between materials that have been specially prepared to illustrate or practise
specific teaching points (such as reading passages, listening texts, or model
conversations) and those that have been taken from real-world sources.
Texts which are taken from newspapers, magazines, etc., and tapes of
natural speech taken from ordinary radio or television programmes, etc.,
are called authentic materials.
It is argued that these are preferred classroom resources since they illustrate
authentic language use.
(in testing) the extent to which test tasks correspond to language use in
a non-test (i.e. target language use) situation.authentic materials n
in language teaching, the use of materials that were not originally devel-
oped for pedagogical purposes, such as the use of magazines, newspapers,
advertisements, news reports, or songs. Such materials are often thought to
contain more realistic and natural examples of language use than those
found in textbooks and other specially developed teaching materials.
authoring system n
(in computer assisted learning) a computer program which is designed
to allow teachers and materials designers to write a computer lesson
without requiring them to learn how to write a program. The teacher
concentrates on creating the lesson material, while the authoring system
handles such things as the exercise format and the processing of answers.
autism n
a brain disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and com-
munication and restricted and repetitive behaviour. Differences in com-
munication are often present from an early age, and may include delayed
onset of babbling and unusual gestures. Some individuals with autism do
not develop enough natural speech to meet daily communication needs,
and many have difficulties with complex language, figures of speechand
inferencing.
autoassociative adj
see associative memory
automaticityn
the ability to carry out an activity or to process information without effort
or attention.
see automatic processing
automaticity