{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.023653088042049936, 'fraction_numerical': 0.001314060446780552, 'mean_word_length': 5.470254957507082, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Book Review: Designing authenticity into language learning materials

The use of authentic materials in the language classroom is much more possible today than it was 20 years ago, primarily because of the increased accessibility of such materials around the world and especially via the Internet. It is this increased accessibility that has, in part, caused the authenticity explosion witnessed in today’s language classroom. Few language teachers, however, are aware of the various ways that authentic materials can be used in the classroom, especially with beginning learners. Designing authenticity into language learning materials provides an excellent starting point for any language professional, researcher and teacher alike, looking for direction in how to create authentic classroom tasks that students can find motivating and useful, while at the same time retaining a firm grounding in theories of SLA and pedagogy. The book accomplishes its goal of bridging the theory-researchpractice gap with its thoughtful organization, taking the reader through the theoretical rationale for using authentic materials in Part I, before moving on to practical applications in Part II. The book’s ‘authenticitycentred’ approach is based on ‘the use of authentic texts for language learning and the preserving of this authenticity throughout the procedures in which they are implicated’ (p. ix). Tasks provide for the operationalization of this approach, and Mishan considers tasks and authentic texts to be closely interconnected because of their shared base in the ‘real world’. Part I includes four chapters that provide the theoretical framework for authenticity in language learning. In Chapter 1 Mishan explores the history of authentic materials in the language classroom within communicative, materials-focused and humanistic approaches, before tackling the difficult job of providing a definition of authenticity in language learning. After a discussion of the various factors that play a role in this definition (e.g. What is an authentic text?, What is the role of context?, What is ‘authenticity of language use’?), Mishan concludes this chapter not with a single definition, but instead with a set of ‘criteria for authenticity’, which includes the following five factors: