Authenicity in CALL

Current and potential students – authentic tasks.  I have always liked using authentic tasks with my students.  Things they use everyday such as smartphones lend themselves to language learning tasks such as reading a map and directions (which also happens to be a test question for the adult education programs that use the CASAS test).  My students would use google maps on the computer or smart phone to find places they go nearby, then write the directions down in English, last they would share their directions with the class.  The others in class would listen to the directions following along with their fingers on the map to finally come to the place the student was talking about.  Maps were something they all used outside of class.  I have also done units on nutrition where they learn how to read nutrition labels, ingredients lists and to understand to spot misleading food packaging such as "Lemon flavored". 

How did I define authenticity?  I defined authenticity as lessons and tasks that has the learner engaged in real life activities which they can identify with and use outside of the classroom. 

Did the reading change my perspective?  While it didn’t really change my perspective it gave me more to think about when designing lessons or tasks and how to get feedback from students to make sure I am tweaking the lessons to meet their needs.  Having the short survey at the end of the activity is a great way to get that feedback so adjustments can be made to future lessons for that student. 

 

What is my working definition of authenticity in CALL context -  I would keep my current definition but add that "the authenticity of a lesson is held in the perspective of the student".  They are the ones who will determine if the lesson is authentic or not. We might feel that it is but unless it connects to the student then it wasn't authentic.