Authenticity and Learning Potential in L2 Classroom Discourse

Discussions of authenticity in L2 classroom discourse treat important linguistic and sociolinguistic dimension of the issue, such as the genuineess of texts, the regional appropriacy of target language varieties, the real-worldliness of classroom roles and pedagogic tasks, and the relevance of each to future student needs. Psycholinguistic dimensions of authenticity tend to be downplayed or ignored, however, as do tensions between some traditional notions of authenticity and learning potential. The relationship between tasks and texts, choices among three kinds of texts–simplified, genuine, and elaborated–need to be considered in the context of fundamental options in language teaching, not only with respect to linguistic veracity and simulational appropriacy, for example, but in ters of learnability, and the text types' potential for provision of positive and negative evidence, and focus on form