The importance of authentic material in teaching speaking to B2 level students

Example B
In a pre- speaking task about sports, from the same coursebook of a specific book series(B1 + Upper-intermediate), students are asked if they would consider taking part in a Spartan race, if they prefer team sports over individual sports, and finally, if they favor a specific team or athlete over another.
At this point, students may be unfamiliar with the terminology required to discuss sports at their level(B1 + Upper-intermediate). Or, they may lack the necessary vocabulary sophistication, a hurdle which would inhibit them from completing the task. As mentioned before, an effective way to overcome such an obstacle would be for the teacher to illustrate the unknown vocabulary on the blackboard, or, preferably, by other technological means, like the internet and slides-presentation. You can also ask another student to perform this illustration for the whole class.
In particular, when discussing the topic of the Spartan Race, the teacher could initiate the discussion by describing with accurate and vivid language the sport. ”A Spartan race is a race where many talented and rigorous athletes take part. The most important feature of a Spartan race is that the participants compete, not just in one, but in many sports, for instance, the pentathlon. After you have completed the description, ask them some simple questions. “Do you think it takes a considerable amount of time for these athletes to become adept at these sports? What is your personal opinion on the regimen or the routine followed by such athletes? Are similar sports practiced in modern times, and is such an option-to its full extent-even plausible?
This ”illustration ”is of great importance because the students who struggle more need to acquire as much information from you as possible in the areas they lack, for example, the correct use of adjectives, expressions, verbs, and other lexical items. Also, concerning morphological features of the language, with a wealth of cues and information provided by the teacher, they can significantly improve their ability to formulate comparative sentences when comparing the individual characteristics of one sport in relation to another.
Similarly, you could help these students in the main part of the speaking task, where they are required to compare pictures depicting individual sports, analyse advantages or disadvantages, say which sport they prefer, or discuss the importance of certain features and benefits that this athletic experience could provide.
In the pair of pictures that discusses team sports versus individual sports, and whether it is more important to win or have fun while taking part in these sports, you can try using the method of personalization, to elicit the vocabulary needed to adequately describe the activity, if you feel confident that your student can respond with accuracy.
To demonstrate my point, I will mention an upper-intermediate student of mine, Christiana, who is a keen ballet dancer. The same goes for her sister. So, I thought of giving her the right stimuli to talk about individual versus team sports, by asking her to compare her routine, the techniques involved in the instruction of ballet with that of her sister’s.