Authentic Learning:

Boosting ELL Language

and Academic Proficiency
Development
Cassandra Petrakis Zwahlen

Science teachers have long employed authentic learning experiences

to engage students and help them develop real-world scientific skills.
Yet what about language skills – could authentic learning contribute to
the language and academic development of English language learners
(ELLs)? This article explores approaches to authentic learning that can
assist ELLs in developing language and academic proficiency.
At its core, authentic learning is student work that addresses real
issues, or student production of real products that can be assessed by
real-world standards (Knight, 2013). Grace and Lee said authentic
learning “must begin with solving problems … as people explore real life
situations for answers” (2014, p. 43). Authentic learning is sometimes
called project-based learning (PBL) or task-based learning (TBL),
though projects and tasks are not automatically authentic. Gottlieb said
authentic projects and tasks should represent real-world experiences
that are connected to students’ lives and cultures (2006). Wiggins said
“a real-world task requires students to deal with the messiness of real
or simulated settings, purposes, and audience” (2014, para. 15). Both
Muller and Lam identified student reflection as a vital ingredient of
authenticity (n.d.; 2014). In fact, Mueller called reflection one “of the
most authentic skills students need to develop to successfully manage in
the real world” (n.d., para. 4).
There is a paucity of literature on authentic learning for ELL
language and literacy development (Roessingh, 2014; Seunarinesingh,
2010). Nevertheless, in those articles found, Seunarinesingh noted that
authenticity centered on communicating based on the needs of a live
audience – whether reading, writing or speaking (2010). Thus, regardless
of label or context, authentic learning features a set of fundamental
characteristics: student work that is linked to the real world, seeks
genuine answers, is assessed per real-world standards or audiences, and
often includes student reflection.

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 Benefits of authentic learning
According to proponents, authentic learning increases student engagement.
Students who are engaged are more motivated and empowered (Grace &
Lee, 2014; Knight, 2013). When work has a purpose, is meaningful and
personally relevant, “students are much more likely to remember what
they have learned” (Knight, 2013, p. 231). Gottlieb agreed. “Having
students produce original work around major themes, ideas or issues
encourages deep learning and supports in-depth teaching. Incorporating
higher-order thinking into performance tasks encountered in the ‘real
world’ enables students to develop and demonstrate abilities to use in
school and life” (2006, p. 123-124).

Authentic learning is more than one-size-fits-all

Authentic learning can range from small-scale to large. It can be based
on authentic materials, tasks, projects, outings or off-campus service
learning. In the case of authentic materials, “a book that fosters an
emotional link between the student and the written word is an authentic
text” (Lenski, Ehlers-Zavala, Daniel, & Sun-Irminger, 2006, p. 31).
Thomas suggested using cooking recipes, restaurant menus, newspaper
and magazine articles, and blogs (2014, p. 15). Lenski et al. suggested
using comics and biographies by writers who share cultural backgrounds
with ELLs to help build connections. With authentic materials,
educators can generate discussion and reflection about real issues or
daily aspects of their students’ lives. At the same time, ELLs can use
the target language in realistic ways, within the safety of the classroom.

Real-world examples
In a case study with primary school students in Trinidad and Tobago, one
teacher used newspaper articles about hurricanes to help Caribbean Creole
students build standard English language proficiency since “authentic
texts … are more meaningful to learners” (Seunarinesingh, 2010, p. 41).
While a hurricane was brewing, students read about an earlier storm that
had devastated a neighboring island. They discussed what happened and
brainstormed a list of preparations and emergency supplies. When the
coming hurricane hit another island, students read about the effects and
conducted a writing task to practice related grammar. They culminated
by crafting letters to parents asking for needed supplies. Throughout
the process, students made spontaneous inquiries and connections. By
combining current events with language defined by the curriculum, and
using easily available authentic texts and images to focus on grammar,
vocabulary and writing, the teacher contextualized learning and ultimately
increased student engagement (Seunarinesingh, 2010).

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 At the same school, another teacher mixed approaches to boost student
engagement. He asked them to create real maps of their communities,
write reviews of ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ episodes, sell stationary to
the school, then tally their sales and create histograms for display. “He
immersed students in visual and tactile experiences that provided them
with opportunities for describing, negotiating, and commenting on what
they were learning” (Seunarinesingh, 2010, p. 53).
Anchoring curriculum requirements to a local context is helpful
uniting students from diverse languages and cultural backgrounds
around common objectives. A theme especially relevant to a number
of international locations is immigration. Engaging ELLs on the
various and conflicting views around this topic is almost effortless.
The sometimes inflammatory nature of political billboards and slogans
provide an authentic hook to debate and to writing tasks.

Authenticity through technology

Teachers can target a variety of language learning goals with authentic
tasks and projects. For vocabulary development with elementary ELLs in
Canada, Roessingh explored integrating information and communication
technology (ICT) with TBL. Students entered a naming contest for a local
German Shepherd puppy destined for police service work. Roessingh’s
goal: engage “children in motivating and meaningful language learning
opportunities while supporting the acquisition of digital literacy concepts
and skills in completing a web quest” (2014, p. 15). While using the
internet to learn about police dog service work, students’ comfort levels
and confidence grew, allowing them to take on more ownership of the
task. Their engagement and excitement grew too, reflected by their
spontaneous reaction to news of the death of another police service dog.
Students “were onto the story before I had even arrived for our weekly
tutorials, having accessed the YouTube clip and proudly telling me they
had led a class discussion at school. Preparing a Twitter message offering
condolence forced the use of precise, succinct vocabulary” (Roessingh,
2014, p. 17). Establishing a class Twitter account could be an effective
means of engaging students. Teachers could pin the account itself or
particular posts to any academic or local topic.
In another technology-based example, educators Daniels, Hamby and
Chen tested blogging as an authentic teaching and learning literary aid
designed to give disadvantaged and ELL middle school students more
opportunities “to ask questions about and engage deeply with topics
that matter to them” (2015, p. 9). In a similar study, involving Greek
EFL junior-high students, Daskalogiannaki examined blogging as
an authentic aid to determine whether it engaged students in process

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 writing and increased their motivation (2012). As the ELLs in the U.S.
blogged, they took writing “more seriously once they realized that their
peers were actually reading their blog posts, were responding to their
thinking, and were curious about their opinions” (Daniels, Hamby
& Chen, 2015, p. 14). As the ELLs in Greece blogged, their attitudes
significantly improved, as did the quality, quantity and ease of their
writing, according to their own feedback. Daskalogiannaki concluded
that blogging promoted “students’ writing, cognitive, metacognitive
and communication skills, to increase motivation in the classroom and
provide a venue for self-reflection and autonomy” (2012, p. 281-282).

Promoting scientific objectives

To support students’ understanding of science content and development
of the writing process, DeFauw and Saad designed an end-of-unit
authentic project for their U.S.-based ninth-grade ELLs – the creation
of picture books for their elementary peers (2014). “Being able to build
on their knowledge and rethink their learning so they could teach the
content to a younger audience forced the students to demonstrate an
even deeper level of understanding, which provided an authentic writing
opportunity” (DeFauw & Saad, 2014, p. 101).
Employing students as teacher mentors for other students could also
be effective. Older students could design orientation materials such as a
power point, for incoming classes . This would both familiarize young
peers with school expectations whilst cultivating the specific skill of
giving instructions. In another U.S. ESL context, a Kindergarten teacher
introduced authenticity through ‘working word walls’ to help ELLs
learn science content and language simultaneously (Huerta & Jackson,
2010). The walls included rocks and plants that students had collected
and dissected themselves, allowing them to interweave vocabulary and
concepts with tangible specimens. Thus, the walls became authentic
“tools for writing in their science journals as students continue[d]
to construct and refine their understanding of science and English”
(Huerta & Jackson 2010, p. 208). In both cases, authentic approaches
aided academic and language proficiency development. The ninth-grade
ELLs, despite not having high levels of writing proficiency, were still
able to express complex thoughts via the written word (DeFauw & Saad,
2014). The Kindergarten children, at various levels of English language
development, “were motivated to give English a chance because they
were given background experience and tools such as word walls” (Huerta
& Jackson, 2010, p. 210).

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 Taking it outside
Field trips are natural opportunities for interacting with the ‘real world’.
Teachers from one U.S. school transformed the classic ‘field trip to
the zoo’ by turning it into an authentic, inquiry-based project (Gillan
& Hebert, 2014). Prior to the trip, the fourth-grade class learned how
to scientifically observe and document animal behaviors, and collect
data. They researched the animals they were going to see and prepared
questions in advance. Armed with questions, data collection tables and
science journals, students recorded what they saw and heard at the zoo
with words and illustrations, and added new questions that emerged in
their inquiries. Such a project could easily be tailored for ELLs. Data
collection tables could be differentiated by proficiency level: emerging
ELLs could document data with pictures and words; advanced ELLs
could write full sentences. Tables are essentially graphic organizers,
which Gottlieb recommended for ELLs because they allow “students to
engage in higher-level thinking with minimal dependence on literacy”
(2006, p. 134).
In the case of service learning (SL), authenticity is built in due to its
purposeful and often communicative nature, and real audience. In a
study with college students learning French, Grim examined how SL
influenced language learning motivation (2010). For their SL project,
the students taught French in community elementary schools. Grim
concluded their SL work increased authentic use of the language, as
it necessitated interaction with native speakers in an authentic setting
(2010). “Students acquire cultural and linguistic knowledge through
the preparation of their lessons. They build critical thinking skills by
solving challenges with children and in the preparation of their lessons”
(2010, p. 618). These findings were similar DeFauw and Saad’s, which
showed “writing for a younger audience challenges students to explain
their complex content so it is easy to understand and engaging” (2014, p.
102). Echoing both Mueller (n.d.) and Lam (2014) on the importance of
reflection, Grim also found student reflection played an important role
in enhancing learning (2010).

A wrap-up of findings
In the Seunarinesingh case study, teachers successfully stimulated
students with current events and authentic materials (2010, p. 54).
In using ICT as an authentic medium for TBL, Roessingh reported
increased student excitement and engagement (2014). Daniels, Hamby
and Chen found blogging resulted in more thoughtful writing, plus
improved attitudes toward writing (2015). Daskalogiannaki too saw
students’ attitudes toward writing improve through blogging: Their

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 “active participation and accomplishment of all the tasks were the
greatest evidence of their enhanced motivation” (2012, p. 281).
In addition to boosting student engagement and motivation, authentic
learning gives students “tools for writing through which they can risk new
vocabulary, new language, and new thought … critical for the linguistic
and cognitive development of students” (Huerta & Jackson, 2010, p. 210).
Daniels, Hamby and Chen said testing data suggested “a correlation (not
necessarily causality) between students’ participation in the project and
their test scores in comprehension, grammar, and vocabulary” (2015, p.
14). Roessingh reported “excellent” vocabulary gains over a six-month
period, using informal lexical profiling tools (2014).
Nor did authentic learning foster only language proficiency development.
Content knowledge development was also observed, especially in science
(DeFauw & Saad, 2014; Huerta & Jackson, 2010). Due to the success
of the science picture book project, DeFauw and Saad recommended
extending it to different literacy projects such as poems, blogs or letters
to support learning (2014). Grim also saw extended possibilities for SL:
“It can incorporate any subject matter … the philosophy is to provide
students with an increased knowledge of the course material through
hands-on situations and concrete applications” (2010, p. 607).
Local materials, industries and culture can be used as a hook for both
debating and writing . Located in Switzerland I used chocolate! This
iconic product is perfect for exciting descriptive language, cooking and
celebration topics and that special ingredient of an absorbing lesson –
fun.

Conclusion
Authentic learning comes in many sizes: using authentic materials at
the small end of the scale; designing tasks and projects for real purposes
and audiences; and going out into the community and conducting SL
at the larger end of the scale. The approaches are applicable across
various grades, learning environments and language contexts. Authentic
learning links students to real-world contexts and problem-solving,
where their work must be assessed according to real-world standards
or audiences. It often gives students the chance to reflect, and results
in enhanced engagement, motivation and learning. Knight summed it
up best by saying “there are no time-killing, mind-numbing worksheets
in authentic learning” (2013, p. 236). Authentic learning fosters the
development of language and academic proficiency through work that
allows ELLs to use language and content in realistic ways.

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 References
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Cassandra Petrakis Zwahlen graduated from Endicot College

with an M.Ed in International Education in 2016. Located in
Zurich she teaches both young students and adults (ASC Lingua).

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