Authentic Material for ESP Purposes and Reading Skills

Abstract

This research explores the use of authentic materials to improve reading skills in the context of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), specifically in tourism. The study was conducted with sixth-semester tourism students from the Facultad de Ciencias Humanas y de la Educaciòn from Universidad Tecnica de Ambato. This project focused on the B1 level of students to strengthen their reading comprehension through ten classes designed under the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach. A pre-test and post-test were applied to measure the students' progress throughout the intervention. Authentic materials such as travel brochures, tourist articles, and real texts related to tourism were integrated into the lessons to simulate real professional contexts. Through practical and collaborative activities, students interacted with these real texts, developing reading strategies such as Skimming, Scanning, Deducing Meaning, and Inferring Attitude between language learning and their professional field. The results showed a significant improvement in the reading skills of tourism students, which shows that the use of authentic materials not only generates greater motivation and interest but is also effective for the development of communicative skills in specific contexts. In conclusion, it is confirmed that the implementation of Authentic Materials in English classes for Specific Purposes represents a valuable didactic tool. It contributes significantly to significant learning and enhances students' professional preparation in tourism by providing relevant and realistic input. The findings support the conclusion of authentic materials as a core component of ESP instruction, especially when aiming to bridge the gap between academic English learning and real-life communication needs in specialized fields.