Chapter I. Authentic materials help the learners learn the language of the world

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, this course paper revealed that when students are exposed to authentic materials and also to tasks based on culture, they have the opportunity to develop their intercultural competence, to expand their knowledge not merely in the language as a code but also to be exposed to real language, to real situations that happen in their contexts. As a matter of fact, there are changes on how students perceive the learning of a language and how important it is having something to say in that foreign language, not only to know how to label things in the English language but actually to put together vocabulary to express ideas. English language teachers play a relevant role in helping students understand the reality they are living and reshaping regarding their ways of thinking or the way they perceive the world. Throughout my experience, it was always a concern how I could support students in their growth as human beings and professionals. There was a need to provide different English language lesson plans to permit students to develop their curiosity, be better listeners and, overall, recognize themselves as part of a society that needs more respectful, tolerant and critical social beings. Based on experiences throughout the course, the use of authentic materials should begin when students are in their first level of English language learning, so that this practice can enable them to develop the habit of using different sorts of materials. In fact, English langauge teachers ought to begin with short stories, comics, recipes, menus, songs or excerpts taken from books to get students accustomed to having contact with “real” language. As a result, when they get in higher levels, the use of this material can increase their contact with the target language and culture. Learners’ insights showed that if they feel challenged, they will find the way to solve the grammatical abundance from the authentic material. Nonetheless, English language teachers need to take the time to read the material before bringing it to the classroom. They need to see if it requires adaptation for students so that they will not feel overwhelmed with the richness of the vocabulary. In addition, English language teachers need to have clear objectives for using this type of material so that they will choose the correct one for teaching different issues, as vocabulary for example. There is sometimes much vocabulary that is not relevant due to the scarce use of that terminology in real life. Of course there are many other authentic text examples, reading materials and multimedia content you can try with your learners. You might want to teach online English with podcasts, TV or radio interviews, clips or trailers from movies, and even ads or posters. One of the best ways to introduce this type of content is to ask your students to find it! Ask them to find an interesting video, article, poster, advertisement or other piece of content that they would like to explore in class. Tell them to send it to you well in advance of the lesson, so you have time to prepare your activities. We hope this has sparked some ideas for your next class and has inspired you to try teaching with authentic materials in your own lessons. Without a long-term and evidence-based systems change approach to increasing their university's overall level of intercultural competence and integrating the development of intercultural competence in the curriculum by closely aligning it with the disciplinary content, it may remain difficult for universities to produce graduates who are interculturally competent. An in-depth analysis and road map of ongoing initiatives across the organization is the first step in establishing this level of dedication. Universities and colleges that are serious about adapting their curricula to meet the needs of their students in the twenty-first century will make this investment. Although the study presents an innovative ideology about intercultural competence, however essential concepts such as cultural humility and critical reflectivity were not presented in this study. Therefore, future studies will delve into these issues to examine their impact on students’ intercultural competence.