Student-initiated Authentic Materials and Motivation in the EFL Classroom

This was a study, using qualitative re earch methods, toinvestigate the impact of the use of authentic materials on student motivation while learning English as a Foreign Language <EFL) in a college classroom. Three students in an EFL university class volunteered to participate in this study. They submitted diary entries over the course of one semester relating their experiences with authentic materials presented in the class, and detailed what effect these materials had on their motivation to learn English. These students were also subjected to interviews and observations by the researcher, to further document their motivational disposition as the semester went along. Findings indicated that a generally positive relationship between the classroom use of authentic materials and student interest and motivation existed. However, as other studies have shown, this relationship was not always fully evident or well-defined in every case. The study concluded with a discussion of possible implications for the classroom.