Authentic Materials for Learning English: A Study on EFL Students in Aceh

This study explores the students’ opinions on the use of authentic materials and whether these materials motivate them in learning English in the classroom. Authentic materials have been claimed by many experts to give a positive impact on learners’ interest to learn a foreign language (in the classroom). Therefore, this study was conducted to understand the responses of the sample students about the use of authentic texts in teaching-learning English, especially for university students in the EFL context, such as in Indonesia. The data was gathered from 50 first-year students of English. This research used a questionnaire proposed by Peacock (1997) to collect data on the use of authentic materials and motivation in the learning process. The questionnaire was distributed to the students. After analysing the data, it was found that the learners were mostly motivated by using authentic materials because they are exciting to be discussed in the class, interesting to learn and appealing to the learners. The findings in the present research appear to be similar to those from previous research studies who claim that when learners use authentic materials in the learning process, the overall class interest in learning a foreign language increases significantly.