The effectiveness of using authentic materials in teaching English Modals to Thai EFL students

Abstract

The present study sought to evaluate a pedagogical approach for an English language proficiency course. It sought to investigate an understanding of the semantics of the English modal system among a selected group of Thai EFL learners. It further evaluated whether the use of authentic materials is effective in teaching the English modal system. The research was conducted at Warakaminnuboon School, a secondary school in Bangkok, Thailand. There were 30 subjects who participated in this study. The study employed a time-series design. The subjects had pretests and posttests. The pretests, which were administered during the first two weeks, required the subjects to write essays on expository topics. All the subjects received the treatment (the use of authentic materials) after the pretest period. After the treatment, the subjects were required to write two further essays during the posttest period. A comparison of the means using SPSS paired t-test was performed to investigate research question. In dealing with this, the means of the occurrence of the coherent messages using English modals were compared between the pretests and posttests. The findings of the study were (1) The use of English modal system displayed by EFL students was at best sporadic. The subjects in the study seemed to send as many incoherent messages as coherent messages indicating that they did not have a real understanding of the English modal system. (2) The use of authentic materials had a significant effect in helping learners reduce the incorrect use of English modals as there was a significant difference in the means of using modals in the subjects' essays written before and after treatment. Findings were interpreted in terms of existing research on the use of authentic materials. Limitation and teaching implication are also highlighted.