The Use of Authentic Materials in ESP: Benefits and Drawbacks

This article aims to provide a multifold view related to integrating authentic materials inEnglish for Specific Purposes (ESP) classes. On the one hand, it will highlight the mainbenefits of this approach, emphasizing the potentially significant impact that activitiesbased on authentic materials can have on helping learners acquire and develop specifictransferrable skills and communication abilities that they can later adapt to a variety ofprofessional contexts. On the other hand, it will bring forth a range of challengesinvolved in successfully selecting and using authentic materials. While the great majorityof ESP practitioners do agree that English for Specific Purposes cannot be taught/ learnedwithout exposure to “real” language and contexts, many of them are also aware of thedifficulties involved in selecting materials that would fit learners’ expectations and levelof experience in terms of proficiency, tastes, interests or background knowledge. Thearticle will explore some of these challenges.