Exploring teachers' and students' perceptions of the use of authentic video materials in senior secondary EFL classrooms : a case study in mainland China

Abstract

In Mainland China, the notion of learning language for communication and though communication has taken root in the reform of the English curriculum for secondary schools since 2013, encouraging teachers to improve students’ communicative competence by various means (Ministry of Education, 2013). One of the suggestions is to introduce authentic materials into EFL classrooms so that students can be exposed to the real target language and culture through interacting with such motivating input. As little is known about the application of authentic videos in Mainland Chinese senior secondary schools, this study was conducted to fill this gap by examining teachers’ and students’ beliefs about the usefulness and difficulties of using authentic videos in EFL classes. A mixed-methods study adopting questionnaire survey, classroom observation, semi-structured individual interviews with both students and teachers sought to elicit the stakeholders’ perceived benefits and difficulties in utilizing authentic video, along with the measures that should be taken to enhance its integration into English classes. The study found that authentic videos benefited students in various ways such as increasing intrinsic and instrumental learning motivation and enhancing textbook learning. However, factors such as students’ lack of language proficiency and negative engagement in the accompanying tasks seemed to impede the positive effect of using authentic videos to facilitate language learning. To overcome the difficulties, several strategies were identified, which shed light on some useful suggestions for improving the use of authentic videos in EFL classes.