The Significance of Using Authentic Tasks and Texts in Language Teaching Materials: Study of a Course Book

As a result of examining an English course book developed for sixth graders and promoted by the Ministry of Education, “Quick Step 6”, the general observation of the present authors has been that the mentioned book fails to meet the standards established by research in the field of language teaching and materials development, as well as the needs of the students it aims to serve. This book has given priority to texts and tasks which have been artificially designed with very narrow pedagogical concerns. The contents of the texts and tasks ignore elements of the target culture and do not carry the features of authentic language use. Such simplified texts are deprived of their natural context and rich language variety, making language learning a difficult and demotivating task. There is a great need for books which takes into consideration the intelligence level and interest areas of learners in constructing studentscentered and student-initiated activities. This article starts with a summary of the basic principles to follow in developing language teaching materials, and continues with definitions of authentic texts and authentic tasks. Lastly, Quick Step 6 is examined with a view to the authenticity of its texts and task