THE IMPACT OF AUTHENTIC MATERIALS IN DEVELOPING LISTENING AND SPEAKING SKILLS OF THE ESL SECONDARY LEVEL LEARNERS IN KARACHI PAKISTAN

Abstract

English due to its greater significance is more frequently used for communication across the globe (Shamim, 2007) of the four integrated skills, listening and speaking are widely used for daily life communication. To develop the listening and speaking skills, authentic materials are used in classroom to prepare ESL learners for effective communication in real life world. Authentic materials are usually context specific, easy to comprehend and better in developing the learners’ communicative skills (Guariento & Morley, 2001; Wilcox et al., 1999). This study was conducted to investigate the role of authentic materials in developing listening and speaking skills of ESL secondary level learners enrolled in Access Program aimed to target peripheries inhabited by less privileged communities of Karachi Pakistan. Access Program is a foreign funded extensive long term English Language program primarily meant for the less privileged communities with students aged between 14 to 16 years and having very low level of English language proficiency. Four ESL teachers (n=4) and twenty-five ESL learners (n=25) constituted the sample. This study adopted a mixed method approach to explore the use of authentic materials in developing the listening and speaking skills of ESL