Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 29(2): STORIES OF LEARNING AND TEACHING PRACTICES

Investigating the Propensity of Non-English Major Students Regarding
Authenticity
Sayaka Karlin, Japan’s Women College of Physical Education
Email: karlin.sayaka@g.jwcpe.ac.jp
Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to find out the students’ needs for English learning with a focus on
authenticity. Among non-English-major students, they are not all interested in learning English. This isbecause in many cases, English is compulsory for graduation. Prior to the 1991 amendment of the Standardsfor the Establishment of Universities by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology(MEXT, 1995), foreign languages were compulsory. Since the establishment of the standards, Japaneseuniversities are not obliged to offer English as a foreign language subject, but many of them continue tomake English a requirement. Therefore, some students do not enjoy learning or are not willing to improvetheir English competence; instead, they attend lessons merely to get the credit required to graduate.
Therefore, finding out students’ interests is necessary to make compulsory English lessons as effective aspossible. One way is to introduce authentic materials in English classes. A questionnaire related toauthenticity was administered to investigate non-English-major students’ needs. The results of this study
might be pedagogically useful for teachers who are teaching non-English-major students in EFL educationalsettings.
Literature Review
Motivation and Authenticity for Foreign Language Learning
Motivation is one of the critical factors in foreign language learning, and is an important factor in deciding
the success of students’ achievement in their language goals. Kent (2021) stated that students’ motivation
can be very low when they need to study foreign language as a compulsory course. Their attitude toward
language learning is one of the key factors to the success of learning a language; therefore, it is necessary
for teachers to stimulate students’ positive attitudes by incorporating activities and resources that match
students’ needs (Kent, 2021).
As a teacher, it is necessary to realize what learners’ motivations are based upon and tocontinuously discern how to sustain their motivation. Deci and Ryan (1985, 2000, 2002) stated that
individual motivation arises intrinsically, and to maintain motivation, it needs to be controlled byindividuals themselves, not by others. Thus, it is critical for instructors to make lessons that act upon andenhance students’ intrinsic motivation so they can be independent learners. As one method to enhancelearners’ intrinsic motivation in English lessons, authenticity should be considered.
There are actually numerous definitions of authenticity that have arisen over time within theliterature (Gilmore, 2007). Richards defined authentic materials as teaching resources, including texts,
photographs, videos, and others, which are not particularly made for educational purposes, and he further
defined non-authentic materials as teaching materials that are particularly made for instruction such as
textbooks (2001). In addition, Tomlinson (2011) defined authentic materials as texts that are not used forthe purpose of language-teaching. Examples of authentic texts include newspaper articles, novels, songs,interviews, and instructions.
Many researchers have also examined the relationship between authenticity and motivation. The
advantages of authentic materials are due to their positive influence on learners’ motivation (Phillips &Shettlesworth, 1978; Clarke, 1989; Peacock, 1997). According to proponents, authentic materials are moreinteresting than created materials to learners and motivate them intrinsically. When learners feel

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Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 29(2): STORIES OF LEARNING AND TEACHING PRACTICES
obligated to learn something that they are not willing to, they lose motivation. Thus, the chief principle isto understand learners’ goals and topics in which they are interested to try to incorporate these into acurriculum because learners are only motivated when they view the teaching material as worthwhile tolearn (Dornyei, 2001). Peacock (1997) investigated the relationship between authentic materials andlearners’ motivation in the classroom. In his study, it was found that learners’ motivation in the classroom
increased significantly when using authentic materials. Peacock (1997) also found that the use of authenticmaterials significantly increased learners’ focus on tasks, motivation, concentration, and activeparticipation in the classroom compared to non-authentic materials. Additionally, Peacock (1997) argued
that even for low-level learners, authentic materials can be more motivating than inauthentic materials.
While there are benefits to authentic materials, Richards (2001) stated that there are also some
negative points to using authentic materials. These points include difficulty levels of the language, orunneeded words contained in authentic materials. These unnecessary words could obstruct teaching orlearning. Additionally, as authentic materials contain real-world language usage, they often contain moreadvanced language than that at the learners’ levels. Additionally, some non-authentic materials containreal-world elements that can motivate and interest learners just like authentic materials. Moreover,textbooks are better at covering necessary teaching topics according to a syllabus, and it may be a burden
for teachers if they need to find appropriate authentic materials and create relevant activities or tasks.
Therefore, in many cases, teachers are more likely to use a combination of authentic and non-authentic
materials (Richards, 2001). From this, it can be said that the use of authentic materials depends on how
much discretion is given to the teachers. In order to lead the teaching, teachers should be involved indesigning curriculum and syllabus so that those are based on the needs of students (Ahmad & Shah, 2022).
Gilmore (2007) stated that authentic materials need to fit students’ educational needs, and texts can beadapted to students at different proficiency levels if tasks are varied. Therefore, as instructors, it isimportant to determine students’ needs so authentic materials are appropriate for their learning levels.
Research questions
This study includes a research question related to students’ preferences in authentic material: Are nonEnglish-major students who take compulsory English courses interested in the incorporation of authentic
topics into their English lessons? If so, what types of authentic materials do these students prefer?
MethodParticipants
The participants in this study were 167 first-year students who took a compulsory English course at a
women’s university in Tokyo, Japan. Students took a placement test before the semester began, and wereplaced into three different proficiency levels. The aim of the course was to learn general English as aliberal arts subject. There were around 30 students in each class, and classes were held once a week forboth the spring and fall semesters. Generally, classes were conducted face-to-face, but during the heightof COVID-19, classes were conducted on-demand. Since each English teacher wrote their own syllabus,some discretion was allowed in the content of each course. Students who participated in this study werefrom the intermediate class. All students belonged to one of four departments which were Sports Science(hereafter Department 1), Sports and Health Science (hereafter Department 2), Dance (hereafterDepartment 3), and Movement Education for Children (hereafter Department 4). Most students were politeand energetic. Also, many were sociable and preferred pair and group work. The motivation of students
was related to their majors of sports, health, dance, music, and children's education.

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Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 29(2): STORIES OF LEARNING AND TEACHING PRACTICESInstruments
A questionnaire was used to survey the students. In the questionnaire, students answered a yes/noquestion regarding authentic topics and a selective question regarding authentic materials. In a selectivequestion, students were asked to choose two of their most preferred authentic material types, with thechoices including News/Articles, Blogs, Audios, Videos, Songs, and Others. Additionally, a comment section
was provided to allow for more detailed information on students’ views toward authentic topics andmaterials.
Procedure
The questionnaire was prepared with Google Forms, and students individually responded to thequestionnaire online. Prior to the survey, the purpose of the study was explained to all participants, andvoluntary participation in the survey with strict protection of personal information was assured. Therefore,
only the answers of students who agreed to participate in the survey were included. For the questionnaire,
134 students responded (the response rate was 80.2%). Additionally, 109 students responded to a selectivequestion (the response rate was 65.3%). Students’ answers as well as their student number were collected
through Google Forms, and all answers were exported as a Microsoft Excel file for the analysis.
Results
In total, 134 students answered the questions about their interest in authentic topics. Of these 134students, who answered whether they prefer authentic materials related to their field of study, 80%
answered Yes, while 20% answered No, indicated in Table 1. In addition to the yes/no question, students
were asked about their preferred form of authentic materials, which you can see in Table 2. Finally, Table
3 highlights the comments given by students supporting their answers.
Table 1. Preferences for authentic topics in English lessons
Department
NumberStudents who answered Students who answered
Yes (%)
No (%)
13224 (75.00%)
8 (25.00%)
253
40 (75.47%)
13 (24.53%)
342
38 (90.48%)
4 (9.52%)475 (71.43%)
2 (28.57%)
Total
134
107 (80%)
27 (20%)
Table 2 shows the results of a selective question regarding authentic materials from thequestionnaire. In total, 109 students answered the questions about their preferences regarding authenticmaterials. In Table 2, the preferences regarding authentic materials are shown. Amongst the six
alternatives, 31 students selected news/articles, 11 students selected blogs, 29 students selected audio, 64
students selected videos, 80 students selected songs, and three students selected others. As a result, themost selected combination was videos + songs, followed by news/articles + videos, and audios + songs,
respectively.

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Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 29(2): STORIES OF LEARNING AND TEACHING PRACTICES
Table 2. Preferences for authentic materials
Authentic Materials

NumberNews/Articles + Blogs
News/Articles+ Audio
News/Articles+ Video
News/Articles+ Songs
Blogs + Video
Blogs + Songs
Audio + Video
Audio + Songs
Video + Songs
Video + Others
Total47317251012463109

Table 3 shows the additional comments from students regarding authentic topics and materials.

Answer Types

Table 3. Additional comments from students
Comments

Students who answered “Yes”

Students who answered “No”

-It is more interesting to learn my major-relatedtopics in English.
-It’s more useful.
-I want to learn more vocabulary or expressions inmy major in English.
-I have more motivation if the topic is related tomy major.
-I enjoy English more if the topic is related to myinterests such as topics in my major.
-I want to deepen my knowledge in my major.
-I want to communicate or express in English
about the topics in my major.
-I have more intention to learn if the topic isrelated to my major fields.
-I can push myself more if it is related to mymajor.
-I want to extend my knowledge other than mymajor.
-I’m interested in world news or world issues.
-I’m interested in movies and songs.
-I’m interested in English literature.
-I’m interested in various topics.
-I’m interested in gossip or comedy.
-I’m interested in the real conversation in drama.

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Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 29(2): STORIES OF LEARNING AND TEACHING PRACTICES
Discussion
According to Table 1, it was found that the majority of students (80%) are interested in incorporating
authentic subjects in their English lessons. This result showed that students are interested in real-lifelearning and practical English. In addition, students’ majors are what they are mostly interested in, andstudents tend to have higher intrinsic motivation in the topics they are majoring in. If students’
intrinsically motivated topics are incorporated in their English lessons, this may increase the students’
intrinsic motivation towards English learning as well. This result is understandable by looking into theresults in Table 2, which showed that students are interested in authentic materials such as songs, audio,and videos. These materials, especially songs, may have a stronger relationship to dance, so dance
students would naturally be interested if they could incorporate songs into their English lessons. According
to Table 2, songs and videos were preferred by students as authentic materials. This implies that students
are interested in lessons that stimulate auditory and visual senses. This may be because students whoparticipated in this study belong to the faculty of physical education. Therefore, they may be able to learn
more effectively through physical stimulation. Due to the COVID19 pandemic, all lessons were conducted
online. Through these online lessons, authentic materials were used, specifically videos and blogs. Students
watched 7 videos and read 5 blogs about goal setting, the benefits of exercising and sports, healthy
lifestyles, healthy foods, the benefits of dancing, and music. Videos and blogs were chosen by the teacher
and sent to students through Google forms. Students could watch the videos or read the blogs as manytimes as they wanted to before answering a variety of vocabulary and comprehension questions. The
purpose of these assignments was for students to learn about realistic vocabulary and expressions, and also
to understand the content. While these authentic materials were used in online-only lessons, in the future,
I plan to incorporate authentic materials, such as songs, audio, and video in face-to-face classes as well, inorder to satisfy students’ desire to use these resources in their learning.
In compulsory courses, it is important to consider students’ needs and interests, and to try toincorporate those into the lessons to maximize their learning experience effectively and enjoyably. In herstudy, Imamura (2020) found that introducing songs into English lessons lowered students’ anxiety towardlearning and increased students’ motivation. Students may need a hook to be more interested in learning
English. Incorporating authentic topics from students’ major can shift the purpose of English lessons from“learning English” to “utilizing English as a means of learning”.
A limitation of this study was that students’ competency levels were not considered. Therefore, forfuture research, how the use of authentic materials affects the students’ learning should be investigated.
Conclusion
In this study, the results showed that 80% of non-English course students preferred to incorporate authentic
topics into English lessons. Among authentic materials, visual and aural materials such as videos and songs
were most preferred. The study’s results can be used to guide English lessons. Future research can utilize
an experimental research design to examine the influence on student motivation and competence afterusing authentic materials in English lessons.

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Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 29(2): STORIES OF LEARNING AND TEACHING PRACTICES
References
Ahmad, H., & Shah, S. R. (2022). Teacher agency and professional development: A study on Cambridge
English teacher program in the Arabian Gulf. Cogent Education, 9(1), 2080352.
Clarke, D.F. 1989. Communicative theory and its influence on materials production. Language Teaching
22(2): 73-86.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. Plenum.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation,social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68-78.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). Handbook of self-determination research. University of Rochester Press.
Dornyei, Z. (2001). Motivation strategies in the language classroom. Cambridge University Press.
Gilmore, A. (2007). Authentic materials and authenticity in foreign language learning. Language Teaching,40(2), 97-118.
Imamura, R. (2020). A Practice in the University Classroom Based on English Songs as “Authentic Materials”
From the Aspect of the Affective Filter Hypothesis and Learning Motivation. Asphodel, 55, 189-205.
Kent, D. (2021). Issues in TESOL. A Primer for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Pedagogy
Press. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). (1995) Remaking
universities: Continuing reform of higher education. Chapter 1 Why university reform is needed. 3
Recommendations of the university council and systemic reforms. (1) Improvement of university
education.. Retrieved October 2, 2022 fromhttps://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/hakusho/html/hpae199501/hpae199501_2_010.html
Peacock, M. (1997). The effect of authentic materials on the motivation of EFL learners. ELT Journal 51(2),144-153.
Phillips, M. K., & Shettlesworth, C. C. (1978). How to arm your students: A consideration of two approaches
to providing materials for ESP. ELT Documents, 101, 27-48.
Richards, J. C. (2001). Curriculum development in language teaching. Ernst Klett Sprachen.
Tomlinson, B. (2011). Materials development in language teaching (2nd ed). Cambridge University Press
Appendix 1. Survey questions
1. 以下のうち、授業で関心があるのはどちらですか。
（自分の専攻に関連した内容、自分の専攻とは関連がない内容）
2.

学んでみたい具体的な内容について記入してください。

3.

以下のうち、授業で取り上げて欲しいものを２つ選んでください。
（英語のニュース・記事、英語のブログ、英語のオーディオ、英語の動画、洋楽の歌詞、その他）
その他を選んだ場合は、授業で取り上げて欲しいものを記入してください。

4.

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