The Role Of Authentic Materials In The Development Of Professional Competences Of EFL Students

Abstract

The current new teaching goal in EFL teaching in Uzbekistan is to train future specialists to use English in face-to-face communication as well as to retrieve, process, and exchange professionally useful information from various authentic sources. This is the main difference between the new and the traditional EFL teaching programs. In the new approach, the teaching goal is no longer merely knowledge about the language, but also on developing communication skills for everyday life and professional or commercial exchange in the target language. To achieve these goals the role of authentic materials are crucial in the development of language competences of future EFL students. In this article, we define and describe authentic mate­rials, and outline benefits and challenges of using them. And we offer suggestions for selecting and finding locally relevant authentic materials which help students to develop their professional competences.