The Perception of Kurdish EFL Learners towards Using English Authentic Reading Materials in the Classroom
*Beway Mahmood Saheb1; Atta Mostafa Hamamorad2; Hameed Hussein Hama-said3
ABSTRACT
Recently, there has been a trend towards using more authentic reading materials in EFL classrooms. The current study investigates the perceptions of Kurdish EFL learners regarding utilizing authentic reading materials in the classroom. The study is an attempt to discover participants’ general attitudes towards adopting more authentic reading materials in their classrooms, and to see whether there was any significant difference between the attitudes of the participants. A total of 128 EFL learners participated in the study of which 52 were from Sulaimani Polytechnic University, and 76 from University of Halabja. A questionnaire consisting of 37 items was adopted to collect the data for the present study. Descriptive analysis was used to explore EFL learners’ perceptions of English authentic materials, and t-test analysis was used to find out any significant differences between the Polytechnic University and Halabja University EFL learners. The results of the study revealed that Kurdish EFL learners have a positive attitude towards using more authentic reading materials in the classroom at both universities. The participants also believed that authentic reading materials would introduce them to samples of natural language. They prefer reading more authentic materials and as a result of this, they can improve their language proficiency. Finally, the results also indicated that Sulaimani polytechnic university EFL students had a more responsive and positive attitude towards using authentic reading materials in their classrooms.
Keywords: EFL Learners, Kurdish Learners, Authentic Material, Reading Comprehension Skill
Doi: 10.23918/vesal2022a14