1020 «Молодой учёный»
. № 8 (112)
. Апрель, 2016 г.
Педагогика a variety of language work and communication activities.
Realia also make learning process more enjoyable.
Realia is a term for any real, concrete object used in the
classroom to create connections with vocabulary words,
stimulate conversation, and build background knowledge.
Realia gives students the opportunity to use all of their sense
to learn about a given subject, and it is appropriate for any
grade or skill level. When the real object is not available or
impractical, teacher can use models or semi-concrete ob-
jects, such as photograph, illustrations, and artwork. Based
on the explanation above, the writer concluded that Realia is
one of media in teaching learning process, it is a real thing
that can see, hear or touch directly. It makes students more
interesting and easy to understand the lesson. [3]
Realia, authentic documents, and mass media are living
daily proof of the value of language. Their authenticity, spe-
cialized vocabulary, reinforced grammatical structures, and
topics of interest can help encourage interest in the target
language and culture. They contain current language on all
imaginable topics, and are not artificial or contrived. One of
the most compelling reasons for using them is the teacher»s
involvement in selecting and adapting materials for class-
room use. Mass media can help to dispel stereotypes. Realia
such as maps and schedules often contain a minimum of lan-
guage and reduce potential frustration: other kinds of Realia
lend themselves well to demonstration. Educators differ on
whether the materials should be used in their original in an
adapted form. The instructor can prepare written materials
to accompany the Realia, and can easily prepare audiovi-
sual aids with it. One of the key advantages in using Realia
is its direct link to culture, allowing attention to subtle and
not-so-subtle differences between the target culture and our
own. Newspapers, magazines, movie aids, mail-order cata-
logs, television commercials, the Yellow Pages, and souve-
nirs and other printed materials gathered in travel abroad or
requested from other sources are examples of useful Realia.
Realia refer to real objects. Indeed authentic materials
such as newspapers, magazines, catalogs, timetables, films
designed for use in real life situations not for use as instruc-
tional tools. Realia and other authentic materials, including
non-print mass media provide with range of printed and
spoken messages that can be used as primary or secondary
material in a foreign language classroom)
Realia is actual objects and items which are brought into
the classroom as examples or as aids to be talked or written
about and used in teaching. [4]
Based on the definition above we can say that Realia is
one of visual authentic material which can be touched and
seen to serve to facilitate for teaching to understand real life
situations. Bringing Realia into English lessons is great ice-
breaker and serves as a useful tool to prompt conversation.
It also takes some of the attention and pressure off you by
concentrating the students» mind on the object and word in
question.
Many students have had bad experiences learning Eng-
lish at school, often remember their English lessons as being
dull and repetitive. Using Realia and other visual aids will
generate interest and help create an atmosphere conductive
to learning.
To bring real life into the classroom we may teach a subject
with flashcards or picture. However, if we bring realia students
will be surprised and thrilled and will never forget this lesson.
This is what the use of realia in the classroom is all about:
the use of real life objects that students can touch, feel, and
even smell to effectively teach ESL components.. [1] Using
Realia in the ESP classroom serves to foster a more creative
and active teaching-learning environment and promotes cul-
tural understanding. Realia refers to the practice of using real,
tangible things in the classroom to help our students connect
with English on a different level. It involves visual, tactile and
functional methods for teaching ideas, concepts, vocabulary
or grammar. There are many ways to use Realia in teaching
learning. In education, Realia include objects used by teacher
to improve students» understanding of other cultures and real
life situations. A teacher of a foreign language often employs
Realia to strengthen students» associations between words
for everyday objects and the objects themselves. There are
many ways to use Realia, because it is useful for any topic of
English lesson, however teachers can improve their creativity
in teaching their students using Realia.
Actually, Realia is appropriate for any level of students,
for beginner until advanced. This might be attributed to the
fact that at this level, most students master a wide range of
vocabulary in the target language and all of the structures.
They also note that at lower levels, the use of authentic mate-
rials may cause students to feel de-motivated and frustrated
since they lack many lexical items and structures used in the
target language. Matsuata (n. d.) states that the use of au-
thentic materials is a burden for the instructors teaching be-
ginning students as they have to spend a lot of time to pre-
pare for authentic materials regarding the ability level of the
students. [5] Do all these mean we are not able to use au-
thentic materials in lower-level classes apart from post-inter-
mediate and advanced levels?
According to the findings of the survey carried out by
Chavez (1998), learners enjoy dealing with authentic ma-
terials since they enable them to interact with the real lan-
guage and its use. Also they do not consider authentic situ-
ations or materials innately difficult. However, learners state
that they need pedagogical support especially in listening sit-
uations and when reading literary texts such as the provision
of a full range of cues (auditory and visual including written
language). There were many teachers have used Realia in
teaching learning process. Here some examples the use of
Realia in the classroom:
1) to illustrate and teach young learners vocabulary for
animals, clothing, and fruit for example, using actual objects
or facsimiles there of (pieces of clothing, toy animals, and
plastic fruit). For transition period, it»s a very useful tool in
making the abstract concrete.
2) bring in a number of objects from everyday life, such
as fruit, utensils or articles of clothing. Sitting in a circle,