The using of authentic materials in teaching of reading

Reading is an essential skill, and the course book certainly offers plenty of dialogues and texts to read - but the problem is they are written specifically for ESL learners. The conversations often sound stilted and contrived. The reading passages are simply not “real” enough. When you think of authentic reading materials, you probably automatically think of books, newspapers and magazines, which are fine and dandy for advanced learners, but too difficult for beginners to tackle. The good news is there are plenty of authentic texts ESL students can read - at any level.