AuthenticAIty: Where do we go from here?

Plenary Speech given at ELT Research in Action (ELTRIA) Barcelona, May 10th 2024

In this talk, I will discuss the enduring relevance of the theme of authenticity in ELT. In particular, I want to discuss the place of “authentic” language in the post-truth era; the importance of knowing what is “real” when it comes to using a foreign language; and, of course, the role of Artificial Intelligence in a world where teachers still need to make meaningful connections with our students, and yet computers are altering the way these interaction might take place. I will discuss the importance of group dynamics and motivation when trying to forge a culture of authentic learning and language use in our classrooms. Near the end of the talk, I will share practical ideas for navigating this uncertain present and precarious future, and I hope to begin a meaningful discussion about the role and relevance of researching authenticity in action.

1. Authentic AI ty : Where do we go from here? Richard S. Pinner ELT RESEARCH IN ACTION 2024: CRITICAL CONVERSATIONS: ALIGNING RESEARCH AND PRACTICE IN ELT

2. Angry Man in the Noche 3

3. “Self-Disclosures” Henry, A., Sundqvist, P., & Thorsen, C. (Eds.). (2019). Motivational practice: Insights from the classroom . Lund: Studentlitteratur. Henry, A., & Thorsen, C. (2018). Teachers’ self-disclosures and influences on students’ motivation: A relational perspective. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism , 1-15. doi:10.1080/13670050.2018.1441261 4

4. the notion of engaging our students’ identities is something many experienced language teachers have intuitively recognised as important (Ushioda, 2011, p. 17). Ushioda, E. (2011). Motivating learners to speak as themselves. In G. Murray, X. Gao, & T. E. Lamb (Eds.), Identity, motivation and autonomy in language learning (pp. 11 - 25). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

5. But… was it real? ?

6. AI Generated ART!!! 7

7. Not a real story but could this be an authentic text

8. Outline

9. What is REAL?

10. B1nary N0t10n

11. Could Harry Potter be real?

12. Not everything people believe to be real has a physical presence

13. Is ChatGPT real?

14. Ray Kurzweil “Every form of human knowledge and artistic expression […] can be expressed as digital information. Our brains also operate digitally, through discrete firings of our neurons.” (2005)

15. Chandler, D. L. (2023). Could the Universe be a giant quantum computer?. Nature , 620(7976), 943-945. Fredkin took things even further, concluding that the whole Universe could actually be seen as a kind of computer . In his view, it was a ‘ cellular automaton ’ : a collection of computational bits, or cells, that can flip states according to a defined set of rules determined by the states of the cells around them. Over time, these simple rules can give rise to all the complexities of the cosmos — even life.

16. The Chinese Room Searle, J. R. (1980). Minds, brains, and programs. Behavioral and brain sciences, 3 (3), 417-424.

17. Hegelian Concepts of Truth TRUTH AS PROCESS Cf. AUTHENTICITY Cf. Post-Truth Citation Needed

18. Authenticity

19. Aut henticity Aut onomy Aut hority Aut hor[ship]

20. Etymological Matching Activity

21. Etymological Matching Activity

22. authentic materials are real , as in “not originally developed for pedagogical purposes, such as the use of magazines, newspapers, advertisements, news reports or songs” (Richards & Schmidt, 2013: 43). Richards, J. C., & Schmidt, R. W. (2013). Longman dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics . Harlow: Routledge.

23. Genuineness is a characteristic of the passage itself and is an absolute quality. Authenticity is a characteristic of the relationship between the passage and the reader and it has to do with appropriate response. (Widdowson, 1978: 80)

24. Authentication is basically a personal process of engagement, […] it is reasonable to suggest that a teacher’s authenticity may stimulate authenticity in the students as well. (van Lier, 1996: 128) van Lier, L. (1996). Interaction in the language curriculum: Awareness, autonomy and authenticity . London: Longman.

25. 1991 1971

26. My Mother-in-Law’s Pickles

27. Authenticity is… the degree of congruence between one’s actions and one’s core self-conceptions – consisting of fundamental values , beliefs , and identities ( Vannini & Burgess, 2009, p. 104) “ Vannini , P., & Burgess, S. (2009). Authenticity as motivation and aesthetic experience. In P. Vannini & J. P. Williams (Eds.), Authenticity in culture, self, and society (pp. 103-120). Surrey: Ashgate Publishing.

28. Authenticity is what you do when you have the freedom (autonomy) to do it Autonomy is having the freedom to do what you think is best (authenticity)

29. Authenticity Continuum Pinner, R. S. (2016). Reconceptualising Authenticity for English as a Global Language . Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

30. Authentic Texts?

31. Authentic Materials?

32. Autonomous Materials? Shouldn’t we extend the same conceptual courtesy to AUTHENTICITY ?

33. Authenticity is an ideological issue

34. “ Authenticity offers a conceptual language that renders other political concepts intelligible, and connects political ideas with lived experience. Ideas about authenticity form part of the preconditions for the ideological contestation of other political concepts in political argument.” ( Umbach and Humprhey , 2017, p. 9) Umbach , M., & Humphrey, M. (2017). Authenticity: The Cultural History of a Political Concept . Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

35. “ Authenticity claims are always claims to high or deep values in some specific ideological matrix.” (Coupland, 2014, p. 17) Coupland, N. (2014). Language, society and authenticity: Themes and perspectives. In V. Lacoste, J. Leimgruber , & T. Breyer (Eds.), Indexing authenticity: Sociolinguistic perspectives (Vol. 14, pp. 14-39). Gottingen: De Gruyter.

36. Ideologies of ELT

37. Which Teacher gets the $?

38. Will, L., & Pinner, R. S. (2023). The Concept of Authenticity in Foreign Language Teaching and Learning. In W. Stadler, L. Will, & I. Eloff (Eds.), Authenticity across Languages and Cultures: Themes of Identity in Foreign Language Teaching and Learning (pp. 1-16). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters. There is no mention anywhere in the advert about qualifications or experience, the teachers are essentialised through their national identity alone, and priced accordingly.

39. There is no mention anywhere in the advert about qualifications or experience, the teachers are essentialised through their national identity alone, and priced accordingly. Will, L., & Pinner, R. S. (2023). The Concept of Authenticity in Foreign Language Teaching and Learning. In W. Stadler, L. Will, & I. Eloff (Eds.), Authenticity across Languages and Cultures: Themes of Identity in Foreign Language Teaching and Learning (pp. 1-16). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.

40. Perhaps what is most shocking is how unashamedly direct it is about the way it differentiates its employees based purely on their nationality.

41. Which Teacher gets the $?

42. Using AI to practice L2

43. Some students preferred their feedback to be from an AI rather than a human Carlson, M., Pack, A., & Escalante, J. (2023). Utilizing OpenAI's GPT ‐ 4 for written feedback. TESOL Journal , e759.

44. Who here actually likes marking?

45. Is it more ok or less ok…? If English is my second language If the content is going to be published Hyland, K. (2016). Academic publishing and the myth of linguistic injustice. Journal of Second Language Writing, 31 , 58-69. doi: https ://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2016.01.005 Flowerdew, J. (2009). Goffman’s stigma and EAL writers: The author responds to Casanave . Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 8 (1), 69-72. doi: https ://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2009.01.001

46. Have you had any problems concerning AI and student assignments? What happened? How does this relate to issues of authorship and authenticity ?

47. Ask a neighbour about AI and cheating 1 2 3

48. Dave R My students' essays are a lot better now.

49. Richard S Math problem

50. So… if we no longer teach composition, what do we do?

51. We need Critical Conversations

52. Post-Truth

53. That’s not really Harrison Ford

54. Secondary Source on Net Can you find the original report?

55. But look at the bottom comment

56. Hello, my name is Rosalind Sham, and I work with Dr Veronique Bohbot at the Research Centre of the Douglas Institute. We appreciate your interest in our research, however, Dr. Bohbot never did research on the use or non-use of GPS. If you need more explanations, you are welcome to take a look at this press release on our web site :

57. No mention of GPS

58. Her other work confirms

59. Falsehood becomes truth!!!

60. Published in Nature

61. What do you think of that, Hegel?

62. Technological Determinism Amplifying effect Van Dijk, J. (2012). The network society (Third ed.). London: Sage.

63. Where do we go from here? AI can help level the playing field L1/L2 English classes may no longer be compulsory The pressure to learn English might let up a little More humanistic approaches to language teaching Using AI for the tasks it is good at

64. Using AI to enhance the learning process rather than bypassing it. ChatGPT4 (2024)

65. Closing thoughts… AI is not going away It will continue to improve Society will change Personal connections may be even more important for language learning in the future

66. Moltes gràcies i fins aviat ! Download the slides and continue the conversation www.uniliterate.com [email protected]