculcate audiovisual resource as main teaching pedagogy in curricula. The outcome is to promote the audiovisual material in secondary schools because they lack the resource to produce them. The visual instruction makes abstract ideas more concrete to the learners. This is to provide a basis for schools to understand the important roles in encouraging and supporting the use of audiovisual resource. In addition, studies have shown that there is significant difference between the use and non-use of audiovisual material in teaching and learning. One of the words that has been creeping into English teaching in the past few years is 'authentic'. It has a kind of magic ring to it: who after all would want to be inauthentic? It sounds as if any committed teacher must try to be authentic, and that the students' development in their new language is bound to be handicapped if it does not give them authentic experiences. But is authenticity really such a magic word? Should teachers feel guilty about being inauthentic?
Important objectives on performing audiolingual method in classes:

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  To strengthen teachers skills in making teaching-learning process more effective
  
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  To attract and retain learners' attention
  
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  To generate interest across different levels of students
  
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  To develop lesson plans that are simple and easy to follow
  
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  To make class more interactive and interesting
  
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  To focus on student-centered approach
  

Nowadays using from authentic materials and classroom exchanges are becoming quite popular. Authentic materials are believed to be the best types of materials for developing intercultural communicative competences of foreign language learners. If we use from video our students learn all of communicative competences: first of all listening then speaking, reading and writing. Authentic materials bridge the gap between the classroom and the outside world and they bring reality to the classroom. Authentic materials are those which were not created or edited for language learners, consequently most everyday objects in the target language qualify as authentic materials. Exposure to the authentic materials allows language learners to make contact with the real-life language, customs and way of life of the target culture. Using authentic materials in teaching culture is a great motivational factor and it helps learners to recognize that there is a community of users who live their lives in this other language. Authentic materials include audio, visual and printed materials. This paper discusses and gives examples of activities how to use authentic materials in developing socio-cultural knowledge, sociolinguistic competences, pragmatic competences and non-verbal communication.
Based on CEFR, general and communicative competences connected to culture have been excerpted and summarized and put into clear diagrams, which can serve as a basis for cultural teaching. In the component of socio-cultural knowledge the empirical knowledge relating to day-to-day living, shared values, beliefs, history and taboos of social groups is considered to be essential to intercultural communication. Existential competence is considered to be culture-related as it includes the sum of personal characteristics, personality traits, attitudes, self-image and ones view of others. Skills of cultural awareness, to see contrast between own and target culture and ability to overcome stereotypes are important components of ICC. Sociolinguistic competences refer to linguistic markers of social conventions (use and choice of greetings, address forms, turn taking, rules of politeness, register differences, etc.). Pragmatic competences are concerned with the functional use of the language. The cultural component is very important here, as it includes suggestions, requests, introductions, invitations, correct use of please and thank you, etc. Non-verbal communication is an important part of intercultural communication. Paralinguistic features, such as gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, body contact, proxemics; extra-linguistic speech sounds for expressing silence, happiness, disgust, approval, disapproval etc.; and prosodic features such as loudness, pitch of the voice are very delicate features in intercultural communication. They vary from culture to culture and can cause great misunderstandings if perceived or performed inappropriately.
However, authentic materials in English language textbooks are adapted materials, which have great advantages, but also disadvantages. One of the greatest advantages is that they are designed according to the pedagogical and psychological characteristics of the learners. They are created for a particular age group, language proficiency and suitable topic, and they are easier to use for foreign language teachers. The greatest disadvantage of adapted materials is that information can be quickly out of date, e.g. when teaching popular arts, which are popular and motivational topics for young learners. According to Daskalos and Jellum Ling⁵ textbooks often use fabricated texts (e.g. travel stories or visits by families to foreign countries) and these have a tendency to feel forced and irrelevant. Another disadvantage is that adapted materials do not always use real every-day language, nor portray real picture of foreign cultures. Adapted materials are limited to texts, pictures, audio and video recordings (authentic materials offer more resources).
Audio materials include TV programmes, commercials, news, weather reports, films, cartoons, phone messages, podcasts, radio programmes, music, internet audio materials, audio-recorded stories, announcements at the stations and airports, shops, etc. Visual materials include photographs, paintings, drawings, wordless street signs, images, pictures from magazines, newspapers, postcards, stamps, coins, wordless picture books, toys, food and any items. Printed materials include newspapers, magazines, books, TV guides, catalogues, lyrics to songs, restaurant menus, product labels, street signs, tourist information brochures, maps, letters, greeting cards, junk mail, school notices, billboards, public transport schedules, traffic tickets, application forms, information on the internet, packing slips, packaging from various items, food labels, etc.
The materials should fulfill the requirements of the curriculum topics, interest of learners, usefulness, language level, age and background knowledge of learners. The authentic materials need to be culturally appropriate, but at the same time comprehensible for learners of English as a foreign language.
Benefits of authentic materials in developing intercultural communicative competences are immense. They remind learners that there is a real world community that functions exclusively through the use of the target language. Authentic materials help learners to use language in real life like situations. Learners are exposed to the real use of language and they are immersed into the real world of the target culture while they are in the classroom. Authentic materials, Especially texts, videos, songs need to be actual, as they are culturally sensitive and can become quickly out of date. They can be used for all language levels, from basic to advanced, but need to be carefully chosen.
Although, there are some disadvantages with using authentic materials, but there are still many more advantages, Especially with developing intercultural communicative competences of learners. In fact, it is hardly possible to develop ICC without using authentic materials, particularly the sociolinguistic, pragmatic and non verbal competences.
To be more practical and specific, several activities using authentic materials with the aim of developing intercultural communicative competences are listed here.
Teaching about customs, for example Four babies four countriesis an example of developing socio-cultural knowledge. First of all, the teacher and learners discuss Cultural differences when raising children in the world. The teacher tries to find out from learners what they know about four babies, types of bring up child, treat custom, costumes etc. Learners are encouraged to name films and describe customs. The topic can be supported by authentic photographs of both cultural habits. There are many videos showing cultural habits, which learners could watch and by the technique of noticing, learners pick and write down the peculiarities of the shown habits. This activity is Especially suitable for young learners, but a modified version could be used with older learners too.
The following activity develops sociolinguistic competences and it practices greetings, address forms, turn taking, politeness and register. For example, authentic menus could be used, which can be downloaded from the internet. First of all, learners need to understand the types of food in the menu. The best way of working with menus is to practice ordering food in role plays using the correct sociolinguistic phrases. This type of activity would be useful with older or adult learners, right from the beginner´s level of language proficiency. For younger learners, role plays practicing a similar type of phrases, for example buying toys in a toy shop, could be used.
The correct use of please and thank you belong to pragmatic competences. The following youtube videos could be used with young learners. The first video is showing a cartoon story, where a Crawford the Cat encounters many different animals and uses please and thank you in various situations. Pupils can watch the story and count how many times the words please and thank you were used. Pupils should notice the types of situations, where these words were used. Role plays can be used practicing the correct way of saying please and thank you. Polite phrases, requests and offers are presented in the song available on video. With the technique of noticing, pupils should remember phrases, which they can practice in role plays.
When teaching non verbal communication, e.g. greeting gestures, which are different in various cultures, authentic photographs (visual) and videos (audio-visual) can be used. The lesson should be started with eliciting background knowledge of learners about the greeting gestures they know (to name typical greeting gestures for home culture and for some other cultures). There are a lot of videos available showing various greeting gestures, which could be shown to the learners. The teacher gives a list of greetings with the name of countries where they are used and photographs representing the greetings (e.g. hand shake, hand kiss, fist shake, bow, kiss, cheek kiss, wave, nod, hug, nose kissing, shoulder tapping, high five, kowtow, etc.). Learners try to match greetings with the photographs. A guessing game can follow, where pupils act out gesture greetings and other pupils guess the culture where these greetings are used. The teacher should also warn learners about certain gestures being inappropriate in different cultures. For example, the hand gesture in American, British, but also Slovak culture for excellence, or OK means zero or something worthless in French culture. There are many available videos showing gestures, which should be avoided in various cultures. This type of activity could be used in all levels of language proficiency and age levels.
To conclude this paper, there is no doubt that authentic materials provide a rich source of cultural material. Teachers should not be afraid to use authentic materials, as they are great fun, very motivational and educational. Certainly, the authentic materials should be carefully chosen and prepared, but they are worth it. Finally, the chosen cultural materials should be freely discussed by learners and compared to their own culture in the relaxing atmosphere of the language classroom. If learners are regularly exposed to authentic materials, they could become more familiar with them and in the future be able to partially avoid a cultural shock when visiting the culture in question.
It is a well-known fact that audio-visual materials are a great help in stimulating and facilitating the learning of a foreign language. According to Wright many media and many styles of visual presentation are useful to the language learner. That is to say, all audio-visual materials have positive contributions to language learning as long as they are used at the right time, in the right place. In language learning and teaching process, learner use his eyes as well as his ears; but his eyes are basic in learning. River claims that it learly contributes to the understanding of another culture by providing vicarious contact with speakers of the language, through both audio and visual means.One of the most appreciated materials applied to language learning and teaching is, of course, video. A recent large-scale survey by Canning-Wilson reveals that the students like learning language through the use of video, which is often used to mean quite different things in language teaching. For some, it means no more than replaying television programmes on a video recorder for viewing in class or private study. For others, it implies the use of a video camera in class to record and play back to learners their activities and achievements in a foreign language teaching. But our concern here is to present the use of video in language teaching most effectively as a visual aid presenting the target language naturally. It is a fact that most students who have taken English courses formally remain insufficient in the ability to use the language and to understand its use, in normal communication, whether in the spoken or the written mode. The problem arises not from the methodology itself but from the misuse or incomplete use of it. That is to say, teachers still evaluate student performance according to the sentence structure and situational settings. In addition, teachers have to take into consideration their performances in terms of communicative acts. But this not necessarily mean that teachers should pay full attention to only communicative acts in the preparation and presentation of language teaching materials.
It is clear that audio visual aids are important tools for teaching learning process. It helps the teacher to present the lesson effectively and students learn and retain the concepts better and for longer duration. Use of audio visual aids improves students' critical and analytical thinking. It helps to remove abstract concepts through visual presentation. However, improper and unplanned use of these aids can have negative effect on the learning outcome. Therefore, teachers should be well trained through in-service training to maximize the benefits of using these aids. The curriculum should be designed such that there are options to activity based learning through audio-visual aids. In addition, government should fund resources to purchase audio-visual aids in schools.